Effects Of Pollution Research Articles

Combined Effects of Air Pollution and Changes in Physical Activity With Cardiovascular Disease in Patients WithDyslipidemia.

Sedentary behavior elevates cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in patients with dyslipidemia. Increasing physical activity (PA) is recommended alongside pharmacological therapy to prevent CVD, though benefits across environmental conditions are unclear. We analyzed data from 113 918 newly diagnosed patients with dyslipidemia (2009-2012) without prior CVD, sourced from the Korea National Health Insurance Service. Ambient particulate matter (PM) 2.5 and PM10 levels were collected from the National Ambient Air Monitoring System in South Korea. Changes in PA, measured in metabolic equivalents of task-min/wk before and after dyslipidemia diagnosis, were evaluated for associations with air pollution levels and CVD risk using Cox proportional hazards regression. Patients were followed from January 1, 2013, until CVD onset, death, or December 31, 2021. Among patients exposed to low to moderate PM2.5 levels (≤25 μg/m3), increasing PA from inactive to ≥1000 metabolic equivalents of tasks-min/wk was associated with a lower risk of CVD (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.82 [95% CI, 0.70-0.97]; P for trend=0.022). In high PM2.5 (>25 μg/m3) conditions, increasing PA from inactive and decreasing PA from ≥1000 metabolic equivalents of task-min/wk was associated with reduced (P for trend=0.010) and elevated (P for trend=0.028) CVD risks, respectively. For PM10, increased PA was linked to reduced CVD risk (P for trend=0.002) and decreased PA to elevated risk (P for trend=0.042) in low to moderate PM10 (≤50 μg/m3) conditions, though benefits diminished at high PM10 (>50 μg/m3) exposures. Promoting PA, while considering the high potential cardiovascular risk associated with air pollution, may be an effective intervention against CVD in patients with dyslipidemia.

The Relationship Between PM2.5 and Eight Common Lung Diseases: A Two-Sample Mendelian Randomization Analysis

Air pollutants have both acute and chronic impacts on human health, affecting multiple systems and organs. While PM2.5 exposure is commonly assumed to be strongly associated with all respiratory diseases, this relationship has not been systematically analyzed. This study employed a two-sample Mendelian randomization approach to investigate the effects of PM2.5 on eight common lung diseases, using data from GWAS. Additionally, multivariable Mendelian randomization was applied to assess the direct effects of various air pollutants and the mediating roles of common factors such as BMI and smoking. At a significance threshold of 5×10−8, PM2.5 showed a significant causal relationship with both asthma and COPD. When the screening threshold was relaxed to 5× 10−6, this exposure continued to demonstrate significant associations not only with asthma and COPD, but also with other respiratory diseases, including pneumonia, emphysema/chronic bronchitis, and lung cancer. In the multivariable Mendelian randomization analysis, which controlled for smoking and bacterial infections, the association with pneumonia became non-significant, while the relationships with the other four diseases persisted. This study provides a systematic exploration of the relationship between PM2.5 and eight pulmonary diseases from a new perspective, deepening our understanding of the impact of air pollution on health and laying the foundation for future efforts to mitigate these effects.

A novel spatial heteroscedastic generalized additive distributed lag model for the spatiotemporal relation between PM2.5and cardiovascular hospitalization

Many studies have examined the impact of air pollution on cardiovascular hospitalization (CVH), but few have looked at the delayed effects of air pollution on CVH. Additionally, there has been no research on the spatial and temporal differences in how environmental pollutants affect CVH. This study seeks to identify spatial heteroscedasticity in the relation between PM2.5 and CVH by developing a Generalized Additive Distributed Lag (GADL) model. Data on hospitalization due to cardiovascular disease were collected from the Hospital Information System (HIS) of Mashhad University of Medical Science from 2017 to 2020. Air pollution data from 22 air quality monitoring (AQM) stations were obtained from the Environmental Pollution Monitoring Center of Mashhad administrates. Markov Random Field (MRF) smoother was utilized in the GADL model to account for spatial heteroscedasticity in the observations. This developed model is a Spatial Heteroscedastic Generalized Additive Distributed Lag (SHGADL) model. Our use of GADL allowed us to discover a significant relationship between PM2.5 exposures and the risk of CVH at lags 0 and 1 in all districts. Our results reveal heteroscedasticity in the Relative Risks (RR) of PM2.5 on CVH across different districts. After accounting for this spatial heteroscedasticity, we found that the RR of PM2.5 on CVH at lags 0 and 1 were 1.0102 (95% CI: 1.0034, 1.0170) and 1.0043 (95% CI: 1.0009, 1.0078) respectively. The central and southeastern districts showed higher RR for CVH. The developed SHGADL model provides evidence of a significant lagged effect of PM2.5 exposures on CVH, and identifies low- and high-risk districts for CVH in Mashhad. This finding can assist decision-makers in allocating resources and planning strategically, with a focus on local interventions to manage ambient air pollution and providing emergency care for CVH.

