Background: Asian dust is known to have harmful effects on the respiratory system. Respiratory conditions are also influenced by environmental conditions regardless of the presence of pollutants. The same pollutant can have different effects on the airway when the air is dry compared with when it is humid. We investigated hospital visits for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma in relation to the environmental conditions. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study using the Korean National Health Insurance Service claims database of patients who visited hospitals in Chuncheon between January 2006 and April 2012. Asian dust, haze, mist, and fog days were determined using reports from the Korea Meteorological Administration. Hospital visits for asthma or COPD on the index days were compared with the comparison days. We used two-way case-crossover techniques with one to two matching. Results: The mean hospital visits for asthma and COPD were 59.37 ± 34.01 and 10.04 ± 6.18 per day, respectively. Hospital visits for asthma significantly increased at lag0 and lag1 for Asian dust (relative risk [RR], 1.10; 95 % confidence interval [CI], 1.01–1.19; p<0.05) and haze (RR, 1.13; 95 % CI, 1.06–1.22; p<0.05), but were significantly lower on misty (RR, 0.89; 95 % CI, 0.80–0.99; p<0.05) and foggy (RR, 0.89; 95 % CI, 0.84–0.93; p<0.05) days than on control days. The hospital visits for COPD also significantly increased on days with Asian dust (RR, 1.29; 95 % CI, 1.05–1.59; p<0.05), and were significantly lower at lag4 for foggy days, compared with days without fog (RR, 0.85; 95 % CI, 0.75–0.97; p<0.05).

ob attracted the increased attention of the industrial sector due to their unique physico-chemical properties and nu-strategies to investigate possible health effects caused by NP exposure are therefore urgently needed. Risk assess-Noël et al. Particle and Fibre Toxicology 2013, 10:48

Anthropogenic nano-sized particles (NSP), ie, particles with a diameter of less than 100 nm, are generated with or without purpose as chemi-cally and physically well-defined materials or as a consequence of combustion processes respec-tively. Inhalation of NSP occurs on a regular basis due to air pollution and is associated with an in-crease in respiratory and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Manufactured NSP may intention-ally be inhaled as pharmaceuticals or unintention-ally during production at the workplace. Hence the interactions of NSP with the res-piratory tract are currently under intensive inves-tigation. Due to special physicochemical features of NSP, its biological behaviour may differ from

Particles induce apical plasma membrane enlargement in epithelial lung cell line depending on particle surface area dose

Adverse health effects have been associated with the exposure to particulate matter (PM) ever since the London smog in the winter of 1952. Recent estimates attribute about 12,000 excess deaths to have occurred because of acute and persisting effects of the London smog

The functional capacity of the human lung as gas exchanger is to a large extent determined by structural design. Quantitative structure-function correlations can be established by morphometry. A very large surface of air-blood contact, together with a very thin tissue barrier, are required to per-mit adequate oxygen uptake under work condi-tions. However, these design features also pose problems, such as how to ventilate and perfuse this large surface evenly and efficiently, or how to ensure mechanical stability against surface forces with a minimum of supporting tissue. The discus-sion focuses on the extent to which novel design principles are used to overcome such problems by designing the airways as a fractal tree and the