Ambient Particulate Matter and Skin

Ambient particulate matter (PM) is one of the components of ambient air pollution, which can be produced either by natural processes such as volcanic activity or dust storms or by human activity such as fossil fuel combustion or chemical production. In 2012 the WHO reported that 3.7 million deaths are attributed to ambient air pollution worldwide. This places air pollution as the current world’s largest single environmental health risk factor. Recently, there was increasing evidence that ambient PM exposure not only affects the human lung and the cardiovascular system but also exerts negative effects on human skin. In this regard, it has been shown that PM exposure increases the risk of eczema, augments signs of extrinsic skin aging, and influences the physiological skin properties. However, the mechanism(s), how ambient PM exposure causes these effects on the skin, are not well understood up to now.