Establishment and characterization of the Cuvier's beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris) myogenic cell line

In this study we present the first in vitro model based on a muscle-derived cell line from a male Cuvier's Beaked whale stranded along the Italian coastline.In the myogenic cell line at T0 stage we performed the growth rate assay, the karyotyping, the CBA chromosome banding, G banding, nucleolar organizer regions and telomere analysis and immunocytochemical analysis. The cell characterization at the T2 and T4 stage included: assessment of fusion index, the ultrastructural analysis and immunocytochemical analysis.The population doubling time was determined to be ∼54 h. The cell fusion index at the T2 stage was 8.2 +/− 5 %, at the T4 stage increased at index 28 +/− 10 %. The karyotype analysis revealed a 2n = 42, XY, two pairs of nucleolus organizer regions (NORs), characteristic CBA-banding and PNA-telomeric regions by FISH-mapping.The immunocytochemical results revealed that we generated a heterogeneous population of myogenic cells. A cell population express β-actin, myosin and vimentin and a sub-population of cells was desmin-positive.In details, at the T0 stage, both cell populations were undifferentiated mononucleated myoblast. At the T2 and T4 stage, the cells were capable of fusion in elongated multinucleated myotubes, probably resulting from the fusion of the myoblasts.This Cuvier's Beaked whale cell line, represents a new opportunity to better understand the physiological features of the cetacean Ziphius cavirostris myogenic cells. The possibility of setting up culture conditions that mimic the in vivo microenvironment, strengthen the importance of in vitro models for toxicological studies investigating water pollutants effects on cells.

Dolomedes fishing spider biology: gaps and opportunities for future research

Dolomedes may easily be considered to be among the most charismatic spider taxa. Known colloquially as fishing or raft spiders, this clade of dolomedid cursorial hunters is speciose with about 100 valid species names. Most Dolomedes are large spiders that inhabit water bodies across all continents except Antarctica and, interestingly, South America. Dolomedes have captured the attention of researchers and the public alike for their ability to walk on and submerge under water, fish for prey (including small vertebrates), and for their often-bizarre mating behavior that includes examples of male spontaneous death and sexual cannibalism. In this review, we critically evaluate what is known of Dolomedes biology, focusing on their systematics and morphology, ecology, behavior, and conservation. Given their close association with water, Dolomedes may be particularly vulnerable to the impacts of anthropogenic change and provide an important group of indicator species for understanding the effect of pollution, habitat loss and climate change. We outline a roadmap for future studies that, in our view, will consolidate Dolomedes as an ideal model lineage among spiders for addressing a vast array of questions across multiple fields of biology.

Spent Lubricating Oil Decreased Vegetative Growth Parameters and Rhizosphere Microbial Abundance of Groundnuts (Arachis hypogea) and Maize (Zea mays)

