Air Quality Atmosphere and Health最新文献

Nighttime ground-level ozone is a crucial period of ozone depletion due to the absence of sunlight and the lack of ozone produced. This study presents an in-depth analysis of the major cause behind ozone deflection from 7 PM to 12 AM in consideration of ozone precursors, meteorological factors and other indirect chemical reactions. Malaysia is a tropical area with two distinctive monsoons and an average temperature ranging between 21 °C and 32 °C. A total of 10 continuous air quality monitoring stations, 3 years (2013–2015), nighttime hours (7 PM to 12 AM) and 6 parameters (O₃, NO, NO₂, T, RH and PM₁₀) were considered in the analysis. Box and whisker plots (descriptive statistics), diurnal plots and principal component analysis (PCA) were used to highlight the ozone depletion in Malaysia from 7PM to 12 AM. The descriptive statistics of O₃ concentration differed across all locations due to different atmospheric surroundings (land-use types), and the highest ozone distribution during nighttime was observed in the suburban area of Malaysia. Meanwhile, the diurnal analysis reveals a decreasing trend in O₃ concentration and an increasing trend in NO and NO₂ concentrations. The suburban area (LS04-S) of Malaysia reported the highest O₃ concentration, whereas the urban (LS02-U; LS03-U) and industrial areas (LS07-I; LS10-I) recorded the highest NO and NO₂ concentrations due to their highly congested roads and heavy industries. The PCA results show variations ranging from 52.195% to 79.532% and that PC1 can be separated into two main factors, namely, meteorological factors and traffic-originated emissions.

Vehicular emissions are a significant source of urban air pollution, posing serious threats to environmental quality and public health. Roadside trees serve as natural biofilters by mitigating air pollutants and improving urban livability. However, plant tolerance, physiological performance, and dust retention capacity vary widely across species. This study assessed interspecific variation in the air pollution tolerance index (APTI), anticipated performance index (API), and dust retention potential of 66 tree species exposed to vehicular emissions, to identify suitable candidates for urban green space and green corridor development. The findings indicated significant seasonal and interspecific variations, with higher APTI and API values during the post-monsoon season compared to the pre-monsoon season. The species such as Swietenia macrophylla, Dalbergia sissoo, Millingtonia hortensis, Khaya senegalensis, Ficus religiosa, Azadirachta indica, Putranjiva roxburghii, Cassia fistula, Pterospermum acerifolium, and Bauhinia variegata exhibited high APTI and API values, indicating strong tolerance to vehicular emissions and suitability for roadside plantations. In addition, Kigelia pinnata, P. roxburghii, Conocarpus lancifolius, and Pithecellobium dulce demonstrated high dust retention potential, highlighting their significant role in particulate matter mitigation. Correlation analysis revealed a strong positive association between ascorbic acid content and APTI, suggesting its reliability as a biochemical marker for pollution tolerance. In contrast, phenolic and sugar contents indicated an oxidative stress response and metabolic adaptation. This study underlines the importance of species-specific monitoring in urban planning and policy, enabling the selection of tolerant, high-performing trees for sustainable urban greening and green corridor development to mitigate the impacts of vehicular emissions and other anthropogenic activities.

The pollution levels of SO₂, a ubiquitous air pollutant, are of great concern to the public. They can be monitored cost-effectively using a passive sampler, with its performance, however, rarely studied in Northeast China featuring a hot and wet summer and a cold and dry winter. Moreover, little attention has been paid to the distribution of the absorbed SO₂ within the sampler’s trapping medium. In this study, three variants of the triethanolamine-based (TEA-based) Willems badge-type passive sampler, namely WBPS_Di−1 L, WBPS_Pi−1 L and WBPS_Pi−2 L, were assembled, with the subscripts Di and Pi representing the dipping and the pipetting methods, respectively, for preparing the trapping medium; and 1 L and 2 L the single-layered and the double-layered structures for the trapping medium, respectively. Roughly biweekly, a field validation of the former two samplers against an SO₂ analyser was conducted at an urban station (for 36 weeks) and at a rural one (for 30 or 14 weeks) in Shenyang City in Northeast China, with some shorter and longer sampling at the urban station, and several simultaneous deployments of the latter two samplers at both stations. The WBPS_Pi−2 L was used to check the absorbed SO₂ distribution within the trapping medium. The results suggest that the adjusted uptake rate of each of the former two samplers was insensitive to temperature, exposure duration and the TEA consumption rate, but was significantly negatively affected by relative humidity. The single outer layer of the double-layered trapping medium was adequate for passive sampling of SO₂ in Shenyang, demonstrating TEA’s high collection efficiency.

