Global Air Pollution Research Articles

AirNet: predictive machine learning model for air quality forecasting using web interface

Air is one of the most significant elements of the environment. The increasing global air pollution crisis poses an unavoidable threat to human health, environmental sustainability, ecosystems, and the earth's climate. Air pollution has been referred to as a silent killer due to its insidious nature. Its indirect impact on human health further underscores its dangerous effects. Early detection of air quality can potentially save millions of lives globally. A unique and transformative approach can harness the power of machine learning to combat air pollution. This research presents a manual and web-based automatic prediction system that provides real-time alerts on air quality status and can help prevent premature deaths, chronic diseases, and other health problems. Air pollutants, including carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and particulate matter (PM 2.5), are used in this study for feature analysis and extraction. The system utilizes publicly available data from 23,463 different cities worldwide. Data preprocessing was performed before feeding the data into the machine learning models for feature correlation and evaluation. The proposed research uses various machine learning models to predict air quality, including Random Forest (100%), Logistic Regression (79%), Decision Tree (100%), Support Vector Machine (93%), Linear SVC (98%), K-Nearest Neighbor (99%), and Multinomial Naïve Bayes (52%). A user-friendly Django-based web interface offers an accessible platform for users to monitor air quality in real-time, based on the two best-performing models: Random Forest and Decision Tree techniques.

Adverse health effects of climate change and air pollution in people with disabilities: a systematic review.

Global warming and air pollution adversely affect the health of the entire human population, particularly older adults, people with disabilities (PWDs), and children. In this systematic review, we investigated the adverse health effects of climate change and air pollution in PWDs. We conducted a comprehensive literature search of the PubMed database using the terms "disab*," "air pollution," and "climate change" on July 4, 2023, and August 8, 2023 and searched the Web of Science (WOS) database on December 28, 2023. We identified 425 and 1169 studies on climate change cited in PubMed and WOS, respectively, as well as 333 studies on air pollution in PubMed and 495 studies on air pollution in WOS. The studies were classified by type of exposure, and full-text screening was conducted to confirm that the population, intervention or exposure, comparator, outcome statement, and inclusion and exclusion criteria were met. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used to assess the quality of the included cohort and case-control studies and for data analysis. In extreme temperatures, PWDs experienced higher rates of injury, heat-related illness, functional impairment, heart disease, mental disorders, and mortality than people who were nondisabled (ND). Exposure to air pollution resulted in higher rates of obesity, cardiovascular disease, poststroke neurological and functional disability, and mortality in PWDs than in people who were ND. Therefore, because PWDs were more affected by climate change and air pollution than people who were ND, sensitive policies and preparedness measures should be developed for PWDs.

Advancements and challenges of fuel cell integration in electric vehicles: A comprehensive analysis

Fuel cell technology emerges as a promising green solution, offering mitigation to global warming, air pollution, and energy crises. This eco-friendly approach is witnessing a surge in adoption within the automotive sector, with fuel cell buses, cars, scooters, forklifts, and more, becoming increasingly prevalent. The automobile industry has been rapidly advancing fuel cell technology, inching closer to the commercialization of fuel cell vehicles. As various technical hurdles are surmounted and costs are reduced, fuel cell vehicles are poised to become a competitive force in the automobile market, presenting an excellent solution for environmental sustainability and energy efficiency. This review paper delves into the fundamentals of fuel cells, their characteristics, and their applications in the automotive realm, exploring their prospects in comparison to traditional technologies. Furthermore, it sheds light on the existing research and industrial developments in hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. Additionally, a comprehensive comparison is provided between various fuel cell cars that have already been commercialized, enabling readers to understand the current market landscape. The review also analyses the advantages and challenges associated with fuel cell technology, offering insights into its future development trajectory. Through this comprehensive exploration, readers can gain a deeper understanding of fuel cell technology and its potential in revolutionizing the automotive industry.