Research Gap: there are little or no information on effect of oil pollution on groundnuts and maize. Aim: to ascertain effect of spent engine oil (SEO) on plants’ growth, chlorophyll content, growth and survival of rhizosphere microorganisms in the contaminated soil. Study Design: experiment was laid out as a completely randomized design in 3 replications. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Environmental Management and Toxicology, Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun/six months. Methodology: farm top soil was collected and physico-chemical analysis was done. Viable seeds were determined by flotation method. Four treatments of SEO (5, 10, 15, 20ml) were applied to soil with plants at 2 weeks after planting. Shoot length, dry matter, leaf area, chlorophyll content of uprooted plant samples, rhizosphere bacterial and fungal counts were estimated biweekly using standard methods. Results: different responses to SEO concentrations were observed. Leaf area was most affected (20ml SEO) at week 6 for groundnuts (0.0075±0.002m2) and maize (0.583±0.006m2). Application of SEO to soils had reductive effects on dry matter content of all plants; content values for groundnuts and maize at week 6 were 167±0.006g and 368±0.004g while controls were 0.567±0.007g and 0.860±0.002g, respectively. Bacterial counts increased in groundnuts from 1.21 ×105 CFU/g to 1.69×105 CFU/g (5ml), 0.7 x 105 CFU/g- 1.19 ×105 CFU/g (20ml), 2.03×105CFU/g to 2.56 ×105CFU/g (control) at weeks 2 and 6. Counts in maize were 1.35 ×105 CFU/g to 2.25×105 CFU/g (5ml), 0.8 ×105 CFU/g to 1.19×105 CFU/g (20ml), 2.15×105CFU/g to 2.96×105 CFU/g (control), respectively at weeks 2 and 6. There were statistical differences between the monitored parameters and treatments with respects to days. Conclusion: study revealed plants may suffer great growth inhibition and perform poorly when exposed to SEO at early stages of growth. Therefore, enforcement of strict disposal regulations and legislations against irregular and indiscriminate disposal of spent engine oil into the environment is imperative.

Major and Trace Airborne Elements and Ecological Risk Assessment: Georgia Moss Survey 2019–2023

The study, carried out as part of the International Cooperative Program on Effects of Air Pollution on Natural Vegetation and Crops, involved collecting 95 moss samples across the territory of Georgia during the period from 2019 to 2023. Primarily samples of Hypnum cupressiforme were selected, with supplementary samples of Abietinella abietina, Pleurozium schreberi, and Hylocomium splendens in cases of the former’s absence. The content of 14 elements (Al, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, S, Sr, V, and Zn) was detected using Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-AES), while the Hg content was determined using a Direct Mercury Analyzer. To identify any relationships between chemical elements and to depict their sources, multivariate statistics was applied. Principal component analysis identified three main components: PC1 (geogenic, 43.4%), PC2 (anthropogenic, 13.3%), and PC3 (local anomalies, 8.5%). The results were compared with the first moss survey conducted in Georgia in the period from 2014 to 2017, offering insights into temporal trends of air quality. Utilizing GIS, a spatial map illustrating pollution levels across Georgia, based on the Pollution Load Index, was generated. The Potential Environmental Risk Index emphasized significant risks associated with mercury and cadmium at several locations. The study highlights the utility of moss biomonitoring in assessing air pollution and identifying hotspots of contamination. The findings from this study could be beneficial for future biomonitoring research in areas with varying physical and geographical conditions.

The role of PM2.5 exposure in lung cancer: mechanisms, genetic factors, and clinical implications.

Lung cancer is one of the most critical global health threats, as the second most common cancer and leading cause of cancer deaths globally. While smoking is the primary risk factor, an increasing number of cases occur in nonsmokers, with lung cancer in nonsmokers (LCNS) now recognized as the fifth leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide. Recent evidence identifies air pollution, particularly fine particulate matter (PM2.5), as a significant risk factor in LCNS. PM2.5 can increase oxidative stress and inflammation, induce genetic alterations and activation of oncogenes (including the epidermal growth factor receptor, EGFR), and contribute to lung cancer progression. This review summarizes the current understanding of how exposure to PM2.5 induces lung carcinogenesis and accelerates lung cancer development. It underscores the importance of prevention and early detection while calling for targeted therapies to combat the detrimental effects of air pollution. An integrated approach that combines research, public health policy, and clinical practice is essential to reduce the lung cancer burden and improve outcomes for those affected by PM2.5 exposurrre.

