Air pollution and its effect on health.

An experimental study of the effect of air pollutants on health can be undertaken only subsequent to the creation of synthetically polluted atmosphere in exposure chambers as a readily available and easily controllable laboratory tool. The many and varied pollutants must be studied singly and in combination so as to reproduce any synergistic or antagonistic effects that may exist. A study of pollutant substances at their source is wholly inadequate in view of the pronounced photo-chemical activity in the atmosphere. The products of this activity may well be the significant ones insofar as morbid effects are concerned. In the acute and subacute biological studies, both in vitro and in vivo systems are being used with the experimental progression being from the simple to the complex.