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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.)

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.)

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.

[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]

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]

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.)

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.)

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).)

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.)

This study identifies factors influencing spatial and temporal variations in magnetic susceptibility and heavy metal content in soils and airborne particulate matter within the Kyiv megapolis, Ukraine, and highlights how source apportionment differs in the long and short run. Topsoil magnetic susceptibility anomalies of > 70 × 10 -8 m 3 kg -1 are observed around old factories. The tree bark magnetic susceptibility map provides a record of industry general low emissions for the last 2-3 decades. The patterns of both spatial distributions confirm that factory emissions dominate the composition of particulate falling on the ground in urban area, with exclusion of streets with heavy traffic. Enhanced concentrations of Cu, Ni, and Zn have been found in urban soils, showing a positive correlation with magnetic susceptibility. Re-suspended road dust dominates temporal variation of particulate matter magnetic susceptibility collected on air filters. The air at busy streets is cleaner in winter, when the street dust gets immobilized by snow cover or freezing. Industries in Kyiv pose no significant effect on air quality; the concentrations of Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb are at normal urban level with the exception of the near vicinity to factories. Air in streets with heavy traffic is enriched with Fe and Mn. Principal component analysis reveals different pattern of air pollution for the busy streets and yard areas. Yards are less affected by road dust; thus, contribution of industrial emissions can be distinguished. The results provide context for further quantification of any alterations in ecological state of Kyiv megapolis that may have arisen from socio-economic shocks and direct threats connected to the current war., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Brazil has historically invested few resources in its transport infrastructure, leaving gaps and reducing its efficiency. The country presents a high dependence on road transport, which results in increased operational costs and higher greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Consequently, the performance of cargo transportation in Brazil has been deteriorating, accompanied by a rise in the consumption of fossil fuels and noteworthy levels of GHG emissions. This article assesses the carbon intensity of soybean transport operations within Brazil. Utilizing a network equilibrium model, this study estimated the soybean transportation flows that minimize the total cost of transporting this product across the origins and destinations within the grain handling system. The modeling also calculated the GHG emissions in transportation. The results show that the transportation of soybeans produced 2.74 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent annually, with road transport accounting for 81.7% of these emissions. The state of Mato Grosso, responsible for 44.08 kg CO2 equivalent per tonne of soybeans transported, contributed almost 49% of the total emissions due to the extensive distances involved. In contrast, states like Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul, located closer to southern ports, exhibited the lowest emissions, with rates of 11.55 kg CO2 eq/t and 12.52 kg CO2 eq/t, respectively. The analysis highlights the significant potential for reducing GHG emissions by increasing the use of rail and barge transport, particularly in high-emission regions such as Mato Grosso., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Pakistan is among the South Asian countries mostly vulnerable to the negative health impacts of air pollution. In this context, the study aimed to analyze the spatiotemporal patterns of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) incidence and its relationship with air pollutants including aerosol absorbing index (AAI), carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide (SO2), and nitrogen dioxide. Spatial scan statistics were employed to identify temporal, spatial, and spatiotemporal clusters of COPD. Generalized linear regression (GLR) and random forest (RF) models were utilized to evaluate the linear