Protocol of the Nutritional, Psychosocial, and Environmental Determinants of Neurodevelopment and Child Mental Health (COINCIDE) study

Background Over 250 million children are developing sub-optimally due to their exposure to early life adversities. While previous studies have examined the independent effects of nutritional status, psychosocial adversities, and environmental pollutants on children’s outcomes, little is known about their interaction and cumulative effects. Objectives This study aims to investigate the independent, interaction, and cumulative effects of nutritional, psychosocial, and environmental factors on children’s cognitive development and mental health in urban and rural India. It also seeks to explain pathways leading to inequities in child outcomes at the individual, household, and neighbourhood levels. Methods A mixed-methods prospective cohort study will be conducted on 1600 caregiver-child dyads (child age 3–10 years) in urban and rural India. Nutritional status, psychosocial adversities, environmental pollutants, and child mental health outcomes will be assessed using parent-report questionnaires. Performance-based measures will be used to assess cognitive outcomes. Venous blood and urine samples will be used to measure nutritional and pesticide biomarkers in 500 children. Indoor air pollution will be monitored in 200 households twice, during two seasons. Multilevel regression, weighted quantile sum regression, and Bayesian kernel machine regression will assess the individual and combined effects of exposures on child outcomes. Thematic analysis of in-depth interviews and focus group discussions will explore pathways to middle-and late childhood development inequities. Discussion The data will be used to formulate a Theory of Change (ToC) to explain the biological, psychosocial, and environmental origins of children’s cognitive and mental health outcomes across the first decade of life in diverse Indian settings, which can inform interventions targets for promoting children’s outcomes beyond the first 1000 days, potentially generalizable to similar under-resourced global settings. The COINCIDE research infrastructure will comprise a valuable global health resource, including prospective cohort data, validated study tools, and stored biological and environmental samples for future studies.

Co-exposure of ferruginous components of subway particles with lipopolysaccharide impairs vascular function: A comparative study with ambient particulate matter

Several empirical studies have linked subway and ambient particle exposure to toxicity, pro-inflammatory responses, and vascular dysfunction. However, the health effects of pollutants generated from varying sources, particularly when combined with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), are still unexplored. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the characteristic health effects of iron oxide particles (the main components of subway particles) in comparison with urban aerosols (UA) and vehicle exhaust particles (VEP), alone and in combination with LPS. This study revealed that iron oxides caused a more significant reduction in human umbilical vein endothelial cell viability, increased lactate dehydrogenase release, and decreased the production of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1, a fibrinolytic modulator, and endothelin-1, a vasoconstrictor, compared to those by VEP and UA at marginally toxic and toxic concentrations. While VEP and UA induced an increase in interleukin (IL)-6 production, iron oxides, particularly Fe3O4, increased IL-8 production at slightly toxic and non-cytotoxic concentrations. In addition, co-exposure of all particles and LPS at non-cytotoxic concentrations promoted pro-inflammatory cytokine (IL-6 and IL-8) production relative to exposure to the particles alone. Interestingly, the tendency towards either coagulation or fibrinolytic conditions was dependent on the concentration of exposed particles at the same LPS concentration. Furthermore, increases in inflammation, neutrophil and lymphocyte recruitment around blood vessels, and edema were observed in murine lungs exposed to a combination of iron oxides and LPS compared to those in mice exposed to iron oxide alone. Thus, iron oxide-rich subway particulate poses more health risks than outdoor ambient particles since they can significantly impair endothelial function, particularly through gross cellular and vascular homeostatic protein damage, and induce exacerbated inflammatory responses during co-exposure. These findings provide novel empirical evidence for epidemiological studies seeking mechanisms responsible for the observed health impact of transport- and occupational-related exposures on vascular dysfunction.

Total environmental target constraints and border air pollution effects: deterioration or alleviation?

Total environmental target constraints and border air pollution effects: deterioration or alleviation?

Livelihood risks arising from urban river pollution in selected marginal communities in the Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria

Urban river pollution has become a critical sustainability challenge worldwide. In the studies of urban river pollution, very little research focus has gone into understanding pollution effects on main river-dependent livelihoods among marginal communities in urban centres. In this study, using a context-specific risk framework, we identify and analyze (i) urban river-dependent livelihoods (ii) pathways to community exposure to urban river pollution (iii) effects and consequences on urban river-dependent livelihoods (iv) potential intervention strategies. The study uses knowledge co-production workshops, and ethnographic methods involving participant observations, focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, and key informant interviews as a means of generating the needed data. Our findings indicate that degraded urban rivers have had profound negative effects on river-dependent livelihoods such as food processing, poultry, livestock farming and the small-scale brick industries for construction. Further, urban river pollution has also led to livelihood-related conflicts over access to limited, good-quality water resources. Intervention strategies to improve livelihood resilience are suggested at the institutional, communal and livelihood levels. Institutional interventions include strengthening environmental laws compliance and enforcement, inter-agency collaborations and extending sanitation and urban planning to marginal communities in cities. Communal interventions are sensitization campaigns, enforced sanitation practices and calls for behavioural and attitudinal change. Livelihoods-linked interventions aim to reduce livelihood strategies’ contributions to river pollution. Such interventions include proper disposal of waste generated through livelihood strategies, and instituting practices that minimize run-off from wet industries.

A Physically Constrained Deep-Learning Fusion Method for Estimating Surface NO2 Concentration from Satellite and Ground Monitors.

Accurate estimation of atmospheric chemical concentrations from multiple observations is crucial for assessing the health effects of air pollution. However, existing methods are limited by imbalanced samples from observations. Here, we introduce a novel deep-learning model-measurement fusion method (DeepMMF) constrained by physical laws inferred from a chemical transport model (CTM) to estimate NO2 concentrations over the Continental United States (CONUS). By pretraining with spatiotemporally complete CTM simulations, fine-tuning with satellite and ground measurements, and employing a novel optimization strategy for selecting proper prior emission, DeepMMF delivers improved NO2 estimates, showing greater consistency and daily variation alignment with observations (with NMB reduced from -0.3 to -0.1 compared to original CTM simulations). More importantly, DeepMMF effectively addressed the sample imbalance issue that causes overestimation (by over 100%) of downwind or rural concentrations in other methods. It achieves a higher R2 of 0.98 and a lower RMSE of 1.45 ppb compared to surface NO2 observations, overperforming other approaches, which show R2 values of 0.4-0.7 and RMSEs of 3-6 ppb. The method also offers a synergistic advantage by adjusting corresponding emissions, in agreement with changes (-10% to -20%) reported in the NEI between 2019 and 2020. Our results demonstrate the great potential of DeepMMF in data fusion to better support air pollution exposure estimation and forecasting.

Impact of Management Strategies on Reducing of Mulching Film Residues Pollution in Arid Regions

Plastic pollution caused by mulching film residues (MFRs) is escalating in arable lands, which affects the function of agricultural ecosystems, and poses a serious obstacle to agricultural sustainable development in arid regions. Internationally, increasing recycling rate of polyethylene (PE) film and adopting biodegradable films are recommended strategies to mitigate plastic pollution in farmland, aiming to increase agricultural sustainability and food security. However, impacts of the future of these strategies remain underexplored. This study estimated MFRs accumulation over the next 50 years under varying PE and polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT) film recovery scenarios: no recovery, and recovery rates increased to 80%, 85%, 90%, and 95%. Additionally, cumulative ecological effects (CEEs) of MFR pollution were assessed based on historical MFRs accumulations of 75 kg hm−2, 160 kg hm−2, 220 kg hm−2, 300 kg hm−2, and 400 kg hm−2, by evaluating direct and indirect ecological effects. The findings revealed that (1) with no recovery, PE film residues could increase by 480 kg hm−2, whereas achieving a 95% recovery rate could limit residues increasing to below the national threshold of 75 kg hm−2, outperforming the 80%, 85%, and 90% recovery rates. On the other hand, using PBAT film would maintain the increasing MFRs below 75 kg hm−2 regardless of recovery rate. (2) Without PE film recovery, CEEs would intensify significantly, as both the direct and indirect effects increase notably, while the CEEs of MFRs could maintain the current status or decrease under the strategy of 95% recovery rate of PE film and using PBAT film, similar to the variation of direct effects. However, indirect effects would persist due to ongoing microplastics (MPs) and phthalate esters (PAEs) released from residual films. Overall, a 95% PE film recycling rate and PBAT film usage emerged as particularly effective strategies for minimizing MFRs accumulation and mitigating ecological impacts over the next 50 years. Further research should prioritize the indirect ecological effects of MFRs, given their persistence despite reduction efforts. The results could provide a theoretical support for agricultural sustainable development in arid regions.