Spatiotemporal Evolution and Tapio Decoupling Analysis of Energy-Related Carbon Emissions Using Nighttime Light Data: A Quantitative Case Study at the City Scale in Northeast China

As the world’s second-largest economy, China has experienced rapid industrialization and urbanization, resulting in high energy consumption and significant carbon emissions. This development has intensified conflicts between human-land relations and environmental conservation, contributing to global warming and urban air pollution, both of which pose serious health risks. This study uses nighttime light (NTL) data from 2005 to 2019, along with scaling techniques and statistical analysis, to estimate city-scale energy carbon emissions over a 15-year period. Focusing on Northeast China, a traditional industrial region comprising 36 cities across three provinces, we examine spatial patterns of energy carbon emissions and assess spatiotemporal evolution through spatial autocorrelation and dynamic changes. These changes are further evaluated using standard deviation ellipse (SDE) parameters and SLOPE values. Additionally, the Tapio decoupling index is applied to explore the relationship between city-scale emissions and economic growth. Our findings for the 36 cities over 15 years are: (1) Heilongjiang shows low, declining emissions; Jilin improves; Liaoning has high, steadily increasing emissions. (2) The global spatial autocorrelation of energy carbon emissions is significant, with a positive Moran’s I, while significant local Moran’s I clusters are concentrated in Heilongjiang and Liaoning. (3) The greatest emission changes occurred in 2015, followed by 2019, 2005, and 2010. (4) Emission growth is fastest in Heilongjiang, followed by Liaoning and Jilin. (5) Tapio analysis shows positive decoupling in Heilongjiang, declining decoupling in Jilin, and no change in Liaoning. This study provides a quantitative basis for dual carbon goals and offers emission reduction strategies for government, industry, and residents, supporting energy transition and sustainable urban planning.

Optimized Mosaic Method for Accurate Measurement of Soot Concentration Indirect Method

Global air pollution poses health risks. Soot is a major contributor to warming and pollution. Measuring soot is key to mitigating emissions. This study proposes an empirical method using markers to indirectly gauge soot levels. The Mosaic method was tested against conventional techniques with over 50 samples. This method utilizes markers to collect impurities in the air, employing the µ/m³, m(g), and the newly devised Mosaic method. All results underwent standard statistical processing, enabling a comparison between the new method (Mosaic) and conventional techniques used.

DFT Study on the Janus ZrSSe Monolayer for Its Potential Application in NO Gas Sensing.

The growth of industry has resulted in increased global air pollution, necessitating the urgent development of highly sensitive gas detectors. In this work, the adsorption of the Janus ZrSSe monolayer for CO, CO2, NH3, NO, NO2, and O2 was studied by first-principles calculations. First, the stability of the ZrSSe monolayer is confirmed through calculations of cohesive energy and AIMD simulations. Furthermore, the calculations indicate that the Se layer exhibits higher selectivity and sensitivity toward gas molecules compared to the S layer. Specifically, among the gases adsorbed on the Se layer, NO has the shortest adsorption distance (1.804 Å), the lowest adsorption energy (-0.424 eV), and the greatest electron transfer (0.098 e). Additionally, density of states analysis reveals that adsorption of NO, NO2, and O2 on the Janus ZrSSe monolayer can induce a transition from a nonmagnetic to a magnetic state. The adsorption of NO not only alters the magnetic state but also induces a transition from a semiconductor to metal, which is highly advantageous for gas sensing applications. There results suggest that the Janus ZrSSe monolayer has the potential to serve as a highly sensitive detector for NO gas.

