World Health Organization Air Quality Research Articles

Analysis of short-term air quality monitoring data in a coastal area

<abstract> <p>Short-term air quality monitoring in a coastal area, Naklua Subdistrict, Pattaya, Thailand is an activity to support the designated area under Thailand's sustainable tourism development. This study provided a short-term monitoring data analysis on time series and Bivariate Polar Plot (BVP) to provide the status of air quality and to determine the potential source area of air pollution. The result showed that NO<sub>2</sub>, SO<sub>2</sub>, CO and PM<sub>10</sub> were not higher than the national air quality standards, while the 24-hour average of PM<sub>2.5</sub> and the 8-hour average of O<sub>3</sub> were slightly higher than the World Health Organization (WHO) air quality guideline values. The nighttime PM<sub>2.5</sub> concentration was higher than the daytime concentration, and its potential source area is urban areas in the south. However, the daytime O<sub>3</sub> concentration is higher than the nighttime concentration. Its potential source area is from the northwest, where Sichang island is located. This result could be used to support air pollution management by controlling and reducing emissions in the potential source areas as the first priority. Also, the study revealed that the BVP technique could be used to determine the source area of air pollution in the coastal area, where wind circulation is more complex than that over the land.</p> </abstract>

How changing climate may influence air pollution control strategies for 2030?

Air pollution is a global threat leading to large impacts on human health and ecosystems. In Europe, air quality remains poor in many areas, despite reductions in emissions and ambient concentrations. Air pollution and climate change are the biggest environmental concerns for Europeans, implying concerted and integrated actions to tackle them. The revised 2016 European National Emission Ceilings Directive (NECD) enforces Member States to implement strategies, based on emission reduction measures, aimed to comply with targets by 2030 and achieve European Union (EU) and World Health Organization air quality objectives for environment and health protection. Despite those strategies are designed for 2030, the influence of climate change on air quality is not accounted for. In this sense, the purpose of this paper is the evaluation of the climate change impact on future air quality, taking into consideration emission reduction measures. The WRF-CAMx air quality modelling system was applied over Europe for one year selected as representative of a short-term changing climate (around 2030), and compared to a base case year, to estimate to what extent the climate variables by themselves could positively or negatively influence air quality. Results indicate that meteorological conditions may be decisive for the air quality state in the future. Differences between future and present simulations pointed to a global decrease of ozone levels in the future; increases and decreases in particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide concentrations over different seasons and European regions.This work is intended to contribute to a better understanding of the influence of climate variables on air quality improvement strategies as an additional support to European environmental authorities in developing the National Air Pollution Control Programmes in the scope of NECD.

Improvement in life expectancy for ischemic heart diseases by achieving daily ambient PM2.5 standards in China

BackgroundThe potential impacts of daily ambient fine particulate pollution (PM2.5) exposure on year of life lost (YLL) due to ischemic heart diseases (IHD) remain uncertain. We aimed to estimate the improvement in IHD-related life expectancy by attaining the daily air quality standards of ambient PM2.5 in China. Methods and resultsThis study was based on daily mortality data covering 96 Chinese cities from 2013 to 2016. Regional- and national-associations between IHD-related YLLs and daily PM2.5 were estimated by generalized additive models. We further evaluated the IHD-related avoidable YLLs with an assumption that the daily PM2.5 was below the ambient air quality standards of World Health Organization (WHO) and China, and calculated the improvement of life expectancy by dividing the avoidable YLLs by the overall number of IHD mortality. We totally recorded 1,485,140 IHD deaths from 2013 to 2016. At the national level, we found a positive association between IHD-related YLLs and daily PM2.5. Per 10 μg/m3 increment of four-day averaged ambient PM2.5 related to an increase of 0.40 IHD-related YLLs (95% CI: 0.28, 0.51). By achieving the WHO's air quality guideline, we estimated that an averaged number of 1346.94 (95% CI: 932.61, 1761.27) YLLs can be avoided for the IHD deaths in each city. On average, the life expectancy can be improved by 0.15 years (95% CI: 0.11, 0.19) for each death. ConclusionsOur study provides a nationwide picture of the life expectancy improvements by reaching the daily PM2.5 standards in China, indicating that people can live longer in an environment with higher air quality.