Evaluating the influence of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide in ambient air on biochemical factors contributing to plant tolerance.

Air pollutants, specifically, Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) and Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) cause numerous biochemical changes in plants; by studying the biochemical parameters, plant resistance against these pollutants can be evaluated. The effect of air pollutants on biochemical parameters such as ascorbic acid (AA), total chlorophyll (TC), pH and the relative water content (RWC) of leaves has been investigated in the present study. The objective of the present study was to observe the relationship between biochemical parameters of plants and ambient air pollutants (SO2 and NO2). The morphological and biochemical changes of the sampled leaves of different plants were studied. Simultaneously, ambient air quality data was collected from the central pollution control board (CPCB) online portal. Among the sampled plants, Ficus religiosa and Morus alba plant species can be recommended as tolerant for the sampling sites: Jalandhar, Amritsar, and Ludhiana. Ficus benghalensis and Ficus religiosa can be recommended as tolerant for Chandigarh sector 25 and 53 respectively. As a result, it has been observed that SO2 has a negative effect on the relative water content and ascorbic acid content of most plant species, while NO2 can have ambiguous effect on plants (toxic and beneficial), and no strong association has been found with biochemical parameters. The current study provides pollutant-specific information and insights into the variations caused by air pollutants. The present study will contribute in suggesting the tolerant plant species that could provide new approaches for developing urban landscapes.

Microplastics in food and drink: perceptions of the risks, challenges, and solutions among individuals in the ‘farm-to-fork’ food chain

Public concerns about the potential effects of plastic pollution on human health are high, especially following evidence of microplastics (MPs) in food and drink. However, scientific evidence on human health effects is unclear, and knowledge gaps remain with respect to sources, pathways, and toxicity. But alongside ‘the public’ and ‘experts’ are various groups in the ‘farm-to-fork’ food chain whose voices are less heard, despite their unique insights into different issues. These ‘involved groups’ or ‘stakeholders’ include people in the harvesting/production, processing/packaging, distribution/hospitality, and regulation sectors. To harness their viewpoints, we conducted 32 semi-structured interviews with members of relevant groups along the food chain. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded using Thematic Qualitative Analysis. Although knowledge levels and beliefs about sources and pathways were diverse, interviewees echoed the wider public’s concerns about human health risks alongside low certainty about underlying processes. Feelings of powerlessness and frustration, and the unavoidability of (micro-)plastics were emphasized. The need for increased awareness and solution know-how was stressed, and systemic changes on the regulatory level were called for (e.g. bans, binding and economic regulations). Relevant conditions for policy acceptance were identified (e.g. feasibility, effectiveness, evidence of risk). Findings highlight the fact that system change requires all actors in a system to understand the issues and be willing to play their part in solutions. The feelings of powerlessness and disenchantment expressed by many involved in the current system suggest greater work is needed to systematically include these groups in solution-finding and decision-making initiatives.

The Genomic Signature and Transcriptional Response of Metal Tolerance in Brown Trout Inhabiting Metal-Polluted Rivers.

Industrial pollution is a major driver of ecosystem degradation, but it can also act as a driver of contemporary evolution. As a result of intense mining activity during the Industrial Revolution, several rivers across the southwest of England are polluted with high concentrations of metals. Despite the documented negative impacts of ongoing metal pollution, brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) survive and thrive in many of these metal-impacted rivers. We used population genomics, transcriptomics, and metal burdens to investigate the genomic and transcriptomic signatures of potential metal tolerance. RADseq analysis of six populations (originating from three metal-impacted and three control rivers) revealed strong genetic substructuring between impacted and control populations. We identified selection signatures at 122 loci, including genes related to metal homeostasis and oxidative stress. Trout sampled from metal-impacted rivers exhibited significantly higher tissue concentrations of cadmium, copper, nickel and zinc, which remained elevated after 11 days in metal-free water. After depuration, we used RNAseq to quantify gene expression differences between metal-impacted and control trout, identifying 2042 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the gill, and 311 DEGs in the liver. Transcriptomic signatures in the gill were enriched for genes involved in ion transport processes, metal homeostasis, oxidative stress, hypoxia, and response to xenobiotics. Our findings reveal shared genomic and transcriptomic pathways involved in detoxification, oxidative stress responses and ion regulation. Overall, our results demonstrate the diverse effects of metal pollution in shaping both neutral and adaptive genetic variation, whilst also highlighting the potential role of constitutive gene expression in promoting metal tolerance.

