Air Quality Atmosphere and Health最新文献

Suicide is a major cause of death globally, with recent research highlighting environmental factors. However, studies often focus on individual impacts of air pollutants and temperature, neglecting their synergistic effects. This study assessed the impact of air pollutant exposure combined with temperatures on suicide, using years of life lost (YLLs) as a measure of premature mortality. A generalized additive model examined short-term links between air pollutants including particles < 2.5 μm (PM_2.5) and < 10 μm (PM₁₀), ozone (O₃), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), and carbon monoxide (CO) exposures and YLLs due to suicide in Seoul, South Korea, between 2002 and 2019, considering lag effects within 7 days. Synergistic effects of air pollutants and temperature were evaluated using a dummy variable, stratifying temperature levels into low and high (> 90th percentile). During the study period, there were 43,642 suicides, with an average daily YLLs of 193 years. Among the pollutants, NO₂ and O₃ showed significant associations with YLLs due to suicide. An interquartile range increase of 17.8 ppb for NO₂ and 22.1 ppb for O₃ was associated with increases in YLLs due to suicide by 4.08 and 5.72 years, respectively. All air pollutants and high temperatures were found to have significant synergistic effects on YLLs due to suicide (PM₁₀ [11.83 years; P_interact = 0.01]; PM_2.5 [10.74 years; P_interact = 0.01]; NO₂ [14.52 years; P_interact = 0.01]; SO₂ [8.72 years; P_interact = 0.04]; O₃ [10.02 years; P_interact = 0.08]; and CO [11.42 years; P_interact = 0.03]). The results support creating suicide prevention policies to reduce premature deaths.

The study analyzed the additional load and suspension time of particle pollutants emerging from Diwali firecracker combustion between two different urban landscape sites in Lucknow, India. PM_# (1, 2.5, and 10) and PSD (range: 0.2 μm to 20 μm), and chemical speciation of 15-elements and 6-ions of PM_2.5 were assessed for Diwali and non-Diwali-days. In the commercial site, pre-Diwali-days to Diwali-day and pre-Diwali-days to post-Diwali-days added an extra load of PM_# in the atmosphere by 3 to 5 times and 1.5 to 2 times respectively. Whereas, in the residential site, 2 to 3 times and 1 to 1.5 times increased PM_# was observed. Variations in PM_# suspension time due to Diwali fireworks were found as ~10 days at residential site and ~6 days at commercial site due to dissimilarities in the local source mix. Further, unimodal and bimodal PSD distributions and nearness observed between PSDs in two of the study sites revealed the influence of relative sources during Diwali and non-Diwali-days. Chemical markers of Diwali fireworks were identified as abundant in PM_2.5 during Diwali and post-Diwali-days, but less in pre-Diwali-days. A strong correlation between markers of Diwali fireworks and their occurrence with PCA groups further confirmed the suspension period of PM_# even during post-Diwali-days.

Satellite-based data has been currently considered as an important exposure in projection studies of climate change impact on mortality. We projected all-cause mortality attributable to heat and cold by 2099 under adaptation, population change and climate scenarios using the data, in addition to ground-based exposure. Air temperature was estimated using Land Surface Temperature (LST) in a city-specific regression model. The predicted temperature was corrected for the bias using Bland–Altman approach and observed data in each city. The bias-corrected and observed predictors were then used in a two-stage time series regression to estimate baseline city-specific and pooled associations across five cities. Combination of the dose–response association and projected temperature by RCPs and GCMs along mortality data were used in the projection analysis. The temperature was estimated to increase by 6 °C in all of the regions under the worst scenario. Based on station data and under all scenarios, the Attributable Fraction (AF) and number of deaths due to cold were higher than heat in all decades in future. Also, the uncertainty in the heat effect was low if there is no adaptation to heat especially during 2020–2050 (e.g., AF for the worst scenario of RCPs and population variant was 0.07 (Empirical CI: 0.01, 0.12)). However, both exposures showed an increasing impact (Attributable Fraction (AF) and number of deaths) of heat and decreasing impact of cold in future. Compared to station-based data, the uncertainty in heat impact using the predicted data was lower under all scenarios in all decades. Along the observed data measured by weather stations the satellite-based exposure should be addressed in the studies of the projection of climate change impact on mortality. Our findings specifically highlight the urgent need for adaptive strategies to mitigate the impacts of extreme heat events, particularly in the cities like Ilam where adaptation scenario had an important role on the projection analysis.

