Pollution Burden Research Articles

Racial/ethnic disparities in the association between fine particles and respiratory hospital admissions in San Diego county, CA

Ambient air pollution exposure is associated with exacerbating respiratory illnesses. Race/ethnicity (R/E) have been shown to influence an individual’s vulnerability to environmental health risks such as fine particles (PM 2.5). This study aims to assess the R/E disparities in vulnerability to air pollution with regards to respiratory hospital admissions in San Diego County, California where most days fall below National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for daily PM 2.5 concentrations. Daily PM 2.5 levels were estimated at the zip code level using a spatial interpolation using inverse-distance weighting from monitor networks. The association between daily PM 2.5 levels and respiratory hospital admissions in San Diego County over a 15-year period from 1999 to 2013 was assessed with a time-series analysis using a multi-level Poisson regression model. Cochran Q tests were used to assess the effect modification of race/ethnicity on this association. Daily fine particle levels varied greatly from 1 μg/m3 to 75.86 μg/m3 (SD = 6.08 μg/m3) with the majority of days falling below 24-hour NAAQS for PM 2.5 of 35 μg/m3. For every 10 μg/m3 increase in PM 2.5 levels, Black and White individuals had higher rates (8.6% and 6.2%, respectively) of hospitalization for respiratory admissions than observed in the county as a whole (4.1%). Increases in PM 2.5 levels drive an overall increase in respiratory hospital admissions with a disparate burden of health effects by R/E group. These findings suggest an opportunity to design interventions that address the unequal burden of air pollution among vulnerable communities in San Diego County that exist even below NAAQS for daily PM 2.5 concentrations.

Impact of short- and long-term exposure to air pollution on blood pressure: A two-decade population-based study in Tehran.

Plenty of recent studies on the impact of air pollution on blood pressure (BP) exist; however, there is a lack of data for the highly polluted Eastern Mediterranean region. We evaluated the associations of short-term exposure to air pollutants with systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) and the long-term impact of air pollutants on incident hypertension, among Tehranian adults. In the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study, 4580 nonhypertensive participants aged 20-69 years (41.6% male) were followed from 2001 to 2018 through 3-year follow-ups and 4-5 examinations of them were recorded. The air pollutants included particulate matter with a diameter ≤10μm (PM10), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and sulfur dioxide (SO2). The mixed-effects transition model estimated the air pollution impact on BP. The proportional hazards Weibull model measured the long-term effects of air pollutants on the multivariate hazard of incident hypertension. The air pollutants were put in the models in the form of mean annual level, applying three versions of 1, 2, and 3 years before the follow-ups. During a median follow-up of 12.3 years, 1618 cases of hypertension were found. In the short-term, increase in CO did not affect SBP but decreased DBP with a delay effect lasting for 14 days; increase in NO2 raised SBP with a 14-day lag, however did not change DBP; increase in O3 reduced SBP with a 14-day lag but made slight non-significant increase in DBP; rise in PM10 concentrations led to increased SBP (lag 0-3 days) and DBP with lags of 0-3 days and 12-14 days and increase in SO2 made the largest increases in DBP with lags lasting for 14 days, but did not affect SBP. Regarding incident hypertension in the long-term, the increase in CO had no significant effect; increase in NO2 decreased the risk over the 2- and 3-year time spans; rise in O3, PM10, and SO2 levels increased the risk in all time spans; the largest hazard ratio [1.96 (95% CI: 1.48, 2.62)] for incident hypertension was attributable to PM10 in 3 years. Considering the major effects of air pollutants including O3, SO2, and especially PM10 on incident hypertension, urgent public health policies should be implemented to reduce the burden of air pollution in metropolitan city of Tehran.