Effectiveness of Gas and Chimney Biomass Stoves for Reducing Household Air Pollution Pregnancy Exposure in Guatemala: Sociodemographic Effect Modifiers.

Household air pollution (HAP) due to solid fuel use during pregnancy is associated with adverse birth outcomes. The real-life effectiveness of clean cooking interventions has been disappointing overall yet variable, but the sociodemographic determinants are not well described. We measured personal 24-h PM2.5 (particulate matter <2.5 µm in aerodynamic diameter) thrice in pregnant women (n = 218) gravimetrically with Teflon filter, impactor, and personal pump setups. To estimate the effectiveness of owning chimney and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) stoves (i.e., proportion of PM2.5 exposure that would be prevented) and to predict subject-specific typical exposures, we used linear mixed-effects models with log (PM2.5) as dependent variable and random intercept for subject. Median (IQR) personal PM2.5 in µg/m3 was 148 (90–249) for open fire, 78 (51–125) for chimney stove, and 55 (34–79) for LPG stoves. Adjusted effectiveness of LPG stoves was greater in women with ≥6 years of education (49% (95% CI: 34, 60)) versus <6 years (26% (95% CI: 5, 42)). In contrast, chimney stove adjusted effectiveness was greater in women with <6 years of education (50% (95% CI: 38, 60)), rural residence (46% (95% CI: 34, 55)) and lowest SES (socio-economic status) quartile (59% (95% CI: 45, 70)) than ≥6 years education (16% (95% CI: 22, 43)), urban (23% (95% CI: −164, 42)) and highest SES quartile (−44% (95% CI: −183, 27)), respectively. A minority of LPG stove owners (12%) and no chimney owner had typical exposure below World Health Organization Air Quality guidelines (35 μg/m3). Although having a cleaner stove alone typically does not lower exposure enough to protect health, understanding sociodemographic determinants of effectiveness may lead to better targeting, implementation, and adoption of interventions.

Effectiveness of vehicle-free zone in reducing air pollution

This study focuses on the effectiveness of vehicle-free zone in terms of air quality. Particulate matter (PM10, PM2.5) and carbon monoxide (CO) were measured at V1, a core area of vehicle-free zone for three seasons (post-monsoon, winter, and pre-monsoon), seven days each for 12-h time period. PM and CO concentrations were higher in the morning hours, considerably lower during the afternoon and increased during the evening. PM2.5, PM10, and CO were found to be 28.49 ± 15.10 µg/m3, 83.78 ± 46.24 µg/m3, 4.53 ± 3.08 mg/m3 in post-monsoon; 62.49 ± 34.37 µg/m3, 89.28 ± 34.91 µg/m3, and 7.9 ± 4.76 mg/m3 in winter; 27.41 ± 11.16 µg/m3, 42.12 ± 15.35 µg/m3, and 5.27 ± 0.56 mg/m3 in pre-monsoon, respectively. PM was found to be lower in the vehicle-free zone than the reference stations (R1 and R2) as well as before the vehicle-free intervention. However, there were occasional mornings and evenings with higher emissions as compared to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) and the World Health Organization (WHO) air quality standards guidelines. This means that background pollution and atmospheric conditions might have a greater impact on the degradation of the ambient air quality to which the population is exposed chronically. Despite these results, the decrease in particulate matter concentration also suggests that these regulations could be one of the effective measures to control air pollution.

PM2.5 chemical composition and geographical origin of air masses in Cape Town, South Africa.