The interest in the studies on Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) levels indoors has increased with the banning or phase out of the use of PCBs in commercial products due to their adverse effects on human health. A comprehensive PCB source apportionment and risk estimation study was conducted for the first time using house dust in Turkey. Fifteen PCBs were measured in dust samples from 90 homes located in different neighborhoods of Kocaeli. The total concentrations of PCBs (Σ₁₅PCBs) were measured in the range of 2.32–309.5 ng/g, with a median value of 22.82 ng/g. The concentrations varied greatly due to the availability of different types and quantities of PCB-containing product indoors. Possible pollution sources were identified using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and questionnaire responses. The sources of PCB indoor dust include the use of PCBs for insulation, maintenance, and commercial purposes, as well as vehicular and heating combustion emissions. Considering the three exposure routes for the two groups, the risk of exposure through the inhalation of dust contaminated with PCBs was negligible compared with the dermal and non-dietary ingestion routes. Total carcinogen (R) and non-carcinogen risk (HI) through the three pathways were less than 1 for HI and 10^− 6 for R, indicating that the measured PCBs would not be likely to cause potential risks for children and adults exposed to those pollutants. However measures to reduce PCBs exposure should be taken for children rather than adults due to the presence of the risk.

Introduction

Air pollution poses a risk for people with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). This study estimated the short-term effect of variations in air pollutant concentrations on exacerbations of COPD (COPD-E) in Bogotá, Colombia.

Methods

We performed an ecological time series study from 2014 to 2021 to evaluate the short-term effect of fine particulate matter (PM_2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), and ozone (O₃) levels on COPD-E treated in the emergency and hospitalization services. Daily counts of patients with COPD-E discharge diagnoses were obtained from the National Health Information System, and daily measurements of PM_2.5, NO₂, and O₃ concentrations and meteorological data were obtained from air monitoring stations. A Generalized Additive Model was used with Distributed Lag Non-Linear Models to control for confounders.

Results

An increase of 10 μg/m³ in PM_2.5 and O₃ was associated with increased COPD-E admissions (lagged 0-3 days) with Relative Risk (RR) of 1.04 (95%CI: 1.02 -1.07) and RR:1.03 (95%CI:1.01 – 1.04), respectively. During the rainy season and minimum temperature of the series, for every 10 μg/m³ increase in PM_2.5 concentration, COPD-E admissions (lagged 0-3 days) increased with RR 1.03 (95%CI: 1.01-1.06). A higher magnitude of association was observed in men (PM_2.5, 1.04 95%CI:1.01 – 1.06 and O₃, 1.04 95%CI:1.02 – 1.05, lag 0-7 days) than in women.

Conclusions

A higher air pollution was associated with more COPD-E. These results highlight the importance of actions aimed at improving air quality.

Graphical Abstract

The Black Carbon (BC) injected into the atmosphere from various sources not only adversely affects the air quality and human health but also significantly influences the earth atmosphere climate system by modulating the global radiation budget. The BC aerosols are mainly removed from atmosphere by the wet scavenging mechanism. The representation of wet scavenging in the models is highly uncertain due to the complex microphysical processes involved and also due to the limited observations available. In this study, based on the in-situ measurements of BC and rainfall observations, the wet scavenging of BC aerosols has been comprehensively studied over a coastal urban location, Chennai (12.81°N, 80.03°E) during the South-West (SW) and North-East (NE) monsoon for the period 2018 and 2019. The average BC concentration over Chennai during SW and NE during the study period was 1.45 ± 0.4 µgm⁻³ and 3.28 ± 1.2 µgm⁻³, respectively. By making use of the rain drop size distribution observations from a Laser Precipitation Monitor (LPM) disdrometer, the theoretical estimate of the wet scavenging is calculated (using a parameter Scavenging Coefficient-Sc_(rc)) and comprehensively compared with the observed BC scavenging ratio (BCSr) for different rainfall duration and rainfall intensities during the SW and NE monsoon. It was found low BCSr values of the range 0–15% were more frequent. The peak Scavenging Coefficient for light rain and very heavy rain are 0.6 × 10^–6 and 3.8 × 10^–6 respectively. The theoretical estimate of the wet scavenging showed an increase with increase in rainfall intensity linearly with a correlation coefficient 0.84 at 0.01 level significance and the maximum scavenging of the BC aerosols was found to occur for the rain drop sizes ranging between 0.5 mm and 1.8 mm over the study location.

Studying atmospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) concentrations in urban areas is crucial for assessing air quality and caring for the population’s health; however, the background of studies on this gas in medium-sized cities is scarce, highlighting a significant knowledge gap in the field, especially in Latin America. This study aims to assess the levels of NO₂ concentration in a medium-sized city in Argentina using passive samplers over six months. The Geographic Information Systems (GIS) was employed to analyse the spatial distribution of gas concentration using the Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) interpolation method. Additionally, potential emission sources were evaluated by applying exploratory regression analysis. The study found that atmospheric concentrations of NO₂ generally exceeded the values established by the World Health Organization (WHO) of 10 µg/m³. The highest mean concentration (30.4 µg/m³) was determined near a national route and industrial areas. Correlation analysis between the NO₂ concentration at each site and possible emission sources suggests that industries are the main sources of this gas.

