Yang Shuo1， Li Huangjiaqi1，Liu Huimeng2a， Feng Rong3， Xu Hongmei2b， Du Wei1， Sun Jian2b， Wu Shaowei2a
1.Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering， Kunming University of Science and Technology， Kunming 650500， China； 2a. School of Public Health， Xi’an Jiaotong University， Xi’an 710061， China， 2b. School of Energy and Power Engineering， Xi’an Jiaotong University， Xi’an 710049， China；3.School of Environmental and Resource Sciences， Shanxi University， Taiyuan 030031， China
Abstract
Significance Exposure to fine particulate matter （PM2.5） remains an important environmental health concern in China despite sustained improvements in ambient air quality. Research has progressed beyond estimating disease burdens under severe haze conditions to assessing risks at lower pollution levels， characterizing component-specific toxicity， identifying early biological responses， and evaluating health benefits from exposure reduction. This review summarizes progress in China across four interconnected fields： exposure assessment， large-scale epidemiology， early subclinical injury， and cellular and animal toxicology. It clarifies how evidence from environmental concentrations， personal exposure， biological responses， population health outcomes， and mechanistic experiments can support health-oriented strategies for air pollution prevention and control.
Progress For exposure assessment， fixed-site monitoring and outdoor concentrations at residential locations remain important for describing regional pollution backgrounds and long-term trends. High-resolution spatiotemporal models， time-activity information， microenvironmental measurements， portable sensors， positioning data， and inhaled-dose estimation enable more detailed characterization of individual exposure. However， uncertainties remain because of challenges related to sensor calibration， humidity interference， compliance with device-wearing protocols， limitations of indoor positioning， and limited comparability between modeled and measured exposure estimates. Evidence from household solid-fuel use， cooking emissions， and air quality improvement scenarios shows that indoor sources and activity patterns can influence exposure levels and health benefits. Large-scale epidemiological evidence has been generated from nationwide time-series analyses， case-crossover studies， and major prospective cohorts. Long-term exposure to PM2.5 and its components has been associated with cardiovascular， respiratory， renal， metabolic， neurological， and reproductive outcomes， as well as mortality， among both general and susceptible populations. Associations vary among black carbon， nitrate， sulfate， ammonium， organic matter， chloride， soil particles， sea salt， metals， and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons， indicating that health effects cannot be fully represented by particle mass concentration alone. A study covering 292 Chinese cities and nearly 49 million hospital admissions reported that black carbon was consistently associated with higher risks of hospital admission across multiple organ systems， with associations generally stronger than those observed for PM2.5 mass concentration. Healthy lifestyles and physical activity may modify selected pollution-related risks， although these effects vary depending on exposure window and population. Small-scale longitudinal and panel studies provide temporally resolved evidence of biological changes preceding clinical disease. Repeated personal exposure measurements have been combined with measurements of blood， urine， saliva， exhaled breath condensate， lung function testing， and multi-omics analyses. Reported early responses include oxidative DNA damage， lipid peroxidation， systemic and airway inflammation， coagulation changes， endothelial dysfunction， altered sphingolipid metabolism， and impaired lung function. Intervention studies suggest that long-term indoor air purification may lower diastolic blood pressure in older adults， while fish oil supplementation may attenuate PM2.5-related inflammatory responses. Studies conducted in rural areas of the Fenwei Plain have linked solid-fuel-related PM2.5 and organic components to changes in biomarkers and pulmonary function. Toxicological evidence is increasingly generated using exposure systems that more closely approximate inhalation under real-world conditions. Earlier approaches based on particle extraction， submerged-cell exposure， and intratracheal instillation are complemented by inhalation exposure to concentrated ambient particles and air-liquid interface exposure systems. These systems better preserve particle size， chemical composition， deposition characteristics， and biologically active constituents. Major pathways include oxidative stress， mitochondrial dysfunction， inflammatory signaling， epithelial and endothelial injury， vascular smooth muscle cell phenotypic switching， impaired air-blood barrier function， neuroinflammation， and interorgan crosstalk. Component-specific toxicity has been demonstrated for transition metals， black carbon， polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons， mixed metal components， and environmentally persistent free radicals. Reactive oxygen species generation， p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling， Toll-like receptor 4-nuclear factor kappa B activation， barrier injury， and neurodegenerative changes contribute to these effects. Oxidative potential is emerging as an integrative indicator linking aerosol composition with biological activity， although broader validation in human populations remains necessary.
Conclusions and Prospects Evidence generated in China increasingly connects regional pollution， personal exposure， early biological responses， clinical outcomes， and toxicological mechanisms. However， limitations remain in personal exposure assessment， the comparability of component-specific exposure estimates， the evaluation of multipollutant mixtures， and the translation of toxicological findings into air quality management. Future research should integrate wearable multipollutant monitoring， high-resolution exposure modeling， cohort resources， exposomics， multi-omics， and artificial intelligence. Greater attention should be given to susceptible populations， low-level exposure， indoor-outdoor source interactions， and population-based validation of component-specific toxicity. Health risk assessment and air quality management should incorporate source-specific effects， oxidative potential， and toxicity weighting to support differentiated emission control and maximize population health benefits.
Keywords： fine particulate matter； health effect； personal exposure assessment； population epidemiology； early subclinical injury； cellular and animal toxicology； health risk prevention and control
Get Citation:Yang Shuo， Li Huangjiaqi， Liu Huimeng， et al. Research progress on health effects of fine particulate matter［J］. China Powder Science and Technology， 2027， 33（2）： 1-14.
Received:2026-07-28， Revised： 2026-08-22， Online： 2026-09-27。
Funding： The research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 82273587 and 42277422).
DOI：10.13732/j.issn.1008-5548.2027.02.005
CLC No.：X511；X513；TB44
Type Code:A
Serial No.:1008-5548（2027）02-0001-14
