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Introduction: Air pollution is a global issue that poses a significant threat to public health. Children, due to their developing physiology, are particularly susceptible to the inhalation of environmental pollutants. Exposure can trigger immune modulation and organ damage, increasing susceptibility to respiratory diseases. Therefore, we aim to examine the association between heavy metal and particulate matter exposure with tuberculosis in children., Methods and Analysis: As a case-control study, we will include children diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis (n=60) and matched healthy controls (n=80) recruited from the same communities in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Exposure data for both cases and controls will be collected by a trained field team conducting home visits. They will administer an exposure questionnaire, measure child anthropometry, collect blood and household dust samples and instal 48-hour air quality monitors. The blood samples will be analysed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for serum heavy metal concentrations (lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury and chromium), as a representative marker of exposure, and the presence of inflammatory biomarkers. Descriptive and inferential statistics, including independent samples t-tests, analysis of variance and conditional regression analysis, will be used to quantify heavy metal and particulate matter exposure status in tuberculosis cases compared with healthy controls, while accounting for potential confounders. Dust samples and air quality results will be analysed to understand household sources of heavy metal and particulate matter exposure. To test the study hypothesis, there is a positive association between exposure and tuberculosis diseases, we will also measure the accumulated effect of simultaneous exposures using Bayesian statistical modelling., Ethics and Dissemination: This study has been approved by International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh's Institutional Review Board (PR-22030). The study findings will be disseminated at conferences and published in peer-reviewed journals., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Objectives: This paper presents the study design of the Berlin-Brandenburg Air study (BEAR-study). We measure air quality in Berlin and Brandenburg before and after the relocation of aircraft (AC) traffic from Tegel (TXL) airport to the new Berlin-Brandenburg airport (BER) and investigate the association of AC-related ultrafine particles (UFP) with health outcomes in schoolchildren. Methods: The BEAR-study is a natural experiment examining schoolchildren attending schools near TXL and BER airports, and in control areas (CA) away from both airports and associated air corridors. Each child undergoes repeated school-based health-examinations. Total particle number concentration (PNC) and meteorological parameters are continuously monitored. Submicrometer particle number size distribution, equivalent black carbon, and gas-phase pollutants are collected from long-term air quality monitoring stations. Daily source-specific UFP concentrations are modeled. We will analyze short-term effects of UFP on respiratory, cardiovascular, and neurocognitive outcomes, as well as medium and long-term effects on lung growth and cognitive development. Results: We examined 1,070 children (as of 30 November 2022) from 16 schools in Berlin and Brandenburg. Conclusion: The BEAR study increases the understanding of how AC-related UFP affect children's health., Competing Interests: Author SaL was employed by the company Cardinal Health Real-World Evidence and Insights. The remaining authors declare that they do not have any conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Soppa, Lucht, Ogurtsova, Buschka, López-Vicente, Guxens, Weinhold, Winkler, Wiedensohler, Held, Lüchtrath, Cyrys, Kecorius, Gastmeier, Wiese-Posselt and Hoffmann.)

Buildings are often located near ambient air pollution sources such as wildfire or heavy traffic areas. While windows in buildings are intermittently open for free cooling or natural ventilation, increased leakage area can lead to elevated human exposure to air pollutants of outdoor origin. The objective of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of paper filter windows in reducing exposure to outdoor air pollution and improving indoor air quality. The physical properties of paper windows as filtration media were experimentally determined, based on which multi-zone indoor air quality and ventilation analysis (CONTAM) simulations were performed for a full-scale building. The results show that the outdoor-indoor air exchange rate of a building can increase about 100% when conventional windows are replaced with paper filter windows. Even with the increased air exchange rate, the infiltration of outdoor particles into the building was reduced about 57-77% for the particle size range of 7-300 nm. These findings imply that paper windows have potential benefits for controlling both outdoor originated pollutants and indoor-generated pollutants with minimal energy inputs, especially in cities and communities impacted by urban air pollution and wildfires., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Removing benzene from indoor space plays an important role in indoor air purification. A novel filter with vegetal fiber paper (VFP) as matrix hosting silica gel is proposed in this paper for benzene removal. In order to investigate the feasibility and performance of this idea, firstly, three pieces of VFP samples impregnated with different amounts of silica gel are fabricated and their benzene adsorption quantities are tested. The results show that three times is recommended as the optimal number for impregnating. The VFP sample impregnated with silica gel after the third impregnating exhibits commendable coating stability and good benzene adsorption performance. Additionally, at low relative pressure (P b /P s  ≤ 0.05), the experimental data of benzene adsorption isotherms fit well with the Langmuir model with R 2 greater than 0.97. Then, two actual filters made of VFP impregnated with silica gel after the third impregnating were fabricated. It is found that the pressure drop of the actual filter is only 1200 Pa/m when the air velocity is 2 m/s. Besides, the one-pass efficiency of the filter can reach to 19.44%. It is expected that the silica gel coated on the filter can be modified to improve the purification performance of the filter., (© 2019 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

In this study, we investigated the airborne particles released during paper printing and paper shredding processes in an attempt to characterize and differentiate these particles. Particle characteristics were studied with real time instruments (RTIs) to measure concentrations and with samplers to collect particles for subsequent microscopy and cytotoxicity analysis. The particles released by paper shredding were evaluated for cytotoxicity by using in vitro human lung epithelial cell models. A substantial amount of particles were released during both the shredding and printing processes. We found that the printing process caused substantial release of particles with sizes of less than 300 nm in the form of metal granules and graphite. These released particles contained various elements including Al, Ca, Cu, Fe, Mg, N, K, P, S and Si. The particles released by the paper shredding processes were primarily nanoparticles and had a peak size between 27.4 nm and 36.5 nm. These paper particles contained elements including Al, Br Ca, Cl, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, N, Na, Ni P, S and Si, as determined by scanning electron microscope-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) and single-particle inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy (SP-ICP-MS) analysis. Although various metals were identified in the paper particles, these particles did not elicit cytotoxicity to simian virus-transformed bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS2B) and immortalized normal human bronchial epithelial cells (HBE1). However, future studies should investigate other cytotoxicity effects of these paper particles in various types of lung cells to identify potential health effects of the particles.