PM2.5 in the indoor and outdoor environment has been linked in epidemiology studies to the symptoms, hospital admissions and development of numerous health outcomes including death. The study was conducted during April 2017 and April 2018. PM2.5 samples were collected over 24 h and every third day. The mean PM2.5 level was 13.4 μg m−3 (range: 1.17–39.1 μg m−3). PM2.5 levels exceeded the daily World Health Organization air quality guideline (25 μg m−3) on 14 occasions. The mean soot level was 1.38 m−1 × 10−5 (range: 0 to 5.38 m−1 × 10−5). Cl−, NO3−, SO42−, Al, Ca, Fe, Mg, Na and Zn were detected in the PM2.5 samples. The geographical origin of air masses that passed Cape Town was estimated using the Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory software. Four air masses were identified in the cluster analysis: Atlantic-Ocean-WSW, Atlantic-Ocean-SW, Atlantic-Ocean-SSW and Indian-Ocean. The population of Cape Town may experience various health outcomes from the outdoor exposure to PM2.5 and the chemical composition of PM2.5.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s11869-020-00947-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Air quality status and trends over large cities in South America

Air pollution is one of the most persistent environmental issues in South America, with exposure to air pollutants being associated with increased mortality and morbidity. According to estimates of the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2016, 91 % of the global population lived in cities that exceeded the WHO PM2.5 annual guideline (10 μg/m3). In Latin America and the Caribbean, other studies affirm that approximately 100 million people are exposed to poor air quality, exceeding WHO guidelines. This study presents a review of long-term (annual) and short-term (daily) concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), carbon monoxide (CO), and ozone (O3), collected between 2010 and 2017 by the automatic monitoring networks of 11 metropolitan areas of South America, including three of global 33 megacities (Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Buenos Aires), and three from all 34 largest cities in the world (Bogotá, Lima, and Santiago). Despite efforts to monitor air quality, in some cities, the information on air quality provided by environmental authorities still has poor publicity and presentation, making it difficult to take action for critical air pollution episodes. Annual particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) monitored in all cities (2010-2017) exceeded the World Health Organization Air Quality Guidelines (WHO-AQG). The annual NO2 guideline was exceeded at least in one city between 2010 and 2017, except in 2014. Most average daily concentrations of SO2 in South America were below the WHO-AQG. Still, Vitória, Rio de Janeiro, and Belo Horizonte Metropolitan Areas presented values over WHO guidelines, and for the two last cities, over intermediate standards of Brazilian national legislation. Most of the ozone concentration (8 -h running average) was below WHO-AQG, but Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Belo Horizonte presented exceedances of this limit between 2010 and 2017. Although some cities in South America have their pollutant concentrations reduced since 2010 (PM2.5, for example), such as São Paulo, Vitória, and Bogotá, the region does not report a trend in the same direction, with the WHO guidelines and national or local standards being continuously exceeded.

Temporal Trend of PM10 and Associated Human Health Risk over the Past Decade in Cluj-Napoca City, Romania

The human health risk associated with PM10 exposure was assessed for the residents of Cluj-Napoca city, Romania, for a best case-scenario based on the monthly average PM10 and for a worst-case scenario based on the monthly 90th percentile of PM10 concentration. As no toxicity value for PM10 was available, for the calculation of the hazard quotient, the toxicity value was considered to be equal to the annual limit value (40 µm/m3) set in the European Union (EU), and to air quality guidelines (20 µm/m3) set by the World Health Organization (WHO). The daily PM10 concentrations for the period 2009–2019, at the four monitoring stations existing in Cluj-Napoca, were obtained from the National Air Quality Monitoring Network. The annual PM10 values ranged between 20.3 and 29.5 µg/m3, and were below the annual limit value (40 µg/m3) set by European and national legislation, but above the annual air quality guideline (20 µg/m3) set by WHO. Generally, the monthly PM10 concentrations were higher from October to March than in the rest of the year. The monthly air quality index (AQI) showed the good to moderate quality of the air during the whole decade; however, there were days when the air quality was unhealthy for sensitive population groups. The air quality was more or less constant during the warm months, and improved significantly for the cold months from 2009 to 2019. In the best-case scenario, calculated using the EU annual limit value for PM10, the potential non-carcinogenic chronic health risk was present only in 2009 and 2010, but in the worst-case scenario, in each year there were periods, especially in the cold months, in which health risk was present. When considering the WHO air quality guidelines in the calculation of the health risk, the potential non-carcinogenic chronic health risk was present between October and March in each year in the best-case scenario, and in most of the months in the worst-case scenario.

