DEVELOPMENT AND ANALYSIS OF AIR QUALITY MODELING SIMULATIONS FOR HAZARDOUS AIR POLLUTANTS

EPA Science Inventory

The concentrations of five hazardous air pollutants were simulated using the Community Multi Scale Air Quality (CMAQ) modeling system. Annual simulations were performed over the continental United States for the entire year of 2001 to support human exposure estimates. Results a...

Perceived indoor air quality and its relationship to air pollutants in French dwellings.

PubMed

Langer, S; Ramalho, O; Le Ponner, E; Derbez, M; Kirchner, S; Mandin, C

2017-11-01

Perception of indoor air quality (PIAQ) was evaluated in a nationwide survey of 567 French dwellings, and this survey was combined with measurements of gaseous and particulate matter (PM 10 and PM 2.5 ) indoor air pollutants and indoor climate parameters. The perception was assessed on a nine-grade scale by both the occupants of the dwellings and the inspectors who performed the measurements. The occupants perceived the air quality in their homes as more pleasant than the inspectors. The inspectors perceived the air quality as more unpleasant in dwellings in which the residents smoked indoors. Significant associations between PIAQ and indoor air pollutant concentrations were observed for both the inspectors and, to a lesser extent, the occupants. Introducing confounding parameters, such as building and personal characteristics, into a multivariate model suppressed most of the observed bivariate correlations and identified the tenure status of the occupants and their occupation as the parameters that most influenced their PIAQ. For the inspectors, perceived air quality was affected by the presence of smokers, the season, the type of ventilation, retrofitting, and the concentrations of acetaldehyde and acrolein. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Air pollution due to traffic, air quality monitoring along three sections of National Highway N-5, Pakistan.

PubMed

Ali, Mahboob; Athar, Makshoof

2008-01-01

Transportation system has contributed significantly to the development of human civilization; on the other hand it has an enormous impact on the ambient air quality in several ways. In this paper the air and noise pollution at selected sites along three sections of National Highway was monitored. Pakistan National Highway Authority has started a Highway Improvement program for rehabilitations and maintenance of National highways to improve the traffic flows, and would ultimately improve the air quality along highways. The ambient air quality and noise level was monitored at nine different locations along these sections of highways to quantify the air pollution. The duration of monitoring at individual location was 72 h. The most of the sampling points were near the urban or village population, schools or hospitals, in order to quantify the air pollution at most affected locations along these roads. A database consisting of information regarding the source of emission, local metrology and air quality may be created to assess the profile of air quality in the area.

78 FR 12267 - Revision of Air Quality Implementation Plan; California; Placer County Air Pollution Control...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-02-22

... ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 40 CFR Part 52 [EPA-R09-OAR-2013-0094; FRL-9783-2] Revision of Air Quality Implementation Plan; California; Placer County Air Pollution Control District and Feather River Air Quality Management District; Stationary Source Permits AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency...

Is the air pollution health research community prepared to support a multipollutant air quality management framework?

PubMed

Mauderly, Joe L; Burnett, Richard T; Castillejos, Margarita; Ozkaynak, Halûk; Samet, Jonathan M; Stieb, David M; Vedal, Sverre; Wyzga, Ronald E

2010-06-01

Ambient air pollution is always encountered as a complex mixture, but past regulatory and research strategies largely focused on single pollutants, pollutant classes, and sources one-at-a-time. There is a trend toward managing air quality in a progressively "multipollutant" manner, with the idealized goal of controlling as many air contaminants as possible in an integrated manner to achieve the greatest total reduction of adverse health and environmental impacts. This commentary considers the current ability of the environmental air pollution exposure and health research communities to provide evidence to inform the development of multipollutant air quality management strategies and assess their effectiveness. The commentary is not a literature review, but a summary of key issues and information gaps, strategies for filling the gaps, and realistic expectations for progress that could be made during the next decade. The greatest need is for researchers and sponsors to address air quality health impacts from a truly multipollutant perspective, and the most limiting current information gap is knowledge of personal exposures of different subpopulations, considering activities and microenvironments. Emphasis is needed on clarifying the roles of a broader range of pollutants and their combinations in a more forward-looking manner; that is not driven by current regulatory structures. Although advances in research tools and outcome data will enhance progress, the greater need is to direct existing capabilities toward strategies aimed at placing into proper context the contributions of multiple pollutants and their combinations to the health burdens, and the relative contributions of pollutants and other factors influencing the same outcomes. The authors conclude that the research community has very limited ability to advise multipollutant air quality management and assess its effectiveness at this time, but that considerable progress can be made in a decade, even at

Managing Air Quality - Multi-Pollutant Planning and Control

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Describes how planning controls for multiple pollutants at the same time can save money and time and achieve significant benefits, and how control strategies can address both climate change and air quality.

Air Pollution.

EPA Science Inventory

Air quality is affected by many types of pollutants that are emitted from various sources, including stationary and mobile. These sources release both criteria and hazardous air pollutants, which cause health effects, ecological harm, and material damage. They are generally categ...

75 FR 18142 - Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; Texas; Control of Air Pollution...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-04-09

... ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 40 CFR Part 52 [EPA-R06-OAR-2006-0988; FRL-9135-5] Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; Texas; Control of Air Pollution From Motor Vehicles AGENCY... (TAC), Chapter 114, Control of Air Pollution from Motor Vehicles. The State submitted these revisions...

Commentary: Is the Air Pollution Health Research Community Prepared to Support a Multipollutant Air Quality Management Framework?

EPA Science Inventory

Ambient air pollution is always encountered as a complex mixture, but past regulatory and research strategies largely focused on single pollutants, pollutant classes, and sources one-at-a-time. There is a trend toward managing air quality in a progressively “multipollutant” manne...

Air Pollution Emissions Overview | Air Quality Planning & ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

2016-06-08

Air pollution comes from many different sources: stationary sources such as factories, power plants, and smelters and smaller sources such as dry cleaners and degreasing operations; mobile sources such as cars, buses, planes, trucks, and trains; and naturally occurring sources such as windblown dust, and volcanic eruptions, all contribute to air pollution.

Air Quality Modeling Technical Support Document for the 2008 Ozone NAAQS Cross-State Air Pollution Rule Proposal

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

In this technical support document (TSD) we describe the air quality modeling performed to support the proposed Cross-State Air Pollution Rule for the 2008 ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS)

Applying policy and health effects of air pollution in South Korea: focus on ambient air quality standards

PubMed Central

Ha, Jongsik

2014-01-01

Objectives South Korea’s air quality standards are insufficient in terms of establishing a procedure for their management. The current system lacks a proper decision-making process and prior evidence is not considered. The purpose of this study is to propose a measure for establishing atmospheric environmental standards in South Korea that will take into consideration the health of its residents. Methods In this paper, the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) of the US was examined in order to suggest ways, which consider health effects, to establish air quality standards in South Korea. Up-to-date research on the health effects of air pollution was then reviewed, and tools were proposed to utilize the key results. This was done in an effort to ensure the reliability of the standards with regard to public health. Results This study showed that scientific research on the health effects of air pollution and the methodology used in the research have contributed significantly to establishing air quality standards. However, as the standards are legally binding, the procedure should take into account the effects on other sectors. Realistically speaking, it is impossible to establish standards that protect an entire population from air pollution. Instead, it is necessary to find a balance between what should be done and what can be done. Conclusions Therefore, establishing air quality standards should be done as part of an evidence-based policy that identifies the health effects of air pollution and takes into consideration political, economic, and social contexts. PMID:25300297

Impact of particulate air pollution on quality-adjusted life expectancy in Canada.

PubMed

Coyle, Douglas; Stieb, Dave; Burnett, Richard T; DeCivita, Paul; Krewski, Daniel; Chen, Yue; Thun, Michael J

Air pollution and premature death are important public health concerns. Analyses have repeatedly demonstrated that airborne particles are associated with increased mortality and estimates have been used to forecast the impact on life expectancy. In this analysis, we draw upon data from the American Cancer Society (ACS) cohort and literature on utility-based measures of quality of life in relation to health status to more fully quantify the effects of air pollution on mortality in terms of quality-adjusted life expectancy. The analysis was conducted within a decision analytic model using Monte Carlo simulation techniques. Outcomes were estimated based on projections of the Canadian population. A one-unit reduction in sulfate air pollution would yield a mean annual increase in Quality-Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) of 20,960, with gains being greater for individuals with lower educational status and for males compared to females. This suggests that the impact of reductions in sulfate air pollution on quality-adjusted life expectancy is substantial. Interpretation of the results is unclear. However, the potential gains in QALYs from reduced air pollutants can be contrasted to the costs of policies to bring about such reductions. Based on a tentative threshold for the value of health benefits, analysis suggests that an investment in Canada of over 1 billion dollars per annum would be an efficient use of resources if it could be demonstrated that this would reduce sulfate concentrations in ambient air by 1 microg/m(3). Further analysis can assess the efficiency of targeting such initiatives to communities that are most likely to benefit.

Predicting indoor pollutant concentrations, and applications to air quality management

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lorenzetti, David M.

