Global research on pulmonary diseases and environmental factors: a bibliometric and knowledge-mapping study

Research on pulmonary diseases and environmental factors has expanded rapidly, yet the field remains fragmented across exposure categories, disease outcomes and disciplinary boundaries, and its overall knowledge structure has not been systematically characterized.

We conducted a bibliometric and knowledge-mapping study using 505 articles from the Web of Science Core Collection (WOSCC) and 489 records from PubMed, all retrieved on May 14, 2025. WOSCC was used to analyze publication trends, disciplinary structure, collaboration networks, thematic hotspots, co-citation patterns and funding profiles, whereas PubMed was used to assess country- and region-level productivity and international collaboration.

Publication output increased markedly after 2012 and remained consistently active from 2020 to 2024, while records indexed in 2025 were treated as partial-year data. The field was shaped primarily by Environmental Sciences, Public, Environmental and Occupational Health, and Toxicology, with relatively sparse collaboration networks and output concentrated in a limited number of authors, institutions and countries. Thematic analyses showed a clear evolution from broad exposure-disease associations toward more differentiated research on particulate matter, air quality, susceptibility, prevention and biological mechanisms. In particular, oxidative stress emerged as a key mechanistic hub linking environmental exposures with pulmonary injury and adverse respiratory outcomes. The intellectual base of the field was anchored in particulate pollution, inhalational exposure events and pulmonary function assessment.

Research on pulmonary diseases and environmental factors has developed into a stable but still fragmented interdisciplinary domain, with current trends indicating a shift from descriptive association studies toward mechanism-oriented and prevention-relevant research.