Recent Developments in Satellite Remote Sensing for Air Pollution Surveillance in Support of Sustainable Development Goals

Air pollution is an integral part of climatic, environmental, and socioeconomic current affairs and a cross-cutting component of certain United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Hence, reliable information on air pollution and human exposure is a crucial element in policy recommendations and decisions. At the same time, Earth Observation is steadily gaining confidence as a data input in the calculation of various SDG indicators. The current paper focuses on the usability of modern satellite remote sensing in the context of SDGs relevant to air quality. We introduce the socioeconomic importance of air quality and discuss the current uptake of geospatial information. The latest developments in Earth Observation provide measurements of finer spatial, temporal, and radiometric resolution products with increased global coverage, long-term continuation, and coherence in measurements. Leveraging on the two latest operational satellite technologies available, namely the Sentinel-5P and the Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS) missions, we demonstrate two potential operational applications for quantifying air pollution at city and regional scales. Based on the two examples and by discussing the near-future anticipated geospatial capabilities, we showcase and advocate that the potential of satellite remote sensing as a, complementary to ground station networks, source of air pollution information is gaining confidence. As such, it can be an invaluable tool for quantifying global air pollution and deriving robust population exposure estimates.

Impact of air pollution on human morality: A multinational perspective

This study aimed to investigate whether global air pollution harms human morals beyond physiological and psychological health. To accomplish this, we conducted an original survey involving over 80,000 individuals across 30 countries, inquiring about their recent perceived unethical behaviors. Through regression analyses, we identified global evidence of a positive correlation between local monthly average concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and perceptions of unethical behavior. This finding suggests that air pollution may potentially elicit unethical behavior through a complex response mechanism. It is noteworthy that the impact of air pollution on the inclination to perceive unethical behavior is heterogeneous across categories of unethical behavior and countries. For example, the effects of increasing air pollution concentrations vary even within the same European country: an increase in NO2 concentration in Greece and the Netherlands augments the inclination to perceive fatal unethical behaviors such as murder, terrorism, and suicide, while in Germany, NO2 concentration diminishes the inclination to perceive the same types of unethical behaviors. Overall, the societal costs of air pollution may be even more far-reaching than previously acknowledged, and further research is necessary to unveil the intricate response mechanisms underlying this issue.

Gastroesophageal Disease and Environmental Exposure: A Systematic Review.

Environmental exposure-associated disease is an active area of study, especially in the context of increasing global air pollution and use of inhalants. Our group is dedicated to the study of exposure-related inflammation and downstream health effects. While many studies have focused on the impact of inhalants on respiratory sequelae, there is growing evidence of the involvement of other systems including autoimmune, endocrine, and gastrointestinal. This systematic review aims to provide a recent update that will underscore the associations between inhalation exposures and upper gastrointestinal disease in the contexts of our evolving environmental exposures. Keywords focused on inhalational exposures and gastrointestinal disease. Primary search identified n = 764 studies, of which n = 64 met eligibility criteria. In particular, there was support for existing evidence that PM increases the risk of upper gastrointestinal diseases. Smoking was also confirmed to be major risk factor. Interestingly, studies in this review have also identified waterpipe use as a significant risk factor for gastroesophageal reflux and gastric cancer. Our systematic review identified inhalational exposures as risk factors for aerodigestive disease, further supporting the association between environmental exposure and digestive disease. However, due to limitations on our review's scope, further studies must be done to better understand this interaction.

Effect of fertilizer deep placement and nitrification inhibitor on N2O, NO, HONO, and NH3 emissions from a maize field in the North China Plain

