Biological effects of particulate matter samples during the COVID-19 pandemic: a comparison with the pre-lockdown period in Northwest Italy
In conclusion, the study confirms that PM biological effects cannot be assessed considering only the PM concentration and suggests to include a battery of bioassay for air quality monitoring in order to protect human health from air pollution effects.Graphical Abstract (Source: Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health)
Source: Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health - June 6, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
Driving forces and relationship between air pollution and economic growth based on EKC hypothesis and STIRPAT model: evidence from Henan Province, China
AbstractThe aim of this research is to analyze the main influencing factors and relationship between atmospheric environment and economic society. Using the panel data of 18 cities in Henan Province from 2006 to 2020, this paper employed some advanced econometric estimation included entropy method, extended environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) and STIRPAT model to conduct empirical estimations. The results show that most regions in Henan Province have verified the existence of the EKC hypothesis; and the peak of air pollution level in all cities of Henan Province generally occurred in around 2014. Multiple linear Ridge regres...
Source: Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health - May 30, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
Occupational exposure and personal exposure to hazardous air pollutants in underground metro stations and factors causing poor indoor air quality
AbstractIn this comprehensive research study, the occupational exposure levels of subway personnel employed in underground metro stations and personal exposure levels of passengers commuting by metro trains to airborne pollutants were investigated. The factors leading to deteriorating indoor air quality due to greater concentrations of air pollutants were also identified. For this reason, a field study was conducted in Chennai, India during both dry and wet climatic conditions. Indoor air pollutants, particulate matter (PM10, PM2.5, and PM1), total volatile organic compounds (TVOC), carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (C...
Source: Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health - May 30, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
An analysis of aerosol properties during a dust storm due to the TAUKTAE cyclone using remote sensing
AbstractMillions of people suffer from health problems due to poor air quality in regions of high particulate pollution. Therefore, this paper proposes for better understanding of the impact of dust storms on both short- and long-term environmental factors that can help in a preferable formulation of warning and prediction scenarios in arid regions. We evaluate the effect of dust storms on the optical properties of aerosols and meteorological parameters by employing both ground-based and satellite remote sensing approaches. For this, we use AERosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET), MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (M...
Source: Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health - May 26, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
Air quality index prediction based on three-stage feature engineering, model matching, and optimized ensemble
AbstractA prompt and accurate prediction of air quality index (AQI) has become a necessity to tackle the mounting environmental threats. This paper proposes a feature-driven hybrid method for hourly, 3-step-ahead, and deterministic AQI prediction, which includes three modules. In Module 1, an “extract-merge-filter” procedure of feature engineering is created to capture the potential features from the AQI series. Ten feature sets are generated as candidates. In Module 2, six models including Light Gradient Boosting Machine, Extreme Gradient Boosting, Long Short-Term Memory, Convolutio nal Neural Network, Multilayer Perc...
Source: Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health - May 23, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
Temporal trends of particle gross β-activity and PM2.5 mass concentrations in the USA during 2001–2017
AbstractRecent studies conducted in the USA have shown that adverse health effects of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) persist at levels below the national air quality standards. More recently, particle radioactivity has also been associated with adverse health effects. However, the importance of particle radioactivity at low PM2.5 levels has not been thoroughly explored. The present paper investigates the temporal trends and the relationship of particle gross β-activity (PM-β) and PM2.5 mass in the 48 states of the contiguous USA during the period of 2001 –2017. With the implementation of stringent air pollution contro...
Source: Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health - May 22, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
A comparison of physiologically equivalent temperature based on model simulation and site observation data for Iran
AbstractClimate change will have a great impact on thermal bioclimate conditions and thermal perceptions, and statistical downscaling methods may introduce uncertainties to climate projection which should be considered in future planning. Therefore, the present study aims to evaluate the statistical downscaling method of Cumulative Distribution Function –transform (CDF-t) in simulating the thermal comfort characteristics of Iran based on the physiologically equivalent temperature index (PET). The daily maximum and minimum temperature, wind speed, and relative humidity of ERA5 climate reanalysis as well as the observation...
Source: Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health - May 20, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
Residual impacts of a wildland urban interface fire on urban particulate matter and dust: a study from the Marshall Fire
AbstractThe impacts of wildfires along the wildland urban interface (WUI) on atmospheric particulate concentrations and composition are an understudied source of air pollution exposure. To assess the residual impacts of the 2021 Marshall Fire (Colorado), a wildfire that predominantly burned homes and other human-made materials, on homes within the fire perimeter that escaped the fire, we performed a combination of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) filter sampling and chemical analysis, indoor dust collection and chemical analysis, community scale PurpleAir PM2.5 analysis, and indoor particle number concentration measurements...
