COPD Exposed to Air Pollution: A Path to Understand and Protect a Susceptible Population.

Topic Importance: Air pollution poses a risk to the respiratory health of individuals with COPD. Long- and short-term exposures to higher levels of particulate-rich air pollution are associated with increased COPD exacerbation, hospitalization, and mortality, collectively implicating air pollution as a cause of adverse COPD-related outcomes.

Review Findings: This review summarizes the evidence for COPD as a phenotype that confers susceptibility for adverse health outcomes in the face of common air pollution.