Understanding factors influencing adoption of air pollution protective measures using the knowledge-attitude-behavior model

To address air pollution hazards effectively, it is crucial to understand the factors that influence residents’ adoption of harm reduction measures. Existing studies often focus on passive defense and ignore active strategies such as air purifiers, dehumidifiers, anti-haze window screens, and air-purifying plants. This study adopted the Knowledge–Attitude–Behavior (KAB) model to explore the factors that influence residents to take proactive measures to prevent the impacts of air pollution. This cross-sectional study recruited 371 participants aged 25–64 years living in southern Taiwan. A one-shot online survey was conducted to examine demographic information, air pollution exposure experience, knowledge, risk perceptions, attitudes toward air pollution protective measures, perceived barriers and benefits, payment for protective measures, and actual engagement in protective actions. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the relationships among these factors. This study reveals that the adoption of these protective measures can be understood through three primary pathways. The first pathway linked knowledge to attitude toward behavior. Regarding the various protective measures, this study found that knowledge strongly influenced individuals’ attitudes. This, in turn, influenced their likelihood of engaging in protective measures. The second pathway revealed the effect of risk perception on protective measures, with attitudes mediating this relationship. Perceived risk susceptibility and risk severity were linked to attitudes, which further influenced the adoption of protective measures. The third pathway emphasized the direct effects of perceived barriers on the adoption of protective measures. Individuals who perceived fewer barriers were more likely to adopt these measures. This study fills the gap in the understanding of the factors influencing residents’ adoption of proactive air pollution protection measures. Moreover, this study underscores the importance of increasing public awareness and reducing barriers to promote individual actions for mitigating the negative effects of air pollution.

Breathing in danger: unveiling cooking fuel transitions in India and alarming effect of household air pollution on under-five children’s health

Abstract Air pollution in households is a prime contributor to health issues in developing countries, as in the case of India. According to the latest National Family Health Survey Report 2022, more than half of India’s rural population and 41 per cent overall still depend on solid or unclean fuel combustions, which may reflect in future health hazards. Thus, it is crucial to understand the issue empirically. To that end, the study traces the transitional pattern of unclean cooking fuel users towards clean fuel over the last 30 years using responses from all five National Family Health Survey rounds. Further, the study uses an adjusted probit model to analyse the determinants that lead to the choice of cooking fuel in a household and a logistic model to examine the association between the choice made and the respiratory health of children under five. The empirical results show that the number of households using unclean fuel has declined over the years, with a slightly higher decline in the last five years. Moreover, it also shows that poverty status and place of residence significantly influence cooking fuel choice. Additionally, children residing in households that use clean fuels are less likely to suffer respiratory infections. In conclusion, the present study provides strong evidence to ameliorate the existing policies in a way that exhorts clean energy use. The authors propose pro-poor, pro-rural policies to expedite the clean energy transition, benefitting the most vulnerable households.

Visual Pollution: Causes, Health Impacts, And Mitigation Strategies for Enhancing Environmental Aesthetics and Public Well-Being – A Review

This review paper examines visual pollution, its causes, and impacts on human health and well-being, defined as unattractive and disruptive visual elements in the environment that degrade aesthetic quality. It explores sources such as billboards, litter, industrial structures, and poorly planned urban development. The paper discusses how rapid urbanization, industrialization, and excessive advertising exacerbate visual clutter, particularly in urban areas. The impacts of visual pollution on health are significant, including increased stress, anxiety, and diminished quality of life. Vulnerable populations, such as lower-income communities, children, and the elderly, face heightened risks due to greater exposure. The review highlights disparities in exposure and health outcomes, emphasizing that the cumulative effects of visual pollution and socio-economic disadvantages intensify its negative impact. The paper also evaluates strategies for mitigation, including urban planning measures like green spaces and zoning regulations, as well as regulatory approaches to manage outdoor advertising and waste. By addressing visual pollution through comprehensive planning and regulation, the paper aims to inform policies that enhance environmental aesthetics and improve public well-being.