Air Pollution Reduction Policies Research Articles

Measuring the Health Co-Benefits of Air Pollution Interventions on Premature Deaths in Canadian Cities

Background: Climate change has significant consequences on human health. Cities are especially vulnerable, where air pollution is a major environmental health risk. Premature mortality (i.e., deaths before age 75) is a robust population health outcome amenable to targeted policy and programmatic interventions. We used the Premature Mortality Population Risk Tool augmented with environmental data (PreMPoRT-ENV) to predict the 5-year incidence of premature deaths under air pollution reduction policies. Methods: PreMPoRT-ENV is a sex-specific Weibull accelerated failure time survival model that uses the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) linked to the Canadian Vital Statistics Death Database and environmental data. We applied PreMPoRT-ENV to the 2016–2017 CCHS cycles and simulated Canadian Ambient Air Quality Standards targets to predict their impact on premature mortality across Canadian census metropolitan areas. We simulated capping annual mean particulate matter 2.5 microns or less in diameter (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), as well as reducing air pollutants by 10% and 25% plus capping. Results: The weighted sample included 9,240,000 females and 9,260,000 males. Capping PM2.5 to 8.8 μg/m3 and NO2 to 12.0 ppb resulted in 12 per 100,000 fewer predicted premature deaths than observed exposures over 5 years (1,110 fewer absolute premature deaths). Reducing air pollutants by 10% and 25% plus capping resulted in even fewer predicted premature deaths. Conclusion: Our study highlights how to use a model that predicts premature mortality to provide estimates of the health impacts of environmental vulnerabilities. Results suggest that more aggressive targets may be needed to further realize population health benefits.

Private benefits from ambient air pollution reduction policies: Evidence from the household heating stove replacement program in Chile

We estimate the key private benefits from a program to improve ambient air quality during winter in central Chile by replacing inefficient wood-fired home heating stoves with more efficient pellet stoves. We are interested in the private benefits to households, because they represent additional value of the program and likely drive adoption. Combining electronic stove surface temperature and air pollution monitoring with household surveys, we estimate the effects of adoption on household fuel expenditures, indoor temperatures and indoor air pollution concentrations (PM2.5) when the stoves are in use. We also explore heterogeneous effects of the program by income group and energy poverty status. Our results suggest that, after controlling for observable characteristics of individuals and dwellings, users of pellet stoves on average enjoy 14 % lower indoor PM2.5 concentrations during hours in which stoves are in use compared with those who use traditional stoves during the same periods of time. Lower-income and energy-poor households receive much greater than average improvements in indoor air pollution than those with higher-incomes, driving the overall estimate and indicating that the program is progressive in this dimension. The improved heating stove has significantly higher operating costs, however, and we find that these costs are most salient for low-income and energy-poor households.

Assessing the impact of climate and air quality policies on future emissions in Korea through quantification of control and co-control effects

Climate policies designed to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions can also lead to reduced air pollutants, and conversely, air pollution reduction policies can contribute to GHG reductions. We defined "control" as achieving key policy goals and "co-control" as achieving additional goals simultaneously. This study quantitatively analyzed the effects of Korea's Climate and air pollutant reduction policies using the GHGs and air pollutant Unified Information Design system for Environment (GUIDE) model, which facilitates an integrated analysis of the control and co-control effects of these policies. We incorporated the latest policies in Korea into the model and developed four scenarios to generate and evaluate future emission inventories for each scenario until 2030. The four scenarios include the baseline scenario (no additional policy), the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) scenario (climate policies), the Air Quality Management (AQM) scenario (air quality policies), and the NDC+AQM scenario (both policies). The analysis results from the NDC and the NDC+AQM scenarios present the reduction effects of CO2 emissions due to climate policies and illustrate the co-control effects that reduce atmospheric pollutants such as SOx, NOx, and PM2.5 as well. Moreover, through a comparative analysis of emission reduction outcomes across the four scenarios, this study shows the advantages of concurrently evaluating climate and air quality policies using the integrated model. Furthermore, by assessing the effects of policies within each emission sector, we can identify sections necessitating supplementary reduction strategies. The findings presented in this research offer valuable insights and data to inform forthcoming policy development and assessment endeavors.

