摘要：Clean air is vital to life. Suffering and death from polluted air are avoidable. Immediate, necessary action will prevent air pollution and its staggering toll on life and the fiscus.In 2016, 91% of the world’s population lived in places that did not meet the World Health Organization’s (WHO) air quality guidelines. 1 One air pollutant of immense concern is atmospheric particulate matter (PM) which is the sum of the complex combination of solid and liquid particles of organic and inorganic substances suspended in the air. The key components of PM are present in different concentrations depending on the area of air which is tested. Particles with a diameter of 10 microns or less are known as PM 10 and can affect human health. Particles with a diameter of 2.5 microns or less (PM 2.5 ) are more dangerous as they can penetrate the lung barrier and enter the bloodstream, disseminating to various organs. Chronic exposure to these particles increases the risk of developing multiple diseases and conditions. 2,3 There is evidence that air pollution affects human health at every stage of life, with the most vulnerable populations being the young, elderly and health-compromised. Evidence is mounting that associates air pollution with the premature deaths of at least five million people per year, as well as increasing susceptibility to and aggravating existing conditions. 1Clean air is vital to life. Suffering and death from polluted air are avoidable. Immediate, necessary action will prevent air pollution and its staggering toll on life and the fiscus.In 2016, 91% of the world’s population lived in places that did not meet the World Health Organization’s (WHO) air quality guidelines. 1 One air pollutant of immense concern is atmospheric particulate matter (PM) which is the sum of the complex combination of solid and liquid particles of organic and inorganic substances suspended in the air. The key components of PM are present in different concentrations depending on the area of air which is tested. Particles with a diameter of 10 microns or less are known as PM 10 and can affect human health. Particles with a diameter of 2.5 microns or less (PM 2.5 ) are more dangerous as they can penetrate the lung barrier and enter the bloodstream, disseminating to various organs. Chronic exposure to these particles increases the risk of developing multiple diseases and conditions. 2,3 There is evidence that air pollution affects human health at every stage of life, with the most vulnerable populations being the young, elderly and health-compromised. Evidence is mounting that associates air pollution with the premature deaths of at least five million people per year, as well as increasing susceptibility to and aggravating existing conditions.
关键词：human health;well-being;climate change;environmental health