Micro and nanoplastics (MNPs) may enter the human body through food, drink, and air. Scientists have mainly focused on the first two routes, but little is known about the third. A cascade impactor having a size range of (> 2.5, 1.0–2.5, 0.50–1.0, 0.25–0.50, and < 0.25 μm) was used to study the size segregation of MNPs in different indoor commercial markets. The morphological characterization showed the presence of fibers, fragments, films, lines, foam, and pellets with different colors. Three hundred-seven particles were scanned for chemical description under Micro-Raman analysis, and 247 were identified and categorized into 52 MNPs . The standard MNPs found in the samples were PTFE, PE, PP, HDPE, PA, LDPE, and PAM. The SEM-EDX analysis showed that C, O, and F had the highest weight% among all elements seen, while C, O, F, Mg, and Al were the common elements. These MNPs are small enough to get inhaled easily. MNPs in these indoor environments showed vast sources that emit these polymeric particles and have harmful human health impacts, particularly on the employees working there. So, there is a need to take the necessary measures to minimize the release of these MNPs in these indoor environments and their impacts on human health.

In order to understand the origin and behaviour of aerosols in the west of the Mediterranean basin, a comprehensive investigation of water-soluble inorganic ions (WSII) with size segregation and Organic carbon (OC) and Element carbon (EC) in ultra fine fraction has been carried out in a coastal Algerian measurement station, namely BouIsmaïl, during seven months covering July 2013 to January 2014. A cascade impactor for six particle sizes with cut-off diameters of 0.49, 0.95, 1.5, 3, 7.2, and 10 µm was used for the whole campaign. The WSII were analysed by ion chromatography, and their distribution mode and potential sources were evaluated. The weekly mass concentration varied between 8.7 and 87 µg m⁻³ (with an average of 39.3 µg m⁻³). The three major ions were Cl⁻, Na⁺, and SO₄²⁻, contributing 65% of the total water-soluble inorganic ions (TWSII). Na⁺ and Cl⁻ manifested comparable an unimodal distributions dominated in coarse mode, and the Cl⁻/Na⁺ molar ratio was close to that attributed to marine sources. Whilst SO₄²⁻ and methane sulfonic acid (MSA) presented an inverted bimodal distribution mainly concentrated in the fine mode and contributed over 60%, ammonium (NH₄⁺) showed strong and significant Pearson correlations with sulfate in the fine mode (r = 0.88, p-value < 0.01), indicating that NH₄⁺ was an important neutralising agent of SO₄²⁻ leading to the production of (NH₄)₂SO₄ and NH₄HSO₄. The size distributions of the rest of the ions Cl⁻, NO₃⁻, Na⁺, K⁺, Mg²⁺, and Ca²⁺ were unimodal mainly in the coarse mode, while oxalate and NH₄⁺ were unimodal in the fine mode. The average concentrations of OC and EC during the investigated campaign were 4.5 and 1.3 μg m⁻³, respectively. Finally, according to the aerosol chemical composition and backwards trajectory analysis, BouIsmaïl air was affected by long-range air mass transported from the northwest and the west, and local emissions have an important impact on ions and carbonaceous particles in the aerosol of the investigated site.

Effects of real-life cooking activities on PM_2.5 in different urban microenvironments of crowded and large metropolitan areas in Asia were comprehensively analyzed. The assessment was done based on monitoring data obtained for commercial cooking in a university campus in Thailand, restaurants in Taiwan, street food vendors, and residential cooking in Vietnam. Online instruments used for PM_2.5 monitoring were priori calibrated against the reference equipment. The influence of cooking activities on indoor and outdoor PM_2.5 levels was evaluated considering ventilation conditions and the type of fuel-cookstove of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), charcoal, rice straw pellets (RSP), and honeycomb coal briquettes (HCB). Higher levels of PM_2.5 were observed during intensive cooking periods than in non-cooking periods. Cooking with solid fuel (RSP, charcoal, and HCB) induced higher exposure levels of PM_2.5 than LPG. The fuel stoking practice, size and design of stoves (with or without hood/exhaust fan), and type of food being cooked (steaming or meat grilling) were important factors affecting the PM_2.5 levels. Other important factors especially affecting indoor PM_2.5 levels included ventilation, outdoor emissions (traffic, nearby cooking activities), indoor sources (number of customers), and incense burning. The ambient pollution in the surroundings of the microenvironments may contribute significantly to measured PM_2.5 levels, especially for the locations close to busy roads or in areas with heavy traffic. Further studies are required to assess the impact of exposure to cooking-induced PM_2.5 emissions on human health to provide scientific evidence to foster clean cooking practices.