Sandstrom Thomas, Forsberg Bertil
Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Sections of Respiratory Medicine and Occupational Environmental Medicine, Umeå University, Sweden.
Epidemiology. 2008 Nov;19(6):808-9. doi: 10.1097/EDE.0b013e31818809e0.
Particulate matter (PM10) air pollution is associated with respiratory and cardiovascular morbidity, and mortality. A recent systematic review pointed toward the fine particle fraction (PM2.5) rather than the coarse fraction (PM2.5-10) 2.5 and PM2.5-10as being responsible for increased death rates. With this background, the report by Perez et al that windblown Saharan desert dust causes increased mortality in Barcelona, raises concern over possible underestimation of toxicity from coarse particles coming from desert sources. This may be of concern for large areas of the globe that periodically encounter high levels of windblown desert dust and warrants further attention.
颗粒物（PM10）空气污染与呼吸道和心血管疾病的发病率及死亡率相关。最近一项系统评价指出，造成死亡率上升的是细颗粒部分（PM2.5）而非粗颗粒部分（PM2.5 - 10）。在此背景下，佩雷斯等人关于撒哈拉沙漠扬尘导致巴塞罗那死亡率上升的报告，引发了人们对来自沙漠源的粗颗粒毒性可能被低估的担忧。对于全球定期遭遇高浓度沙漠扬尘的大片地区而言，这可能是个问题，值得进一步关注。