Fertilized soil is an essential source of atmospheric gaseous nitrogen compounds (GNC, including N2O, NO, HONO, and NH3) that play important roles in global warming and regional air pollution. However, there is still a lack of comprehensive research on the exchange fluxes of these gases between soil and the atmosphere, let alone exploration of mitigation measures. Herein, the fluxes of N2O, NO, HONO, and NH3 under different fertilization treatments (surface fertilization (SF), deep fertilization (DF), DF with added nitrification inhibitor (DN), and control (CK, non-fertilization)) were comparatively investigated by open-top dynamic chambers in a maize field in the North China Plain (NCP) in 2022. The results showed that fertilization significantly promoted soil GNC emissions under SF and DF treatments, while there was no significant increase in GNC emissions except for NH3 under the DN treatment after fertilization. In comparison to the SF treatment, the cumulative emissions under the DF treatment exhibited a significant reduction, amounting to 80.8% for N2O, 89.4% for NO, 88.3% for HONO, 84.8% for NH3, and 83.9% for the total emissions of these four gases. These results emphasize the effect of fertilizer deep placement in mitigating soil GNC emissions, and further reductions were observed when using nitrification inhibitors like dicyandiamide (DCD). Compared with the cumulative emissions under the SF treatment, the DN treatment showed reductions exceeding 95% for N2O, NO, and HONO, and 77.1% for NH3 due to the inhibition of ammonia oxidation by DCD, resulting in an overall reduction of 88.8% for the four gases. Therefore, we advocate deep placement of fertilizer with or without nitrification inhibitors during crop cultivation to achieve a comprehensive reduction in GNC emissions and improve regional air quality.

City-Scale Air Quality Network of Low-Cost Sensors

In this paper, we present a city-scale (possibly global) air pollution network made of low-cost sensors for particulate matter concentration in the air. The components of the presented system are based on our research and experience from previous studies focused on air quality instruments and sensors for addressing urban air pollution. Sensor nodes are produced locally and distributed over Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The system collects, calibrates, and displays particulate matter concentrations in real-time. In comparison to the available measurements from governmental institutions, our system demonstrated good agreement of measured parameters, with several advantages including, higher resolution in space and time, lower costs, both horizontal and vertical measurements. One of the capabilities of the system is the real-time air pollution city map with animations. By installing multiple sensor nodes over a slope, we receive vertical measurements of temperature, humidity, and particulate matter concentration in real time, which gives a valuable insight into the dynamics of temperature inversion episodes and air pollution below the inversion layer.

Bioethanol production from dilute fruit wastes using sorghum as additional fermentable sugar

The global reliance on expensive fossil fuels for energy including transportation is causing environmental issues like global warming and air pollution, necessitating the search for eco-friendly and economically viable alternatives. The study investigated bioethanol production from pineapple, mango, pawpaw, and watermelon fruit wastes using sorghum as additional fermentable sugar through fermentation and distillation. After the juice extraction and dilution using clean tap water at a ratio of 1:1, each fruit’s juice with sorghum flour were fermented for 11 days followed by distillation to produce bioethanol. Results show that a mixture of pineapple fruit waste’s juice and sorghum produced the highest bioethanol of alcohol content of 25% while mango fruit waste’s juice gave 15% with pawpaw giving 10%, and watermelon the last with 4% for the first aliquot of 100 mL. Fruit waste’s juice mixture with sorghum produced the highest alcohol content of 11%, while a mixture of fruit wastes juice without sorghum gave 10% for the first aliquot of 100 mL. Results indicate further that re-distillation improved the quality of bioethanol from the alcohol content between 5-8% to 72%. The study of bioethanol production from unexplored fruit wastes utilizing technologies like fermentation and distillation provides a promising avenue for research.

Analysis of energy consumption efficiency and emissions according to urban driving of hybrid electric vehicles in Korea

Internal combustion engines contribute significantly to global warming and air pollution in urban areas with high population densities and abundant vehicular movement. Alternative energy vehicle, such as hybrid and electric vehicles, are being developed to address these concerns. However, a gradual transition to electrification while maintaining the existing fuel infrastructure appears more feasible than the rapid proliferation of battery-powered electric vehicles. Hybrid electric vehicles are recognized as an important means of improving vehicle fuel efficiency and reducing carbon emissions by introducing changes in driving modes to enhance energy consumption efficiency. Catalyst activation does not occur in cold starts, making it challenging to control exhaust emissions. In Korea, urban driving patterns characterized by speeds below 60 km/h often results in insufficient catalyst activation. Therefore, research on the characteristics of urban driving and cold-start conditions is essential. This study analyzed the urban driving characteristics of domestic hybrid vehicles reflecting urban conditions through chassis tests and examined the variations in the external temperature and engine contribution to assess the control capability of the hybrid system. Confirming that minimizing the engine preheating time during cold starts and efficiently utilizing energy stored in the motor can enhance fuel efficiency and reduce exhaust emission rates.

