Discuss Findings of Key Studies of Outdoor Air Pollution and COPD

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The Answer is Numerous studies have shown that air contaminants that are present in the atmospheric environment of the industrialized world are capable of provoking lung dysfunction and respiratory ailments including COPD. Repeated inhalation of coal dust or other carbon particles leads to the deposition of these materials throughout the respiratory bronchioles and alveolar spaces producing carbon pigmentation of the lungs known as pulmonary anthracosis. Many other small particles that enter the airways, both organic and inorganic, can also lead to the development of pneumoconiosis. The etiologic role of coal mine dust in the pathogenesis of debilitating pneumoconiosis and Black Lung Disease is a well-known phenomenon. Silicosis is a particularly severe form of pneumoconiosis resulting from the inhalation of silica dust.
In general, pneumoconiosis is characterized by the accumulation of such particles within the macrophages of the lungs accompanied by irritation, inflammation, and the release of destructive enzymes and reactive oxygen species that result in cell necrosis and, subsequently, pulmonary fibrosis. These same processes are integral to the development of chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and COPD. Hence, rates of COPD are high among those individuals exposed to high levels of coal dust, silica dust, and other types of air pollution.
Studies of the relation between COPD and exposure to respirable coal mine dust have been carried out in Britain, the United States, Italy, and Germany. In general, findings from all studies of miners are similar in demonstrating increased rates of COPD and significant loss of pulmonary function in miners who are chronically exposed to coal mine dust or silica dust. Clearly, occupational mining dust is an important cause of COPD.
As opposed to studies of high risk groups such as miners who are exposed to inordinately high levels of occupational dust, investigations of the health effects of air pollution in the general population are more complex due to difficulties in obtaining accurate measures of exposure to relatively low levels of contamination over long periods of time. Though some evidence is emerging from epidemiologic investigations linking exposure to motor vehicle exhaust near high volume traffic roads with adverse health effects including COPD, novel experimental designs are necessary to accrue definitive evidence of causal effects.

Discuss Findings of Key Studies of Outdoor Air Pollution and COPD

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