Long-term analysis of AOD separated by aerosol type in East Asia

This study aimed to identify the temporal variations in aerosol loadings and sizes in East Asia based on a method that uses the linear particle depolarization ratio (δP) and coarse-mode fraction of volume concentration (CMFvc) from AERONET Sun/Sky radiometer data. East Asia is the polluted region. Pollution levels continue to increase as a result of population growth and increasing industrialization. The main pollution sources are derived from anthropogenic activities and Asian dust. The data were used to separate the total aerosol optical depths (τ) of mixed aerosol plumes into optical depths contributed by dust (τD), coarse- (τPC), and fine-mode pollution (τPF). We used data taken from 1999 to 2021 in East Asia (Beijing, Xianghe on the west, Seoul, Yonsei, Anmyon, and Gwangju in the middle, Osaka and Shirahama in the east, and Taipei in the south). We identified the regional differences; the contribution of τD and τPC to the total τ of Chinese sites was almost twice that of other East Asian sites. We analyzed the monthly, seasonal and annual values each of the three aerosol types contributed to total optical depth. The annual variations in τD and τPC from 1999 to 2021 showed a decreasing trend. In contrast, τPF either increased or became stagnant during that time. We conclude that aerosol types in East Asia may have changed. The Ångström exponent of fine-mode particles increased in most regions (0.0008–0.0103 yr−1 for the wavelength range 440–870 nm), which means the mean size of the fine-mode pollution particles tended to decrease, even though τPF increased. The change in particle size might be caused by the decrease in primary emission sources due to the strong air pollution reduction policies in China, Korea, and Japan. Therefore, we need to focus on the change in aerosol properties not just on aerosol loadings.

Airborne fine particles drive H1N1 viruses deep into the lower respiratory tract and distant organs.

Mounting data suggest that environmental pollution due to airborne fine particles (AFPs) increases the occurrence and severity of respiratory virus infection in humans. However, it is unclear whether and how interactions with AFPs alter viral infection and distribution. We report synergetic effects between various AFPs and the H1N1 virus, regulated by physicochemical properties of the AFPs. Unlike infection caused by virus alone, AFPs facilitated the internalization of virus through a receptor-independent pathway. Moreover, AFPs promoted the budding and dispersal of progeny virions, likely mediated by lipid rafts in the host plasma membrane. Infected animal models demonstrated that AFPs favored penetration of the H1N1 virus into the distal lung, and its translocation into extrapulmonary organs including the liver, spleen, and kidney, thus causing severe local and systemic disorders. Our findings revealed a key role of AFPs in driving viral infection throughout the respiratory tract and beyond. These insights entail stronger air quality management and air pollution reduction policies.

Estimating vehicular emission factors and vehicle-induced turbulence: Application of an air quality sensor array for continuous multipoint monitoring in a tunnel

In this study, air quality monitoring nodes (equipped with pollutants (NO, NO2, CO, and PM2.5), temperature, and humidity sensors) were deployed at seven locations inside a road tunnel for continuous multipoint monitoring of traffic emissions. At the same time, in-tunnel turbulence was measured with a 3D-sonic anemometer in the middle of the tunnel to estimate vehicle-induced turbulence (VIT). The emission factors (EFs) of all pollutants estimated from conventional two-point measurements varied significantly among arbitrarily chosen pairs of measurement locations (with a range of 53–193% compared to the mean value). These findings suggest the need for multipoint monitoring for more generalizable EF estimates. Our results indicate that installing a sensor array in a tunnel could enable long-term continuous multipoint monitoring of traffic-related pollutants with limited resources. The EF estimates obtained in this study were higher (∼7 times) than those calculated from an emission inventory based on actual traffic data, particularly for CO and wintertime NOX. One possible explanation for this inconsistency is an underestimation of high emitters in the emission inventory. We also estimated VIT as a function of the total traffic flow rate and the fraction of heavy-duty diesel vehicles in a fleet. We expect our results to be used as input data for local and regional air quality models, which can improve the model's performance. We also expect that long-term continuous monitoring of air pollutants in tunnels with multiple sensor nodes will aid evaluations of the effectiveness of air pollution reduction policies by tracking changes in traffic emissions.