Global health benefits of shipping emission reduction in early 2020

The impact of COVID-19 lockdown on the absolute concentration of air pollutant has been widely investigated, whereas the impact of lockdown on global shipping-related air pollutants still remained poorly understood because the contribution of individual source cannot be observed directly. In our study, we employed an efficient chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem) to quantify the shipping-related PM2.5, NO2, and O3 levels in early 2019 and 2020, and assessed the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on global shipping-related air pollutants and health effects. The result suggested that shipping-related global PM2.5, NO2, and O3 levels reduced by 14%, 85%, and 1%, respectively. Furthermore, the decreasing ratios of air pollutants in difference regions often suffered from large spatial discrepancy. PM2.5 and NO2 levels in China, India, Europe, and the United States decreased by 6.5% (NO2: 9%), 7.4% (8%), 11% (8.6%), and 15% (10%), which could be caused by dense shipping activities during the non-lockdown period. For O3 concentrations, the shipping-related concentrations in China, India, Europe, and the United States showed 0.7%, −12.9%, 16.6%, and −4.8% during lockdown period, respectively. The relatively slight O3 reduction might be linked with more significant decrease of NOx emission than VOCs. The changes of air pollutant concentrations inevitably led to the variations of health benefits. Globally, the all-cause mortalities caused by shipping-related PM2.5 exposures reached 40,464 (95% CI: 26,546, 54,382) and 39,035 (95% CI: 25,135, 52,935) cases in early 2019 and 2020, respectively. The combined health benefits of PM2.5, NO2, and O3 linked with shipping emission reduction in China, India, Europe, and the United States reached 476 (95% CI: 131, 822), 3341 (95% CI: 3,177, 3505), 2194 (95% CI: −970, 5358), and 311 (95% CI: 242, 379), respectively. Our study confirms the potentially considerable effects of shipping emission on multiple air pollutants and health impacts, which could provide valuable information for air quality management.

Separation processes for the treatment of industrial flue gases – Effective methods for global industrial air pollution control

The treatment of flue gases has become a crucial area of interest with the increasing air emissions into the atmosphere from industries involved in combustion of fossil fuels in their operations. In essence, there is a critical need for effective methods of treatment more than ever. Treatment and separation are now a demand for the overall industrial operations to control the rate of flue gas emissions. The major culprit in this wise is power generating industry. The major associated air pollutants are carbon dioxide, sulfur oxides, trace metals, volatile organic compounds, particulate matters, and nitrogen oxides. However, the choice of technologies to be utilized requires more than just knowledge of the separation process, but also a good understanding of the properties of the pollutants. This review explored and evaluated the various separation processes and technologies for the treatment of industrial flue gases for the control of the associated air pollutants. It also analyzed the performance with references to cost and efficiency, the advantages and disadvantages, principles for selection, research direction, and/or potential opportunities in existing separation processes and technologies.

Biomass Burning in Northeast China over Two Decades: Temporal Trends and Geographic Patterns