Association between NO2 cumulative exposure and influenza prevalence in mountainous regions: A case study from southwest China

While accumulating evidence shows that air pollution exposure is an important risk factor to influenza prevalence, their association has been inadequately investigated in mountainous regions with dense populations and high humidity. We aim to estimate the association and exposure-outcome effects between exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and influenza prevalence in a mountainous region with a dense population and high humidity. We investigated 14,993 patients with confirmed influenza cases from January 2013 to December 2017 in Chongqing, a mountainous city in southwest China. We developed distributed lag non-linear models with quasi-Poisson link to take into account the lag and non-linear effects of NO2 exposure on influenza prevalence. We estimated that the cumulative effect of a 10 μg/m3 increase in NO2 with seven-day lag (i.e., summing all the contributions up to seven days) corresponded to relative risk of 1.24 (95% CI: 1.17–1.31) in daily influenza prevalence. Comparing to annual mean of the World Health Organization air quality guidelines of 40 μg/m3 for NO2, we estimated that 14.01% (95% CI: 10.69–17.08%) of the influenza cases were attributable to excessive NO2 exposure. Our results suggest that NO2 exposure could worsen the risk of influenza infection in this mountainous city, filling the gap of relevant researches in densely populated and mountainous cities. Our findings provide evidence for developing influenza surveillance and early warning systems.

The association between long-term exposure to low-level PM2.5 and mortality in the state of Queensland, Australia: A modelling study with the difference-in-differences approach.

BackgroundTo date, few studies have investigated the causal relationship between mortality and long-term exposure to a low level of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations.Methods and findingsWe studied 242,320 registered deaths in Queensland between January 1, 1998, and December 31, 2013, with satellite-retrieved annual average PM2.5 concentrations to each postcode. A variant of difference-in-differences (DID) approach was used to investigate the association of long-term PM2.5 exposure with total mortality and cause-specific (cardiovascular, respiratory, and non-accidental) mortality. We observed 217,510 non-accidental deaths, 133,661 cardiovascular deaths, and 30,748 respiratory deaths in Queensland during the study period. The annual average PM2.5 concentrations ranged from 1.6 to 9.0 μg/m3, which were well below the current World Health Organization (WHO) annual standard (10 μg/m3). Long-term exposure to PM2.5 was associated with increased total mortality and cause-specific mortality. For each 1 μg/m3 increase in annual PM2.5, we found a 2.02% (95% CI 1.41%–2.63%; p < 0.01) increase in total mortality. Higher effect estimates were observed in Brisbane than those in Queensland for all types of mortality. A major limitation of our study is that the DID design is under the assumption that no predictors other than seasonal temperature exhibit different spatial-temporal variations in relation to PM2.5 exposure. However, if this assumption is violated (e.g., socioeconomic status [SES] and outdoor physical activities), the DID design is still subject to confounding.ConclusionsLong-term exposure to PM2.5 was associated with total, non-accidental, cardiovascular, and respiratory mortality in Queensland, Australia, where PM2.5 levels were measured well below the WHO air quality standard.

Half the world\u2019s population are exposed to increasing air pollution

Air pollution is high on the global agenda and is widely recognised as a threat to both public health and economic progress. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 4.2 million deaths annually can be attributed to outdoor air pollution. Recently, there have been major advances in methods that allow the quantification of air pollution-related indicators to track progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals and that expand the evidence base of the impacts of air pollution on health. Despite efforts to reduce air pollution in many countries there are regions, notably Central and Southern Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, in which populations continue to be exposed to increasing levels of air pollution. The majority of the world’s population continue to be exposed to levels of air pollution substantially above WHO Air Quality Guidelines and, as such, air pollution constitutes a major, and in many areas, increasing threat to public health.