Because most people spend more than 90% of their time indoors, predicting exposure to airborne pollutants requires models that incorporate the effect of buildings. Buildings affect the exposure of their occupants in a number of ways, both by design (for example, filters in ventilation systems remove particles) and incidentally (for example, sorption on walls can reduce peak concentrations, but prolong exposure to semivolatile organic compounds). Furthermore, building materials and occupant activities can generate pollutants. Indoor air quality depends not only on outdoor air quality, but also on the design, maintenance, and use of the building. For example, ''sick building'' symptomsmore » such as respiratory problems and headaches have been related to the presence of air-conditioning systems, to carpeting, to low ventilation rates, and to high occupant density (1). The physical processes of interest apply even in simple structures such as homes. Indoor air quality models simulate the processes, such as ventilation and filtration, that control pollutant concentrations in a building. Section 2 describes the modeling approach, and the important transport processes in buildings. Because advection usually dominates among the transport processes, Sections 3 and 4 describe methods for predicting airflows. The concluding section summarizes the application of these models.« less

Air Pollution in the World's Megacities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Richman, Barbara T., Ed.

1994-01-01

Reports findings of the Global Environment Monitoring System study concerning air pollution in the world's megacities. Discusses sources of air pollution, air pollution impacts, air quality monitoring, air quality trends, and control strategies. Provides profiles of the problem in Beijing, Los Angeles, Mexico City, India, Cairo, Sao Paulo, and…

Air Quality in Lanzhou, a Major Industrial City in China: Characteristics of Air Pollution and Review of Existing Evidence from Air Pollution and Health Studies.

PubMed

Zhang, Yaqun; Li, Min; Bravo, Mercedes A; Jin, Lan; Nori-Sarma, Amruta; Xu, Yanwen; Guan, Donghong; Wang, Chengyuan; Chen, Mingxia; Wang, Xiao; Tao, Wei; Qiu, Weitao; Zhang, Yawei; Bell, Michelle L

2014-10-01

Air pollution contributes substantially to global health burdens; however, less is known about pollution patterns in China and whether they differ from those elsewhere. We evaluated temporal and spatial heterogeneity of air pollution in Lanzhou, an urban Chinese city (April 2009-December 2012), and conducted a systematic review of literature on air pollution and health in Lanzhou. Average levels were 141.5, 42.3, and 47.2 µg/m 3 for particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ≤10 µm (PM 10 ), NO 2 , and SO 2 , respectively. Findings suggest some seasonality, particularly for SO 2 , with higher concentrations during colder months relative to warmer months, although a longer time frame of data is needed to evaluate seasonality fully. Correlation coefficients generally declined with distance between monitors, while coefficients of divergence increased with distance. However, these trends were not statistically significant. PM 10 levels exceeded Chinese and other health-based standards and guidelines. The review identified 13 studies on outdoor air pollution and health. Although limited, the studies indicate that air pollution is associated with increased risk of health outcomes in Lanzhou. These studies and the high air pollution levels suggest potentially serious health consequences. Findings can provide guidance to future epidemiological studies, monitor placement programs, and air quality policies.

Air Quality in Lanzhou, a Major Industrial City in China: Characteristics of Air Pollution and Review of Existing Evidence from Air Pollution and Health Studies

PubMed Central

Zhang, Yaqun; Li, Min; Bravo, Mercedes A.; Jin, Lan; Nori-Sarma, Amruta; Xu, Yanwen; Guan, Donghong; Wang, Chengyuan; Chen, Mingxia; Wang, Xiao; Tao, Wei; Qiu, Weitao; Zhang, Yawei

2015-01-01

Air pollution contributes substantially to global health burdens; however, less is known about pollution patterns in China and whether they differ from those elsewhere. We evaluated temporal and spatial heterogeneity of air pollution in Lanzhou, an urban Chinese city (April 2009–December 2012), and conducted a systematic review of literature on air pollution and health in Lanzhou. Average levels were 141.5, 42.3, and 47.2 µg/m3 for particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ≤10 µm (PM10), NO2, and SO2, respectively. Findings suggest some seasonality, particularly for SO2, with higher concentrations during colder months relative to warmer months, although a longer time frame of data is needed to evaluate seasonality fully. Correlation coefficients generally declined with distance between monitors, while coefficients of divergence increased with distance. However, these trends were not statistically significant. PM10 levels exceeded Chinese and other health-based standards and guidelines. The review identified 13 studies on outdoor air pollution and health. Although limited, the studies indicate that air pollution is associated with increased risk of health outcomes in Lanzhou. These studies and the high air pollution levels suggest potentially serious health consequences. Findings can provide guidance to future epidemiological studies, monitor placement programs, and air quality policies. PMID:25838615

Global Scenarios of Air Pollution until 2030: Combining Air Quality, Climate Change and Energy Access Policies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rao, S.; Dentener, F. J.; Klimont, Z.; Riahi, K.

2011-12-01

Outdoor air pollution is increasingly recognized as a significant contributor to global health outcomes. This has led to the implementation of a number of air quality policies worldwide, with total air pollution control costs in 2005 estimated at US$195 billion. More than 80% of the world's population is still found to be exposed to PM2.5 concentrations exceeding WHO air quality guidelines and health impacts resulting from these exposures estimated at around 2-5% of the global disease burden. Key questions to answer are 1) How will pollutant emissions evolve in the future given developments in the energy system and how will energy and environmental policies influence such emission trends. 2) What implications will this have for resulting exposures and related health outcomes. In order to answer these questions, varying levels of stringency of air quality legislation are analyzed in combination with policies on universal access to clean cooking fuels and limiting global temperature change to 2°C in 2100. Bottom-up methodologies using energy emissions modeling are used to derive sector-based pollutant emission trajectories until 2030. Emissions are spatially downscaled and used in combination with a global transport chemistry model to derive ambient concentrations of PM2.5. Health impacts of these exposures are further estimated consistent with WHO data and methodology. The results indicate that currently planned air quality legislation combined with rising energy demand will be insufficient in controlling future emissions growth in developing countries. In order to achieve significant reductions in pollutant emissions of the order of more than 50% from 2005 levels and reduce exposures to levels consistent with WHO standards, it will be necessary to increase the stringency of such legislations and combine them with policies on energy access and climate change. Combined policies also result in reductions in air pollution control costs as compared to those associated

Air pollution exposure prediction approaches used in air pollution epidemiology studies.

PubMed

Özkaynak, Halûk; Baxter, Lisa K; Dionisio, Kathie L; Burke, Janet

2013-01-01

Epidemiological studies of the health effects of outdoor air pollution have traditionally relied upon surrogates of personal exposures, most commonly ambient concentration measurements from central-site monitors. However, this approach may introduce exposure prediction errors and misclassification of exposures for pollutants that are spatially heterogeneous, such as those associated with traffic emissions (e.g., carbon monoxide, elemental carbon, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter). We review alternative air quality and human exposure metrics applied in recent air pollution health effect studies discussed during the International Society of Exposure Science 2011 conference in Baltimore, MD. Symposium presenters considered various alternative exposure metrics, including: central site or interpolated monitoring data, regional pollution levels predicted using the national scale Community Multiscale Air Quality model or from measurements combined with local-scale (AERMOD) air quality models, hybrid models that include satellite data, statistically blended modeling and measurement data, concentrations adjusted by home infiltration rates, and population-based human exposure model (Stochastic Human Exposure and Dose Simulation, and Air Pollutants Exposure models) predictions. These alternative exposure metrics were applied in epidemiological applications to health outcomes, including daily mortality and respiratory hospital admissions, daily hospital emergency department visits, daily myocardial infarctions, and daily adverse birth outcomes. This paper summarizes the research projects presented during the symposium, with full details of the work presented in individual papers in this journal issue.

A Satellite-Based Multi-Pollutant Index of Global Air Quality

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cooper, Mathew J.; Martin, Randall V.; vanDonkelaar, Aaron; Lamsal, Lok; Brauer, Michael; Brook, Jeffrey R.

2012-01-01

Air pollution is a major health hazard that is responsible formillions of annual excess deaths worldwide. Simpleindicators are useful for comparative studies and to asses strends over time. The development of global indicators hasbeen impeded by the lack of ground-based observations in vast regions of the world. Recognition is growing of the need for amultipollutant approach to air quality to better represent human exposure. Here we introduce the prospect of amultipollutant air quality indicator based on observations from satellite remote sensing.

Multi-pollutant surface objective analyses and mapping of air quality health index over North America.

PubMed

Robichaud, Alain; Ménard, Richard; Zaïtseva, Yulia; Anselmo, David

2016-01-01

Air quality, like weather, can affect everyone, but responses differ depending on the sensitivity and health condition of a given individual. To help protect exposed populations, many countries have put in place real-time air quality nowcasting and forecasting capabilities. We present in this paper an optimal combination of air quality measurements and model outputs and show that it leads to significant improvements in the spatial representativeness of air quality. The product is referred to as multi-pollutant surface objective analyses (MPSOAs). Moreover, based on MPSOA, a geographical mapping of the Canadian Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) is also presented which provides users (policy makers, public, air quality forecasters, and epidemiologists) with a more accurate picture of the health risk anytime and anywhere in Canada and the USA. Since pollutants can also behave as passive atmospheric tracers, they provide information about transport and dispersion and, hence, reveal synoptic and regional meteorological phenomena. MPSOA could also be used to build air pollution climatology, compute local and national trends in air quality, and detect systematic biases in numerical air quality (AQ) models. Finally, initializing AQ models at regular time intervals with MPSOA can produce more accurate air quality forecasts. It is for these reasons that the Canadian Meteorological Centre (CMC) in collaboration with the Air Quality Research Division (AQRD) of Environment Canada has recently implemented MPSOA in their daily operations.