Despite the significant impacts of biomass burning (BB) on global climate change and regional air pollution, there is a relative lack of research on the temporal trends and geographic patterns of BB in Northeast China (NEC). This study investigates the spatial–temporal distribution of BB and its impact on the atmospheric environment in the NEC region during 2004 to 2023 based on remote sensing satellite data and reanalyzed data, using the Siegel’s Repeated Median Estimator and Mann–Kendall test for trend analysis, HDBSCAN to identify significant BB change regions, and Moran’s Index to examine the spatial autocorrelation of BB. The obtained results indicate a fluctuating yet overall increasing BB trend, characterized by annual increases of 759 for fire point counts (FPC) and 12,000 MW for fire radiated power (FRP). BB predominantly occurs in the Songnen Plain (SNP), Sanjiang Plain (SJP), Liaohe Plain (LHP), and the transitional area between SNP and the adjacent Greater Khingan Mountains (GKM) and Lesser Khingan Mountains (LKM). Cropland and urban areas exhibit the highest growth in BB trends, each surpassing 60% (p < 0.05), with the most significant growth cluster spanning 68,634.9 km2. Seasonal analysis shows that BB peaks in spring and autumn, with spring experiencing the highest severity. The most critical periods for BB are March–April and October–November, during which FPC and FRP contribute to over 80% of the annual total. This trend correlates with spring planting and autumn harvesting, where cropland FPC constitutes 71% of all land-cover types involved in BB. Comparative analysis of the aerosol extinction coefficient (AEC) between areas with increasing and decreasing BB indicates higher AEC in BB increasing regions, especially in spring, with the vertical transport of BB reaching up to 1.5 km. County-level spatial autocorrelation analysis indicates high–high clustering in the SNP and SJP, with a notable resurgence of autocorrelation in the SNP, suggesting the need for coordinated provincial prevention and control efforts. Finally, our analysis of the impact of BB on atmospheric pollutants shows that there is a correlation between FRP and pollutants, with correlations for PM2.5, PM10, and CO of 0.4, 0.4, and 0.5, respectively. In addition, the impacts of BB vary by region and season, with the most significant impacts occurring in the spring, especially in the SNP, which requires more attention. In summary, considering the escalating BB trend in NEC and its significant effect on air quality, this study highlights the urgent necessity for improved monitoring and strategic interventions.

Impact of green manufacturing, green purchasing, and eco-design on organizational performance in the FMCG sector of Pakistan

Global warming, air pollution, and natural resource depletion have severely changed how businesses manufacture and provide goods and services. Greening supply chains have attracted the attention of practitioners in several nations in this context. Carbon taxes, for example, have been made a legal necessity in various countries. However, green supply chain management methods and their influence on company performance are still in their early stages of adoption. Firms frequently require the engagement of their supply chain participants to meet rising stakeholder demands for ecologically friendly goods and processes. GSCM is a collection of managerial approaches that include environmental concerns in the supply chain. Green supply chain management may help a company gain a competitive edge while improving its environmental sustainability. The overarching goal of this thesis is to add to the conversation on green supply chain management methods by examining their drivers and performance implications for the FMCG sector of Pakistan. FMCG company's supply chain must be prioritized to be efficient and effective in GSCM because these products are essential for everyone. This study aims to raise awareness about the importance of GSCM practices for the advantage of society and long-term economic and environmental development. The respondents of the 136 helped in the collection of data. They use SPSS and techniques like ANOVA, regression analysis, and correlation. All of the three hypotheses were accepted.

Willingness of Park Users to Plant Trees in Public Motor Parks to Improve Environmental Condition in Ibadan Metropolis, Oyo State, Nigeria

The effect of global warming and air pollution have shifted more focus to tree planting as a way to combat climate change and improve the environment. Most Nigerian motor parks are polluted; thus, this study investigated the willingness of park users to plant trees in public motor parks to improve park's environmental condition in Ibadan Metropolis, Oyo State, Nigeria using structured questionnaires in six motor parks. Questionnaires were randomly administered to 12 drivers, 5 traders and 3 commuters, per Motor Park, making a total of 120 respondents. Study revealed that 60.8% of motor park users were under the age of 50; 100% of drivers were men, whereas women (70%) dominated trading. Drivers (94.4%) and traders (83.3%) use motor parks on a daily basis, but commuters (66.7%) use the park occasionally. Most of respondents (47.2%), traders (56.7%), and commuters (83.3%) stated that the park’s environment is not conducive (unsuitable). Respondents (85.8%) of motor park users indicated that they want a better environmental condition. Chi-square test reveals a significant relationship between respondents' educational status and perceived environmental condition of the motor park. Logistic analysis indicated that traders (0.183) and commuters (0.236) are less likely to be interested in tree planting. Most Nigerian motor parks have unsuitable environments, tree planting is one potential solution for improving the environmental condition. Relevant authorities should develop policies that encourage tree planting and tree planting should be incorporated and implemented in the design of new motor parks.