Source: Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health - May 20, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
Spatio-temporal patterns and trends of the air pollution integrating MERRA-2 and in situ air quality data over Egypt (2013 –2021)
This study examined the patterns and trends of SO2, NO2, CO, O3, and particulate matter (PM) air pollutants over 91 monitoring stations in Egypt during 93 months in the August (2013)–April (2021) period. In situ data with their monthly, seasonal, and yearly spatial trends are defined and used to validate the counterpart satellite reanalysis MERRA-2 data. The Mann–Kendall test characterized the seasonal monotonic trends and their Sen’s slope, a nd annual change rate for both data series. Regression analysis of MERRA-2 against in situ concentrations of SO2 and PM10 revealed underestimation with RMSE values of 13.38 ...
Source: Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health - May 19, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
PM2.5-bound trace metals in an urban area of Northern Mexico during the COVID-19 pandemic: characterization, sources, and health risk
AbstractA field study was carried out in the Metropolitan Area of Monterrey (MAM), the second most populated city in Mexico, characterized by increasing urbanization, high traffic density, and intense industrial activity. These characteristics commonly present high concentrations of air pollutants leading to the degradation of air quality. PM2.5 was analyzed for heavy metals at two urban sites located within the MAM (Juarez and San Bernabe) in order to determine sources, health risk, morphology, and elemental content during the COVID-19 pandemic (autumn 2020 and spring 2021). Twenty-four-hour samples of PM2.5 were collecte...
Source: Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health - May 18, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
Ambient PM2.5-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Ningbo Harbor, eastern China: seasonal variation, source apportionment, and cancer risk assessment
AbstractField measurements were conducted at a container harbor located in Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, China. Concentrations of fifty-three PAHs in airborne PM2.5 were quantified using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The positive matrix factorization model and potential source contribution function analysis were used to evaluate the main sources of PAHs. The PM2.5-bound PAH –associated inhalation lung cancer risks were estimated using a point estimate approach based on relative potency factors. Average concentrations were recorded for PM2.5 (18 ± 6.0 μg/m3) and ∑53PAHs (8.83 ± 8.42 ng/m3). The 4 –6 ring PA...
Source: Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health - May 17, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
Air pollutant concentration trends in China: correlations between solar radiation, PM2.5, and O3
In this study, we analyzed the spatial distribution and temporal variations of surface solar radiation and aerosol extinction to explain the recent increase in surface O3 concentration. Our results confirmed a marked PM2.5 concentration decrease between 2015 and 2019, especially in northern China, and a simultaneous O3 concentration increase. Surface solar radiation showed geographically consistent increases, likely caused by the decreasing PM2.5 concentrations and the resulting lower aerosol optical thickness. The surface solar radiation increasing enhanced photochemical O3 production. We also investigated cloud cover dis...
Source: Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health - May 11, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
Air pollution characteristics, health risks, and typical pollution processes in autumn and winter in a central city of China
AbstractBy combining atmospheric environment observational data, we expounded the characteristics, types, and potential source regions of air pollution in Zhengzhou using the characteristic radar chart, potential source contribution factor analysis, and concentration weighted trajectory analysis. We also calculated the excess risk (ER) of death caused by excessive air pollutants and explored a typical pollution process. The results showed that the average PM2.5 concentration in autumn (October and November 2020) (55.5 μg/m3) was lower than that in winter (December 2020 and January 2021) (83.5 μg/m3), and January was the ...
Source: Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health - May 10, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
Short-term association between air pollution and hypertension mortality in Wuhan residents
In conclusion, short-term exposure to air pollution may increase the risk of HTN mortality. The negative association reported in O3 provides further insight into the health effects of air pollution. (Source: Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health)
Source: Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health - May 6, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
Estimation of Inactivation time for the SARS-CoV-2 virus from the UV biometer in South Korea
AbstractThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a result of the infection by “severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and has caused various social and economic effects over the globe. As the SARS-CoV-2 is effectively inactivated by the exposure to the UV-B radiation (shorter than 315 nm), the exposure time for inactivation of the SARS-CoV-2 was esti mated using the broadband UV observation instrument over 11 observation sites in South Korea. For the limitation of the UV biometer, which has limited spectral information, the coefficient for conversion from the erythemal UV (EUV) to the radiation ...
Source: Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health - May 4, 2023 Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research