Drivers of seasonal and annual air pollution exposure in a complex urban environment with multiple source contributions

Outdoor air pollution is a global health concern, but detailed exposure information is still limited for many parts of the world. In this study, high-resolution exposure surfaces were generated for annual and seasonal fine particulate matter (PM2.5), coarse particulate matter (PM10), and carbon monoxide (CO) for the Greater Beirut Area (GBA), Lebanon, an urban zone with a complex topography and multiple source contributions. Land use regression models (LUR) were calibrated and validated with monthly data collected from 58 locations between March 2017 and March 2018. The annual mean (±1 SD) concentrations of PM2.5, PM10, and CO across the monitoring locations were 68.1 (±15.7) μg/m3, 83.5 (±19.5) μg/m3, and 2.48 (±1.12) ppm, respectively. The coefficients of determination for LUR models ranged from 56 to 67% for PM2.5, 44 to 63% for the PM10 models, and 50 to 60% for the CO. LUR model structures varied significantly by season for both PM2.5 and PM10 but not for CO. Traffic emissions were consistently the main source of CO emissions throughout the year. The relative importance of industrial emissions and power generation sources towards predicted PM levels increased during the hot season while the contribution of the international airport diminished. Moreover, the complex topography of the study area along with the seasonal changes in the predominant wind directions affected the spatial predicted concentrations of all three pollutants. Overall, the predicted exposure surfaces were able to conserve the inter-pollution correlations determined from the field monitoring campaign, with the exception of the cold season. Our pollution surfaces suggest that the entire population of Beirut is regularly exposed to concentrations exceeding the World Health Organization (WHO) air quality standards for both PM2.5 and PM10.

Mobile Measurement of PM2.5 Based on an Individual in Ulaanbaatar City.

In the present study, we measured fine particulate matter (PM2.5) on the daily route of our study participant in order to determine her exposure and dose of PM2.5 in every microenvironment (ME). The measuring instrument, created by Nagoya University and Panasonic Corporation, Japan, was carried close to the breathing zone most of the time. Each data point was collected for 10–30 s or 2–6 cycles/min for 24 h from 1 October 2018 to 30 December 2018. Public transportation showed the highest level of PM2.5 compared with other MEs, including residence apartments, houses (ger district), the National University of Mongolia (NUM), food courts or restaurants, and other indoor locations. The personal daily average exposure to PM2.5 was 35 µg/m3 on 4 November 2018; on the other hand, this value was evaluated as the highest level of exposure compared to other measurement days. Interestingly, the study participant‘s exposure and dose of PM2.5 was lower than those stated in the World Health Organization (WHO) air quality guidelines, with 25 µg/m3 from 4:00 to 7:00.

Nepal: country report on children's environmental health.