and non-linear relationships between COPD and air pollutants for the years 2019 and 2020. The findings revealed three spatial clusters of COPD in the eastern and central regions, with a high-risk spatiotemporal cluster in the east. The GLR identified a weak linear relationship between the COPD and air pollutants with R 2 = 0.1 and weak autocorrelation with Moran's index = -0.09. The spatial outcome of RF model provided more accurate COPD predictions with improved R 2 of 0.8 and 0.9 in the respective years and a very low Moran's I = -0.02 showing a random residual distribution. The RF findings also suggested AAI and SO2 to be the most contributing predictors for the year 2019 and 2020. Hence, the strong association of COPD clusters with some air pollutants highlight the urgency of comprehensive measures to combat air pollution in the region to avoid future health risks., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Extreme PM 2.5 pollution has become a significant environmental problem in China in recent years, which is hazardous to human health and daily life. Noticing the importance of investigating the causes of extreme PM 2.5 pollution, this paper classifies cities across China into eight categories (four groups plus two scenarios) based on the generalized extreme value (GEV) distribution using hourly station-level PM 2.5 concentration data, and a series of multi-choice models are employed to assess the probabilities that cities fall into different categories. Various factors such as precursor pollutants and socio-economic factors are considered after controlling for meteorological conditions in each model. It turns out that SO 2 concentration, NO 2 concentration, and population density are the top three factors contributing most to the log ratios. Moreover, in both left- and right-skewed cases, the influence of a one-unit increase of SO 2 concentration on the relative probability of cities falling into different groups shows an increasing trend, while those of NO 2 concentration show a decreasing trend. At the same time, the higher the extreme pollution level, the bigger the effect of SO 2 and NO 2 concentrations on the probability of cities falling into normalized scenarios. The multivariate logit model is used for prediction and policy simulations. In summary, by analyzing the influences of various factors and the heterogeneity of their influence patterns, this paper provides valuable insights in formulating effective emission reduction policies., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Odor pollution is the biggest source of complaints from citizens concerning environmental issues after noise. Often, the need for corrective actions is evaluated through simulations performed with atmospheric dispersion models. To save resources, air pollution control institutions perform a first-level odor impact assessment, for screening purposes. This is often based on Gaussian dispersion models (GDM), which does not need high computational power. However, their outputs tend to be conservative regarding the analyzed situation, rather than representative of the real in-site conditions. Hence, regulations and guidelines adopted at an institutional level for authorization/control purposes are based on Lagrangian particle dispersion models (LPDM). These models grant a more accurate simulation of the pollutants' dispersion even if they are more demanding regarding both technical skills and computing power. The present study aims to increase the accuracy of screening odor impact assessment by identifying the correlation function of the outputs derived from the two simulation models. The case study is placed in northern Italy, where a single-point source, with various stack heights, was considered. The case study is placed in northern Italy, where a single-point source, with various stack heights, was considered. The obtained correlation functions allow the practitioner to have a more accurate first-level odor impact assessment, to save time for training, and to reduce the site-specific meteorological data before proceeding with the simulation. The identified functions could allow institutions to estimate the results that would have been forecasted with the application of the more complex LPDM, applying, however, the much simpler GDM. This solution grants an accurate tool which can be used to address citizens' concerns while saving workforce and technical resources. Limitations are related to the specificity of the method regarding type sources, orography, and meteorological conditions. Comparison with other screening tools is also presented and discussed., (© 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.)