The deposition of trace elements around a pulp and paper industry in Morelia, Mexico, was evaluated using two lichen species as biomonitors. Samples of the foliose lichen Flavopunctelia praesignis and the fruticose lichen Usnea ceratina were collected in two remote areas and transplanted at different distances and directions from the pollution source. Lichen samples were exposed for 4 months (1) around the industrial area and (2) in their native habitats (control sites). We investigated the bioaccumulation of 11 trace elements in lichen thalli, and we compared the response of the two lichen species. To identify possible common sources, we evaluated the relationships between trace elements by correlations and cluster analyses. Our results showed that Cd was a good tracer for air pollution from the pulp and paper mills. In samples of Usnea ceratina exposed around the industrial area, Cd was significantly higher than in the remote area. Within the study area, trace element contents increase with the distance from the source, and they showed high depositions in the direction of prevailing winds. Moreover, we were able to detect groups of elements with similar behavior and common origins. Our results indicated that Flavopunctelia praesignis showed a higher capacity to accumulate trace elements than Usnea ceratina., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of female cancer mortality in the U.S. and accounts for five percent of all cancer deaths among women. No environmental risk factors for ovarian cancer have been confirmed. We previously reported that ovarian cancer incidence rates at the state level were significantly correlated with the extent of pulp and paper manufacturing. We evaluated that association using county-level data and advanced geospatial methods. Specifically, we investigated the relationship of spatial patterns of ovarian cancer incidence rates with toxic emissions from pulp and paper facilities using data from the Environmental Protection Agency's Toxic Release Inventory (TRI). Geospatial analysis identified clusters of counties with high ovarian cancer incidence rates in south-central Iowa, Wisconsin, New York, Pennsylvania, Alabama, and Georgia. A bivariate local indicator of spatial autocorrelation (LISA) analysis confirmed that counties with high ovarian cancer rates were associated with counties with large numbers of pulp and paper mills. Regression analysis of state level data indicated a positive correlation between ovarian cancer and water pollutant emissions. A similar relationship was identified from the analysis of county-level data. These data support a possible role of water-borne pollutants from pulp and paper mills in the etiology of ovarian cancer.

Recently, owing to the performance improvement of the headspace (HS)-sampling devices and its consumables, HS vial samples can be analyzed at temperatures up to 300°C. Some studies have attempted to analyze polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in atmospheric 2.5 μm particulate matter (PM 2.5) collected on a filter paper by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) coupled with thermal desorption device. However, no studies have reported the use of an HS-sampling device to quantify PAHs in PM 2.5 filter paper. In this study, we found that the quantification of PAH analysis using HS-GC/MS can be improved by the following steps, so that the accuracy becomes almost the same as that of a solvent-extraction method: 1) replacement of the air in the HS vial with nitrogen, 2) limiting the solvent to toluene, 3) using the hydrolyzed polyimide-covered septum, and 4) optimization of the heating temperature and heating time of the HS vial. As a result, we succeeded in protecting PAHs in an HS vial at a high temperature and in creating an analysis method with a high recovery rate and high repeatability; the limit of quantitation of each PAH in this method was 5.4 pg m -3 in the case of a volume of 10080 m 3 of air being collected on the filter paper.

Using waste paper as fuel for domestic heating is a beneficial recycling option for small island developing states where there are lacks of resources for energy and waste treatment. However, there are concerns about the impact of air pollutants emitted from the burning of the self-made paper briquettes as household air pollution is recognised as the greatest environmental risk for human. In this study, combustion tests were carried out for paper briquettes made in one Pacific island and three commercial fuels in Australia including wood briquettes, kindling firewood and coal briquettes in order to: 1) characterise the emissions of three criteria air pollutants including particulate matters, CO and NO x including their emission factors (EF) from the tested fuels; and 2) compare the EFs among the tested fuels and with others reported in the literature. The results showed that waste paper briquettes burned quickly and generated high temperature but the heat value is relatively low. Paper briquettes and coal briquettes produced higher CO concentration than the others while paper briquettes generated the highest NO x level. Only PM 2.5 concentration emitted from paper briquettes was similar to kindling firewood and lower than wood briquettes. Burning of paper briquettes and wood briquettes produced particulate matter with large average count median diameter (72 and 68 nm) than coal briquette and kindling firewood (45 and 51 nm). The EFs for CO, NO x and PM 2.5 of paper briquettes were within the range of EFs reported in this study as well as in the literature. Overall, the results suggested that using paper briquettes as fuel for domestic heating will not likely to generate higher level of three major air pollutants compared to other traditional fuels., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

This study firstly investigated the species, concentration variation, and emission factors of mercury emitted from the burning of incenses and joss papers in an Asian temple. Both indoor and outdoor speciated mercury (GEM, GOM, and PHg) were sampled by manual samplers, while ambient GEM at an indoor site was in-situ monitored by a continuous GEM monitor. Field measurement results showed that the total atmospheric mercury (TAM) concentrations in indoor and outdoor environments were in the range of 8.03-35.72 and 6.03-31.35 ng/m 3 , respectively. The indoor and outdoor ratios (I/O) of TAM in the daytime and at nighttime were in the range of 0.64-0.90 and 1.50-2.04, respectively. The concentrations of GEM, GOM, and PHg during the holiday periods were approximately 1-4 times higher than those during the non-holiday periods. GEM was the dominant mercury species in the indoor and outdoor environments and accounted for 63-81% of TAM, while the oxidized mercury accounted for 19-37% of TAM. Burning incenses and joss papers in a combustion chamber showed that the concentration of GEM from joss paper burning ranged from 4.07 to 11.62 μg/m 3 , or about 13.97 times higher than that of incense burning, while the concentration of PHg from incense burning ranged from 95.91 to 135.07 ng/m 3 , or about 3.29 times higher than that of joss paper burning. The emission factors of incense burning were 10.39 ng/g of GEM and 1.40 ng/g of PHg, while those of joss paper burning were 12.65 ng/g of GEM and 1.27 ng/g of PHg, respectively. This study revealed that speciated mercury emitted from worship activities had significant influence on the indoor and outdoor mercury concentrations in an Asian temple. Higher intensity of worship activities during holidays resulted in a higher concentration of speciated mercury in indoor and outdoor air, which might cause health threats to worshipers, staffs, and surrounding inhabitants through long-term exposure., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This paper quantitatively investigates the compositions of the gaseous pollutants in the ambient air of a secondary fiber paper mill. Total volatile organic compounds (TVOC), formaldehyde (HCHO), sulfur compounds (H2S), and hydrocarbon compounds (CxHy) were analyzed on six sampling sites with photo-ionisation detector, acetylacetone spectrophotometric method, and gas detector. The results revealed that, the high levels of TVOC and CxHy were detected at the wet end of paper machine and the office area, respectively; all the H2S contents on the six sites exceeded the limit (0.06 mg m(-3)) seriously; the HCHO concentrations at other five sites were out of the limit (0.10 mg m(-3)) except for the wastewater treatment plant. Furthermore, the necessary discussions about the possible pollution sources were considered on the process flow, the chemical agents used, and the ambient conditions in the paper mill. For the sake of air pollution control in paper mills, these remarkable results and analysis lay some technical basis in the following researches that should attract more attentions.

