The association between exposure to particulate matter of 2.5 µm or less and cancer

There is strong evidence of the adverse effects of fine particulate matter with diameters that are 2.5 micrometres and smaller (PM2.5) on lung cancer, but the impact of PM2.5 at other body sites remains scarce. In this thesis, long-term PM2.5 exposure in Brazil was observed to be associated with increased cancer hospitalizations, mortality and years of life lost from most cancer sites. Cancer accounts for a large proportion of loss of life expectancy attributable to PM2.5 exposure. Higher risks of cancers were also observed from wildfire-related PM2.5 than non-wildfire, while the impact of coal-mine fires still needs further investigation.