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.)

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.)

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.)

There has been controversy regarding the air pollutants emitted from sources closely related to the activities of daily life in China, such as cooking, setting off fireworks, sacrificial incense and joss paper burning, and barbecue (which have been named the five missing sources – FMSs), and the extent to which they impact the outdoor air quality. To date, due to the lack of both an activity dataset and emission factors, there have been no estimations of the emission of air pollutants from FMSs. In this work, we have attempted to combine questionnaire data, various statistical data, and data on points of interest to obtain a relatively complete set of activity data. The emission factors (EFs) of carbonaceous aerosols were tested in our lab. Emission inventories of carbonaceous aerosols with a high spatial–temporal resolution for FMSs were then established, and the spatial variation trend and driving forces were discussed. From 2000 to 2018, organic carbon (OC) emissions were in the range of 4268–4919 t. OC emissions from FMSs were between 1.5 ‰ and 2.2 ‰ of the total emissions in China. Black carbon (BC), elemental carbon (EC), and brown carbon (BrC) absorption cross-section (ACS BrC) emissions from FMSs were in the ranges of 22.6–43.9 t, 213–324 t, and 14.7–35.6 Gm 2 , respectively. Their emissions tended to be concentrated in certain periods and areas. The OC emission intensities in central urban areas were 3.85–50.5 times those in rural areas (due to the high density of human activity), while the ACS BrC emissions in rural regions accounted for 63.0–79.5 % of the total emissions (resulting from uncontrolled fireworks). A mass of fireworks led to much higher ACS BrC and EC emissions on Chinese New Year's Eve, with respective values that were 1444 and 262 times their corresponding yearly averages. Significant (p<0.01) correlations between the population's income and pollutant emissions were also found: these correlations were positive (r=0.94) and negative (r=-0.94) for urban and rural regions, respectively, indicating the necessity to regulate residents' lifestyles and increase residents' income in respective urban and rural regions. This study provides firsthand data to identify emissions, variation trends, and impacting factors from the FMSs. This is helpful for modeling works on air quality, the climate effect, and human health risks during specific periods or in specific regions as well as for modifying emission control policies. The data compiled in this work can found at 10.6084/m9.figshare.19999991.v2 (Cheng et al., 2022). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of traffic congestion and the environmental issues related to air pollution are among the essential problems of urban management that metropolitan cities are trying to mitigate. Given that the contribution of motor vehicles to air pollution is significant, both goals are achieved by managing urban transport. Among the various methods of travel demand management, congestion pricing is a very efficient measure. This study tried to simultaneously increase the efficiency of the transportation network and reduce the environmental effects by using a bi-level model for the multi-modal network. For this purpose, the upper-level model minimizes the objective function, i.e., pollution emission costs and overall commuting costs. The lower level also has a transportation network model that provides the condition of user equilibrium. The genetic and Frank-Wolfe algorithms have been used to solve the bi-level programming model. Two pricing schemes, cordon-based and link-based, are used to investigate and assist policymakers. The proposed algorithm is also applied to a real-world road network in Isfahan, Iran. The results of the proposed models for different pricing strategies were compared. According to the results, both pricing schemes mitigate traffic congestion and pollution, although the reduction in pollution outside the cordon is less than inside. Demand has also shifted from the private car mode to public transportation by an average of 15%. However, link-based pricing provides better performance than cordon-based pricing. This study indicated that a higher total collected toll in link-based pricing is accompanied by a sharper reduction in congestion and pollution mitigation, which can be spent on alternative facilities and infrastructure by the municipality, such as the development of public transportation and parking., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