Impact of varying area of polluting surface materials on perceived air quality.

PubMed

Sakr, W; Knudsen, H N; Gunnarsen, L; Haghighat, F

2003-06-01

A laboratory study was performed to investigate the impact of the concentration of pollutants in the air on emissions from building materials. Building materials were placed in ventilated test chambers. The experimental set-up allowed the concentration of pollution in the exhaust air to be changed either by diluting exhaust air with clean air (changing the dilution factor) or by varying the area of the material inside the chamber when keeping the ventilation rate constant (changing the area factor). Four different building materials and three combinations of two or three building materials were studied in ventilated small-scale test chambers. Each individual material and three of their combinations were examined at four different dilution factors and four different area factors. An untrained panel of 23 subjects assessed the air quality from the chambers. The results show that a certain increase in dilution improves the perceived air quality more than a similar decrease in area. The reason for this may be that the emission rate of odorous pollutants increases when the concentration in the chamber decreases. The results demonstrate that, in some cases the effect of increased ventilation on the air quality may be less than expected from a simple dilution model.

Air pollution and quality of sperm: a meta-analysis.

PubMed

Fathi Najafi, Tahereh; Latifnejad Roudsari, Robab; Namvar, Farideh; Ghavami Ghanbarabadi, Vahid; Hadizadeh Talasaz, Zahra; Esmaeli, Mahin

2015-04-01

Air pollution is common in all countries and affects reproductive functions in men and women. It particularly impacts sperm parameters in men. This meta-analysis aimed to examine the impact of air pollution on the quality of sperm. The scientific databases of Medline, PubMed, Scopus, Google scholar, Cochrane Library, and Elsevier were searched to identify relevant articles published between 1978 to 2013. In the first step, 76 articles were selected. These studies were ecological correlation, cohort, retrospective, cross-sectional, and case control ones that were found through electronic and hand search of references about air pollution and male infertility. The outcome measurement was the change in sperm parameters. A total of 11 articles were ultimately included in a meta-analysis to examine the impact of air pollution on sperm parameters. The authors applied meta-analysis sheets from Cochrane library, then data extraction, including mean and standard deviation of sperm parameters were calculated and finally their confidence interval (CI) were compared to CI of standard parameters. The CI for pooled means were as follows: 2.68 ± 0.32 for ejaculation volume (mL), 62.1 ± 15.88 for sperm concentration (million per milliliter), 39.4 ± 5.52 for sperm motility (%), 23.91 ± 13.43 for sperm morphology (%) and 49.53 ± 11.08 for sperm count. The results of this meta-analysis showed that air pollution reduces sperm motility, but has no impact on the other sperm parameters of spermogram.

CONCENTRATIONS OF TOXIC AIR POLLUTANTS IN THE U.S. SIMULATED BY AN AIR QUALITY MODEL

EPA Science Inventory

As part of the US National Air Toxics Assessment, we have applied the Community Multiscale Air Quality Model, CMAQ, to study the concentrations of twenty gas-phase, toxic, hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) in the atmosphere over the continental United States. We modified the Carbo...

Indoor Air Pollution

MedlinePlus

... is known as sick building syndrome. Usually indoor air quality problems only cause discomfort. Most people feel better ... and getting rid of pollutants can improve the quality of your indoor air. Environmental Protection Agency

Air Quality Modeling in Support of the Near-Road Exposures and Effects of Urban Air Pollutants Study (NEXUS)

EPA Science Inventory

A major challenge in traffic-related air pollution exposure studies is the lack of information regarding pollutant exposure characterization. Air quality modeling can provide spatially and temporally varying exposure estimates for examining relationships between traffic-related a...

Chicago Residents’ Perceptions of Air Quality: Objective Pollution, the Built Environment, and Neighborhood Stigma Theory

PubMed Central

King, Katherine E.

2014-01-01

Substantial research documents higher pollution levels in minority neighborhoods, but little research evaluates how residents perceive their own communities’ pollution risks. According to “Neighborhood stigma” theory, survey respondents share a cultural bias that minorities cause social dysfunction, leading to over-reports of dysfunction in minority communities. This study investigates perceptions of residential outdoor air quality by linking objective data on built and social environments with multiple measures of pollution and a representative survey of Chicago residents. Consistent with the scholarly narrative, results show air quality is rated worse where minorities and poverty are concentrated, even after extensive adjustment for objective pollution and built environment measures. Perceptions of air pollution may thus be driven by neighborhood socioeconomic position far more than by respondents’ ability to perceive pollution. The finding that 63.5% of the sample reported excellent or good air quality helps to explain current challenging in promoting environmental action. PMID:26527847

Globalizing Air Pollution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, J.

2017-12-01

Recent studies have revealed the issue of globalizing air pollution through complex coupling of atmospheric transport (physical route) and economic trade (socioeconomic route). Recognition of such globalizing air pollution has important implications for understanding the impacts of regional and global consumption (of goods and services) on air quality, public health, climate and the ecosystems. And addressing these questions often requires improved modeling, measurements and economic-emission statistics. This talk will introduce the concept and mechanism of globalizing air pollution, with following demonstrations based on recent works on modeling, satellite measurement and multi-disciplinary assessment.

Effects of pollution from personal computers on perceived air quality, SBS symptoms and productivity in offices.

PubMed

Bakó-Biró, Z; Wargocki, P; Weschler, C J; Fanger, P O

2004-06-01

In groups of six, 30 female subjects were exposed for 4.8 h in a low-polluting office to each of two conditions--the presence or absence of 3-month-old personal computers (PCs). These PCs were placed behind a screen so that they were not visible to the subjects. Throughout the exposure the outdoor air supply was maintained at 10 l/s per person. Under each of the two conditions the subjects performed simulated office work using old low-polluting PCs. They also evaluated the air quality and reported Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) symptoms. The PCs were found to be strong indoor pollution sources, even after they had been in service for 3 months. The sensory pollution load of each PC was 3.4 olf, more than three times the pollution of a standard person. The presence of PCs increased the percentage of people dissatisfied with the perceived air quality from 13 to 41% and increased by 9% the time required for text processing. Chemical analyses were performed to determine the pollutants emitted by the PCs. The most significant chemicals detected included phenol, toluene, 2-ethylhexanol, formaldehyde, and styrene. The identified compounds were, however, insufficient in concentration and kind to explain the observed adverse effects. This suggests that chemicals other than those detected, so-called 'stealth chemicals', may contribute to the negative effects. PCs are an important, but hitherto overlooked, source of pollution indoors. They can decrease the perceived air quality, increase SBS symptoms and decrease office productivity. The ventilation rate in an office with a 3-month-old PC would need to be increased several times to achieve the same perceived air quality as in a low-polluting office with the PC absent. Pollution from PCs has an important negative impact on the air quality, not only in offices but also in many other spaces, including homes. PCs may have played a role in previously published studies on SBS and perceived air quality, where PCs were overlooked as a

Air Pollution and Quality of Sperm: A Meta-Analysis

PubMed Central

Fathi Najafi, Tahereh; Latifnejad Roudsari, Robab; Namvar, Farideh; Ghavami Ghanbarabadi, Vahid; Hadizadeh Talasaz, Zahra; Esmaeli, Mahin

2015-01-01

Context: Air pollution is common in all countries and affects reproductive functions in men and women. It particularly impacts sperm parameters in men. This meta-analysis aimed to examine the impact of air pollution on the quality of sperm. Evidence Acquisition: The scientific databases of Medline, PubMed, Scopus, Google scholar, Cochrane Library, and Elsevier were searched to identify relevant articles published between 1978 to 2013. In the first step, 76 articles were selected. These studies were ecological correlation, cohort, retrospective, cross-sectional, and case control ones that were found through electronic and hand search of references about air pollution and male infertility. The outcome measurement was the change in sperm parameters. A total of 11 articles were ultimately included in a meta-analysis to examine the impact of air pollution on sperm parameters. The authors applied meta-analysis sheets from Cochrane library, then data extraction, including mean and standard deviation of sperm parameters were calculated and finally their confidence interval (CI) were compared to CI of standard parameters. Results: The CI for pooled means were as follows: 2.68 ± 0.32 for ejaculation volume (mL), 62.1 ± 15.88 for sperm concentration (million per milliliter), 39.4 ± 5.52 for sperm motility (%), 23.91 ± 13.43 for sperm morphology (%) and 49.53 ± 11.08 for sperm count. Conclusions: The results of this meta-analysis showed that air pollution reduces sperm motility, but has no impact on the other sperm parameters of spermogram. PMID:26023349

Air pollution, deprivation and health: understanding relationships to add value to local air quality management policy and practice in Wales, UK.