Although Nepal is a country rich in natural beauty, along with an abundance of natural resources, the children of this diverse nation still face several serious health issues arising from their own environment (water pollution, air pollution, chemical pollution, solid waste issues and drainage issues). Nepal also ranks as a highly vulnerable country to the adverse impacts of climate change. Children are more vulnerable to various infections for immunological, physiological and social reasons. Their inherent immunity diminishes within months after birth. There are risk factors for the development of various diseases, e.g. unsafe drinking water and lack of sanitation, which contribute to diarrheal diseases, trachoma, hookworm and amoebic dysentery; another risk factor is indoor air pollution. The infant mortality rate (IMR) is higher in rural areas with 55 per 1000 live births, compared to urban areas with 38 per 1000 live births. Likewise, the under-5-year-old mortality rate (MR) in rural areas is 64 and that in urban areas is 45 per 1000 live births. Around 12% of the population suffer from chronic respiratory diseases, according to a recent study exploring the situation in Kathmandu. Pneumonia is a leading cause of mortality among children under 5 years of age in Nepalese hospitals. Children under 5 are more prone to the ill effects of polluted environments because of their less well-developed immune system. In addition, the school environment is not sufficiently healthy due to the distribution of unsafe drinking water and poor sanitation supply systems. In Nepal, mainly in the 20 Terai districts, arsenic contamination of groundwater is a public health problem. Underground water is used as drinking water in those areas, but without purification - the estimate is that around 0.5 million people live at the risk of arsenic poisoning. Within a span of 200 km from north to south, the climate of Nepal varies from arctic to tropical. The annual average air pollution concentration is 5 times above the World Health Organization (WHO) air quality guidelines, which poses a serious health risk to hundreds of thousands of Nepalese people: 133 out of 1,000,000 deaths each year are related to air pollution. Dramatically, Kathmandu city is a silent killer to walk around due to air pollution, and its air quality is ranked as the worst out of 180 countries, according to the 2018 Environmental Performance Index. However, insufficient studies have been conducted to explore children's environmental health issues. It is therefore essential to carry out more scientific studies to explore the issues of children's environmental health as environmental health problems in children are serious in the Nepalese context.

A systematic review of respiratory infection due to air pollution during natural disasters

BACKGROUND Wildfire and volcano eruption occurred in Indonesia due to its geographical location, climate change, global warming, and human behavior. Various substances produced an increased risk of experiencing health problems, including respiratory infection. Evidence about the effect of pulmonary infection during natural disasters is still limited. This study was aimed to review and elaborate on previous studies to determine the effect of air pollution exposure during natural disasters and respiratory infection.&#x0D; METHODS Literature searches were conducted on PubMed, EBSCOhost, and Google Scholar, and was limited to the 10 last years, human studies, and the English language. Inclusion criteria were articles with representation for clinical questions, review articles, population studies, and the full-text article was available. Exclusion criteria were articles that only discussed the exposure to and not the association with the effect of the respiratory infection. The Oxford Center for Evidence-Based Medicine tools appraised six relevant articles.&#x0D; RESULTS Air pollution during a natural disaster enhances particulate matter to 10–70 μg/m3 and more than 5 times the aerosol optical depth measurement compared with the tolerated air concentration. The air level was consistently related to acute respiratory infection, pneumonia, bronchitis, and bronchiolitis admissions in wildfire smoke and volcanic eruption in this review. Nevertheless, there was a diverse result for upper respiratory infection cases.&#x0D; CONCLUSIONS Natural disasters increased the level of ambient air pollution that exceeded the levels recommended by the World Health Organization air quality guideline. Air pollution may play an important role in respiratory tract infection, especially among population with high exposure.

Observation of PM2.5 using a combination of satellite remote sensing and low-cost sensor network in Siberian urban areas with limited reference monitoring

The lack of reference ground-based PM2.5 observation leads to large gaps in air quality information, particularly in many areas of the developing world. This study investigated a new solution for urban air-quality monitoring in regions with limited reference ground-based monitoring. We developed an observation-based method by combining satellite remote-sensing techniques and a newly established low-cost sensor network to estimate long-term PM2.5 concentrations over Krasnoyarsk, a highly industrialized Siberian city. First, a physical model was developed to estimate PM2.5 concentrations using satellite remote-sensing with the aid of ground-based meteorological and radiosonde observations. Observations from the ground-based sensor network were then used to calibrate the deviations in the satellite-derived PM2.5 concentrations. The results show that the satellite-based PM2.5 concentrations obtained by our physical model were in good agreement with the sensor observations (R = 0.78 on the monthly scale). The deviation in satellite-derived annual PM2.5 concentrations resulted from data restrictions that occurred at noon and data loss in winter were identified as 20% and 30%, respectively. The regional transport of smoke from forest wildfires increased PM2.5 concentration to 150 μg/m3 in the summer 2018. The average PM2.5 concentrations in the urban districts could reach 35 μg/m3, which far exceeded the World Health Organization air quality guideline. These results underscore the good ability of our new method to determine PM2.5 concentrations in regions with limited reference ground-based monitoring. Use of sensor and meteorological observations greatly improved satellite detection of PM2.5 concentration. In addition, our method has the potential for global application to improve determination of PM2.5 concentrations, especially in sparsely monitored regions.

