Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25227730›Full record

SynthesisJournal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology

Fine particle components and health--a systematic review and meta-analysis of epidemiological time series studies of daily mortality and hospital admissions.

Richard W Atkinson, Inga C Mills, Heather A Walton, H Ross Anderson

Abstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 71 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
71citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

71 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Review
  8. Article
  9. Review
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. The Epidemiological and Toxicological Intersection of Air Pollution and Dementia.Reviews of environmental contamination and toxicology · 2025
    Review
  14. Review
  15. Parents' and Teachers' Perceptions of Risks Associated with Children's Walks to School in Blantyre, Malawi.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024
    Article
  16. Review
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Racial/ethnic disparities in PMNature human behaviour · 2023
    Article
  20. Article

11 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Richard W AtkinsonPopulation Health Research Institute and MRC-PHE Centre for Environment and Health, St George's, University of London, London, UK.
Inga C MillsPublic Health England, Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards, Chilton, Oxfordshire, UK.
Heather A Walton1] MRC-PHE Centre for Environment and Health, King's College London, London, UK [2] NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London, London, UK.
H Ross Anderson1] Population Health Research Institute and MRC-PHE Centre for Environment and Health, St George's, University of London, London, UK [2] MRC-PHE Centre for Environment and Health, King's College London, London, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Short-term exposure to fine particle mass (PM) has been associated with adverse health effects, but little is known about the relative toxicity of particle components. We conducted a systematic review to quantify the associations between particle components and daily mortality and hospital admissions. Medline, Embase and Web of Knowledge were searched for time series studies of sulphate (SO4(2-)), nitrate (NO3(-)), elemental and organic carbon (EC and OC), particle number concentrations (PNC) and metals indexed to October 2013. A multi-stage sifting process identified eligible studies and effect estimates for meta-analysis. SO4(2-), NO3(-), EC and OC were positively associated with increased all-cause, cardiovascular and respiratory mortality, with the strongest associations observed for carbon: 1.30% (95% CI: 0.17%, 2.43%) increase in all-cause mortality per 1 μg/m(3). For PNC, the majority of associations were positive with confidence intervals that overlapped 0%. For metals, there were insufficient estimates for meta-analysis. There are important gaps in our knowledge of the health effects associated with short-term exposure to particle components, and the literature also lacks sufficient geographical coverage and analyses of cause-specific outcomes. The available evidence suggests, however, that both EC and secondary inorganic aerosols are associated with adverse health effects.

Indexed as

AerosolsAir PollutantsAir PollutionCarbonCardiovascular DiseasesDatabases, FactualHospitalizationHumansLung DiseasesNitratesParticle SizeParticulate MatterSulfatesTime FactorsAerosolsAir PollutantsCarbonNitratesParticulate MatterSulfates

Identifiers

PMID25227730
PMCPMC4335916

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-SA
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.