While studies have demonstrated that air pollution can be catastrophic to the population's health, few empirical studies are found in the economic literature because a considerable proportion of the evidence comes from epidemiological studies. Because of the crucial role of governance in the health community, good governance has been a contentious issue in public sector management in recent years. Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine the effects of air pollution and the role of governance on health outcomes. This study employed the generalized method of moment (GMM) estimation techniques to analyse panel data for 72 developing countries from 2010 to 2017. The empirical results confirm that higher PM 2.5 and CO 2 levels have a detrimental influence on life expectancy and healthy life expectancy, whereas the role of governance has a positive impact on life expectancy and healthy life expectancy. Furthermore, the findings show governance quality plays a role in moderating the negative effect of PM 2.5 on health outcomes. The ongoing rise in air pollution has had a significant impact on the health of developing countries. It appears that governance quality has improved health outcomes. The findings have important policy implications, such that strengthening governance can reduce air pollution emissions in developing countries. However, to reduce the health effects of air pollution, developing countries must implement effective environmental development policies and track the implementation and enforcement of such policies., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Air pollution and urban innovation are two important issues that have accompanied China's economic growth in the past decade. Based on the quasi-natural experiment of central heating in northern China in winter, this paper uses regression discontinuity design (RDD) to isolate the causal relationship between air pollution and urban innovation in China by matching urban data with multiple micro databases. Further, the possible influencing mechanism is discussed from the perspective of human capital. The results show that-air pollution significantly inhibits urban innovation-specifically, a 1% increase in air pollution significantly reduces urban innovation by 1.463%; compared with non-invention patents, air pollution has a more obvious inhibitory effect on invention patents with higher innovation capacity requirements and technology content. In terms of the impact mechanism, air pollution may undermine urban innovation by impairing healthy human capital and increasing the emigration of high-level human capital from cities., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This paper investigates the long-run effects of PM 2.5 exposure in utero on the mental health of adolescents. Using nationally representative survey data from China, we instrument the PM 2.5 exposure with wind speed to tackle the possible endogeneity problem. Our results show that mothers' PM 2.5 exposure during their pregnancy negatively affects the mental health of their children aged between 10 and 15 years. A 1 µg/m 3 increase in PM 2.5 exposure in utero increases the probability of having a severe mental illness for adolescents by 0.6%. Our evidence supports the "fetal origins" hypothesis. We also find that fetal PM 2.5 exposure leads adolescents to be more likely to be absent from school and quarrel with their parents, implying that fetal PM 2.5 exposure may affect individuals' behavior when they grow up., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Diesel particulate filter (DPF) is considered as an effective method to control particulate matter (PM) emissions from diesel engines, which is included in the mandatory installation list by more and more national/regional laws and regulations, such as CHINA VI, Euro VI, and EPA Tier3. Due to the limited capacity of DPF to contain PM, the manufacturer introduced a method of treating deposited PM by oxidation, which is called regeneration. This paper comprehensively summarizes the most advanced regeneration technology, including filter structure, new catalyst formula, accurate soot prediction, safe and reliable regeneration strategy, uncontrolled regeneration and its control methods. In addition, due to the change of working conditions in the regeneration process, the additional emissions during regeneration are discussed in this paper. The DPF is not only the aftertreatment device but also can be combined with diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC), selective catalytic reduction (SCR) and exhaust recirculation (EGR). In addition, the impact of DPF modification on the original system of some old models has been reasonably discussed in order to achieve emission targets., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Coal has long remained a promising and widely used energy resource all over the world. Special emphasis is usually put on the research and development of environmentally friendly technologies for the use of coal and coal processing waste. The development of slurry fuels based on coal waste is one of the promising ways to use raw materials with energy potential, recover wastes, and reduce the environmental load. However, no combustion technology has yet been created for heterogeneous wastes as water-based slurries. The physical principles and parameters of the corresponding processes have not been studied adequately. In this research, the environmental combustion indicators (CO 2 , CO, H 2 , NO x , and SO 2 concentrations) of slurries based on water and petrochemical, coal, and plant wastes were analyzed for the first time in a wide range of temperatures covering all the typical stages of thermochemical fuel conversion: pyrolysis (400-700 °C), gasification (700-900 °C), and combustion (700-1000 °C). We established the key patterns and aspects of changes in gas concentrations at all the main stages during the thermal decomposition of fuels. The use of water-based fuels at the pyrolysis stage was notable for up to 96% higher concentrations of the key combustible gases (CO, H 2 ). The temperature extrema were 50-100 °C lower than those of bituminous coal. In terms of the key anthropogenic emissions (CO 2 , NO x , and SO 2 ), the combustion of slurries also appeared to be 20-77% more environmentally friendly than that of coal depending on the temperature conditions and fuel composition. The maximum positive effect from adding biomass to coal-water slurries was achieved in the temperature range of 850 to 1000 °C. The research findings can be used for developing the technologies for thermal recovery of waste as water slurries, in particular, by intensifying the pyrolysis, gasification, and combustion., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

N-doped TiO2 (N-TiO2) photocatalyst was prepared by the sol-gel method, using butyl titanate and urea as raw materials, and then loaded onto diatomite to prepare a composite photocatalyst. Bleached sulfate softwood pulp fiber was dissolved and mixed with the composite photocatalyst and then regenerated to prepare composite fillers for the manufacture of visible light-responsive photocatalytic paper suitable for the removal of toxic formaldehyde gas. Photocatalytic paper containing 20% composite filler with a ratio of 4/6 N-TiO2 (60% N-doping)/diatomite had good photocatalytic activity, with 50.1% formaldehyde degraded after 10 h under visible light irradiation. This photocatalytic paper also had good physical properties, with a paper density of 0.36 g cm−3, a burst index of 3.0 kPa·m2 g−1 and a tensile index of 43.33 Nm g−1, indicating that it has good prospects for removal of indoor air pollutants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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.)