Volatile organic compound (VOC) detection is critical for controlling industrial and commercial emissions, environmental monitoring, and public health. Simple, portable, rapid and low-cost VOC sensing platforms offer the benefits of on-site and real-time monitoring anytime and anywhere. The best and most practically useful approaches to monitoring would include equipment-free and power-free detection by the naked eye. In this work, we created a novel, paper-based cantilever sensor array that allows simple and rapid naked-eye VOC detection without the need for power, electronics or readout interface/equipment. This simple VOC detection method was achieved using (i) low-cost paper materials as a substrate and (ii) swellable thin polymers adhered to the paper. Upon exposure to VOCs, the polymer swelling adhered to the paper-based cantilever, inducing mechanical deflection that generated a distinctive composite pattern of the deflection angles for a specific VOC. The angle is directly measured by the naked eye on a 3-D protractor printed on a paper facing the cantilevers. The generated angle patterns are subjected to statistical algorithms (linear discriminant analysis (LDA)) to classify each VOC sample and selectively detect a VOC. We classified four VOC samples with 100% accuracy using LDA., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Communities across Canada rely heavily on natural resources for their livelihoods. One such community in Pictou County, Nova Scotia, has both benefited and suffered, because of its proximity to a pulp and paper mill (currently owned by Northern Pulp). Since production began in 1967, there have been increasing impacts to the local environment and human health. Environmental reports funded by the mill were reviewed and compared against provincial and federal regulatory compliance standards. Reports contrasted starkly to societal perceptions of local impacts and independent studies. Most environmental monitoring reports funded by the mill indicate some levels of compliance in atmospheric and effluent emissions, but when compliance targets were not met, there was a lack of regulatory enforcement. After decades of local pollution impacts and lack of environmental compliance, corporate social responsibility initiatives need implementing for the mill to maintain its social licence to operate.

In their study "Assessing Agreement in Exposure Classification between Proximity-Based Metrics and Air Monitoring Data in Epidemiology Studies of Unconventional Resource Development" [...]., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Despite the extensive use of the Internet, printed newspapers remain a primary information source. In this study, reading a newspaper in a relatively confined or poorly ventilated indoor space was simulated to determine the profile of particles released from the newspaper into the air. The consecutive simulated conditions were reading without agitation of the newspaper (NoAg), followed by reading with agitation of the newspaper (Ag) and post-reading absent the newspaper (PostR), repeated with four newspapers. We found that particle number concentration (ΣN) fell during Ag owing to electroadhesion of ultrafine particles (<200 nm) caused by static charges created by friction between the paper surface and the air as a result of newspaper agitation. Conversely, particle surface area concentrations (ΣA) and particle volume concentrations (ΣV) increased significantly during Ag. This was because the larger, fine (1-2.5 μm) and coarse mode (2.5-10 μm), particles were detached from the newspaper during agitation due to inertial detachment - the release of even a small number of these particles contributing greatly to ΣA and ΣV. The critical particle number diameter (CPND) occurred at 207-310 nm. Particles smaller than this were subject to electroadhesion during Ag. The critical particle volume diameter (CPVD) occurred at 130-497 nm. Particles larger than this were subject to inertial detachment during Ag. These observations indicate that the electroadhesion of smaller particles and the inertial detachment of larger particles occur simultaneously. Particle mass concentrations were found to be as high as 168.7-534.3 μg m -3 . However, these findings of high potential concentrations were based on the measurement in relative small micro-environment. The inhalation of such concentrations is a health risk for people who regularly read newspapers in a relatively confined or poorly ventilated indoor space., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Air emissions from the U.S. pulp and paper sector have been federally regulated since 1978; however, regulations are periodically reviewed and revised to improve efficiency and effectiveness of existing emission standards. The Industrial Sectors Integrated Solutions (ISIS) model for the pulp and paper sector is currently under development at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and can be utilized to facilitate multi-pollutant, sector-based analyses that are performed in conjunction with regulatory development. The model utilizes a multi-sector, multi-product dynamic linear modeling framework that evaluates the economic impact of emission reduction strategies for multiple air pollutants. The ISIS model considers facility-level economic, environmental, and technical parameters, as well as sector-level market data, to estimate the impacts of environmental regulations on the pulp and paper industry. Specifically, the model can be used to estimate U.S. and global market impacts of new or more stringent air regulations, such as impacts on product price, exports and imports, market demands, capital investment, and mill closures. One major challenge to developing a representative model is the need for an extensive amount of data. This article discusses the collection and processing of data for use in the model, as well as the methods used for building the ISIS pulp and paper database that facilitates the required analyses to support the air quality management of the pulp and paper sector.

Air toxics are airborne pollutants known or suspected to cause cancer or other serious health effects, including certain volatile organic compounds (VOCs), prioritized by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). While several EPA-designated air toxics are monitored at a subset of Canadian National Air Pollution Surveillance (NAPS) sites, Canada has no specific "air toxics" control priorities. Although pulp and paper (P&P) mills are major industrial emitters of air pollutants, few studies quantified the spectrum of air quality exposures. Moreover, most NAPS monitoring sites are in urban centers; in contrast, rural NAPS sites are sparse with few exposure risk records. The objective of this pilot study was to investigate prioritized air toxic ambient VOC concentrations using NAPS hourly emissions data from a rural Pictou, Nova Scotia Kraft P&P town to document concentration levels, and to determine whether these concentrations correlated with wind direction at the NAPS site (located southwest of the mill). Publicly accessible Environment and Climate Change Canada data (VOC concentrations [Granton NAPS ID: 31201] and local meteorological conditions [Caribou Point]) were examined using temporal (2006-2013) and spatial analytic methods. Results revealed several VOCs (1,3-butadiene, benzene, and carbon tetrachloride) routinely exceeded EPA air toxics-associated cancer risk thresholds. 1,3-Butadiene and tetrachloroethylene were significantly higher (p < 0.05) when prevailing wind direction blew from the northeast and the mill towards the NAPS site. Conversely, when prevailing winds originated from the southwest towards the mill, higher median VOC air toxics concentrations at the NAPS site, except carbon tetrachloride, were not observed. Despite study limitations, this is one of few investigations documenting elevated concentrations of certain VOCs air toxics to be associated with P&P emissions in a community. Findings support the need for more research on the extent to which air toxics emissions exist in P&P towns and contribute to poor health in nearby communities.