Association of long-term exposure to PM2.5 with blood lipids in the Chinese population: Findings from a longitudinal quasi-experiment

BackgroundAlthough epidemiological studies on the effect of chronic fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure on lipid disorders have been conducted, it is unclear if improved air quality is associated with beneficial changes in the blood lipid profile. In China, clean air actions introduced in 2013 have rapidly reduced the concentration of ambient PM2.5. MethodsWe conducted a change-by-change study, based on two waves (2011 and 2015) of a national survey of the same 5111 Chinese adults before and after implementation of the clean air actions. Long-term PM2.5 exposure was assessed using a state-of-the-art estimator at the city level. Based on the within-individual differences between the two waves, we associated PM2.5 changes with the variations of four lipid biomarkers—triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C)—using a mixed-effects regression model. The robustness and homogeneity of the association were tested via sensitivity analyses. ResultsFor each 10 μg/m3 reduction in PM2.5, LDL-C, and TC decreased by 2.71 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.10–5.32) and 4.16 (95% CI 1.24–7.08)mg/dL, respectively. There was no significant association with HDL-C or TG. The results were robust among models adjusted for different covariates. PM2.5 was a significant risk factor for dyslipidemia with an adjusted relative risk of 1.21 (95% CI 1.09–1.34). The association between PM2.5 and LDL-C was stronger in the elderly or adults who did not take medications. ConclusionsThe results suggest that PM2.5 exert a cardiotoxic effect by increasing the risk of lipid disorders. Improvement of air quality could prevent dyslipidemia by reducing LDL-C and TC levels. Clean air policies should be implemented as public health measures in countries with aging societies, especially developing ones with a high air pollution burden.

Energy efficiency evaluation of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) based on data envelopment analysis

The energy use intensity of wastewater treatment facilities has been increasing in recent decades in China. In this paper, data envelopment analysis is used to evaluate the energy efficiency of municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in China. In the DEA model, the six input indicators were load rate, design scale, unit electricity consumption, sludge generation, actual treatment volume and accumulated electricity consumption, and the six outputs were COD, BOD, SS, NH3-N, TN and TP pollutant removals per amount of electricity consumption. A total of 4100 plants were assessed in China in 2018. The relative efficiencies of 14 plants at 1.0, with an average electricity consumption of 0.091 kWh/m3 compared to the national average consumption of 0.38 kWh/m3, served as a benchmark for the remaining inefficient plants. According to the Malmquist index results, during 2014–2018, on average, 40.54% of the WWTPs experienced productivity improvements, 71.24% of the plants increased their technical efficiency relative to the frontier, and 27.21% of the plants showed progress on the production frontier. Western areas in China consume a large proportion of renewable energy with higher energy efficiency levels, while central and eastern areas had lower energy efficiency trends and high pollutant emissions levels. The oxidation pond method has the highest comprehensive technical efficiency of 0.446, nearly eight times the average efficiency level. It is suggested that wastewater treatment industries should not only consider technical efficiency increases but also match their pollutant burdens and implementation of discharge standards with energy-saving targets.

Potential of lime as a green catalyst in the manufacture of furfural from Mikania micrantha

An attempt to increase the added value of lime has been done. The use of lime extract as a green catalyst in furfural manufacturing is expected to reduce the burden of pollution, and corrosion problems. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of lime extract as an organic acid catalyst in furfural production from Mikania micrantha (MM) through hydrolysis and dehydration and compare it with sulfuric acid catalyst. In this work, 50 g MM and 50 g dry NaCl powder were placed into a three neck flask equipped with a long condenser. The lime extract catalyst was added to the mixture at a ratio of 6:1 (v/w). The reaction temperature was varied from 100-120°C, and the condensed furfural was stored in an erlenmeyer as a function of time (0-330 min). Furfural was separated from water done by adding 50 ml chloroform to form two layers. The lower layer rich in furfural and chloroform was distilled at 70°C to evaporate chloroform. Purified furfural was identified using FTIR and GC-MS. The results obtained confirm that lime extract can be used as a green catalyst in furfural synthesis from MM.