PubMed

Brunt, H; Barnes, J; Jones, S J; Longhurst, J W S; Scally, G; Hayes, E

2017-09-01

Air pollution exposure reduces life expectancy. Air pollution, deprivation and poor-health status combinations can create increased and disproportionate disease burdens. Problems and solutions are rarely considered in a broad public health context, but doing so can add value to air quality management efforts by reducing air pollution risks, impacts and inequalities. An ecological study assessed small-area associations between air pollution (nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter), deprivation status and health outcomes in Wales, UK. Air pollution concentrations were highest in 'most' deprived areas. When considered separately, deprivation-health associations were stronger than air pollution-health associations. Considered simultaneously, air pollution added to deprivation-health associations; interactions between air pollution and deprivation modified and strengthened associations with all-cause and respiratory disease mortality, especially in 'most' deprived areas where most-vulnerable people lived and where health needs were greatest. There is a need to reduce air pollution-related risks for all. However, it is also the case that greater health gains can result from considering local air pollution problems and solutions in the context of wider health-determinants and acting on a better understanding of relationships. Informed and co-ordinated air pollution mitigation and public health action in high deprivation and pollution areas can reduce risks and inequalities. To achieve this, greater public health integration and collaboration in local air quality management policy and practice is needed. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Screening procedure to evaluate effects of air pollution on Eastern Region wildernesses cited as Class I air quality areas.

Treesearch

Mary Beth Adams; Dale S. Nichols; Anthony C. Federer; Keith F. Jensen; Harry Parrott

1991-01-01

The USDA Forest Service's Eastern Region manages eight wilderness areas that have been designated as Class I air quality areas by the Federal Clean Air Act. As part of this legislation, Federal land managers are required to consult with air pollution regulators on the potential impacts of proposed air pollution emissions--including phytotoxic gases and acidic...

Air pollution engineering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maduna, Karolina; Tomašić, Vesna

2017-11-01

Air pollution is an environmental and a social problem which leads to a multitude of adverse effects on human health and standard of human life, state of the ecosystems and global change of climate. Air pollutants are emitted from natural, but mostly from anthropogenic sources and may be transported over long distances. Some air pollutants are extremely stable in the atmosphere and may accumulate in the environment and in the food chain, affecting human beings, animals and natural biodiversity. Obviously, air pollution is a complex problem that poses multiple challenges in terms of management and abatements of the pollutants emission. Effective approach to the problems of air pollution requires a good understanding of the sources that cause it, knowledge of air quality status and future trends as well as its impact on humans and ecosystems. This chapter deals with the complexities of the air pollution and presents an overview of different technical processes and equipment for air pollution control, as well as basic principles of their work. The problems of air protection as well as protection of other ecosystems can be solved only by the coordinated endeavors of various scientific and engineering disciplines, such as chemistry, physics, biology, medicine, chemical engineering and social sciences. The most important engineering contribution is mostly focused on development, design and operation of equipment for the abatement of harmful emissions into environment.

Identifying pollution sources and predicting urban air quality using ensemble learning methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Kunwar P.; Gupta, Shikha; Rai, Premanjali

2013-12-01

In this study, principal components analysis (PCA) was performed to identify air pollution sources and tree based ensemble learning models were constructed to predict the urban air quality of Lucknow (India) using the air quality and meteorological databases pertaining to a period of five years. PCA identified vehicular emissions and fuel combustion as major air pollution sources. The air quality indices revealed the air quality unhealthy during the summer and winter. Ensemble models were constructed to discriminate between the seasonal air qualities, factors responsible for discrimination, and to predict the air quality indices. Accordingly, single decision tree (SDT), decision tree forest (DTF), and decision treeboost (DTB) were constructed and their generalization and predictive performance was evaluated in terms of several statistical parameters and compared with conventional machine learning benchmark, support vector machines (SVM). The DT and SVM models discriminated the seasonal air quality rendering misclassification rate (MR) of 8.32% (SDT); 4.12% (DTF); 5.62% (DTB), and 6.18% (SVM), respectively in complete data. The AQI and CAQI regression models yielded a correlation between measured and predicted values and root mean squared error of 0.901, 6.67 and 0.825, 9.45 (SDT); 0.951, 4.85 and 0.922, 6.56 (DTF); 0.959, 4.38 and 0.929, 6.30 (DTB); 0.890, 7.00 and 0.836, 9.16 (SVR) in complete data. The DTF and DTB models outperformed the SVM both in classification and regression which could be attributed to the incorporation of the bagging and boosting algorithms in these models. The proposed ensemble models successfully predicted the urban ambient air quality and can be used as effective tools for its management.

Methods for Environments and Contaminants: Criteria Air Pollutants

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

EPA’s Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS) has set primary (health-based) National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for six common air pollutants, often referred to as criteria air pollutants (or simply criteria pollutants).

Assessment of air quality benefits from national air pollution control policies in China. Part II: Evaluation of air quality predictions and air quality benefits assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Litao; Jang, Carey; Zhang, Yang; Wang, Kai; Zhang, Qiang; Streets, David; Fu, Joshua; Lei, Yu; Schreifels, Jeremy; He, Kebin; Hao, Jiming; Lam, Yun-Fat; Lin, Jerry; Meskhidze, Nicholas; Voorhees, Scott; Evarts, Dale; Phillips, Sharon

2010-09-01

Following the meteorological evaluation in Part I, this Part II paper presents the statistical evaluation of air quality predictions by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA)'s Community Multi-Scale Air Quality (Models-3/CMAQ) model for the four simulated months in the base year 2005. The surface predictions were evaluated using the Air Pollution Index (API) data published by the China Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) for 31 capital cities and daily fine particulate matter (PM 2.5, particles with aerodiameter less than or equal to 2.5 μm) observations of an individual site in Tsinghua University (THU). To overcome the shortage in surface observations, satellite data are used to assess the column predictions including tropospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO 2) column abundance and aerosol optical depth (AOD). The result shows that CMAQ gives reasonably good predictions for the air quality. The air quality improvement that would result from the targeted sulfur dioxide (SO 2) and nitrogen oxides (NO x) emission controls in China were assessed for the objective year 2010. The results show that the emission controls can lead to significant air quality benefits. SO 2 concentrations in highly polluted areas of East China in 2010 are estimated to be decreased by 30-60% compared to the levels in the 2010 Business-As-Usual (BAU) case. The annual PM 2.5 can also decline by 3-15 μg m -3 (4-25%) due to the lower SO 2 and sulfate concentrations. If similar controls are implemented for NO x emissions, NO x concentrations are estimated to decrease by 30-60% as compared with the 2010 BAU scenario. The annual mean PM 2.5 concentrations will also decline by 2-14 μg m -3 (3-12%). In addition, the number of ozone (O 3) non-attainment areas in the northern China is projected to be much lower, with the maximum 1-h average O 3 concentrations in the summer reduced by 8-30 ppb.

VERIFICATION TESTING OF AIR POLLUTION CONTROL TECHNOLOGY QUALITY MANAGEMENT PLAN

EPA Science Inventory

This document is the basis for quality assurance for the Air Pollution Control Technology Verification Center (APCT Center) operated under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It describes the policies, organizational structure, responsibilities, procedures, and qualit...

Evaluation and Application of Alternative Air Pollution Exposure Metrics in Air Pollution Epidemiology Studies

EPA Science Inventory

ABSTRACT: Periodic review, revision and subsequent implementation of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for criteria air pollutants rely upon various types of scientific air quality, exposure, toxicological dose-response and epidemiological information. Exposure assessmen...

Evaluating the Impacts of Transboundary Air pollution from China on Air Quality in the U.S. Using a Regression Framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ngo, N. S.; Bao, X.; Zhong, N.

2014-12-01

China is the largest emitter of anthropogenic air pollution in the world and previous work has shown the environmental impacts of the long-range transport (LRT) of air pollution from China to the U.S. via chemical transport models, in situ observations, isentropic back trajectories, and to a lesser extent statistical models. However, these studies generally focus on a narrow time period due to data constraints. In this study, we build upon the literature using econometric techniques to isolate the impacts on U.S. air quality from the LRT of air pollution from China. We use a unique daily data set of China's air pollution index (API) and PM10 concentrations at the city level and merge these information with daily monitor data in California (CA) between 2000 and 2013. We first employ a distributed lag model to examine daily patterns, and then exploit a "natural experiment." In the latter methodology, since air pollution is rarely randomly assigned, we examine the impacts of specific events that affect air quality in China, but are plausibly uncorrelated to factors affecting air pollution in CA. For example, Chinese New Year (CNY) is a major week-long holiday and we show pollution levels in China decrease during this time period, likely from reductions in industrial production. CNY varies each calendar year since it is based off the lunar new year, so the timing of this pollution reduction could be considered "as good as random" or exogenous to factors affecting air quality in CA. Using a regression framework including weather, seasonal and geographic controls, we can potentially isolate the impact of the LRT of air pollution to CA. First, results from the distributed lag model suggest that in the Spring, when LRT peaks, a 1 μg/m3 increase in daily PM10 from China between 10 and 14 days ago is associated with an increase in today's PM2.5 in CA of 0.022 μg/m3 (mean daily PM2.5 in CA is 12 μg/m3). Second, we find that if CNY occurred 5 to 9 days ago, today's PM2.5 in

Exposure to ambient air pollution--does it affect semen quality and the level of reproductive hormones?