Air pollution remains a global issue impacting the environment and public health, yet its effects during cultural events remain under-recognised. This study investigated the relationship between selected air pollutants (PM₁₀, NO₂, O₃, SO₂) and cardiovascular and respiratory mortality rates from 2018 to 2022, specifically during the Hajj cultural events in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Time series log-linear models assessed the relationship between monthly air pollutants and cardiovascular and respiratory mortality. We adjusted for season and trend and tested an interaction model for effect modification of Hajj cultural events and COVID-19 on the air pollution mortality associations. A larger association was determined between NO₂ and cardiovascular mortality during Hajj cultural events (RR: 1.17, 95% CI: 1.05–1.30) compared to non-Hajj periods (RR: 1.02, 95% CI: 0.99–1.05). The increased risk of respiratory mortality associated with NO₂ during the Hajj cultural events was higher (RR: 1.24, 95% CI: 1.09–1.40) compared with the period with no Hajj events (RR: 1.04, 95% CI: 0.99–1.09). The study also found that exposure to increased levels of O₃ also significantly impacted respiratory (RR:1.19, 95% CI: 1.04–1.48) and cardiovascular mortality (RR:1.35, 95% CI:1.15–1.59) during Hajj cultural events while an inverse association was observed between O₃ and respiratory (RR:0.92, 95% CI: 0.89–0.96) and cardiovascular (RR:0.97, 95% CI: 0.94–0.99) mortality during non-Hajj periods. During COVID-19, the study showed that most associations were inverse or nonsignificant; only SO₂ showed a positive association with cardiovascular mortality (RR = 1.22; 95% CI: 1.11–1.34). The study outcomes provide valuable insights into the environmental health field, supporting policy development for public health protection.

The scientific community has not yet addressed the study of indoor and urban outdoor PCBs associated with airborne particulate matter. PM₁₀ particles were collected simultaneously across a year in an urban outdoor and indoor environment, ulteriorly extracting and quantifying 11 PCBs using ASE and GC/MS, respectively. Outdoor and indoor annual average PM₁₀-bound ƩPCBs levels were 599.13 and 628.13 pg/m³, with the highest and lowest contributions from congeners with lower molecular weight (PCB 31 and 49) and higher molecular weight (PCB 183 and 194). Outstanding monthly, seasonal, and annual outdoor vs. indoor correlations were observed, sustaining similar pollution profiles at both locations along the study and marking higher polluting levels in the cold than warm periods. Outdoor PCBs 31, 99, 149, and 151 were appointed as the more representative, while PCBs 49 and 110 for the indoor air. Mathematical expressions estimating monthly total PCBs concentration in the function of the more representative monthly congeners were formulated, facilizing monthly accumulated exposure assessment in limited resources scenarios, which is primordial in public health. Annual average I/O ratios were higher or equal to 1 for all target pollutants, mainly from December 2017 to January 2018. Individually, the outdoor and indoor CR values were below the Limit value, including the continuous exposure approach, where the analyzed PCBs ranged from 10⁻⁵ to 10⁻⁶ at all seasons. This study provides pioneer information on a scientific topic that has not been assessed, helping urban air quality management and offering clues to other cities.

Differential information is a core principle in grey system theory. However, traditional grey multivariate models often overlook the variations between feature sequences and related factor sequences. This oversight leads to a loss of critical information and weakens the model’s predictive accuracy. Firstly, to fully utilize differential information, this paper proposes the multivariate heterogeneous cumulative grey prediction model. Secondly, with the introduction of the implementation program for the synergistic reduction of pollution and carbon emissions, North China has stepped up its efforts to combat atmospheric pollution and reduce carbon emissions. There is spatial correlation of air quality in the region. Therefore, the paper proposes the spatiotemporal multivariate heterogeneous cumulative grey model. Finally, the spatiotemporal multivariate heterogeneous cumulative grey model is applied to air quality prediction in North China. This model enables analysis of both future air quality trends in each province and the overall regional air quality under different carbon emission rates. These insights offer robust theoretical and empirical support for developing future synergy policies on pollution and carbon reduction.