Tropospheric ozone is an air pollutant at the ground level and a greenhouse gas which significantly contributes to the global warming. Strong anthropogenic emissions in and around urban environments enhance surface ozone pollution impacting the human health and vegetation adversely. However, observations are often scarce and the factors driving ozone variability remain uncertain in the developing regions of the world. In this regard, here, we conducted machine learning (ML) simulations of ozone variability and comprehensively examined the governing factors over a major urban environment (Ahmedabad) in western India. Ozone precursors (NO 2 , NO, CO, C 5 H 8 and CH 2 O) from the CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) reanalysis and meteorological parameters from the ERA5 (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecast's (ECMWF) fifth-generation reanalysis) were included as features in the ML models. Automated ML (AutoML) fitted the deep learning model optimally and simulated the daily ozone with root mean square error (RMSE) of ~2 ppbv reproducing 84-88% of variability. The model performance achieved here is comparable to widely used ML models (RF-Random Forest and XGBoost-eXtreme Gradient Boosting). Explainability of the models is discussed through different schemes of feature importance, including SAGE (Shapley Additive Global importancE) and permutation importance. The leading features are found to be different from different feature importance schemes. We show that urban ozone could be simulated well (RMSE = 2.5 ppbv and R 2  = 0.78) by considering first four leading features, from different schemes, which are consistent with ozone photochemistry. Our study underscores the need to conduct science-informed analysis of feature importance from multiple schemes to infer the roles of input variables in ozone variability. AutoML-based studies, exploiting potentials of long-term observations, can strongly complement the conventional chemistry-transport modelling and can also help in accurate simulation and forecast of urban ozone., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Objective: The aim of the study is to examine whether preoprerative exposure to air pollution is associated with mortality after a major cancer surgery., Methods: All patients who underwent major cancer surgeries after hospitalization between January 1, 2016, to December 31, 2020, were included., Results: In total, 244,766 patients who underwent major cancer surgeries were included. Both 0.001-ppm increase in sulfur dioxide and 0.1-ppm increase in carbon monoxide were associated with a 7% increase in 90-day mortality rate after a major cancer surgery. Furthermore, a 0.001-ppm increase in sulfur dioxide, 0.1 ppm increase in carbon monoxide, and 1 μg/m 3 increase in particulate matter 2.5 were associated with a 4%, 3%, and 1% increase in 1-year all-cause mortality rate after a major cancer surgery., Conclusions: Preoperative exposure to air pollution was associated with an increased risk of mortality in patients after major cancer surgery., Competing Interests: Song and Oh have no relationships/conditions/circumstances that present potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.)

