Fine dust and eye health

Abstract

This paper aims to make recommendations for the management of eye health related to fine dust exposure. Fine dust is one of the biggest problems related to air pollution in Korea and is becoming a social issue. Fine dust can be classified into fine dust, ultrafine dust, and nanoparticles according to the size of the constituent particles. Although studies evaluating the harmful effects of particulate matter (PM) have been conducted mainly on cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, the ocular surface is a tissue that is continuously exposed to the atmosphere. Eye symptoms caused by PM exposure include eye redness, irritation, and sensation of a foreign body. Typical eye diseases caused by PM exposure include conjunctivitis, dry eye disease, and blepharitis. PM is thought to induce and exacerbate ocular surface diseases and lead to damage through oxidative stress, toxicity, and immune and inflammatory reactions on the ocular surface. For eye health management related to PM exposure, it is necessary to reduce the chance of exposure to PM in advance according to the PM forecast, avoid additional repeated exposure after PM exposure, and remove PM through eye washing and eyelid cleaning. In addition, eye drops, such as artificial tears, diquafosol, and cyclosporin A, can be used to prevent and treat ocular surface disease and deterioration of the damage. In patients who already have ocular surface disease, the harmful effects of PM exposure may be greater and more attention should be paid to eye health management.