The present study aimed to assess indoor and outdoor Radon-222 activity concentrations and associated radiological hazard parameters across 48 locations in Kirkuk Governorate, Iraq. Measurements were conducted using the AlphaGUARD system is a high sensitivity, portable ionization chamber-based radon monitor capable of operating in diffusion and continuous flow modes under varying environmental conditions. Indoor ²²²Rn concentrations ranged from 3 ± 0.2 to 71 ± 3.6 Bq·m⁻³ with mean equal 14.3 ± 1.9 Bq m⁻³, while outdoor levels ranged from 1 ± 0.05 to 19 ± 0.9 Bq·m⁻³ with mean equal 9.7 ± 0.4 Bq m⁻³. Although all indoor values remained well below the World Health Organization (WHO) and International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) recommended upper limit of 100 Bq m⁻³ several outdoor measurements exceeded theWHO-recommended safe limit of 10 Bq m⁻³. Radiological hazard indices were also evaluated the potential alpha energy (PAE) ranged from 0.32 to 7.68 mWL, annual effective dose (AED) ranged from 0.08 to 1.79 mSv y⁻¹ indoors and 0.01 to 0.18 mSv y⁻¹ outdoors. The annual equivalent dose (H_E) averaged 0.26 mSv y⁻¹, excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR) was 0.99, and lung cancer cases per million persons per year (CPPP) averaged 1.93 × 10⁻⁶. All these radiological indicators remained within the global safety limits recommended by WHO and ICRP. Statistical analysis, including the Shapiro-Wilk test, Pearson correlation, cluster analysis, and principal component analysis (PCA), revealed strong correlations between indoor radon and hazard parameters. These findings provide essential baseline data for public health policy, risk mitigation, and environmental monitoring. While most sites demonstrated compliance with global safety criteria, outdoor radon levels at some locations suggest the need for continuous monitoring and possible mitigation in areas exceeding the outdoor reference level.

As global climate change intensifies, carbon emissions present considerable challenges to the sustainable development of human society. Land use is an important carbon emission source, making its spatial management crucial for achieving the “double carbon” goal. This study examined the structure and status of land use in Henan Province, China. Based on the 2005–2020 statistical data, the spatial and temporal evolution of carbon emissions from land use was examined using a carbon emission accounting model and spatial autocorrelation analysis. The logarithmic mean Divisia index model was developed to decompose the main influencing factors of carbon emissions from land use, and the contribution of the driving factors was quantitatively evaluated. Additionally, the Tapio decoupling model was used to explore the relationship between carbon emissions and economic development. From 2005 to 2020, land use carbon emissions in Henan Province showed an inverted “U” trend of “growth and then decline,” with a spatial distribution pattern of “high in the north, low in the south,” with a high carbon emission area concentrated in Zhengzhou and Luoyang. The land use carbon emission effect and efficiency negatively affected carbon emissions, whereas economic efficiency and energy intensity contributed to increased carbon emissions. The Tapio decoupling situation revealed that carbon emissions from land use and economic growth transformed from weak to strong decoupling, and the decoupling state caused by each decoupling elasticity index showed a trend towards good development. The findings provide valuable insights into the factors affecting regional carbon emissions.

During the 34th Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica (ISEA), a year-long record of black carbon (BC) concentrations was obtained using a seven-wavelength Aethalometer (AE-42) at the Indian Antarctic research base, Maitri, from February to December 2014. Despite Antarctica being regarded as the most pristine environment on Earth, anthropogenic activities have escalated Significantly over the past two decades in this region. Diurnal variations in BC levels exhibited multiple peaks throughout the observation period, with BC concentrations ranging from 14.6 to 76.6 ng/m³ (mean of 39.3 ± 14.3 ng/m³). Approximately 51% of the monthly average BC concentrations exceeded the annual mean (39.3 ng/m³), suggesting a persistent influx of emissions from anthropogenic sources. BC concentrations exhibit elevated levels during October, particularly in the early morning (03:00–04:00 h), mid-day (10:00–16:00 h), and evening (23:00–24:00 h). Conversely, lower BC concentrations are observed in April during the morning hours (04:00–06:00 h) and evening hours (16:00–20:00 h). The concentration of BC from fossil fuels (BC_ff) ranges from 1.2 to 66.3 ng/m³, with an annual average of 27.2 ± 13.1 ng/m³. The study indicates a robust correlation between BC and BC_ff, while showing a weaker correlation with BC from biomass (BC_bb). The atmospheric (ATM) forcing, both composite and without BC, is higher over the station in March and lower in November. For both composite and without BC conditions, ATM forcing is positive, while top-of-atmosphere (TOA) and surface (SUF) forcing are negative. The study also examines the temporal variations of BC_ff and BC_bb, as well as the back trajectory analysis of air masses regarding BC, composite, and without BC radiative forcing.

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