Substantial Changes in Selected Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and Associations with Health Risk Assessments in Industrial Areas during the COVID-19 Pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, governments in many countries worldwide, including India, imposed several restriction measures, including lockdowns, to prevent the spread of the infection. COVID-19 lockdowns led to a reduction in gaseous and particulate pollutants in ambient air. In the present study, we investigated the substantial changes in selected volatile organic compounds (VOCs) after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and associations with health risk assessments in industrial areas. VOC data from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2021 were collected from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) website, to identify percentage changes in VOC levels before, during, and after COVID-19. The mean TVOC levels at all monitoring stations were 47.22 ± 30.15, 37.19 ± 37.19, and 32.81 ± 32.81 µg/m3 for 2019, 2020, and 2021, respectively. As a result, the TVOC levels gradually declined in consecutive years due to the pandemic in India. The mean TVOC levels at all monitoring stations declined from 9 to 61% during the pandemic period as compared with the pre-pandemic period. In the current study, the T/B ratio values ranged from 2.16 (PG) to 26.38 (NL), which indicated that the major pollutant contributors were traffic and non-traffic sources during the pre-pandemic period. The present findings indicated that TVOC levels had positive but low correlations with SR, BP, RF, and WD, with correlation coefficients (r) of 0.034, 0.118, 0.012, and 0.007, respectively, whereas negative correlations were observed with AT and WS, with correlation coefficients (r) of -0.168 and -0.150, respectively. The lifetime cancer risk (LCR) value for benzene was reported to be higher in children, followed by females and males, for the pre-pandemic, pandemic, and post-pandemic periods. A nationwide scale-up of this study's findings might be useful in formulating future air pollution reduction policies associated with a reduction in health risk factors. Furthermore, the present study provides baseline data for future studies on the impacts of anthropogenic activities on the air quality of a region.

Chemical composition, sources and evolution of PM2.5 during wintertime in the city cluster of southern Sichuan, China

The city cluster of southern Sichuan is not only the key haze area in the Sichuan Basin, China, but also seriously affects the air quality of surrounding areas. In order to obtain comprehensive information on the characteristics of air pollution in this area, this study conducted synchronous sampling and analysis of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in four cities (Zigong, Luzhou, Neijiang and Yibin) in this area during the wintertime of 2018–2019. The results showed that the average concentration of PM2.5 in these four cities was 111–124 μg m−3, with more than 90% of days being polluted days. The contributions from carbonaceous components, water-soluble inorganic ions (WSIIs) and trace elements to PM2.5 were 17.3–18.9%, 34.3–38.2% and 2.2–3.0%, respectively. The contributions of secondary inorganic ions (SO42−, NO3− and NH4+) to WSIIs were 91.1–93.0%. The changes in the chemical components during the process of pollution aggravation were significantly different from those in most cities in China, with the contribution from organic carbon increasing, while the contribution from WSIIs decreased. PM2.5 mainly came from dust, combustion, vehicular emissions, industrial processes and secondary inorganic sources. Compared with most megacities or provincial capitals in China, the contributions from dust (18.1–23.6%), combustion (17.9–21.1%) and industrial processes (9.2–12.0%) were at a higher level, and these sources can be regarded as the primary targets for pollution reduction in the future. The formulation of air pollution reduction policies needs to consider local conditions, such as sources, energy structure, management level.

Air pollution in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, assessed by plant comet assay.

Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) is among the European countries with the highest rate of air pollution-related death cases and the poorest air quality. The main causes are solid fuel consumption, traffic, and the poorly developed or implemented air pollution reduction policies. In addition, the city of Sarajevo, the capital of B&H, suffers temperature inversion episodes in autumn/winter months, which sustain air pollution. Human biomonitoring studies may be confounded by the lifestyle of subjects or possible metabolic alterations. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate Ligustrum vulgare L. as a model for air pollution monitoring by measuring DNA damage at one rural and two urban sites. DNA damage was measured as tail intensity (TI) in L. vulgare leaves, considering seasonal, sampling period, leaf position and staging, and spatial (urban versus rural) variation. Effects of COVID-19 lockdown on TI were assessed by periodical monitoring at one of the selected sites, while in-house grown L. vulgare plants were used to test differences between outdoor and indoor air pollution effects for the same sampling period. Significantly higher TI was generally observed in leaves collected in Campus in December 2020 and 2021 compared with March (P < 0.0001). Outer and adult leaves showed higher TI values, except for the rural site where no differences for these categories were found. Leaves collected in the proximity of the intensive traffic showed significantly higher TI values (P < 0.001), regardless of the sampling period and the stage of growth. In regards to the COVID-19 lockdown, higher TI (P < 0.001) was registered in December 2020, after the lockdown period, than in periods before COVID-19 outbreak or immediately after the lockdown in 2020. This also reflects mild air pollution conditions in summer. TI values for the in-house grown leaves were significantly lower compared to those in situ. Results showed that L. vulgare may present a consistent model for the air pollution biomonitoring but further studies are needed to establish the best association between L. vulgare physiology, air quality data, and air pollution effects.

Spatio-temporal variation in fine particulate matter and effect on air quality during the COVID-19 in New Delhi, India

Novel Coronavirus disease has affected almost all the countries; which leads to the pandemic, impacting adversely on environment. The impact on environment during pre-and during lockdowns needs an attention to correlate the pollutants from industrial emissions and other factors. Therefore, the current study demonstrates the changes in fine particulate matter PM2.5, PM10 and effect on air quality during lockdown. The highest reduction was observed in lockdown I (25 March - 14 April) as compared to others lockdowns (between 15 April and 31st May 2020) due to the complete shutdown of industrial, transport, and construction activities. A significant reduction in PM2.5 and PM10 from 114.27 μg/m3 and 194.48 μg/m3 for pre-lockdown period to 41.41 μg/m3 and 86.81 μg/m3 for lockdown I was observed. The levels of air quality index fall under satisfactory category for lockdown I whereas satisfactory to moderate category for other lockdowns. The present study revealed a strong correlation between PM2.5 and PM10 levels during the pre-lockdown period (0.71) and through lockdown IV (0.76), which indicate that change in the PM10 level influences the PM2.5 level greatly. The findings of the present study could be scaled up nationwide and might be useful in formulating air pollution reduction policies in the future.

Using SHERPA screening tool for design and assessment of local and regional air quality management

As atmospheric pollution continue to be a significant issue on global level, but with a particular importance at European Union level, the air pollution reduction policies will continue to be enforced in the next decades. At EU level, especially on most developed countries, NO2 and Particulate Matter (fine and coarse fractions) remain an acute problem. To help decision factors to have a better view on entire EU region the SHERPA (Screening for High Emission Reduction Potentials on Air quality) was developed, a tool that was proven helpful in addressing source allocation, governance and the assessment of scenario impacts.

Air pollution reduction and climate co-benefits in China’s industries

Air pollution reduction policies can simultaneously mitigate CO2 emissions in the industrial sector, but the extent of these co-benefits is understudied. We analyse the potential co-benefits for SO2, NOx, particulate matter (PM) and CO2 emission reduction in major industrial sectors in China. We construct and analyse a firm-level database covering nearly 80,000 observations and use scenario simulations to estimate the co-benefits. The findings show that substantial co-benefits could be achieved with three specific interventions. Energy intensity improvement can reduce SO2, NOx, PM and CO2 emissions for non-power sectors by 26–44%, 19–44%, 25–46% and 18–50%, respectively. Reductions from scale structure adjustment such as phasing out small firms and developing large ones can amount to 1–8%, 1–6%, 2–20% and 0.2–3%. Electrification can reduce emissions by 19–25%, 4–28%, 20–29% and 11–12% if the share of electricity generated from non-fossil fuel sources is 70%. Since firm heterogeneity is essential to realize the co-benefits and directly determines the magnitudes of these benefits, stricter and sensible environmental policies targeting industrial firms can accelerate China’s sustainable transformation.

