US EPA

7497581 

Journal Article 

Review 

Exposure to outdoor air pollution and its human health outcomes: A scoping review 

Sun, Z; Zhu, D 

2019 

1 

PLoS ONE
EISSN: 1932-6203 

14 

5 

e0216550 

English 

31095592 

10.1371/journal.pone.0216550 

WOS:000468030100030 

https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/exposure-outdoor-air-pollution-human-health/docview/2226434286/se-2
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Despite considerable air pollution prevention and control measures that have been put into practice in recent years, outdoor air pollution remains one of the most important risk factors for health outcomes. To identify the potential research gaps, we conducted a scoping review focused on health outcomes affected by outdoor air pollution across the broad research area. Of the 5759 potentially relevant studies, 799 were included in the final analysis. The included studies showed an increasing publication trend from 1992 to 2008, and most of the studies were conducted in Asia, Europe, and North America. Among the eight categorized health outcomes, asthma (category: respiratory diseases) and mortality (category: health records) were the most common ones. Adverse health outcomes involving respiratory diseases among children accounted for the largest group. Out of the total included studies, 95.2% reported at least one statistically positive result, and only 0.4% showed ambiguous results. Based on our study, we suggest that the time frame of the included studies, their disease definitions, and the measurement of personal exposure to outdoor air pollution should be taken into consideration in any future research. The main limitation of this study is its potential language bias, since only English publications were included. In conclusion, this scoping review provides researchers and policy decision makers with evidence taken from multiple disciplines to show the increasing prevalence of outdoor air pollution and its adverse effects on health outcomes. 

Sciences: Comprehensive Works; Air pollution; Cardiovascular diseases; Systematic reviews; Database searching; Metaanalysis; Respiratory physiology; Pregnancy and cancer; Research; Traffic police; Pollutants; Mortality; Researchers; Children; Outdoor air quality; Exposure; Air pollution measurements; Risk analysis; Pollution control; Pollution abatement; Respiratory diseases; Studies; Pollution; Risk factors; Pollution prevention; Pollution effects; Environmental health; Public health; Reviews; Systematic review; Meta-analysis; Health risks; Databases; Atmospheric pollution