[Objective] The study aimed to investigate the effect of macular pollutants on the release of pyrolytic products from cigarette paper, and provide a method basis for the classification of macular pollutants. [Method] The pyrolytic particulate matter of different cigarette papers was captured by a self-built temperature-controlled pyrolytic device. The differences in pyrolytic components of different cigarette paper samples were analyzed by using GC-MS. And the classification of macular pollutants was achieved using principal component and cluster analysis based on the differences in pyrolytic products. [Result] The different pollutants changed the microscopic surface morphology of cigarette paper fibers. And the pyrolytic products chromatograms of all the contaminated cigarette papers exhibited a similarity of less than 0.417 when compared with that of blank cigarette papers. A total of 78 kinds of pyrolytic products were detected in the blank cigarette papers, including ketones, phenols, benzene derivatives, aldehydes, furans, alcohols, heterocycles and other chemicals, etc. Moreover, the pyrolytic products released from contaminated cigarette paper not only had common components with blank cigarette paper, but also had many unique pyrolysis components, and there were significant differences in the number and content distribution of various pyrolysis components. Specifically, after the contamination of Premalube red and Nordic grease, the phenolic compounds in the pyrolytic products significantly reduced from 36.07% to 5.58% and 8.32%, respectively. Meanwhile the release of hydrocarbons remarkably increased, but the composition and distribution of hydrocarbon substances exhibited significant differences. Flavor and sugar contaminants reduced the content of aldehydes, ketones, phenols, benzene rings and heterocyclic pyrolytic components in the pyrolytic products, but their own unique propylene glycol/glycerol solvents or esters could release to the particulate matter during the heating process through the evaporation. Principal component analysis based on pyrolytic products showed that cigarette papers contaminated with different pollutants could be effectively distinguished from the blank sample. Hierarchical clustering analysis also showed that samples contaminated with grease could be classified into one, and cigarette papers contaminated with flavor and sugar could be grouped into another one. [Conclusion] The results in the study would be beneficial for the classification and identification of macular pollutants source based on the differences in pyrolytic products that were captured by self-built temperature-controlled pyrolytic device and analyzed by multiple statistical methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The health effects of air pollution remain a public concern worldwide. Using data from the Global Burden of Disease 2019 report, we statistically analyzed total mortality, disability-adjusted life years (DALY), and years of life lost (YLL) attributable to air pollution in eight East African countries between 1990 and 2019. We acquired ambient ozone (O 3 ), PM 2.5 concentrations and household air pollution (HAP) from the solid fuel from the State of Global Air report. The multilinear regression model was used to evaluate the predictability of YLLs by the air pollutants. We estimated the ratio rate for each health burden attributable to air pollution to compare the country's efforts in the reduction of air pollution health burden. This study found that the total number of deaths attributable to air pollution decreased by 14.26% for 30 years. The drop came from the reduction of 43.09% in mortality related to Lower Respiratory tract Infection (LRI). However, only five out of eight countries managed to decrease the total number of deaths attributable to air pollution with the highest decrease observed in Ethiopia (40.90%) and the highest increase in Somalia (67.49%). The linear regression model showed that HAP is the pollutant of the most concern in the region, with a 1% increase in HAP resulting in a 31.06% increase in regional YLL (R 2  = 0.93; p < 0.05). With the increasing ground-level ozone, accompanied by the lack of adequate measures to reduce particulate pollutants, the health burdens attributable to air pollution are still a threat in the region., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

In the context of pursuing carbon neutrality and balancing the use of fossil fuels with renewable energy, the transportation industry faces the challenge of accurately predicting energy demand, related emissions, and assessing the effectiveness of energy technologies and policies. This is crucial for formulating energy management plans and reducing carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and atmospheric pollutant emissions. Currently, research on energy consumption and emission forecasting primarily relies on energy consumption quantities and emission factors, which lack precision. This study employs the low emissions analysis platform (LEAP) model, utilizing a "bottom-up" modeling approach combined with scenario analysis to predict and analyze the energy demand and related emissions in the transportation industry. Compared to previous studies, the methodological framework proposed in this research offers higher precision and can explore energy-saving and emission-reduction pathways for different modes of transport, providing a valuable energy forecasting tool for transport policy formulation in other regions. The forecast results indicate that under the business-as-usual (BAU) scenario, by 2049, the energy consumption and related emissions in Shaanxi Province's transportation industry are expected to increase by 1.15 to 1.85 times compared to the baseline year. In the comprehensive (CP) scenario, the industry is projected to reach a carbon peak around 2033. The study also finds that energy consumption and emissions predominantly originate from private passenger vehicles, highway freight, and civil aviation passenger, which have the greatest potential for emission reduction under the transport structure optimized (TSO) scenario. Therefore, policymakers should consider regional development characteristics, combine different transportation modes, and specifically analyze the emission reduction potential of the transportation industry in various regions, formulating corresponding reduction policies accordingly., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Objective: To investigate associations between air particulate matter of ≤2.5 μm in diameter (PM 2.5 ) and ovarian cancer., Design: County-level ecological study., Setting: Surveillance, epidemiology, and end results from a collection of state-level cancer registries across 744 counties. Data from the Environmental Protection Agency's network for PM 2.5 monitoring was used to calculate trailing 5- and 10-year PM 2.5 county-level values. County-level data on demographic characteristics were obtained from the American Community Survey., Population: A total of 98 751 patients with histologically confirmed ovarian cancer as a primary malignancy from 2000 to 2016., Methods: Generalised linear regression models were developed to estimate the association between PM 2.5 and PM 10 levels, over 5- and 10-year periods of exposure, and ovarian cancer risk, after accounting for county-level covariates., Main Outcome Measures: Risk ratios for associations between ovarian cancer (both overall and specifically epithelial ovarian cancer) and PM 2.5 levels., Results: For the 744 counties included, the average PM 2.5 level from 1990 through 2018 was 11.75 μg/m 3 (SD = 3.7) and the average PM 10 level was 22.7 μg/m 3 (SD = 5.7). After adjusting for county-level covariates, the overall annualised ovarian cancer incidence was significantly associated with increases in 5-year PM 2.5 (RR = 1.11 per 10 units (μg/m 3 ) increase, 95% CI 1.06-1.16). Similarly, when the analysis was limited to epithelial cell tumours and adjusted for county-level covariates there was a significant association with trailing 5-year PM 2.5 exposure models (RR = 1.12 per 10 units increase, 95% CI 1.08-1.17). Likewise, 10-year PM 2.5 exposure was associated with ovarian cancer overall and with epithelial ovarian cancer., Conclusions: Higher county-level ambient PM 2.5 levels are associated with 5- and 10-year incidences of ovarian cancer, as measurable in an ecological study., (© 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Exposure to high molecular weight sensitizers of biological origin is an important risk factor for the development of asthma and rhinitis. Most of the causal allergens have been defined based on their reactivity with IgE antibodies, and in many cases, the molecular structure and function of the allergens have been established. Significant information on allergen levels that cause sensitization and allergic symptoms for several major environmental and occupational allergens has been reported. Monitoring of high molecular weight allergens and allergen carrier particles is an important part of the management of allergic respiratory diseases and requires standardized allergen assessment methods for occupational and environmental (indoor and outdoor) allergen exposure. The aim of this EAACI task force was to review the essential points for monitoring environmental and occupational allergen exposure including sampling strategies and methods, processing of dust samples, allergen analysis, and quantification. The paper includes a summary of different methods for sampling and allergen quantification, as well as their pros and cons for various exposure settings. Recommendations are being made for different exposure scenarios., (© 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

