ABSTRACT
Acknowledgments .........................................................................................................................346
References .....................................................................................................................................346
Adverse health effects associated with chronic exposures to air pollutants (indoor, outdoor, and
occupational settings) are an important issue for millions of people around the world. As the world
population becomes older, significant increases in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s
have been projected over the next decades (Brookmeyer, Gray, and Kawas 1998; Hebert et al.
2003). Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an irreversible, fatal brain disorder that presently affects 4.5
million people in the United States and it is projected that it will affect between 13 and 16 million by
2050 (Brookmeyer, Gray, and Kawas 1998; Hebert et al. 2003). Alzheimer’s patients have a major
medical, social, and economic impact, thus any factors that could modify these projections need to
be pursued and integrated into multidisciplinary studies of AD. The role played by the environment
in the pathogenesis of AD is unclear (Brown, Lockwood, and Sonawane 2005). Our findings
suggest that exposures to significant levels of particulate matter and photo-oxidants may accelerate
the appearance of precursors of Alzheimer’s disease in sentinel animals and in humans.