The number of cars is increasing every year and the environmental aspects of transport are becoming a hot topic. The spatial and temporal patterns of motor vehicle carbon monoxide (CO) emissions are still unclear due to the unbalanced economic development and heterogeneous geographic conditions of China. With the objective of realizing a reduction in motor vehicle CO emissions, his study explores the transport carbon emission reduction pathways of China from motor vehicle CO emission. Firstly, the entropy method is adopted to comprehensively evaluate the CO emissions from motor vehicles in each province; secondly, the development of a Geographically and Temporally Weighted Regression (GTWR) model facilitates the examination of the spatiotemporal dynamics pertaining to the influencing factors of motor vehicle CO emissions within each province.; finally, the characteristics of motor vehicle CO emissions in ETS pilot areas and non-ETS pilot areas are compared. The results show that: (1) After the completion of the six ETS pilot areas in 2011, the CO emission from motor vehicles is reduced by 18% compared with 2010.(2)The entropy method shows that the largest CO emissions from motor vehicles are from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong and other provinces with high economic levels.(3) The results of the GTWR model show that the positive effects of economic level, population size, road mileage intensity and motor vehicle intensity on motor vehicle CO emissions are decreasing year by year. The negative effect of metro line intensity on CO emission decreases year by year. This study can help decision makers to identify the high emission areas, understand the influencing factors, and formulate emission reduction measures to achieve the purpose of carbon emission reduction in transport., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Protecting people from air pollution is an important task for developing countries. Over the past several decades, different types of policies have been enacted in developing countries to improve air quality, with policy impact analysis being conducted as well. As for China, while there is some existing literature on the impact of short-term action on air quality, there is much less research to investigate the roles of long-term air quality control mechanism on air quality change. This paper uses the "2 + 26" city cluster in China as a case study area to particularly analyze the roles played by short-term campaigns that compose the Winter Action Plan and a long-term mechanism referred to as the environmental accountability system in pollution control. Based on econometric and descriptive statistical analyses, it is found that the implementation of the Winter Action Plan has significantly improved the air quality, and the environmental accountability system seems to have exerted an impact, as cities with better air quality appear to establish a more stringent environmental accountability system. The paper provides the following insights for other developing countries: short-term campaigns can quickly reduce pollution and protect human health, while long-term mechanisms are needed to ensure sustainable environmental protection., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This study attempts to examine the morphological, elemental and physical characteristics of PM 10 over the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) using FTIR and scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDX) analysis. The study aimed at source identification of PM 10 by exploring the inorganic ions, organic functional groups, morphology and elemental characteristics. The pollution load of PM 10 was estimated as 63 ± 22 μg m -3 ; 53 ± 16 μg m -3 ; 67 ± 26 μg m -3 and 55 ± 11 μg m -3 over Mohal-Kullu, Almora, Nainital and Darjeeling, respectively. ATR-FTIR spectrum analysis revealed the existence of inorganic ions (SiO 4 4- , TiO 2 , SO 4 2- , SO 3 - , NO 3 - , NO 2 - , CO 3 2- , HCO 3 - , NH 4 + ) and organic functional groups (C-C, C-H, C=C, C≡C, C=O, N-H, C≡N, C=N, O-H, cyclic rings, aromatic compounds and some heterogeneous groups) in PM 10 which may arise from geogenic, biogenic and anthropogenic sources. The morphological and elemental characterization was performed by SEM-EDX, inferring for geogenic origin (Al, Na, K, Ca, Mg and Fe) due to the presence of different morphologies (irregular, spherical, cluster, sheet-like solid deposition and columnar). In contrast, particles having biogenic and anthropogenic origins (K, S and Ba) have primarily spherical with few irregular particles at all the study sites. Also, the statistical analysis ANOVA depicts that among all the detected elements, Na, Al, Si, S and K are site-specific in nature as their mean of aw% significantly varied for all the sites. The trajectory analysis revealed that the Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, the Thar Desert, Himachal Pradesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Sikkim, the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) and the Bay of Bengal (BoB) contribute to the increased loading of atmospheric pollutants in various locations within the IHR., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