Effects of road traffic on photosynthetic pigments and heavy metal accumulation in tree species of Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana

This study was undertaken to examine changes in the content of pigments and accumulation of metals from vehicular pollution in selected species of roadside trees under vehicular pollution. A major arterial road with heavy vehicle emissions in the Kumasi Metropolis was designated as the polluted site, while Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Campus was designated as the control site. Four tree species (Terminalia catappa, Mangifera indica, Ficus platyphylla and Polyalthia longifolia) selected for the study were well distributed and abundant in the polluted and control sites. Photosynthetic pigments and levels of heavy metals (Pb, Cu, Cd and zinc) were assessed in their leaves. Chlorophyll and carotenoid contents were determined by absorption spectrometry, while the metal accumulation index (MAI) was used to determine the total metal accumulation capacity of the tree species. We observed a reduction in photosynthetic pigments in the leaf samples from the polluted site. Ficus platyphylla had the maximum reduction in total chlorophyll (49.34%), whereas Terminalia catappa recorded the lowest reduction (33.88%). Similarly, the largest decrease (31.58%) of carotenoid content was found in Terminalia catappa trees and the lowest in Polyalthia longifolia (16.67%). The Polyalthia longifolia, Ficus platyphylla and Terminalia catappa leaf samples collected at the polluted site recorded a higher ratio of chlorophyll a/b. Heavy metal (Cu, Pb, Zn and Cd) accumulation in leaf samples was higher in the polluted site than in the control, as expected. The highest metal MAI value was recorded in Mangifera indica (5.35) followed by Polyalthia longifolia with 4.30. The findings from this study specifically demonstrate that air contamination induced by vehicles decreases the level of photosynthetic pigments in trees subjected to roadside emissions. It is clear that both chlorophyll a/b and chlorophyll/carotenoid ratios will act as very useful stress-level markers. Elevated heavy metal levels in the tree species along arterial roadsides indicate that they serve as heavy metals sink. The change in MAI resulting from different pollution burden is an indication that the removal capabilities of the tree species differ from each other. We therefore suggest M. indica and P. longifolia as potential species to be used in air pollution reduction plans in the city.

Making Industrial Pittsburgh Modern: Environment, Landscape, Transportation, and Planning by Edward K. Muller and Joel A. Tarr

Reviewed by: Making Industrial Pittsburgh Modern: Environment, Landscape, Transportation, and Planning by Edward K. Muller and Joel A. Tarr Paul van de Laar (bio) Making Industrial Pittsburgh Modern: Environment, Landscape, Transportation, and Planning By Edward K. Muller and Joel A. Tarr. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2019. Pp. 504. Making Industrial Pittsburgh Modern: Environment, Landscape, Transportation, and Planning By Edward K. Muller and Joel A. Tarr. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2019. Pp. 504. The urban history of industrial Pittsburgh is written in coke, steel, and smoke. Situated in southwestern Pennsylvania, west of the Allegheny Mountains, formed by the convergence of the three rivers—Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio—Pittsburgh's development was driven by a tremendous growth of industrial corporate capitalism. The spatial expansion, which started in the 1870s, shaped a metropolitan region that counted about 1.5 million inhabitants around 1920. This golden era is not considered as a period of ultimate industrial aesthetics, but as one of the darkest for smoke pollution: "Cloud by day and fire by night" (p. 275). Since the interwar period, Pittsburgh has undergone two renaissances, the first starting in the late 1940s and extending into the 1960s, when the city government tried to revitalize downtown and improve the Smoky City's image by enhancing its air and water quality. However, steel and coal barons opposed alternative growth models threatening their economic power, and civic reformers overestimated their role in effectively changing existing industrial patterns. Starting in the 1960s, established public-private coalitions were increasingly distrusted by new democratic welfare and civil rights movements. This social-cultural transition paved the way for a second renaissance, beginning in 1977 and aiming at advancing new, less-polluting and higher added-value industries and services. The dramatic collapse of Pittsburgh's industrial status could only be met by a drastic reconceptualization of social, urban, and environmental life. The era of steel and smoke is not forgotten, but is now seen as a heritage industry, aiming to rebuild community pride and identity, mixed with postindustrial redevelopments. The story of Pittsburgh resembles that of many an industrial and port city that once benefitted from a highly specialized industry or service to gain a comparative regional or national advantage (Porfyriou and Sepe, eds., Waterfronts Revisited, 2017; Koven and Koven, Growth, Decline, and Regeneration in Large Cities, 2018). Edward Muller and Joel Tarr, two distinguished Pittsburghian scholars, collected sixteen papers they had previously published in various journals that deal with the industrial foundation of the city, transportation and the rise of the modern city, the energy and environment of the city, and the planned modern city. The long-lasting power of existing interests, embedded in metal-coal [End Page 624] utilitarian networks, is highly evident when the authors discuss the environmental aspects of Pittsburgh. Clear skies signaled unemployment and closed factories, whereas smoke meant prosperity. For instance, in 1939 the city council voted against smoke control to save jobs. When causes and effects of industrial waste for public health were not clearly defined, politicians remained idle to act and favored voluntary cooperation. Verbal assurances that business would control waste and pollution were ineffective without legal pressure. Key industries such as steel and coal pushed hard to set the standards for implementation and thus slowed down progress. The chapters reveal wicked problems, created by the relationship between business-led, cost-effective, industrial technology and public policy considerations. Because of economic and technological factors, pollution burdens were often shifted from one source of pollution to another. Controlling visible smoke, for instance, masked the need for interventions to control air pollution. Lack of knowledge, confusion over the origins and causes, and in particular cost control for private investors and fiscal considerations were the major factors slowing down decision processes. But perhaps the biggest barrier was the absence of a holistic view of industrial, environmental, and health policies. After more than one hundred years of mass-industrialization of the rivers and riverfronts, they were denaturalized and seen as industrial infrastructure. This book is highly recommended. The case studies are rich and meaningful, demonstrating lessons to be learnt from past fallacies and how legacies of environmental neglect will impact future decision making. Yet the question remains...

