Epidemiological research has taught us a great deal about the health effects of airborne particulate matter (PM), particularly cardiorespiratory effects of combustion-related particles. This has been matched by toxicological research to define underlying mechanistic pathways. To keep abreast of the substantial challenges that air pollution continues to throw at us requires yet more strides to be achieved. For example, being aware of the most toxic components/sources and having a definitive idea of the range of associated disease outcomes. This review discusses approaches designed to close some of these knowledge gaps. These include a focus on particles arising from non-exhaust PM at the roadside and microplastics—both of which are becoming more relevant in the light of a shift in PM composition in response to global pressure to reduce combustion emissions. The application of hypothesis-free approaches in both mechanistic studies and epidemiology in unveiling unexpected relationships and generating novel insights is also discussed. Previous work, strengthening the evidence for both the adverse effects and benefits of intervention tell us that the sooner we act to close knowledge gaps, increase awareness and develop creative solutions, the sooner we can reduce the public health burden attributable to these complex and insidious environmental pollutants. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Air quality, past present and future’.

中文翻译：

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空气颗粒物的毒性——已证实的证据、知识差距和新兴的重要领域

流行病学研究让我们了解到很多关于空气中颗粒物 (PM) 对健康的影响，特别是与燃烧相关的颗粒物对心肺的影响。这与毒理学研究相匹配，以确定潜在的机制途径。为了跟上空气污染继续给我们带来的重大挑战，我们还需要取得更大的进步。例如，了解毒性最强的成分/来源并对相关疾病结果的范围有明确的了解。本综述讨论了旨在缩小其中一些知识差距的方法。其中包括关注路边非尾气颗粒物和微塑料产生的颗粒——鉴于全球减少燃烧排放的压力，颗粒物成分发生了变化，这两者都变得更加重要。还讨论了无假设方法在机制研究和流行病学中的应用，以揭示意想不到的关系并产生新的见解。之前的工作加强了干预措施的不利影响和益处的证据，告诉我们，我们越早采取行动缩小知识差距、提高认识并制定创造性解决方案，我们就能越早减轻这些复杂而阴险的环境造成的公共卫生负担。污染物。本文是“空气质量，过去、现在和未来”讨论会议的一部分。