There has been controversy about the air pollutants emitted from sources closely related to people's daily life (such as cooking, fireworks burning, sacrificial incenses and joss paper burning, and barbecue, named as five missing sources, FMS) impacting the outdoor air quality to what extent. Till now, there is no emission estimation of air pollutants from FMS, as the missing of both activity dataset and emission factors. We attempted to combine the questionnaire data, various statistical data, and data of points of interest to obtain a relatively complete set of activity data. The emission factors (EFs) of carbonaceous aerosols were tested in our lab. Then, the emission inventories of carbonaceous aerosol with the high spatial-temporal resolution for FMS were established firstly, and the spatial-variation trend and driving forces were discussed. From 2000 to 2018, organic carbon (OC) increased from 4268 t to 4919 t. The OC emission from FMS was 1.48-2.18 - of its total emission in China. The emissions of black carbon, element carbon (EC), and brown carbon absorption cross-section (ACSBrC) emissions from FMS were in the ranges of 22.6-43.9 t, 213-324 t, and 14.7-35.6 Gm2, respectively. Their emissions tended to concentrate in special periods and areas. The OC emission intensities in central urban areas were 3.85-50.5 times that of rural areas due to the high density of human activities. While the ACSBrC emissions in rural regions accounted for 63.0-79.5% of the total emission result from uncontrolled fireworks burning. A mass of fireworks burning led to extremely higher ACSBrC and EC emissions on Chinese New Year's eve, as 1444 and 262 times their corresponding yearly average values. Interestingly, significant (p<0.01) correlations between human incomes and pollutant emissions were found, but they were positive (r = 0.94) and negative (r = -0.94) for urban and rural regions, indicating the necessity of regulating human lifestyle and increasing income for urban and rural peoples, respectively. This study provided the first-hand data for identifying the emissions, variation trends and impacting factors of FMS, which is helpful for modeling works on air quality, climate effect, and human health risks at specific periods or regions and for modifying their emission control policies. The data in this work could be found at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.19999991.v1 (Cheng et al., 2022). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ag/N-TiO2 aerogel photocatalyst (Ag/N-TiO2 ACP) was prepared by the sol–gel method, using AgNO3 and urea as the sources of silver and nitrogen, respectively. The surface of the photocatalyst was modified using an alcoholic solution of ethyl orthosilicate (20% v/v) during the drying process under atmospheric pressure. Ag/N-TiO2 ACP, microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) and polyvinyl butyral (PVB) were combined by electrostatic spinning to prepare Ag/N-TiO2 ACP/MCC composite fibers (Ag/N-TiO2/MCC-CFs). Ag/N-TiO2/MCC-CFs were then composited with pulp fibers to prepare a photocatalytic paper (Ag/N-TiO2/MCC CFs-paper) with a wide spectral response range. Ag/N-TiO2 ACP has a high specific surface area (288.92 m2/g) and good antibacterial activity (no obvious colony after 2 h under simulated sunlight). Scanning electron microscopy images showed Ag/N-TiO2/MCC-CFs anchored in the pulp fibers. The composite photocatalytic paper exhibited good antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli (> 97% growth inhibition under simulated sunlight for 2 h) and Staphylococcus aureus (> 91% growth inhibition under simulated sunlight for 2 h). The photocatalytic paper also showed good photocatalytic activity and stability for the degradation of liquid-phase organic pollutants (MB, adsorption-photocatalytic degradation ~ 100%) and volatile organic pollutants (HCHO, adsorption-photocatalytic degradation 57.19%) under light irradiation. This study provides a simple and green method for preparation of a novel paper-based material with effective antibacterial and photocatalytic activity that has potential for photocatalytic sewage purification and degradation of indoor air pollutants, such as HCHO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental pollution and climate change have become nontraditional global security threats. As China's economy grows, the country faces an increasing number of challenges associated with improving atmospheric quality and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Based on China's dynamic noncompetitive input-output tables and data on energy consumption and emissions from 1994 to 2016, a hybrid input-output model is constructed to identify high-energy-consuming sectors and to quantify the impact of industrial restructuring on the intensity of air pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions from these sectors. The empirical results indicate that the impact of industrial restructuring on the intensity of air pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions from high-energy-consuming sectors was nonlinear and has undergone a "promotion reduction" shift. This study also found that the impact of industrial restructuring is more significant on the intensity of greenhouse gas emissions than on the intensity of air pollutant emissions; furthermore, the reduction in greenhouse gas emission intensity achieved by industrial restructuring after 2008 began to show results. Based on the findings of this study, we make recommendations such as the need for the Chinese government to continue to promote supply-side structural reforms in the energy sector., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)