Table 1.

Toxicity induced by the representative environmental pollutants at the acute high dose and the chronic low dose.

Pollutants	Adverse effects/toxicity		Ref.
	Acute, high-dose	Chronic, low-dose
Arsenic (As)	Gastrointestinal distress and death	Dermal lesions, cardiovascular disease, liver disease, neuropathy, and carcinogenicity	16, 19
Cadmium (Cd)	Respiratory distress, hepatotoxicity and death	Kidney tubular damage, bone disease (e.g. itai-itai disease) and carcinogenicity	17, 20
Methylmercury (MeHg)	Death	Nervous system diseases (e.g. Minamata disease), reproductive toxicity and developmental neurotoxicity	18, 21
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5, aerodynamic Diameter ≤ 2.5 µm)	Cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease and death	Higher risk for cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, lung cancer and mortality	22–25