The canonical, cited source list for AQEPREP. The interactive timelines link here; each entry includes a direct link to the article.
All citations verified against the publisher record. Last updated: 11 June 2026.
PM2.5 health evidence
1993
Dockery, D. W., Pope, C. A., Xu, X., Spengler, J. D., Ware, J. H., Fay, M. E., Ferris, B. G., & Speizer, F. E. (1993). An association between air pollution and mortality in six U.S. cities. New England Journal of Medicine, 329(24), 1753–1759.
Pope, C. A., Burnett, R. T., Thun, M. J., Calle, E. E., Krewski, D., Ito, K., & Thurston, G. D. (2002). Lung cancer, cardiopulmonary mortality, and long-term exposure to fine particulate air pollution. JAMA, 287(9), 1132–1141.
Pope, C. A., Ezzati, M., & Dockery, D. W. (2009). Fine-particulate air pollution and life expectancy in the United States. New England Journal of Medicine, 360(4), 376–386.
Brook, R. D., Rajagopalan, S., Pope, C. A., et al. (2010). Particulate matter air pollution and cardiovascular disease: An update to the scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation, 121(21), 2331–2378.
Di, Q., Wang, Y., Zanobetti, A., Wang, Y., Koutrakis, P., Choirat, C., Dominici, F., & Schwartz, J. D. (2017). Air pollution and mortality in the Medicare population. New England Journal of Medicine, 376(26), 2513–2522.
Higher mortality with PM2.5 even below current standards — no clearly safe level.
Braithwaite, I., Zhang, S., Kirkbride, J. B., Osborn, D. P. J., & Hayes, J. F. (2019). Air pollution (particulate matter) exposure and associations with depression, anxiety, bipolar, psychosis and suicide risk: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Environmental Health Perspectives, 127(12), 126002.
Wilker, E. H., Osman, M., & Weisskopf, M. G. (2023). Ambient air pollution and clinical dementia: Systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ, 381, e071620.
Differential toxicity of wildfire & combustion PM2.5
2021
Aguilera, R., Corringham, T., Gershunov, A., & Benmarhnia, T. (2021). Wildfire smoke impacts respiratory health more than fine particles from other sources: Observational evidence from Southern California. Nature Communications, 12, 1493.
Kim, Y. H., Warren, S. H., Krantz, Q. T., et al. (2021). Chemistry, lung toxicity and mutagenicity of burn pit smoke-related particulate matter. Particle and Fibre Toxicology, 18, 45.
Emerging evidence on plastics/structures (burn-pit context): PM from flaming plastic-containing waste is more inflammatory and mutagenic.
Kong, L., et al. (2026). Distinct properties of plastic-derived submicrometer particles from smoldering burning. Science Advances, 12, eaec8184.
A chemically distinct, highly reactive submicrometer (PM2.5/ultrafine) particle class; ROS generation gives a mechanistic basis for toxicity. A physicochemical/atmospheric-reactivity study, not a direct human-health study.
Zhang, M., Castro, E., Shtein, A., Peralta, A. A., Danesh Yazdi, M., Wu, X., Schwartz, J. D., Wright, R. O., & Wei, Y. (2026). Wildfire smoke PM2.5 and mortality rate in the contiguous United States: A causal modeling study. Science Advances, 12(6), eadw5890.
Chronic wildfire PM2.5 raises mortality with no evidence of a safe threshold.
Burke, M., Driscoll, A., Heft-Neal, S., Xue, J., Burney, J., & Wara, M. (2021). The changing risk and burden of wildfire in the United States. PNAS, 118(2), e2011048118.
Zhang, Q., Wang, Y., Xiao, Q., Geng, G., Davis, S. J., … He, K. (2025). Long-range PM2.5 pollution and health impacts from the 2023 Canadian wildfires. Nature. Advance online publication.
Portable & DIY air cleaning — evidence, devices & validation
2011
Allen, R. W., Carlsten, C., Karlen, B., et al. (2011). An air filter intervention study of endothelial function among healthy adults in a woodsmoke-impacted community. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 183(9), 1222–1230.
Barn, P. K., Elliott, C. T., Allen, R. W., Kosatsky, T., Rideout, K., & Henderson, S. B. (2016). Portable air cleaners should be at the forefront of the public health response to landscape fire smoke. Environmental Health, 15, 116.
Dal Porto, R., Kunz, M. N., Pistochini, T., Corsi, R. L., & Cappa, C. D. (2022). Characterizing the performance of a do-it-yourself (DIY) box fan air filter. Aerosol Science and Technology, 56(6), 564–572.
Holder, A. L., Halliday, H. S., & Virtaranta, L. (2022). Impact of do-it-yourself air cleaner design on the reduction of simulated wildfire smoke in a controlled chamber environment. Indoor Air, 32(11), e13163.
Myers, N. T., Dillon, K. P., Han, T. T., & Mainelis, G. (2023). Performance evaluation of different low-cost DIY air cleaner configurations. Aerosol Science and Technology, 57(11).
Derk, R. C., Coyle, J. P., Lindsley, W. G., Blachere, F. M., Lemons, A. R., et al. (2023). Efficacy of do-it-yourself air filtration units in reducing exposure to simulated respiratory aerosols. Building and Environment, 229, 109920.
Dodson, R. E., Manz, K. E., et al. (2023). Does using Corsi–Rosenthal boxes to mitigate COVID-19 transmission also reduce indoor air concentrations of PFAS and phthalates? Environmental Science & Technology, 57(1), 415–427.
Prathibha, P., … Holder, A. (2024). Usage and impact of a do-it-yourself air cleaner on residential PM2.5 in a smoke-impacted community. Atmospheric Environment, 333, 120650.
Singh, A., Stephens, B., Heidarinejad, M., Stinson, B., Gall, E., Wagner, J., Singer, B., Miller, S., Martinez, N., & Rodriguez, R. (2025). Development and laboratory evaluation of a do-it-yourself (DIY) filtration solution for residential evaporative coolers to reduce indoor wildfire smoke exposure. Building and Environment, 270, 112475.