Investigation of using sand filter in treating grey water

The ability of sand filter in treating grey water collected from the college residential is studied. Sand filter was used because it is among the most effective methods to clean the burden of pollution in the wastewater. Six sand filters with different compositions were set up in which three sand filters only consist of sand and gravel while another three sand filters were added with coconut shell activated carbon. These sand filters were used to treat the grey water based on water quality parameters which are pH, AN, TSS, BOD5, COD, and PO4 3-. The results show that concentration of AN, TSS, BOD5, COD, and PO4 3- was reduced up to 37%, 94%, 96%, 93% and 57% respectively while pH was neutral with a value of 7.60. Furthermore, the results also indicated that the sand filter added with coconut shell activated carbon was better in removing the pollutants as compared with sand filter without added activated carbon.

An integrated machine learning, noise suppression, and population-based algorithm to improve total dissolved solids prediction

Monitoring the water contaminants is of utmost importance in water resource management. Prediction of the total dissolved solid (TDS) is particularly essential for water quality management and planning in the areas exposed to a mixture of pollutants. TDS primarily includes inorganic minerals and organic matters, and various salts and increasing the concentration of TDS causes the esthetic problems. The reflection of the pollutant burden of the aquatic system can remarkably determined by TDS magnitudes. This study focuses on the prediction of TDS and several biochemical parameters such as Na, Ca, HCO3, and Mg in a river system. To overcome nonstationarity, randomness, and nonlinearity of the TDS data, a multi-step supervised machine learning evolutionary algorithm (MSMLEA) is proposed to improve the model's performance at two gaging stations, namely Rig-Cheshmeh and Soleyman-Tangeh, in the Tajan River, Iran. In addition, a hybrid model that recruits intrinsic time-scale decomposition (ITD) for frequency resolution of the input data as well as a multivariate adaptive regression spline (MARS) were adopted. A novel metaheuristic optimization algorithm, crow search algorithm (CSA), was also implemented to compute the optimal parameter values for the MARS model. To validate the proposed hybrid model, standalone MARS, empirical mode decomposition (EMD)-based models, and hybrid ITD-MARS as well as a MARS-CSA were considered as the benchmark models. Results suggest the ITD-MARS-CSA outperforms other models.

