ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses air pollution effects, and looks at the responses of humans and other animals. A number of different types of adverse health effect have been attributed to air pollution, although the severity of response depends greatly on the type of pollution, the level of exposure and individual susceptibility. The combustion smogs that were experienced in London in 1952 and 1962 were extreme examples of the responses of a large group of people to an air pollutant. It is not usually possible to study the responses of people to air pollutants under controlled conditions. Evidence from exposure of laboratory animals to ozone was summarised by the UK Advisory Group on the Medical Aspects of Air Pollution Episodes in 1991. The major exposure pathway for humans is considered to be accumulation of polychlorinated biphenyls present in the environmental reservoirs (soils and sediments) through the food chain.