Performance and techno-economic evaluation of a high-efficiency electrospray cyclone

"Nowadays, because of the global air pollution issue caused by fine dust, fine dust collection and removal technologies are crucial for enhancing living environments and human health. This research proposes a new pilot-scale electrospray cyclone (ESC) designed for the collection of submicron dust particles. The experimental apparatuses comprised a cyclone dust collector and an insulating tank. Initially, laboratory-scale single-nozzle visualization tests were conducted to investigate the droplets’ number and size under various operating conditions. Subsequently, based on the visualization research outcomes, electrospray module was inserted to the industrial cyclone, which was designated by ESC. Performance assessments of the pilot-scale ESC were conducted under diverse water flowrates, applied voltages and nozzle sizes. The capture efficiencies for PM10, PM2.5, and PM1.0 were measured up to 98.2%, 95.4%, and 90.3%, respectively. Both the environmental and economic viabilities of the newly-proposed ESC in this study were evaluated based on three aspects: 1) capacitive particle collection efficiency; 2) capacitive installation cost; and 3) rated power and operational cost. This evaluation method has been defined as the Levelized Cost of Precipitator (LCOP), and it is intended to assess the environmental and economic performance of 5-convenstional dust collectors. In these results, the ESC shows relatively high performance in terms of the environmental and economic aspects. Based on these indices, we assess that the ESC has one of the promising alternatives of commercial precipitators."

Exceptionally high levels of total mercury in deep-sea sharks of the Southeastern Mediterranean sea over the last ∼ 40 years

Deep-sea habitats are currently recognized as a hot spot for mercury (Hg) accumulation from anthropogenic sources, resulting in elevated concentrations of total mercury (THg) in deep-sea megafauna. Among them, deep-sea sharks (Class Chondrichthyes) are characterized by high trophic position and extended longevity and are, therefore, at high risk for mercury contamination. Despite this, sharks are overexploited by fishing activity in increasingly deeper water, worldwide, imposing health risks to human consumption. While it is imperative to better understand long-term mercury contamination in deep-sea megafauna, few historical data sets exist to capture this process. Here we explore four decades (1985–2022) of THg accumulation in five species of deep-sea sharks (G. melastomus, E. spinax, S. rostratus, C. granulosus, and D. licha) of the ultra-oligotrophic Southeastern Mediterranean Sea (SEMS) sampled during 19 research cruises. We exhibited exceptionally high THg levels (per length/weight), the highest as 16.6 μg g−1 (wet wt.), almost entirely (98.9 %; n = 298 specimens) exceeding the limit for safe consumption (0.3–0.5 μg THg g−1 wet wt.). The maximal THg levels of the long-lived species D. licha and C. granulosus in the SEMS were enriched by a factor of ∼ 7 and >10 compared to counterpart species from other oceanic areas, respectively. We attribute this to the ultra-oligotrophic conditions of the SEMS, which cause slower growth rates and dwarfism in deep-sea sharks, resulting in an extended exposure time to mercury contamination. In the long-lived species, C. granulosus and D. licha, a temporal increase of average THg levels of ∼ 80 % was recorded between 1987–1999 and 2021–2022. This likely reflects the long-term accumulation of historical anthropogenic Hg in deep-sea environments, which is further amplified in marginal seas such as the Mediterranean, impacted by global air pollution crossroads and surrounded by land-based pollution sources. Future consumption of products from deep-sea sharks is potentially high risk to human health.