Adsorption of sulfamethoxazole by wheat straw-derived biochars in seawater

The excessive use of antibiotics in mariculture have resulted in high pollution burdens of antibiotics in marine environment. Biochars, as promising adsorbents, have been widely used in organic pollutant adsorption because of their good adsorption performance and stability. However, adsorption characteristic of antibiotics in seawater by biochar is not well known. Thus, the batch experiment for the adsorption of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) was conducted using wheat straw-derived biochars and graphite (GR) under different initial concentration of SMX and different addition of adsorbent in seawater. The results showed that the wheat straw-derived biochars produced at 700 °C was the optimal adsorbent with the maximum removal rate (R) of 70.3%, the maximum adsorption capacity (Qe) of 1.03 mg g-1 and the maximum adsorption coefficient (Kd) of 0.182 L g-1. The Qe values increased with increasing the initial concentration of SMX, while R and Kd values of SMX decreased. The R values of SMX increased with the increasing dosage of adsorbents, while Qe and Kd values of SMX decreased. These findings will shed new light on the environmentally-friendly and low-cost adsorbent for controlling the antibiotic pollution in marine environment.

Are Poorer Mexicans Exposed to Worse Air Quality? Long-Term Evidence from Satellite Imaging Data

In the Global South, comprehensive empirical evidence on environmental inequity, i.e., disproportionate pollution levels in poorer or more marginalized communities, is scarce, despite numerous anecdotes. A couple of prior studies in Mexico investigate this question for either border cities with the U.S. or utilizing self-reported plant level toxic pollution data. Neither deal with exposure to ambient air pollution despite its huge disease burden and related income shocks on the individuals affected. Using 15 years of remote sensing data on fine particulate matter (smaller than 2.5 microns), we show that more marginalized communities in Mexico experience up to 1% annual increase in pollution levels in the long-term. Given the wealth of air pollution data, we show that spatial boundaries with higher past marginalization experienced an average increase in pollution by almost 2.6% annually. Unlike the Global North, where disparities are strongly linked to race, we do not find strong evidence of indigenous population-based differential pollution burden.

Horseshoe Crab: A Keystone Species of Mangrove Forests of Coastal Belts of Sunderban

The mangroves within the biosphere reserve of Sundarban and Mahanadi Delta at Bhitarkanika and Kendrapara along the coastal belt of Bay of Bengal have been under considerable human impingement especially over the last few decades. Land reclamation for settlements along with agriculture and unplanned aquaculture practices, mechanized fishing in addition to non sustainable tourism activities proved deterrent to the ecosystem. It effect not to mention the additional burdens of pollution and changes in hydrological regimes that in turn causing adverse influence on subsistence dwellers in and around north-east coastal belt of Bay of Bengal. The horseshoe crabs are the creature on this earth surviving for the past 450 million years or so. Most of the biogenic activities of the horseshoe crab occur in the open ocean at a deeper zone. They specifically migrate regularly towards the shore for the purpose of breeding. Among the two Indian horseshoe crab species namely, Tachypleus gigas and Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda, the later species prefers mangrove habitat for breeding along the north-east coast of India. However, in spite of all previous studies on T. gigas such as spawning migration, feeding behaviour, breeding biology and several other aspects, no concerted efforts have been made for C. rotundicauda to develop effective strategies in protecting and conserving both the habitat and population of this valuable species along the coastal areas of India. The depleting population and losing important biodiversity has prompted us to undertake such a novel project. The degradation and destruction of the ground in the mangrove ecosystem of this species by natural and anthropogenic activities have also resulted in mass depletion of the population of this species along the north-east coast of West Bengal and Odisha. A mature female of this species carries hundreds of eggs under its prosoma but releases only a few eggs in one spawning act in a nest on suitable muddy breeding grounds in mangrove areas. The total number of eggs laid varied from 18 to 258 in each nest. The nest of the horseshoe crab is a depression in mud made by the female for laying their gametes. After fertilization, most of the pairs migrate to their natural habitat.

Correction to: Guidance to Reduce the Cardiovascular Burden of Ambient Air Pollutants: A Policy Statement From the American Heart Association.