PubMed

Radwan, Michał; Jurewicz, Joanna; Polańska, Kinga; Sobala, Wojciech; Radwan, Paweł; Bochenek, Michał; Hanke, Wojciech

2016-01-01

Ambient air pollution has been associated with a variety of reproductive disorders. However, a limited amount of research has been conducted to examine the association between air pollution and male reproductive outcomes, specifically semen quality. The present study was designed to address the hypothesis that exposure to fluctuating levels of specific air pollutants adversely affects sperm parameters and the level of reproductive hormones. The study population consisted of 327 men who were attending an infertility clinic in Łodź, Poland for diagnostic purposes and who had normal semen concentration of 15-300 mln/ml. All participants were interviewed and provided a semen sample. Air quality data were obtained from AirBase database. The statistically significant association was observed between abnormalities in sperm morphology and exposure to all examined air pollutants (PM10, PM2.5, SO2, NOX, CO). Exposure to air pollutants (PM10, PM2.5, CO, NOx) was also negatively associated with the level of testosterone. Additional exposure to PM2.5, PM10 increase the percentage of cells with immature chromatin (HDS). The present study provides suggestive evidence of an association between ambient air pollution and sperm quality. Further research is needed to explore this association in more detail. Individual precise exposure assessment would be needed for more detailed risk characterization.

Air Quality Modeling | Air Quality Planning & Standards | US ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

2016-06-08

The basic mission of the Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards is to preserve and improve the quality of our nation's air. One facet of accomplishing this goal requires that new and existing air pollution sources be modeled for compliance with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).

The air quality and health impacts of domestic trans-boundary pollution in various regions of China.

PubMed

Gu, Y; Yim, S H L

2016-12-01

Air pollution is one of the most pressing environmental problems in China. Literature has reported that outdoor air pollution leads to adverse health problems every year in China. Recent measurement studies found the important regional nature of particulates in China. Trans-boundary air pollution within China has yet to be fully understood. This study aimed to comprehensively understand the processes of domestic trans-boundary air pollution in China and to apportion the impacts of emissions in different regions on air quality and public health. We applied a state-of-the-art air quality model to simulate air quality in China and then adapted a form of integrated concentration-response function for China to estimate the resultant amount of premature mortality due to exposures to PM 2.5 . Our findings show that domestic trans-boundary impacts (TBI), on average, account for 27% of the total PM 2.5 in China. We estimated that outdoor air pollution caused ~870,000 (95% CI: 130,000-1500,000) premature mortalities in China in 2010, of which on average 18% are attributed to TBI. Among all the regions, North China is the largest contributor to TBI due to 41% of the health impacts of its emissions occurring in other regions. Taiwan (TW) is the smallest contributor to TBI occurring in China, contributing 2% of the national TBI, while TBI causes 22% of the premature mortalities due to outdoor air pollution in TW. Our findings pinpoint the significant impacts of TBI on public health in China, indicating the need for cross-region cooperation to mitigate the air quality impacts and the nation's resultant health problems. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cross-State Air Pollution Rule

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR), requires states to significantly improve air quality by reducing power plant emissions that contribute to ozone and/or fine particle pollution in other states.

Development and analysis of air quality modeling simulations for hazardous air pollutants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luecken, D. J.; Hutzell, W. T.; Gipson, G. L.

The concentrations of five hazardous air pollutants were simulated using the community multi-scale air quality (CMAQ) modeling system. Annual simulations were performed over the continental United States for the entire year of 2001 to support human exposure estimates. Results are shown for formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, benzene, 1,3-butadiene and acrolein. Photochemical production in the atmosphere is predicted to dominate ambient formaldehyde and acetaldehyde concentrations, and to account for a significant fraction of ambient acrolein concentrations. Spatial and temporal variations are large throughout the domain over the year. Predicted concentrations are compared with observations for formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, benzene and 1,3-butadiene. Although the modeling results indicate an overall slight tendency towards underprediction, they reproduce episodic and seasonal behavior of pollutant concentrations at many monitors with good skill.

Air Quality System (AQS)

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Air Quality System (AQS) database contains measurements of air pollutant concentrations from throughout the United States and its territories. The measurements include both criteria air pollutants and hazardous air pollutants.

Gestational Diabetes and Preeclampsia in Association with Air Pollution at Levels below Current Air Quality Guidelines

PubMed Central

Jakobsson, Kristina; Tinnerberg, Håkan; Rignell-Hydbom, Anna; Rylander, Lars

2013-01-01

Background: Several studies have estimated associations between air pollution and birth outcomes, but few have evaluated potential effects on pregnancy complications. Objective: We investigated whether low-level exposure to air pollution is associated with gestational diabetes and preeclampsia. Methods: High-quality registry information on 81,110 singleton pregnancy outcomes in southern Sweden during 1999–2005 was linked to individual-level exposure estimates with high spatial resolution. Modeled exposure to nitrogen oxides (NOx), expressed as mean concentrations per trimester, and proximity to roads of different traffic densities were used as proxy indicators of exposure to combustion-related air pollution. The data were analyzed by logistic regression, with and without adjusting for potential confounders. Results: The prevalence of gestational diabetes increased with each NOx quartile, with an adjusted odds ratio (OR) of 1.69 (95% CI: 1.41, 2.03) for the highest (> 22.7 µg/m3) compared with the lowest quartile (2.5–8.9 µg/m3) of exposure during the second trimester. The adjusted OR for acquiring preeclampsia after exposure during the third trimester was 1.51 (1.32, 1.73) in the highest quartile of NOx compared with the lowest. Both outcomes were associated with high traffic density, but ORs were significant for gestational diabetes only. Conclusion: NOx exposure during pregnancy was associated with gestational diabetes and preeclampsia in an area with air pollution levels below current air quality guidelines. PMID:23563048

Solid Waste, Air Pollution and Health

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kupchik, George J.; Franz, Gerald J.

1976-01-01

This article examines the relationships among solid waste disposal, air pollution, and human disease. It is estimated that solid waste disposal contributes 9.7 percent of the total air pollution and 9.9 percent of the total air pollution health effect. Certain disposal-resource recovery systems can be implemented to meet air quality standards. (MR)

Chapter 4: Assessing the Air Pollution, Greenhouse Gas, Air Quality, and Health Benefits of Clean Energy Initiatives

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Chapter 4 of Assessing the Multiple Benefits of Clean Energy helps state states understand the methods, models, opportunities, and issues associated with assessing the GHG, air pollution, air quality, and human health benefits of clean energy options.

Transportation, Air Pollution, and Climate Change

MedlinePlus

... Offices Labs and Research Centers Contact Us Share Transportation, Air Pollution, and Climate Change Overview Learn about ... Smog, soot, and other air pollution from transportation Transportation and Air Quality Resources Press releases Federal Register ...

Air quality management in Mexico.

PubMed

Fernández-Bremauntz, Adrián

2008-01-01

Several significant program and policy measures have been implemented in Mexico over the past 15 yr to improve air quality. This article provides an overview of air quality management strategies in Mexico, including (1) policy initiatives such as vehicle use restrictions, air quality standards, vehicle emissions, and fuel quality standards, and (2) supporting programs including establishment of a national emission inventory, an air pollution episodes program, and the implementation of exposure and health effects studies. Trends in air pollution episodes and ambient air pollutant concentrations are described.

Enhancing indoor air quality -The air filter advantage.

PubMed

Vijayan, Vannan Kandi; Paramesh, Haralappa; Salvi, Sundeep Santosh; Dalal, Alpa Anil Kumar

2015-01-01

Air pollution has become the world's single biggest environmental health risk, linked to around 7 million deaths in 2012 according to a recent World Health Organisation (WHO) report. The new data further reveals a stronger link between, indoor and outdoor air pollution exposure and cardiovascular diseases, such as strokes and ischemic heart disease, as well as between air pollution and cancer. The role of air pollution in the development of respiratory diseases, including acute respiratory infections and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, is well known. While both indoor and outdoor pollution affect health, recent statistics on the impact of household indoor pollutants (HAP) is alarming. The WHO factsheet on HAP and health states that 3.8 million premature deaths annually - including stroke, ischemic heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer are attributed to exposure to household air pollution. Use of air cleaners and filters are one of the suggested strategies to improve indoor air quality. This review discusses the impact of air pollutants with special focus on indoor air pollutants and the benefits of air filters in improving indoor air quality.

Review of air pollution and health impacts in Malaysia.