One of the factors affecting the life expectancy of hanging scrolls is the storage environment. Our study focused on clarifying the degradation behaviour of painting paper, concentrating on the specific storage conditions that provide an airtight environment in a storage box and the stacked structure of the rolled paper rather than considering the materials of the wooden storage box or the gases generated from it. The degradation behaviour and rates for the sealed tube and moist heat ageing methods, excluding the additional effects of light and air pollutants, were compared. When the painting paper was immersed in a CuSO4・5H2O solution instead of a copper green pigment, the oxidation of the painting paper, attributed to Cu2+, proceeded faster with the sealed tube method than with the moist heat method. The co-occurring organic acids generated, namely glycolic and formic acids, which were secondary components, were detected in a higher amount in the first lining paper than the painting paper. This implies that the acids migrated from the painting paper into the lining paper. However, oxalic acid, which was the main component, did not significantly migrate and remained in the reaction system in the sealed tube without volatilising. This increased the hydrogen ion concentration in the painting paper and accelerated acid hydrolysis. Consequently, discolouration and a decrease in the degree of polymerisation and physical strength proceeded faster with the sealed tube method than with the moist heat method. Thus, although this result does not necessarily invalidate the storage system of a rolled hanging scroll in a box, the storage of a deteriorated hanging scroll in a closed system is expected to degrade the painting paper faster than it would in an open system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health risks from air pollutants are evaluated by comparing chronic (i.e., an average over 1 yr or greater) or acute (typically 1-hr) exposure estimates with chemical- and duration-specific reference values or standards. When estimating long-term pollutant concentrations via exposure modeling, facility-level annual average emission rates are readily available as model inputs for most air pollutants. In contrast, there are far fewer facility-level hour-by-hour emission rates available for many of these same pollutants. In this report, we first analyze hour-by-hour emission rates for total reduced sulfur (TRS) compounds from eight kraft pulp mill operations. This data set is used to demonstrate discrepancies between estimating exposure based on a single TRS emission rate that has been calculated as the mean of all operating hours of the year, as opposed to reported hourly emission rates. A similar analysis is then performed using reported hourly emission rates for sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) and oxides of nitrogen (NO x ) from three power generating units from a U.S. power plant. Results demonstrate greater variability at kraft pulp mill operations, with ratios of reported hourly to average hourly TRS emissions ranging from less than 1 to greater than 160 during routine facility operations. Thus, if fluctuations in hourly emission rates are not accounted for, over- or underestimates of hourly exposure, and thus acute health risk, may occur. In addition to this analysis, we also demonstrate an additional challenge when assessing health risk based on hourly exposures: the lack of human health reference values based on 1-hr exposures. Implications : Largely due to the lack of reported hourly emission rate data for many air pollutants, an hourly average emission rate (calculated from an annual emission rate) is often used when modeling the potential for acute health risk. We calculated ratios between reported hourly and hourly average emission rates from pulp and paper mills and a U.S. power plant to demonstrate that if not considered, hourly fluctuations in emissions could result in an over- or underestimation of exposure and risk. We also demonstrate the lack of 1-hr human health reference values meant to be protective of the general population, including children.

The study aims to monitor air pollution in Iranian metropolises using remote sensing, specifically focusing on pollutants such as O 3 , CH 4 , NO 2 , CO 2 , SO 2 , CO, and suspended particles (aerosols) in 2001 and 2019. Sentinel 5 satellite images are utilized to prepare maps of each pollutant. The relationship between these pollutants and land surface temperature (LST) is determined using linear regression analysis. Additionally, the study estimates air pollution levels in 2040 using Markov and Cellular Automata (CA)-Markov chains. Furthermore, three neural network models, namely multilayer perceptron (MLP), radial basis function (RBF), and long short-term memory (LSTM), are employed for predicting contamination levels. The results of the research indicate an increase in pollution levels from 2010 to 2019. It is observed that temperature has a strong correlation with contamination levels (R 2  = 0.87). The neural network models, particularly RBF and LSTM, demonstrate higher accuracy in predicting pollution with an R 2 value of 0.90. The findings highlight the significance of managing industrial towns to minimize pollution, as these areas exhibit both high pollution levels and temperatures. So, the study emphasizes the importance of monitoring air pollution and its correlation with temperature. Remote sensing techniques and advanced prediction models can provide valuable insights for effective pollution management and decision-making processes., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Besides medical expenses, hospitalizations associated with air pollution will incur the welfare loss due to activity restrictions and the wage loss due to inability to work. We fill in the gap in the literature by examining the impact of air pollution on volume and intensity of hospitalizations, which allows us to incorporate the welfare loss and the wage loss. Using a data set that covers most of the inpatients in a major Chinese city during 2015-16, we find that worse air quality causes more hospital admissions, more total inpatient days, and higher total inpatient expenditure for various diseases, particularly diseases of the respiratory and circulatory systems. We also find that there would be an underestimate of the loss from air pollution if we had ignored the loss associated with activity restrictions and the wage loss during hospitalization., (© 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The existing evidence on the environmental effects of vehicular emissions regulation almost comes from developed countries, but the effectiveness of this policy tool in developing countries, especially in China, remains unclear. This study, for the first time, examined the mitigating effects of China's vehicular emissions regulation on air pollution at the prefecture level cities, by using the latest implementation of China's National Vehicular Emissions Standard VI (CHINA-VI) as a quasi-natural experimental process of policy shocks. To this end, monthly data from 2018 to 2020 was applied to construct a difference-in-differences (DID) model. The results showed that pilot cities' air quality index (AQI) significantly decreased by 4.74 compared to non-pilot cities after the implementation of CHINA-VI. Also, the concentration of PM 2.5 , PM 10 , and O 3 has decreased by 3.6 μg∕m 3 , 6.4 μg∕m 3 , and 3.0 μg∕m 3 , respectively, which means the new China's vehicular emissions regulation has comprehensively improved air quality. The findings are still valid after a series of robustness tests using different estimation methods such as PSM-DID and IV-2SLS. In addition, we also found heterogeneity in the environmental performance of CHINA-VI across cities. Specifically, cities with lower levels of green finance development and public environmental concern showed a greater emissions reduction effect, but smart cities showed a greater emissions reduction effect than non-smart cities., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Environmental air pollution presents a considerable risk to global respiratory health. If critical levels are exceeded, inhaled pollutants can lead to the development of respiratory dysfunction and provoke exacerbation in those with pre-existing chronic respiratory disease. Over 90% of the global population currently reside in areas where environmental air pollution is considered excessive-with adverse effects ranging from acute airway irritation to complex immunomodulatory alterations. This narrative review provides an up-to-date perspective concerning the impact of environmental air pollution on respiratory health and function and describes the underpinning mechanisms that contribute to the development and progression of chronic respiratory disease., (© 2024 The Author(s). Physiological Reports published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The Physiological Society and the American Physiological Society.)

Although previous research has reached agreement on the significant impact of particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) on respiratory infectious diseases, PM 2.5 acts as an aggregation of miscellaneous pollutants and the individual effect of each component has not been examined. Here, we investigate the effects of PM 2.5 components, including black carbon (BC), organic carbon (OC), sulfate ion (SO 4 ), dust, and sea salt (SS), on the morbidity and mortality of the recent respiratory disease, i.e. COVID-19. The daily data of 236 countries and provinces/states (e.g., in the United States and China) worldwide during 2020-2022 are utilized. To derive the pollutant-specific causal effects, optimal instrumental variables for each pollutant are selected from a large set of atmospheric variables. We find that one µg/m 3 increase in OC increases the number of cases and death by about 3% to 6% from the mean worldwide during a lag of one day up to three days. Our findings remain consistent and robust when we change control variables such as the flight index and weather proxies, and also when applying a sine transformation to the positivity and death rate. When analyzing health effects among different areas, we find stronger impact in China, for its higher local OC concentration, as opposed to the impact in the United States. Health benefits from PM 2.5 pollution reduction are comparatively high for developed regions, yet decreases in cases and deaths number are rather overt in less developing regions. Our research provides inspiration and reference for dealing with other respiratory diseases in the post-pandemic era., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)