HomeCirculationVol. 142, No. 23Correction to: Guidance to Reduce the Cardiovascular Burden of Ambient Air Pollutants Free AccessCorrectionPDF/EPUBAboutView PDFView EPUBSections ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload citationsTrack citationsPermissions ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InMendeleyReddit Jump toFree AccessCorrectionPDF/EPUBCorrection to: Guidance to Reduce the Cardiovascular Burden of Ambient Air PollutantsA Policy Statement From the American Heart Association Originally published7 Dec 2020https://doi.org/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000943Circulation. 2020;142:e449This article corrects the followingGuidance to Reduce the Cardiovascular Burden of Ambient Air Pollutants: A Policy Statement From the American Heart AssociationIn the article by Kaufman et al, “Guidance to Reduce the Cardiovascular Burden of Ambient Air Pollutants: A Policy Statement From the American Heart Association,” which published online on November 5, 2020, and appeared in the December 8, 2020, issue of the journal (Circulation. 2020;142:e432–e447), a correction was needed.On page e443, in the Writing Group Disclosures table, for Jay R. Turner, in the third column, under the heading “Research grant,” the entry read, “NIH Superfund Research Program.*” It has been updated to read, “NIEHS†.”This correction has been made to the current online version of the article, which is available at https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000930.Footnoteshttps://www.ahajournals.org/journal/circ Previous Back to top Next FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsRelated articlesGuidance to Reduce the Cardiovascular Burden of Ambient Air Pollutants: A Policy Statement From the American Heart AssociationJoel D. Kaufman, et al. Circulation. 2020;142:e432-e447 December 8, 2020Vol 142, Issue 23 Advertisement Article InformationMetrics © 2020 American Heart Association, Inc.https://doi.org/10.1161/CIR.0000000000000943PMID: 33284657 Originally publishedDecember 7, 2020 PDF download Advertisement

Bioakumulasi Logam Berat Merkuri (Hg) Pada Mangrove Jenis Rhizophora Mucronata Di Teluk Kayeli Kabupaten Buru

Kayeli Bay is a water in Buru Regency which has very important value in terms 
 of ecological and economic functions. During its development, the ecosystem in Kayeli 
 Bay bears the burden of pollution, especially heavy metal mercury as a result of the 
 people's gold mining on Buru Island which uses Hg to get pure gold. Hg can accumulate 
 in the environment, especially deposited in the sediments in Kayeli Bay waters. Mangrove 
 plants that generally grow in estuary and coastal environments are a place for sediment 
 accumulation. This plant has the ability to absorb and accumulate heavy metals, one of 
 which is R. mucronata. This study aims to analyze the concentration of heavy metal Hg 
 in mangroves of R. mucronata and sediments, and to analyze the bioaccumulation of 
 heavy metal Hg in R. mucronata in Kayeli Bay, Buru Regency. Samples were taken from 
 3 stations, namely the Anahoni River Estuary (Station I), the Wailata River Estuary (II 
 Station) and the Waeapo River Estuary (III Station). Each station has 2 sampling points 
 (replicates). Determination of the concentration of Hg metal in the sample using the CV AAS method. The average value of Hg concentration in the roots was higher than the 
 bark and leaves of the mangrove R. mucronata, but the concentration was lower than the 
 sediment and was still below the critical value of Hg for plants. The average value of 
 sediment Hg concentration is still below the sediment quality standard. In this study, R. 
 mucronata mangroves were excluder and phytostabilized, where there was a limitation 
 on the absorption of heavy metal Hg from water and sediment and the most Hg 
 accumulation was found in the roots.
 Keywords: Bioaccumulation, Mercury, Rhizophora mucronata, Kayeli Bay

Cumulative air pollution indicators highlight unique patterns of injustice in urban Canada

Disparities in air pollution exposure are a form of distributional environmental injustice that has been documented in many jurisdictions around the world. In Canada, although there is a growing literature characterizing exposure inequalities, an important gap is research that captures the cumulative impact of the multiple air pollutants to which communities are exposed. Here, we present a screening-level analysis of inequalities in single pollutant and cumulative air pollution burdens in three major cities in Canada: Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. We construct three cumulative hazard indices (CHIs), using previously published national datasets for PM2.5, NO2, SO2, and O3 concentrations for illustrative year 2012. We describe the ways in which patterns of inequality differ between pollutants, between ways of calculating cumulative burden, and between cities. Different methods of constructing CHIs can yield different understandings of the spatial distribution of pollution, and in turn, inequality. We find the largest spatial variations for a CHI based on whether each pollutant exceeds an external benchmark (here, air quality guidelines), which translates into the largest calculated disparities in cumulative air pollution burdens for marginalized groups. We observe distinct patterns of inequality between the cities, in terms of which marginalized groups consistently experience higher cumulative air pollution burdens (Vancouver: Indigenous residents, Montreal: immigrant residents, Toronto: low-income residents). Results also highlight the importance of using a suite of socio-demographic indicators as patterns can differ between individual racialized/ethnic groups, and between different measures of socio-economic status. This work illustrates how a range of cumulative hazard screening indicators could be used in a policy context in Canada and elsewhere, while highlighting some of the methodological complexities in how environmental and social risks are characterized and combined. Given these complexities, we suggest that community input should inform the design of environmental justice indicators, as an important component of procedural justice.