Spatial analysis of PM2.5 concentrations in Bogotá according to the World Health Organization air quality guidelines for cardiopulmonary diseases, 2014-2015

ResumenIntroducción. La Organización Mundial de la Salud señala que tres millones de muertes al año por enfermedades cardiopulmonares están relacionadas con la exposición a la contaminación del aire.Objetivo. Estimar las superficies de concentración de partículas en suspensión de menos de 2,5 pm (Particulate Matter, PM25) en Bogotá entre el 2014 y el 2015, clasificándolas según las guías de calidad del aire de la Organización Mundial de la Salud para enfermedades cardiopulmonares.Materiales y métodos. Se hizo un estudio ecológico mediante técnicas geoestadísticas. Se calcularon los promedios de PM25 en lapsos de seis horas a lo largo del día en cuatro franjas horarias. Las concentraciones se clasificaron según los valores diarios y anuales de las guías de calidad del aire de la OMS.Resultados. La localidad de Kennedy presentó las mayores concentraciones de PM25 en todas las franjas horarias. Los valores registrados en esta zona y clasificados según las guías diarias y anuales de calidad del aire, evidenciaron que la localidad presentaría un incremento de 1,2 % en la mortalidad cardiopulmonar en el corto plazo y de 9 % en el largo plazo. Conclusión. Las franjas horarias de las 0:00 a las 6:00 h y de las 12:00 a las 18:00 h, cumplieron con el valor anual de las guías de calidad del aire de 10 µg/m3 en una parte de la zona oriental de la ciudad. En el resto de la ciudad, en las franjas horarias de las 6:00 h a las 12:00 h y de las 18:00 h a las 24:00 h se registraron valores que cumplían los objetivos intermedios 2 y 3, lo que representa incrementos de 9 y 3 % en la mortalidad cardiopulmonar, respectivamente.

Temporal variations of six ambient criteria air pollutants from 2015 to 2018, their spatial distributions, health risks and relationships with socioeconomic factors during 2018 in China

Air pollution events occurred frequently in China, and tremendous efforts were devoted to the reduction of air pollution in recent years. Here, analysis of ambient monitoring data of six criteria air pollutants from 367 Chinese cities during 2015–2018, showed that PM2.5, PM10, SO2 and CO were reduced significantly by 22.1%, 13.5%, 46.4% and 21.5%, respectively, NO2 reduction was less significant (6.3%) while O3 level instead increased over China (13.7%). Spatial distribution, seasonal, monthly and diurnal variations of the air pollutants during 2018, implicated of effective control measures, were discussed in details, especially for the five key densely populated regions of Jing-Jin-Ji (JJJ), Fen Wei Plains (FWP), Yangtze River Delta (YRD), Sichuan Basin (SCB) and Pearl River Delta (PRD). Moreover, excess health risks (ERs) of the six pollutants were estimated for 2018, and such risks was two times higher if the World Health Organization (WHO) air quality guideline rather than Chinese guideline was adopted. PM10 rather than PM2.5 was the dominant contributor to ERs, and the case with both PM2.5 and PM10 exceeding threshold values occupied ~1/3 of total days, yet contributed ~2/3 of total ERs. For 2018, the health-risk based air quality index (HAQI) was further calculated by combining health risks from multiple pollutants, and it was found that high HAQI mostly distributed in North China Plain (NCP). ~15%, ~85% and ~95% people in YRD, FWP and JJJ were exposed to polluted air (HAQI > 100), and population-normalized HAQI further added the inequality, JJJ and a small region of SCB had much higher HAQI (>280). Investigations on HAQI with socioeconomic factors show that total population, population density and built-up area presented an inverted U-shape, suggesting existence of Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC), while a positive relationship was found between HAQI and share of secondary industry. Multiple regression analysis suggested that built-up area was the most prominent factor to HAQI, followed by the gross domestic product (GDP). The findings here demonstrate in great details the current characteristics of air pollution and its associated health risks in China, therefore providing important implications for effective air pollution control strategies in near future for different regions of China.

