Health Effects Laboratory, Department for Environmental Chemistry, NILU-Norwegian Institute for Air Research, Instituttveien 18, 2007 Kjeller, Norway.
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Research Center POLARIS, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20126 Milan, Italy.
Int J Mol Sci. 2020 Apr 3;21(7):2489. doi: 10.3390/ijms21072489.
Air pollution is one of the world's leading environmental causes of death. The epidemiological relationship between outdoor air pollution and the onset of health diseases associated with death is now well established. Relevant toxicological proofs are now dissecting the molecular processes that cause inflammation, reactive species generation, and DNA damage. In addition, new data are pointing out the role of airborne particulates in the modulation of genes and microRNAs potentially involved in the onset of human diseases. In the present review we collect the relevant findings on airborne particulates of one of the biggest hot spots of air pollution in Europe (i.e., the Po Valley), in the largest urban area of this region, Milan. The different aerodynamic fractions are discussed separately with a specific focus on fine and ultrafine particles that are now the main focus of several studies. Results are compared with more recent international findings. Possible future perspectives of research are proposed to create a new discussion among scientists working on the toxicological effects of airborne particles.
空气污染是全球主要的环境致死原因之一。户外空气污染与健康疾病发病之间的流行病学关系现已得到充分证实。相关的毒理学证据正在剖析导致炎症、活性物种生成和 DNA 损伤的分子过程。此外，新数据指出，空气中的颗粒物在调节可能导致人类疾病的基因和 microRNA 方面发挥作用。在本综述中，我们收集了欧洲空气污染热点地区之一（即波河谷）的相关研究结果，该地区最大的城市是米兰。不同的空气动力学分数分别进行了讨论，特别关注现在是多项研究重点的细颗粒物和超细颗粒物。结果与最近的国际研究结果进行了比较。提出了可能的未来研究展望，以便在研究空气中颗粒物的毒理学效应的科学家之间展开新的讨论。
