[Mitigating the Health Effects of Particulate Matter: A Narrative Review of Intervention Studies]

Particulate matter (PM) is one of the most important air pollutants having harmful health effects. Recently, studies on intervention for mitigating these impacts of PM have been conducted increasingly. This narrative review aims to describe the trends in domestic and international interventions targeting the health effects of PM.

A narrative literature review was conducted. Articles published between 1989 and 2024 were retrieved from various academic databases.

Seventy interventional studies were included, and were categorized into five types: behavioral (n=12), air purifier (n=22), mask (n=5), pharmaceutical and dietary (n=9), and social policy-related (n=22) interventions. Behavioral, air purifier, and mask-wearing interventions improved physiological and symptomatic indicators related to PM exposure. Pharmacological and dietary interventions substantially reduced the effects of PM, although the study designs imposed limitations. Social-policy related interventions reduced population-level health outcomes such as mortality and hospital admissions. Most of these studies were short-term with small samples. These findings highlight the need for sustainable and comprehensive intervention strategies, especially those linked to local public health services.

Interventions for mitigating the health effects of fine PM are effective in reducing adverse health outcomes. The sustainability of such interventions must be ensured, and these strategies must be linked with policy measures for tangibly reducing the health burden caused by air pollution among the general population.