Boiled or Bottled: Regional and Seasonal Exposures to Drinking Water Contamination and Household Air Pollution in Rural China.

Background:Inadequate access to safe drinking water remains a global health problem, particularly in rural areas. Boiling is the most commonly used form of point-of-use household water treatment (HWT) globally, although the use of bottled water in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is increasing rapidly.Objectives:We assessed the regional and seasonal prevalence of HWT practices (including bottled water use) in low-income rural areas in two Chinese provinces, evaluated the microbiological safety of drinking water and associated health outcomes, and estimated the air pollution burden associated with the use of solid fuels for boiling.Methods:We conducted cross-sectional surveys and collected drinking water samples from 1,033 rural households in Guangxi and Henan provinces. Temperature sensors affixed to pots and electric kettles were used to corroborate self-reported boiling frequencies and durations, which were used to model household air pollution (HAP) in terms of estimated particulate matter in aerodynamic diameter () concentrations.Results:Based on summer data collection in both provinces, after controlling for covariates, boiling with electric kettles was associated with the largest log reduction in thermotolerant coliforms (TTCs) ( TTC most probable number), followed by boiling with pots (), and bottled water use (); all were statistically significant (). Boiling with electric kettles was associated with a reduced risk of TTC contamination [risk ratio , ] and reported diarrhea (, ). TTCs were detected in 51% () of bottled water samples. For households boiling with biomass, modeled concentrations averaged ().Discussion:Our findings suggest that where boiling is already common and electricity access is widespread, the promotion of electricity-based boiling may represent a pragmatic stop-gap means of expanding safe water access until centralized, or decentralized, treated drinking water is available; displacing biomass use for water boiling could also reduce HAP concentrations and exposures. Our results also highlight the risks of increasing bottled water use in rural areas, and its potential to displace other sources of safe drinking water, which could in turn hamper efforts in China and other LMICs toward universal and affordable safe water access. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP7124

Face Masks - Protecting the Wearer But Neglecting the Aquatic Environment?

In Bangladesh, as with many countries, the spread of COVID-19 made the wearing of single-use face masks, a non-pharmaceutical intervention to reduce viral transmission, surge in popularity amongst the general population. Consequently, irresponsible discarding of used masks into the environment, and mismanagement of the waste they produce, is potentially placing a large pollution burden on aquatic ecosystems in the country. Slow degradation of mask-derived polypropylene and polyethylene fibres creates large reservoirs of microplastic pollutants and these have acute and chronic effects on aquatic organism physiology. Using literature reviews, extrapolation of published data, and field observations, we present an emerging issue of pollution from COVID-19 personal protective equipment such as face masks in Bangladesh. We have estimated the volume of waste generated and document the potential consequences of its improper disposal, and subsequent degradation, in aquaculture ponds within country. In a field survey of 30 ponds in the Muktagacha upazilla, 76.7% were found to have plastics in contact with the water, or within 1m of the pond, and there was an average of 63 pieces of macro-plastic pollution per 5m2. This included floating discarded face masks. Bangladesh has a rich freshwater and marine resource which it depends upon for export trade, nutrition of the population, and jobs. To mitigate potential acute and chronic impacts on aquaculture and the environment, recommendations are made that, if adopted, would reduce entry of microplastics into the aquatic environments via face mask waste mismanagement.

Inter-mortality displacement hypothesis and short-term effect of ambient air pollution on mortality in seven major cities of South Korea: a time-series analysis.