Exploring Factors Affecting on Willingness to Observe Air Pollution Reduction Policies in Tehran, Iran

Exploring Factors Affecting on Willingness to Observe Air Pollution Reduction Policies in Tehran, Iran

Impacts of COVID-19 on Air Quality in India

The COVID-19 pandemic spread all over the world in early 2020. India imposed a nationwide lockdown on March 25, 2020, for more than a month to contain the COVID-19 infection. During the nationwide lockdown, transport, industries, and commercial activities were suspended, except for essential services. We made a detailed analysis of the impacts of COVID-19 on air quality in India by using the data from more than 200 Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS) and reported a change in the National Air Quality Index (NAQI), spatial distribution and concentration levels of PM10, PM2.5, CO, NO2, SO2, and O3 from January to April 2020 nationwide and in five major cities, namely, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, and Hyderabad. We defined the period between February 25 to March 24, 2020, as ‘before lockdown’ and March 25 to April 30, 2020, as ‘during lockdown’. The NAQI and satellite visual maps of AOD, NO2, CO, and SO2 from January to April 2020 showed a significant decrease in air pollution levels in India. The average concentration levels of PM10, PM2.5, CO, NO2, and SO2 have decreased nationwide by 33, 34, 21, 47, and 21%, respectively, during the nationwide lockdown compared to their concentration levels before the lockdown. While comparing their concentration levels of the nationwide lockdown period with those observed in April 2019 at the same CAAQMS, it was found that the nationwide average concentration levels of PM10, PM2.5, CO, NO2, and SO2 were decreased by 53, 45, 27, 54, and 35%, respectively. The trends of decreasing air pollutants during the lockdown in five major cities were almost the same as nationwide. The concentration levels of O3 have shown an increasing trend from January–April 2020 including during the nationwide lockdown. The COVID-19 has provided a rare opportunity for India for the collection of air pollution baseline data which could be useful in the formulation of air pollution reduction policies in the future.

Impact of the exclusive median bus lane system on air pollution concentrations in Seoul, Korea

Since many previous studies reported the health effect of air pollution and indicated traffic as a major pollution source, significant policy efforts have been made to control traffic to reduce air pollution. However, there have been few studies that evaluated such policy implementation. In Seoul, Korea, the exclusive median bus lane system was implemented in 2004, and the metropolitan government applied air pollution reduction policies such as conversion of diesel buses to compressed natural gas buses and installation of emission control devices. This paper aimed to investigate the impact of the exclusive median bus lane system on air pollution reduction. Using hourly concentrations of particulate matter (PM10) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) measured at 131 regulatory monitoring sites in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do for 2001-2014, we calculated annual and daily average concentrations at each site. We assessed the impact of the policy using differences-in-differences analysis by annual and daily average models after adjusting for geographic and/or meteorological variables. This method divides population into treatment and control groups with and without policy application, and compares the difference between the two time periods before and after the policy implementation in the treatment group with the difference in the control group. We classified all monitoring sites into treatment and control groups using two definitions: 1) Seoul vs. Gyeonggi; 2) within vs. outside 300 meters from the median bus lane. Pre- and post-policy periods were defined as 2001-2005 and 2006-2014, and 2004 and 2014 in the annual and daily models, respectively. The decrease in PM10 concentrations between the two periods across monitoring sites in the treatment group was larger by 1.73-5.88 μg/m3 than in the control group. NO2 also showed the decrease without statistical significance. Our findings suggest that an efficient public transport policy combined with pollution abatement policies can contribute to reduction in air pollution.

Estimation of the Effects of Air Pollution on Hospitalization Expenditures for Asthma

This article aims to estimate the effects of air pollutants (PM2.5, PM10, SO2, and NO2) on the hospitalization expenses of adult patients admitted due to asthma. The data is sourced from the medical health database of a city in Southwest China, which involves approximately 14 million residents. A generalized additive model using a Poisson distribution was utilized to identify the effects of air pollution on the cost of hospitalization due to asthma. Hospital admissions were stratified by sex, age, season, and type of medical insurance to specialize the results. Air pollution significantly affects hospitalization expenses for asthma. These effects were more significant in the male, non-senior subgroups than in the female, senior subgroups. The difference also significantly existed in different insurance type subgroups. Air pollution has adverse effects on hospitalization expenses for asthma. Climate change is now deeply affecting the world in the aspects of economy and health. Based on our research, policymakers can establish more effective air pollution reduction policies and measures that can control the levels of ambient air pollutants, which help save health care resources and improve the welfare of the population by easing the climate change.

