Health Risks in relation to air quality, especiallyparticulate matter. Interim report
2000
A quantitative risk assessment of health effects associated with
particulate matter (PM), especially ambient PM10 levels, for the
Netherlands has indicated premature mortality among approximately 1000
persons. Local information, including air pollution mix and health
status of the population, has proven to be essential in such a risk
assessment. One of the questions not answered yet is if smaller
particles (PM2.5) are more toxic than PM10. According to the particle
dosimetry models developed for the project, the local dose in the lungs
of groups with a less than optimal health status may differ substantially
when compared to healthy adults; this may partly explain differences in
susceptibility. Modelling the Dutch and European emissions of PM and
precursor gasses with an air pollution dispersion model has indicated
that part (nearly half) of the Dutch yearly PM10 averages are still
unaccounted for. A monitoring programme has been started to determine
the composition of the missing PM10 and its sources. An extensive
programme of experimental inhalation toxicology using a mobile particle
concentrator has also been developed to conform to epidemiological
associations and more specifically to the discovery of causative
fractions (and their sources). In vitro tests with lung tissue taken
from a variety of individuals demonstrated great variability between
these individuals in their susceptibility to collected ambient PM of
different-sized fractions at the different locations. A scientific
workshop, envisaged for mid-2001, will allow a wider application of the
results, with answers to the questions of the Ministry of Housing,
Spatial Planning and Environment possibly expected by the beginning of
2002.
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