Epidemiologic evidence associates particulate air pollution with cardiopulmonary morbidity
and mortality. The biological mechanisms underlying these associations and the
relationship between ambient levels and retained particles in the lung remain uncertain. We
examined the parenchymal particle content of 11 autopsy lungs from never-smoking female
residents of Mexico City, a region with high ambient particle levels [3-year mean PM
(10)(particulate matter< or= 10 microm in aerodynamic diameter)= 66 microg/m (3)], and 11 …