ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the effects of chronic exposure to oxidant air pollu-
tants on human health, hi the ambient environment, the principal oxidant pollutants are ozone (O3), constituents of particulate matter (PM) (transi-
tion metals, organic compounds and their derivatives), and oxides of nitro-
gen, the most important of which is NO2 (in terms of being studied in
relation to human health effects). The chapter focuses broadly on the health
effects that have been associated with the oxidant gases and PM, since most
of the detailed data related to PM are covered in several other chapters.
However, since oxidant gases occur in the presence of PM that contains
oxidant organic compounds that can result in redox cycling (1,2), some discussion related to PM-associated health effects is unavoidable.