Air pollution related externality of district heating – a case study of Changping, Beijing

Air pollution, caused by the use of fossil fuel, has been an environmental plague in China. It has a strong negative impact on human health. Since the costs of damage to health are not born by the pollution producers, these costs translate to social externality. Policies have an important role in optimizing resource allocation, such as penalizing the pollutant producers and incentivizing clean energy development. Among others, replacing coal with natural gas for heating represents an important example of air quality improvement measures. This paper presents a study that evaluates the health impacts from air pollution and the external cost of the “Coal-To-Gas” policy in district heating using Changping District (Beijing, China) as an example. Four scenarios were considered based on the historical and standard PM2.5 concentration. Results show that PM2.5 is responsible for causing an increase of 40% premature deaths in 2015 and that the monetary value of damage to health is higher than 1.2 billion CNY. In 2016 and 2017, the reported air quality was better than that in 2015. As a result, 13.3% and 26% premature deaths caused by air pollution were avoided in 2016 and 2017 compared to 2015 respectively. If the PM2.5 concentration level were to be reduced to national standard, the number of premature deaths attributed to PM2.5 could further decrease to 47.7% compared to 2015. Overall, the Coal-To-Gas policy in district heating reduces 0.017%~0.45% of premature death caused by air pollution each year. Air pollution reduction policies, which are expected to improve air quality together in the future, and the specific policy of Coal-To-Gas in district heating, could make great contribution to reducing the premature death caused by environmental problem and need more attention from the government and the public.

RIAT+, an integrated assessment tool useful for air quality planning: an application to Emilia Romagna region

Local authorities and national governments use air quality plans in order to identify measures to reduce the harmful effects of air pollution in compliance with the objectives for air quality. This paper illustrates the practical application of the integrated assessment tool RIAT+ in the definition of Emilia Romagna air quality plan (PAIR2020). Emilia Romagna was the first case study used during LIFE+OPERA project to design and implement RIAT+ tool answering regional requirements in air quality planning. The tool was designed to help regional decision makers to select optimal air pollution reduction policies that will improve the air quality at minimum cost and to achieve European Union air quality standard. Finally, the emission air quality plan scenario compared with base case emission scenarios, as well as PM10 concentration for different emission scenarios will be shown.

RIAT+, an integrated assessment tool useful for air quality planning: an application to Emilia Romagna region

Local authorities and national governments use air quality plans in order to identify measures to reduce the harmful effects of air pollution in compliance with the objectives for air quality. This paper illustrates the practical application of the integrated assessment tool RIAT+ in the definition of Emilia Romagna air quality plan (PAIR2020). Emilia Romagna was the first case study used during LIFE+OPERA project to design and implement RIAT+ tool answering regional requirements in air quality planning. The tool was designed to help regional decision makers to select optimal air pollution reduction policies that will improve the air quality at minimum cost and to achieve European Union air quality standard. Finally, the emission air quality plan scenario compared with base case emission scenarios, as well as PM10 concentration for different emission scenarios will be shown.

Application of land use regression techniques for urban greening: An analysis of Tianjin, China

The land cover types in a 4 km by 4 km space centered around an air quality monitoring station in the city of Tianjin were classified using the e-Cognition software. We identified 23 air quality monitoring sites and their surrounding land cover types. The suitability of using land cover types to predict traffic-related air pollution Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) was tested through a machine learning land use regression (LUR) modeling technique. We found that vegetation was significantly but negatively associated with air pollution levels (correlation coefficient r = −0.5, p < 0.01) while highways and major roadways were positively and significantly associated with air pollution levels (r = 0.60, p < 0.01). The LUR model explained 84% of the total variance in measured NO2 concentrations. The associations of the land cover types with NO2 concentrations were then used in land cover retrofitting strategies to quantify the potential for reducing traffic-related air pollution. We identified that the improvements in air quality could reach 25% if specific urban greening strategies were fully implemented. The results of the study can help policy makers and environmental designers adopt effective air pollution reduction policies to improve air quality and protect public health in Tianjin and other urban regions in China.