Prevalence of Pollutant Gases and the Occurrence of Associated Diseases in Asaba Metropolis, Delta State, Nigeria

The study examined the prevalence of pollutant gases and occurrence of associated diseases in Asaba Metropolis, Delta State, Nigeria. The study adopted a retrospective cohort and survey research design. The cohort study analyzed the reported air pollution medical cases in Federal Medical Center in Asaba such as respiratory diseases, Asthma, Pneumonia, Tuberculosis, Meningitis and Measles. The survey involved measurement of air pollutant such as NO2, SO2, H2S, CO and VOC to compare with the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) data and the World Health Organization Air Quality Guideline (WHOAQG) in order to ascertain the level of air pollution. As part of the study, a total of two hundred (200) copies of questionnaires were administered in two major communities representing the two LGAs that make up Asaba Metropolis serving as study sites (Asaba and Okpanam). The data were analyzed using simple percentage and frequency distribution method, averaging model and standard deviation, measure of central tendency/dispersion (Mean±SD), Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMC) and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results of the study revealed that the highest recorded gas emitted in the area include Volatile and Organic Compounds (VOCs) with 96.4%, Carbon monoxide (CO) was 0.8%, Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) was 0.4% while Sulfur dioxide (SO2) and Nitrogen oxide (NO2) were 1.2% respectively. NO2 exceeded the WHO and NAQS thresholds. The most prevalent air pollution related diseases reported were respiratory diseases which were above 50% of the yearly prevalence and Tuberculosis which was over 30% each year followed closely by Asthma and Pneumonia. The least diseases in terms of prevalence in the study area were Meningitis and Measles. Based on the findings, it was recommended that routine measurements should be made on a continuous basis to ascertain the volume of gaseous pollutants in the urban and rural environments of the study area.

Burden of Disease Assessment of Ambient Air Pollution and Premature Mortality in Urban Areas: The Role of Socioeconomic Status and Transportation.

With recent rapid urbanization, sustainable development is required to prevent health risks associated with adverse environmental exposures from the unsustainable development of cities. Ambient air pollution is the greatest environmental risk factor for human health and is responsible for considerable levels of mortality worldwide. Burden of disease assessment (BoD) of air pollution in and across cities, and how these estimates vary according to socioeconomic status and exposure to road traffic, can help city planners and health practitioners to mitigate adverse exposures and promote public health. In this study, we quantified the health impacts of air pollution exposure (PM2.5 and NO2) at the census tract level in Houston, Texas, employing a standard BoD assessment framework to estimate the premature deaths (adults 30 to 78 years old) attributable to PM2.5 and NO2. We found that 631 (95% CI: 366–809) premature deaths were attributable to PM2.5 in Houston, and 159 (95% CI: 0-609) were attributable to NO2, in 2010. Complying with the World Health Organization air quality guidelines (annual mean: 10 μg/m3 for PM2.5) and the US National Ambient Air Quality standard (annual mean: 12 μg/m3 for PM2.5) could save 82 (95% CI: 42–95) and 8 (95% CI: 6–10) lives in Houston, respectively. PM2.5 was responsible for 7.3% of all-cause premature deaths in Houston, in 2010, which is higher than the death rate associated with diabetes mellites, Alzheimer’s disease, or motor vehicle crashes in the US. Households with lower income had a higher risk of adverse exposure and attributable premature deaths. We also showed a positive relationship between health impacts attributable to air pollution and road traffic passing through census tracts, which was more prominent for NO2.