The EAACI Guidelines on the impact of short-term exposure to outdoor pollutants on asthma-related outcomes provide recommendations for prevention, patient care and mitigation in a framework supporting rational decisions for healthcare professionals and patients to individualize and improve asthma management and for policymakers and regulators as an evidence-informed reference to help setting legally binding standards and goals for outdoor air quality at international, national and local levels. The Guideline was developed using the GRADE approach and evaluated outdoor pollutants referenced in the current Air Quality Guideline of the World Health Organization as single or mixed pollutants and outdoor pesticides. Short-term exposure to all pollutants evaluated increases the risk of asthma-related adverse outcomes, especially hospital admissions and emergency department visits (moderate certainty of evidence at specific lag days). There is limited evidence for the impact of traffic-related air pollution and outdoor pesticides exposure as well as for the interventions to reduce emissions. Due to the quality of evidence, conditional recommendations were formulated for all pollutants and for the interventions reducing outdoor air pollution. Asthma management counselled by the current EAACI guidelines can improve asthma-related outcomes but global measures for clean air are needed to achieve significant impact., (© 2024 European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Objectives: Small-for-gestational-age (SGA) and large-for-gestational-age (LGA) births are major adverse birth outcomes related to newborn health. In contrast, the association between ambient air pollution levels and SGA or LGA births has not been investigated in Japan; hence, the purpose of our study is to investigate this association., Methods: We used birth data from Vital Statistics in Japan from 2017 to 2021 and municipality-level data on air pollutants, including nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), photochemical oxidants, and particulate matter 2.5 (PM 2.5 ). Ambient air pollution levels throughout the first, second, and third trimesters, as well as the whole pregnancy, were calculated for each birth. The association between SGA/LGA and ambient levels of the air pollutants was investigated using crude and adjusted log-binomial regression models. In addition, a regression model with spline functions was also used to detect the non-linear association., Results: We analyzed data from 2,434,217 births. Adjusted regression analyses revealed statistically significant and positive associations between SGA birth and SO 2 level, regardless of the exposure period. Specifically, the risk ratio for average SO 2 values throughout the whole pregnancy was 1.014 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.009, 1.019) per 1 ppb increase. In addition, regression analysis with spline functions indicated that an increase in risk ratio for SGA birth depending on SO 2 level was linear. Furthermore, statistically significant and negative associations were observed between LGA birth and SO 2 except for the third trimester., Conclusions: It was suggested that ambient level of SO 2 during the pregnancy term is a risk factor for SGA birth in Japan., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The manufacturing and construction (M&C) sector not only plays a vital role in promoting economic growth, but is also a significant contributor to global air pollution. Growing concerns regarding air pollutant emissions necessitate a more disaggregated (i.e., sectoral) investigation in order to identify the major contributors. This study employs aggregated and disaggregated data to determine the fundamental effects of economic growth (i.e., overall growth and sectoral growth) on air pollutant emissions (APE) (specifically, PM2.5 and PM10 released by the M&C sector) in SAARC economies between 1995 and 2018. It assesses the environmental Kuznets curve (i.e., inverted U-shaped and N-shaped) using the feasible generalized least squares (FGLS), panel-corrected standard errors (PCSE), and generalized method of moments (GMM) techniques. The sectoral analysis reveals the presence of an N-shaped EKC while the overall analysis indicates an inverted U-shaped EKC. Population, financial development (FD), and merchandise exports (MX) have no influence on the estimates. Population and FD increase APE in all models, whereas the effects of MX vary between models. As SAARC economies are capital-deficient, these economies can adopt unbalanced environmental protection policies. First, focus on major contributing sectors (e.g., M&C sector) to curb APE, then focus on less emitting sectors in turn. By implementing pollution reduction strategies on M&C sector activities, governments may reach their threshold (peak) points earlier than expected. A reduction in APE is impossible without rigorous monitoring and application. Being capital-deficient nations and given the collective nature of the problem, a Transboundary Haze/Pollution agreement is required to solve this issue., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: Industrial plants emit air pollutants like fine particles (PM2.5), sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) that may affect the health of individuals living nearby., Objective: To assess the effects of community exposure to air emissions of PM2.5, SO2, and NO2 from pulp mills, oil refineries, metal smelters, on respiratory hospital admissions in young children in Quebec (QC) and British Columbia (BC), Canada., Methods: We assessed QC, BC and pooled associations between the following estimates of exposure and hospital admissions for asthma and bronchiolitis in children aged 2-4years for the years 2002-2010: i) Crude emission exposures at the residential postal codes of children, calculated by multiplying estimated daily emissions of PM2.5, SO2, or NO2 from all nearby (<7.5km) pulp mills, oil refineries, metal smelters emitting yearly ≥50t and their total emissions, by the percent of the day each postal code was downwind; ii) Daily levels of these pollutants at central ambient monitoring stations nearby the industries and the children's residences., Results: Seventy-one major industries were selected between QC and BC, with a total of 2868 cases included in our analyses. More cases were exposed to emissions from major industries in QC than in BC (e.g. 2505 admissions near SO2 industrial emitters in QC vs 334 in BC), although air pollutant levels were similar. Odds ratios (ORs) for crude refinery and smelter emissions were positive in QC but more variable in BC. For example with PM2.5 in QC, ORs were 1.13 per 0.15t/day (95% CI: 1.00-1.27) and 1.03 (95% CI: 0.99-1.07) for refinery and smelter emissions, respectively. Pooled results of QC and BC for crude total SO2 emissions from all sources indicated a 1% increase (0-3%) in odds of hospital admissions per 1.50t/day increase in exposure. Associations with measured pollutant levels were only seen in BC, with SO2 and NO2., Conclusion: Hospital admissions for wheezing diseases in young children were associated with community exposure to industrial air pollutant emissions. Future work is needed to better assess the risk of exposure to complex mixture of air pollutants from multiple industrial sources., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Burning of joss paper and incense is still a very common traditional custom in countries with a majority Chinese population. The Hungry Ghost Festival which is celebrated in the 7 month of the Chinese calendar is one of the events where joss paper and incense are burned as offerings. This study investigates the impact of the Ghost Month Festival (open burning event) on air quality by analysis of the chemical composition of particulate matter (PM) and rainwater samples collected during this event, compared with data collected throughout the year, as well as bottom ash samples from burning the original joss paper and incense. The results showed that the change in the chemical composition of the rainwater and PM2.5 (PM ≤ 2.5 μm) atmospheric samples could be correlated directly with burning events during this festival, with many elements increasing between 18% and 60% during August and September compared to the yearly mean concentrations. The order of percentage increase in elemental composition (in rain water and PM2.5) during the Hungry Ghost Festival is as follows: Zn > Ca > K > Mg > Fe > Al > Na ∼ Mn ∼ Ti ∼ V > Cu > As > Ni > Co > Cd > Cr > Pb. The chemical composition of the original source materials (joss paper and incense for combustion) and their associated bottom ash were analysed to explain the impact of burning on air quality.