PubMed

Afroz, Rafia; Hassan, Mohd Nasir; Ibrahim, Noor Akma

2003-06-01

In the early days of abundant resources and minimal development pressures, little attention was paid to growing environmental concerns in Malaysia. The haze episodes in Southeast Asia in 1983, 1984, 1991, 1994, and 1997 imposed threats to the environmental management of Malaysia and increased awareness of the environment. As a consequence, the government established Malaysian Air Quality Guidelines, the Air Pollution Index, and the Haze Action Plan to improve air quality. Air quality monitoring is part of the initial strategy in the pollution prevention program in Malaysia. Review of air pollution in Malaysia is based on the reports of the air quality monitoring in several large cities in Malaysia, which cover air pollutants such as Carbon monoxide (CO), Sulphur Dioxide (SO2), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), Ozone (O3), and Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM). The results of the monitoring indicate that Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM) and Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) are the predominant pollutants. Other pollutants such as CO, O(x), SO2, and Pb are also observed in several big cities in Malaysia. The air pollution comes mainly from land transportation, industrial emissions, and open burning sources. Among them, land transportation contributes the most to air pollution. This paper reviews the results of the ambient air quality monitoring and studies related to air pollution and health impacts.

Impacts of air pollutants from fire and non-fire emissions on the regional air quality in Southeast Asia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Hsiang-He; Iraqui, Oussama; Gu, Yefu; Hung-Lam Yim, Steve; Chulakadabba, Apisada; Yiu-Ming Tonks, Adam; Yang, Zhengyu; Wang, Chien

2018-05-01

Severe haze events in Southeast Asia caused by particulate pollution have become more intense and frequent in recent years. Widespread biomass burning occurrences and particulate pollutants from human activities other than biomass burning play important roles in degrading air quality in Southeast Asia. In this study, numerical simulations have been conducted using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model coupled with a chemistry component (WRF-Chem) to quantitatively examine the contributions of aerosols emitted from fire (i.e., biomass burning) versus non-fire (including fossil fuel combustion, and road dust, etc.) sources to the degradation of air quality and visibility over Southeast Asia. These simulations cover a time period from 2002 to 2008 and are driven by emissions from (a) fossil fuel burning only, (b) biomass burning only, and (c) both fossil fuel and biomass burning. The model results reveal that 39 % of observed low-visibility days (LVDs) can be explained by either fossil fuel burning or biomass burning emissions alone, a further 20 % by fossil fuel burning alone, a further 8 % by biomass burning alone, and a further 5 % by a combination of fossil fuel burning and biomass burning. Analysis of an 24 h PM2.5 air quality index (AQI) indicates that the case with coexisting fire and non-fire PM2.5 can substantially increase the chance of AQI being in the moderate or unhealthy pollution level from 23 to 34 %. The premature mortality in major Southeast Asian cities due to degradation of air quality by particulate pollutants is estimated to increase from ˜ 4110 per year in 2002 to ˜ 6540 per year in 2008. In addition, we demonstrate the importance of certain missing non-fire anthropogenic aerosol sources including anthropogenic fugitive and industrial dusts in causing urban air quality degradation. An experiment of using machine learning algorithms to forecast the occurrence of haze events in Singapore is also explored in this study. All of these

Air Pollution Prevention and Control Policy in China.

PubMed

Huang, Cunrui; Wang, Qiong; Wang, Suhan; Ren, Meng; Ma, Rui; He, Yiling

2017-01-01

With rapid urbanization and development of transport infrastructure, air pollution caused by multiple-pollutant emissions and vehicle exhaust has been aggravated year by year in China. In order to improve air quality, the Chinese authorities have taken a series of actions to control air pollution emission load within a permissible range. However, although China has made positive progress on tackling air pollution, these actions have not kept up with its economy growth and fossil-fuel use. The traditional single-pollutant approach is far from enough in China now, and in the near future, air pollution control strategies should move in the direction of the multiple-pollutant approach. In addition, undesirable air quality is usually linked with the combination of high emissions and adverse weather conditions. However, few studies have been done on the influence of climate change on atmospheric chemistry in the global perspective. Available evidence suggested that climate change is likely to exacerbate certain kinds of air pollutants including ozone and smoke from wildfires. This has become a major public health problem because the interactions of global climate change, urban heat islands, and air pollution have adverse effects on human health. In this chapter, we first review the past and current circumstances of China's responses to air pollution. Then we discuss the control challenges and future options for a better air quality in China. Finally, we begin to unravel links between air pollution and climate change, providing new opportunities for integrated research and actions in China.

Solutions Network Formulation Report. NASA's Potential Contributions for Using Solar Ultraviolet Radiation in Conjunction with Photocatalysis for Urban Air Pollution Mitigation and Increasing Air Quality

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Underwood, Lauren; Ryan, Robert E.

2007-01-01

This Candidate Solution is based on using NASA Earth science research on atmospheric ozone and aerosols data as a means to predict and evaluate the effectiveness of photocatalytically created surfaces (building materials like glass, tile and cement) for air pollution mitigation purposes. When these surfaces are exposed to near UV light, organic molecules, like air pollutants and smog precursors, will degrade into environmentally friendly compounds. U.S. EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) is responsible for forecasting daily air quality by using the Air Quality Index (AQI) that is provided by AIRNow. EPA is partnered with AIRNow and is responsible for calculating the AQI for five major air pollutants that are regulated by the Clean Air Act. In this Solution, UV irradiance data acquired from the satellite mission Aura and the OMI Surface UV algorithm will be used to help understand both the efficacy and efficiency of the photocatalytic decomposition process these surfaces facilitate, and their ability to reduce air pollutants. Prediction models that estimate photocatalytic function do not exist. NASA UV irradiance data will enable this capability, so that air quality agencies that are run by state and local officials can develop and implement programs that utilize photocatalysis for urban air pollution control and, enable them to make effective decisions about air pollution protection programs.

A novel, fuzzy-based air quality index (FAQI) for air quality assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sowlat, Mohammad Hossein; Gharibi, Hamed; Yunesian, Masud; Tayefeh Mahmoudi, Maryam; Lotfi, Saeedeh

2011-04-01

The ever increasing level of air pollution in most areas of the world has led to development of a variety of air quality indices for estimation of health effects of air pollution, though the indices have their own limitations such as high levels of subjectivity. Present study, therefore, aimed at developing a novel, fuzzy-based air quality index (FAQI ) to handle such limitations. The index developed by present study is based on fuzzy logic that is considered as one of the most common computational methods of artificial intelligence. In addition to criteria air pollutants (i.e. CO, SO 2, PM 10, O 3, NO 2), benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, and 1,3-butadiene were also taken into account in the index proposed, because of their considerable health effects. Different weighting factors were then assigned to each pollutant according to its priority. Trapezoidal membership functions were employed for classifications and the final index consisted of 72 inference rules. To assess the performance of the index, a case study was carried out employing air quality data at five different sampling stations in Tehran, Iran, from January 2008 to December 2009, results of which were then compared to the results obtained from USEPA air quality index (AQI). According to the results from present study, fuzzy-based air quality index is a comprehensive tool for classification of air quality and tends to produce accurate results. Therefore, it can be considered useful, reliable, and suitable for consideration by local authorities in air quality assessment and management schemes. Fuzzy-based air quality index (FAQI).

Air Pollution Monitoring | Air Quality Planning & Standards ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

2016-06-08

The basic mission of the Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards is to preserve and improve the quality of our nation's air. To accomplish this, OAQPS must be able to evaluate the status of the atmosphere as compared to clean air standards and historical information.

Chinese air pollution embodied in trade

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davis, S. J.

2014-12-01

Rapid economic development in China has been accompanied by high levels of air pollution in many areas of China. Although researchers have applied a range of methods to monitor and track pollutant emissions in the atmosphere, studies of the underlying economic and technological drivers of this pollution have received considerably less attention. I will present results of a series of studies that have quantified the air pollutants embodied in goods being traded both within China and internationally. The results show that trade is facilitating the concentration of pollution in less economically developed areas, which in turn export pollution-intensive goods to more affluent areas. However, the export-related pollution itself is sometimes transported long distances; for instance, we have quantified the impacts of the Chinese pollution embodied in internationally-exported goods on air quality in the US. These findings important implications for Chinese efforts to curb CO2 emissions and improve air quality. The research to be presented reflects the efforts of a multiple year, ongoing collaboration among interdisciplinary researchers in China, the US and the UK.

Evaluating Multipollutant Exposure and Urban Air Quality: Pollutant Interrelationships, Neighborhood Variability, and Nitrogen Dioxide as a Proxy Pollutant

PubMed Central

Levy, Ilan; Mihele, Cristian; Lu, Gang; Narayan, Julie; Brook, Jeffrey R.

2013-01-01

urban air quality: pollutant interrelationships, neighborhood variability, and nitrogen dioxide as a proxy pollutant. Environ Health Perspect 122:65–72; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1306518 PMID:24225648

Air Quality Index (AQI) -- A Guide to Air Quality and Your Health

MedlinePlus

... Guide for Ozone Air Quality Guide for Particle Pollution Other AirNow Publications Other AirNow Publications En Español ... the Clean Air Act: ground-level ozone, particle pollution (also known as particulate matter), carbon monoxide, sulfur ...

