Chemical constituents of fine particulate air pollution and pulmonary function in healthy adults: The Healthy Volunteer Natural Relocation study

•Study subjects relocated between areas with different air pollution contents.•PM2.5 showed the most consistent inverse associations with pulmonary function.•Cu, Cd, As and Sn were consistently associated with reduced pulmonary function.•Carbonaceous fractions, SO42− and Sb were also associated with pulmonary function.•Sources may include traffic, industry, coal burning, and long range transported dust. The study examined the associations of 32 chemical constituents of particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5μm (PM2.5) with pulmonary function in a panel of 21 college students. Study subjects relocated from a suburban area to an urban area with changing ambient air pollution levels and contents in Beijing, China, and provided daily morning/evening peak expiratory flow (PEF) and forced expiratory volume in 1s (FEV1) measurements over 6 months in three study periods. There were significant reductions in evening PEF and morning/evening FEV1 associated with various air pollutants and PM2.5 constituents. Four PM2.5 constituents (copper, cadmium, arsenic and stannum) were found to be most consistently associated with the reductions in these pulmonary function measures. These findings provide clues for the respiratory effects of specific particulate chemical constituents in the context of urban air pollution.