In China, despite the fact that the atmospheric environment quality has continued to improve in recent years, the PM 2.5 pollution still had not been controlled fundamentally and its driving mechanism was complex which remained to be explored. Based on the 1-km ground-level PM 2.5 datasets of China from 2000 to 2020, this study combined spatial autocorrelation, trend analysis, geographical detector, and multi-scale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) model to explore the spatial-temporal evolution of PM 2.5 in Shanxi Province and revealed its complex driving mechanism behind this process. The results reflected that (1) there was a pronounced spatial clustering of PM 2.5 concentration within Shanxi Province, with PM 2.5 concentrations decreasing from southwest to northeast. From 2000 to 2020, the levels of PM 2.5 pollution demonstrated a decline over time, with its concentrations decreasing by 9.15 µg/m 3 overall. The Hurst exponent indicated a projected decrease in PM 2.5 concentrations in the central and northern areas of Shanxi Province, contrasting with an anticipated increase in other regions. (2) The geographical detector indicated that all drivers had significant influences on PM 2.5 concentrations, with meteorological factors exerting the greatest effects then followed by human activity and vegetation cover showing the least effects. (3) Both gross domestic product and population density exhibited positive correlations with PM 2.5 concentration, while vegetation fractional cover, wind speed, precipitation, and elevation exerted negative influences on PM 2.5 concentration all over the space. This study enriched the research content and ideas on the driving mechanism of PM 2.5 and provided a reference for similar studies., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

This work presents the first comprehensive assessment of PM pollution sources in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. A total of 138 PM 2.5 samples were collected during 2015-2016 and 2018-2019 and were analyzed through gravimetric, ED-XRF, and multi-wavelength absorption techniques. The results show that PM 2.5 concentrations were substantially higher than the European annual limit value and WHO Air Quality Guidelines annual average value, with an average of 90.9 ± 68.5 μg m -3 . The PMF application identified eight sources of pollution that influenced PM 2.5 concentration levels in the area. Coal burning (21.3%) and biomass burning (22.3%) were the dominant sources during the winter, while vehicular traffic (7.7%) contributed more during the warm season. Power plant emissions (17.5%) showed enhanced contributions during the warm months, likely due to high energy demand. Cement industry emissions (6.9%) exhibited significant contribution during the cold period of 2018-2019, while soil dust (11.3%) and secondary sulphates (11.5%) displayed increased contribution during the warm and cold months, respectively. Finally, waste burning (1.5%) displayed the lowest contribution, with no significant temporal variation. Our results highlight the significant impact of anthropogenic activities, and especially the use of coal burning for energy production (both in power plants and for residential heating), and the significant contribution of biomass burning during both warm and cold seasons., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The increasing number of vehicles are emitting a large amount of particles into the atmosphere, causing serious harm to the ecological environment and human health. This study conducted the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Cycle (WLTC) to investigate the emission characteristics of particle number (PN) of China-VI gasoline vehicles with different gasoline. The gasoline with lower aromatic hydrocarbons and olefins reduced particulate matter (PM) and PN emissions by 24% and 52% respectively. The average PN emission rate of the four vehicles during the first 300 s (the cold start period) was 7.2 times that of the 300 s-1800s. Additionally, because the particle transmission time and instrument response time, the test results of instantaneous emissions of PN were not synchronized with vehicle specific power (VSP). By calculating the Spearman correlation coefficient between pre-average vehicle specific power (PAVSP) and the test results of PN instantaneous emissions, the delay time was determined as 10s. After the PN emissions results were corrected, the PN emissions were found to be more related to VSP. By analyzing the influence of driving status on emission, this study found that vehicles in acceleration mode increased PN emissions by 76% compared to those in constant speed mode., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Odor pollution, also referred to as odor nuisance, is a growing environmental concern that is significantly associated with mental health. Once emitted into the air, the concentration of odorous substances varies considerably with wind conditions, leading to difficulties in timely sampling. In the present study, we employed selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry (SIFT-MS) to measure 22 odor-producing molecules continuously in an urban-rural complex city. In addition, we applied statistical analyses, principal component analysis (PCA), and a conditional probability function (CPF) to the datasets obtained from SIFT-MS to identify the odor characteristics at two study sites. At site A, odorants related to livestock farming and industry showed high factor loadings on principal components (PCs) from the PCA. In contrast, we estimated that the odorous gaseous chemicals affecting site B were closely related to sewage treatment and municipal solid waste disposal. Similar CPF patterns of grouped substances from the PCA supported the association between potential odor sources and specific odorants at site B, which helped estimate possible source locations. Consequently, our findings indicate that continuous monitoring of odorous substances using SIFT-MS can be an effective way to provide sufficient information on odor-producing molecules, leading to the clear identification of odor characteristics despite the high variability of odorous substances., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Adıyaman, a city recently affected by an earthquake, is facing significant air pollution challenges due to both anthropogenic activities and natural events. The sources of air pollution have been investigated using meteorological variables. Elevated southerly winds, especially prominent in spring and autumn, significantly contribute to dust transport, leading to a decline in local air quality as detected by the HYSPLIT model. Furthermore, using Suomi-NPP Thermal Anomaly satellite product, it is detected and analyzed for crop burning activities. Agricultural practices, including stubble burning, contribute to the exacerbation of PM 10 pollution during the summer months, particularly when coupled with winds from all directions except the north. In fall and winter months, heating is identified as the primary cause of pollution. The city center located north of the station is the dominant source of pollution throughout all seasons. The study established the connection between air pollutants and meteorological variables. Furthermore, the Spearman correlation coefficients reveal associations between PM 10 and SO 2 , indicating moderate positive correlations under pressure conditions (r = 0.35, 0.52). Conversely, a negative correlation is observed with windspeed (r = -0.35, -0.50), and temperature also exhibits a negative correlation (r = -0.39, -0.54). During atmospheric conditions with high pressure, PM 10 and SO 2 concentrations are respectively 41.2% and 117.2% higher. Furthermore, pollutant concentration levels are 29.2% and 53.3% higher on days with low winds. Last, practical strategies for mitigating air pollution have been thoroughly discussed and proposed. It is imperative that decision-makers engaged in city planning and renovation give careful consideration to the profound impact of air pollution on both public health and the environment, particularly in the aftermath of a recent major earthquake., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