Assessment of regional air quality by a concentration-dependent Pollution Permeation Index

PubMed Central

Liang, Chun-Sheng; Liu, Huan; He, Ke-Bin; Ma, Yong-Liang

2016-01-01

Although air quality monitoring networks have been greatly improved, interpreting their expanding data in both simple and efficient ways remains challenging. Therefore, needed are new analytical methods. We developed such a method based on the comparison of pollutant concentrations between target and circum areas (circum comparison for short), and tested its applications by assessing the air pollution in Jing-Jin-Ji, Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta and Cheng-Yu, China during 2015. We found the circum comparison can instantly judge whether a city is a pollution permeation donor or a pollution permeation receptor by a Pollution Permeation Index (PPI). Furthermore, a PPI-related estimated concentration (original concentration plus halved average concentration difference) can be used to identify some overestimations and underestimations. Besides, it can help explain pollution process (e.g., Beijing’s PM2.5 maybe largely promoted by non-local SO2) though not aiming at it. Moreover, it is applicable to any region, easy-to-handle, and able to boost more new analytical methods. These advantages, despite its disadvantages in considering the whole process jointly influenced by complex physical and chemical factors, demonstrate that the PPI based circum comparison can be efficiently used in assessing air pollution by yielding instructive results, without the absolute need for complex operations. PMID:27731344

[Air quality surveillance in France].

PubMed

Téton, S; Robin, D; Genève, C

2009-10-01

As air quality has a direct impact on human health, its monitoring is imperative. In France, this task was entrusted by the government (Air Law of 1996) to organisations with territorial responsibility: the Registered Associations for the Surveillance of Air Quality. The type and level of pollution evolve: from industrial and sulphur pollution in the seventies, to urban and photochemical pollution today and to nanoparticles, pesticides and pollutants in buildings tomorrow. The tools, the skills and the roles of the different people involved in air quality control follow these sometimes rapid transitions in connection with an increasingly precise understanding of the relationship between health and the environment and of the considerable research on the subject. This article describes the mechanisms of air quality monitoring in France.

78 FR 58460 - Revision of Air Quality Implementation Plan; California; Placer County Air Pollution Control...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-09-24

...EPA is finalizing a limited approval and limited disapproval of two permitting rules submitted by California as a revision to the Placer County Air Pollution Control District (PCAPCD) and Feather River Air Quality Management District (FRAQMD) portion of the California State Implementation Plan (SIP). These revisions were proposed in the Federal Register on February 22, 2013 and concern construction and modification of stationary sources of air pollution within each District. We are approving local rules that regulate these emission sources under the Clean Air Act as amended in 1990 (CAA). Final approval of these rules makes the rules federally enforceable and corrects program deficiencies identified in a previous EPA rulemaking (76 FR 44809, July 27, 2011). EPA is also making a technical amendment to the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) to reflect this previous rulemaking, which removed an obsolete provision from the California SIP.

The Crisis in Air Pollution Manpower Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moeller, Dade W.

1974-01-01

Three studies conducted by the National Air Pollution Manpower Development Advisory Committee concluded there is a crisis in air pollution manpower development within the United States today. The studies investigated the existing federal manpower program, air pollution educational requirements and the quality of graduate level university programs.…

LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF SEMEN QUALITY AFTER INTERMITTENT EXPOSURE TO AIR POLLUTION

EPA Science Inventory

LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF SEMEN QUALITY AFTER INTERMITTENT EXPOSURE TO AIR POLLUTION. J. Rubes*, D. Zudova*, Veterinary Research Institute, Brno, CR, S.G. Selevan*, US EPA/ORD/NCEA, Washington, DC, D.P. Evenson, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD, and S.D. Perreault, US ...

[Main indoor air pollutants and their health impacts].

PubMed

Xu, Zhen; Jin, Yinlong

2003-05-01

The quality of indoor air is a very important factor that may directly affect human health. There are many sources as well as a variety of indoor air pollutants. Therefore, the health impact is complicated, affecting different organs and systems of human being such as respiratory and immune system. The main indoor air pollutants are the combustion products from smoking, cooking and heating, the chemical pollutants from renovation materials and the biological contaminants. The kinds, sources and health impacts of these pollutants that affect the indoor air quality are reviewed in this paper.

Outdoor air pollutants and patient health.

PubMed

Laumbach, Robert J

2010-01-15

Almost 160 million persons live in areas of the United States that exceed federal health-based air pollution standards. The two air pollutants that most commonly exceed standards are ozone and particulate matter. Ozone and particulate matter can harm anyone if levels are sufficiently elevated, but health risk from air pollution is greatest among vulnerable populations. Both ozone and particulate matter can cause pulmonary inflammation, decreased lung function, and exacerbation of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Particulate matter is also strongly associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Children, older adults, and other vulnerable persons may be sensitive to lower levels of air pollution. Persons who are aware of local air pollution levels, reported daily by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as the Air Quality Index, can take action to reduce exposure. These actions include simple measures to limit exertion and time spent outdoors when air pollution levels are highest, and to reduce the infiltration of outdoor air pollutants into indoor spaces.

Meteorological and urban landscape factors on severe air pollution in Beijing.

PubMed

Han, Lijian; Zhou, Weiqi; Li, Weifeng; Meshesha, Derege T; Li, Li; Zheng, Mingqing

2015-07-01

Air pollution gained special attention with the rapid development in Beijing. In January 2013, Beijing experienced extreme air pollution, which was not well examined. We thus examine the magnitude of air quality in the particular month by applying the air quality index (AQI), which is based on the newly upgraded Chinese environmental standard. Our finding revealed that (1) air quality has distinct spatial heterogeneity and relatively better air quality was observed in the northwest while worse quality happened in the southeast part of the city; (2) the wind speed is the main determinant of air quality in the city-when wind speed is greater than 4 m/sec, air quality can be significantly improved; and (3) urban impervious surface makes a contribution to the severity of air pollution-that is, with an increase in the fraction of impervious surface in a given area, air pollution is more severe. The results from our study demonstrated the severe pollution in Beijing and its meteorological and landscape factors. Also, the results of this work suggest that very strict air quality management should be conducted when wind speed less than 4 m/sec, especially at places with a large fraction of urban impervious surface. Prevention of air pollution is rare among methods with controls on meteorological and urban landscape conditions. We present research that utilizes the latest air quality index (AQI) to compare air pollution with meteorological and landscape conditions. We found that wind is the major meteorological factor that determines the air quality. For a given wind speed greater than 4 m/sec, the air quality improved significantly. Urban impervious surface also contributes to the severe air pollution: that is, when the fraction of impervious surface increases, there is more severe air pollution. These results suggest that air quality management should be conducted when wind speed is less than 4 m/sec, especially at places with a larger fraction of urban impervious surface.

Managing respiratory effects of air pollution.

PubMed

Watson, Bianca K; Sheppeard, Vicky

2005-12-01

Exposure to air pollution (both indoor and outdoor) has many potential adverse effects on human health. This article looks at the adverse respiratory health effects of air pollution and gives some guidance about management of exposure in susceptible individuals. Motor vehicle and industrial emissions are the primary contributors to outdoor air pollution in Australia. High levels of ozone and other pollutants can cause respiratory symptoms in susceptible individuals. Air quality advisory systems exist in most states. Clinicians can incorporate the health effects of air pollution, and awareness of advisory systems in the education of their susceptible patients and their carers. Asthma and chronic airways disease management plans should include provision for possible exposure to high pollution events and steps that can be taken to reduce exposure.

A review of the impacts of tobacco heating system on indoor air quality versus conventional pollution sources.

PubMed

Kaunelienė, Violeta; Meišutovič-Akhtarieva, Marija; Martuzevičius, Dainius

2018-05-08

With the introduction of novel and potentially less polluting nicotine containing products to the market, the impacts of their usage to indoor air quality as opposed to conventional pollution sources must be reviewed and considered. This review study aimed to comparatively analyse changes in indoor air quality as the consequence of tobacco heating system (THS) generated pollution against general indoor air quality in various micro-environments, especially with combustion-based pollution sources present. Indoor concentrations of formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, benzene, toluene, nicotine and PM 2.5 were reviewed and compared; concentrations of other harmful and potentially harmful substances (HPHCs) were discussed. Generally, the usage of THS has been associated with lower or comparable indoor air pollutant concentrations compared against other conventional indoor sources or environments, in most cases distinguishable above background, thus potentially being associated with health effects at prolonged exposures as any other artificial air pollution source. In the controlled environment the use of THS (as well as an electronic cigarette) resulted in the lowest concentrations of formaldehyde, benzene, toluene, PM 2.5, among majority researched pollution sources (conventional cigarettes, waterpipe, incense, mosquito coils). The exposure to significantly higher pollution levels of benzene, toluene, and formaldehyde occurred in public environments, especially transport micro-environments. Such low levels of conventionally-assessed indoor pollutants resulting from the use of new nicotine containing products raise challenges for epidemiological studies of second-hand exposure to THS aerosol in real-life environments. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Air quality during the 2008 Beijing Olympics: secondary pollutants and regional impact

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, T.; Nie, W.; Gao, J.; Xue, L. K.; Gao, X. M.; Wang, X. F.; Qiu, J.; Poon, C. N.; Meinardi, S.; Blake, D.; Wang, S. L.; Ding, A. J.; Chai, F. H.; Zhang, Q. Z.; Wang, W. X.