Inter-mortality displacement (IMD) between cause-specific mortalities has not been introduced in air pollution epidemiology. Investigation into IMD would provide insights on the actual health burden of air pollution and interpretation of associations. We aimed to investigate IMD regarding short-term effect of air pollution on mortality. We illustrated manifestations and interpretations of lag-mortality associations. If IMD exists, a net increase of one cause-specific death can be offset by a net decrease of other cause-specific deaths. We conducted a time-series analysis to estimate associations of ambient particulate matter smaller than 10 µm (PM10), ozone (O3), sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and carbon monoxide (CO) with mortality, considering lags up to the previous 45 days, for seven major cities of South Korea from 2006 to 2013. Attributable mortality cases were identified. For O3, respiratory mortality [11929 cases, 95% empirical confidence interval (eCI), 5358, 17688 cases] was counterbalanced by cardiovascular mortality (-11272 cases, 95% eCI: -22444, -629 cases). All-cause mortality was 37148 cases (95% eCI: 4448, 68782 cases). For PM10, respiratory deaths were 9167 cases (95% eCI: 563, 16521 cases), and cardiovascular deaths were 6929 cases (95% eCI: -11793, 24138 cases). Estimates for SO2 were comparable to those for PM10. All-cause mortality attributable to NO2 was explained by short-term mortality displacement. No associations with mortality were found for CO. IMD may exist in the relationship between air pollution and mortality. The actual relationship between air pollution and cause-specific mortality may be masked by IMD.

The burden of sulfur dioxide pollution on years of life lost from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A nationwide analysis in China

BackgroundSulfur dioxide (SO2) is one of the major gaseous pollutants in China and other developing countries. Few multicity studies have been done to examine the short-term effect of SO2 on cause-specific years of life lost (YLL). This study was designed to investigate the burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) associated with SO2 exposure. MethodsA 5-year time-series study was conducted in 48 Chinese cities from 2013 to 2017. Generalized additive models were first used to estimate the city-specific relationship. Then, random-effects meta-analyses were applied to pool the estimates. Furthermore, the roles of potential modifiers and the related economic loss estimated by the method of value per statistical life year were also evaluated. ResultsThe annual mean concentration of SO2 was 27.1 μg/m3. A 10 μg/m3 increase in 4-day moving average (lag03) of SO2 concentration was associated with 0.83% (95% CI: 0.13%, 1.53%) relative increment in YLL from COPD, and relevant percent change of mortality was 0.78% (95% CI: 0.16%, 1.41%). Moreover, a significantly higher effect was observed in the warm season, particularly in the south region. SO2 exposure was estimated to account for 1.89% of the total economic loss due to YLL from COPD. ConclusionsOur findings showed a positive association between short-term exposure to SO2 and YLL from COPD and highlighted the importance of continuous control of SO2 pollution to reduce corresponding attributable disease burden.

Guidance to Reduce the Cardiovascular Burden of Ambient Air Pollutants: A Policy Statement From the American Heart Association.

In 2010, the American Heart Association published a statement concluding that the existing scientific evidence was consistent with a causal relationship between exposure to fine particulate matter and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, and that fine particulate matter exposure is a modifiable cardiovascular risk factor. Since the publication of that statement, evidence linking air pollution exposure to cardiovascular health has continued to accumulate and the biological processes underlying these effects have become better understood. This increasingly persuasive evidence necessitates policies to reduce harmful exposures and the need to act even as the scientific evidence base continues to evolve. Policy options to mitigate the adverse health impacts of air pollutants must include the reduction of emissions through action on air quality, vehicle emissions, and renewable portfolio standards, taking into account racial, ethnic, and economic inequality in air pollutant exposure. Policy interventions to improve air quality can also be in alignment with policies that benefit community and transportation infrastructure, sustainable food systems, reduction in climate forcing agents, and reduction in wildfires. The health care sector has a leadership role in adopting policies to contribute to improved environmental air quality as well. There is also potentially significant private sector leadership and industry innovation occurring in the absence of and in addition to public policy action, demonstrating the important role of public-private partnerships. In addition to supporting education and research in this area, the American Heart Association has an important leadership role to encourage and support public policies, private sector innovation, and public-private partnerships to reduce the adverse impact of air pollution on current and future cardiovascular health in the United States.