In this study, the levels of sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) and nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) were measured indoors and outdoors using passive samplers in Tymar village (20 homes), an industrial area, and Haji Wsu (15 homes), a non-industrial region, in the summer and the winter seasons. In comparison to Haji Wsu village, the results showed that Tymar village had higher and more significant mean SO 2 and NO 2 concentrations indoors and outdoors throughout both the summer and winter seasons. The mean outdoor concentration of SO 2 was the highest in summer, while the mean indoor NO 2 concentration was the highest in winter in both areas. The ratio of NO 2 indoors to outdoors was larger than one throughout the winter at both sites. Additionally, the performance of machine learning (ML) approaches: multiple linear regression (MLR), artificial neural network (ANN), and random forest (RF) were compared in predicting indoor SO 2 concentrations in both the industrial and non-industrial areas. Factor analysis (FA) was conducted on different indoor and outdoor meteorological and air quality parameters, and the resulting factors were employed as inputs to train the models. Cross-validation was applied to ensure reliable and robust model evaluation. RF showed the best predictive ability in the prediction of indoor SO 2 for the training set (RMSE = 2.108, MAE = 1.780, and R 2 = 0.956) and for the unseen test set (RMSE = 4.469, MAE = 3.728, and R 2 = 0.779) values compared to other studied models. As a result, it was observed that the RF model could successfully approach the nonlinear relationship between indoor SO 2 and input parameters and provide valuable insights to reduce exposure to this harmful pollutant., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Of major interest, especially in city environments, and increasingly inside vehicles or industrial plants, is the drive to reduce human exposure to nitrogen oxides (NO x ). This trend has drawn increasing attention to filtration, which has developed remarkably owing to the capabilities of recently developed mathematical models and novel filter concepts. This paper reports on the study of the kinetic modelling of adsorption of nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), collected from the tailpipe of a diesel engine, reacting to calcium nitrate salt (Ca(NO 3 ) 2 ) on a surface flow filter consisting of a coating of fine ground limestone or marble (CaCO 3 ) in combination with micro-nanofibrillated cellulose (MNFC) acting as binder and humectant applied onto a multiply recycled newsprint substrate. The coating and substrate are both porous, but on different pore size scales, with the coating having significantly lower permeability. To maximise gas-coating contact, therefore, the coating deposition is pixelated, achieved by pin coating. An axially dispersed gaseous plug flow model (dispersion model) was used to simulate the transport within the coating pore network structure, following earlier flow modelling studies, and a kinetic reaction model was used to examine NO 2 to NO 3 - conversion in correlation with experimental results. Modelling results indicate a 60.38% conversion of exposed NO 2 gas to Ca(NO 3 ) 2 under the specific conditions applied, with an absolute relative error between the predicted and experimentally estimated value being 0.81%. The model additionally enabled a prediction of effects of changing parameters over a limited perturbation range, thus assisting in predicting filter element consumption, with attention given to the active component CaCO 3 surface as a function of particle size in relation to the gas contact exchange, promoting the reaction over time. It is intended that the Ca(NO 3 ) 2 formed from the reaction can go on to be used as a value-added fertiliser, thus contributing to circular economy., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Purpose: Understanding the relationship between an environmental determinant and a given health outcome is key to inform public health policies. The short-term mortality and morbidity responses to outdoor air pollutants are traditionally assessed as a log-linear relationship, but few studies suggest a possible deviation from linearity. This paper investigates the shape of the relationship between ozone, NO 2 and fine particulate matter (PM 10 and PM 2.5 ), mortality and hospital admissions in 18 French cities between 2000 and 2017., Method: A multi-centric time series design, using quasi-Poisson generalized additive models, was used. Four approaches were compared to model concentration-response curves (log-linear, piecewise-linear with a priori defined breakpoints, piecewise-linear with no a priori breakpoint and cubic spline)., Results: All the models indicated evidence of supra-linearity between PM 10 , PM 2.5 , NO 2 , mortality and hospital admissions. For instance, with a log-linear model, a 10 µg/m 3 increase in PM 2.5 was associated with a 0.4% [95% CI 0.2; 0.7] increase in non-accidental mortality. When using a piecewise model with a priori set breakpoint at 10 µg/m 3 , the mortality increase was 3.8% [4.4; 6.3] below 10 µg/m 3 , and 0.3% [0; 0.6] above. Non-significant impacts of ozone were found for concentrations below 90 µg/m 3 to 120 µg/m 3 , with some variability in the identified threshold across the heath indicator studied., Conclusion: The supra-linearity of the relationship between PM 10 , PM 2.5 , NO 2 , mortality and hospital admissions supports the need to further reduce air pollution concentrations well below regulatory values., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This study assessed the emissions of gaseous pollutants and particle size distributed water-soluble organics (WSO) from a diesel vehicle fuelled with ultralow sulphur diesel (B0) and 10 (B10), 20 (B20), and 30% (B30) biodiesel blends in a chassis dynamometer tested under transient mode. Particulate emission sampling was carried out in an ultraviolet (UV) test chamber using a 10-stage impactor. Samples were grouped into three size fractions and analysed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Increasing the biofuel ratio up to 30% in the fuel reduced WSO emissions by 20.9% in comparison with conventional diesel. Organic acids accounted for 82-89% of WSO in all tested fuels. Dicarboxylic acids were the most abundant compound class, followed by hydroxy, aromatic, and linear alkanoic acids. Correlations between compounds demonstrated that adding biodiesel to diesel fuel reduces the emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO x ), benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes (BTEX), methane (CH 4 ), total and nonmethane hydrocarbons (THC and NMHC), and dicarboxylic and hydroxy acids, but increases emissions of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and alkanoic and aromatic acids. Emissions of dicarboxylic and hydroxy acids were strongly correlated with the biodiesel content. WSO emissions of coarse and fine (1.0-10 μm) particles decreased with the increasing biofuel content in fuel blend. The total share of ultrafine (0.18-1.0 μm) and nanoparticles (< 0.18 μm) increased in WSOs emissions from B20 and B30 blends, when compared with petrodiesel. The biodiesel content also affected the chemical profile of WSO size fractions., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Background: Cooking is a substantial contributor to air pollutant exposures in many residences. Effective use of kitchen ventilation can mitigate exposure; however, information on its availability, usage, and potential to increase its use across the population has been limited., Objective: This study aimed to obtain nationally representative information on cooking methods, kitchen ventilation availability and usage, and the potential for education to increase effective usage., Methods: An online survey was sent to a representative sample of Canadian homes to collect data on cooking methods, the presence and use of mechanical kitchen ventilation devices, perceived device performance, and willingness to implement mitigation strategies. Responses were weighted to match key demographic factors and analyzed using non-parametric statistics., Results: Among the 4500 respondents, 90% had mechanical ventilation devices over the cooktop (66% of which were vented to the outside), and 30% reported regularly using their devices. Devices were used most often for deep-frying, followed by stir-frying, sautéing or pan-frying, indoor grilling, boiling or steaming. Almost half reported rarely or never using their ventilation devices during baking or oven self-cleaning. Only 10% were fully satisfied with their devices. More frequent use was associated with the device being vented to the outdoors, having more than two speed settings, quiet operation if only one speed, covering over half of the cooktop, and higher perceived effectiveness. After being informed of the benefits of kitchen ventilation, 64% indicated they would consider using their devices more often, preferentially using back burners with ventilation, and/or using higher ventilation device settings when needed., Impact: This study provides population-representative data on the most used cooking methods, kitchen ventilation availability and usage, and influencing factors in Canadian homes. Such data are needed for exposure assessments and evaluating the potential to mitigate cooking-related pollutant exposures via more effective use of kitchen ventilation. The data can be reasonably extrapolated to the United States, given the similarities in residential construction practices and cultural norms between the two countries., (© 2023. Crown.)