2010-08-01

This paper presents the first results of the measurements of trace gases and aerosols at three surface sites in and outside Beijing before and during the 2008 Olympics. The official air pollution index near the Olympic Stadium and the data from our nearby site revealed an obvious association between air quality and meteorology and different responses of secondary and primary pollutants to the control measures. Ambient concentrations of vehicle-related nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) at an urban site dropped by 25% and 20-45% in the first two weeks after full control was put in place, but the levels of ozone, sulfate and nitrate in PM2.5 increased by 16%, 64%, 37%, respectively, compared to the period prior to the full control; wind data and back trajectories indicated the contribution of regional pollution from the North China Plain. Air quality (for both primary and secondary pollutants) improved significantly during the Games, which were also associated with the changes in weather conditions (prolonged rainfall, decreased temperature, and more frequent air masses from clean regions). A comparison of the ozone data at three sites on eight ozone-pollution days, when the air masses were from the southeast-south-southwest sector, showed that regional pollution sources contributed >34-88% to the peak ozone concentrations at the urban site in Beijing. Regional sources also contributed significantly to the CO concentrations in urban Beijing. Ozone production efficiencies at two sites were low (~3 ppbv/ppbv), indicating that ozone formation was being controlled by VOCs. Compared with data collected in 2005 at a downwind site, the concentrations of ozone, sulfur dioxide (SO2), total sulfur (SO2+PM2.5 sulfate), carbon monoxide (CO), reactive aromatics (toluene and xylenes) sharply decreased (by 8-64%) in 2008, but no significant changes were observed for the concentrations of PM2.5, fine sulfate, total odd reactive nitrogen (NOy), and longer

Air pollution and population health: a global challenge.

PubMed

Chen, Bingheng; Kan, Haidong

2008-03-01

"Air pollution and population health" is one of the most important environmental and public health issues. Economic development, urbanization, energy consumption, transportation/motorization, and rapid population growth are major driving forces of air pollution in large cities, especially in megacities. Air pollution levels in developed countries have been decreasing dramatically in recent decades. However, in developing countries and in countries in transition, air pollution levels are still at relatively high levels, though the levels have been gradually decreasing or have remained stable during rapid economic development. In recent years, several hundred epidemiological studies have emerged showing adverse health effects associated with short-term and long-term exposure to air pollutants. Time-series studies conducted in Asian cities also showed similar health effects on mortality associated with exposure to particulate matter (PM), sulfur dioxide (SO(2)), nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)) and ozone (O(3)) to those explored in Europe and North America. The World Health Organization (WHO) published the "WHO Air Quality Guidelines (AQGs), Global Update" in 2006. These updated AQGs provide much stricter guidelines for PM, NO(2), SO(2) and O(3). Considering that current air pollution levels are much higher than the WHO-recommended AQGs, interim targets for these four air pollutants are also recommended for member states, especially for developing countries in setting their country-specific air quality standards. In conclusion, ambient air pollution is a health hazard. It is more important in Asian developing countries within the context of pollution level and population density. Improving air quality has substantial, measurable and important public health benefits.

Enhancing indoor air quality –The air filter advantage

PubMed Central

Vijayan, Vannan Kandi; Paramesh, Haralappa; Salvi, Sundeep Santosh; Dalal, Alpa Anil Kumar

2015-01-01

Air pollution has become the world's single biggest environmental health risk, linked to around 7 million deaths in 2012 according to a recent World Health Organisation (WHO) report. The new data further reveals a stronger link between, indoor and outdoor air pollution exposure and cardiovascular diseases, such as strokes and ischemic heart disease, as well as between air pollution and cancer. The role of air pollution in the development of respiratory diseases, including acute respiratory infections and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, is well known. While both indoor and outdoor pollution affect health, recent statistics on the impact of household indoor pollutants (HAP) is alarming. The WHO factsheet on HAP and health states that 3.8 million premature deaths annually - including stroke, ischemic heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer are attributed to exposure to household air pollution. Use of air cleaners and filters are one of the suggested strategies to improve indoor air quality. This review discusses the impact of air pollutants with special focus on indoor air pollutants and the benefits of air filters in improving indoor air quality. PMID:26628762

Fractional kalman filter to estimate the concentration of air pollution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vita Oktaviana, Yessy; Apriliani, Erna; Khusnul Arif, Didik

2018-04-01

Air pollution problem gives important effect in quality environment and quality of human’s life. Air pollution can be caused by nature sources or human activities. Pollutant for example Ozone, a harmful gas formed by NOx and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from various sources. The air pollution problem can be modeled by TAPM-CTM (The Air Pollution Model with Chemical Transport Model). The model shows concentration of pollutant in the air. Therefore, it is important to estimate concentration of air pollutant. Estimation method can be used for forecast pollutant concentration in future and keep stability of air quality. In this research, an algorithm is developed, based on Fractional Kalman Filter to solve the model of air pollution’s problem. The model will be discretized first and then it will be estimated by the method. The result shows that estimation of Fractional Kalman Filter has better accuracy than estimation of Kalman Filter. The accuracy was tested by applying RMSE (Root Mean Square Error).

Introduction: Special Issue of Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health for Air Pollution and Health: Bridging the Gap from Source-to-Health Outcomes

EPA Science Inventory

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has established the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for six principal air pollutants (criteria pollutants): carbon monoxide (CO), lead (Pb), nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter in two size ranges [less than 2.5 μm (PM2.5) and less ...

Atmospheric Chemistry and Air Pollution

DOE PAGES

Gaffney, Jeffrey S.; Marley, Nancy A.

2003-01-01

Atmospheric chemistry is an important discipline for understanding air pollution and its impacts. This mini-review gives a brief history of air pollution and presents an overview of some of the basic photochemistry involved in the production of ozone and other oxidants in the atmosphere. Urban air quality issues are reviewed with a specific focus on ozone and other oxidants, primary and secondary aerosols, alternative fuels, and the potential for chlorine releases to amplify oxidant chemistry in industrial areas. Regional air pollution issues such as acid rain, long-range transport of aerosols and visibility loss, and the connections of aerosols to ozonemore » and peroxyacetyl nitrate chemistry are examined. Finally, the potential impacts of air pollutants on the global-scale radiative balances of gases and aerosols are discussed briefly.« less

Comparison of exposure estimation methods for air pollutants: ambient monitoring data and regional air quality simulation.

PubMed

Bravo, Mercedes A; Fuentes, Montserrat; Zhang, Yang; Burr, Michael J; Bell, Michelle L

2012-07-01

Air quality modeling could potentially improve exposure estimates for use in epidemiological studies. We investigated this application of air quality modeling by estimating location-specific (point) and spatially-aggregated (county level) exposure concentrations of particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to 2.5 μm (PM(2.5)) and ozone (O(3)) for the eastern U.S. in 2002 using the Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ) modeling system and a traditional approach using ambient monitors. The monitoring approach produced estimates for 370 and 454 counties for PM(2.5) and O(3), respectively. Modeled estimates included 1861 counties, covering 50% more population. The population uncovered by monitors differed from those near monitors (e.g., urbanicity, race, education, age, unemployment, income, modeled pollutant levels). CMAQ overestimated O(3) (annual normalized mean bias=4.30%), while modeled PM(2.5) had an annual normalized mean bias of -2.09%, although bias varied seasonally, from 32% in November to -27% in July. Epidemiology may benefit from air quality modeling, with improved spatial and temporal resolution and the ability to study populations far from monitors that may differ from those near monitors. However, model performance varied by measure of performance, season, and location. Thus, the appropriateness of using such modeled exposures in health studies depends on the pollutant and metric of concern, acceptable level of uncertainty, population of interest, study design, and other factors. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Source apportionment analysis of air pollutants using CMAQ/BFM for national air quality management policy over Republic of Korea.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moon, N.; Kim, S.; Seo, J.; Lee, Y. J.

2017-12-01

Recently, the Korean government is focusing on solving air pollution problem such as fine particulate matter and ozone. Korea has high population density and concentrated industrial complex in its limited land space. For better air quality management, it is important to understand source and contribution relation to target pollutant. The air quality analysis representing the mutual contribution among the local regions enables to understand the substantive state of the air quality of a region in association with neighboring regions. Under this background, the source apportionment of PM10, PM2.5, O3, NO2, SO2 using WRF and CMAQ/BFM was analyzed over Korea and BFM was applied to mobile, area and point sources in each local government. The contribution rate from neighboring region showed different pattern for each pollutant. In case of primary pollutants such as NO2, SO2, local source contribution is dominant, on the other hand secondary pollutants case especially O3, contribution from neighboring region is higher than that from source region itself. Local source contribution to PM10 showed 20-25% and the contribution rate to O3 has big difference with different meteorological condition year after year. From this study, we tried to estimate the conversion rate between source (NOx, VOC, SO2, NH3, PMC, PM2.5, CO) and concentration (PM10, PM2.5, O3, NO2, SO2,) by regional group over Korea. The result can contribute to the decision-making process of important national planning related to large-scale industrial developments and energy supply policies (eg., operations of coal-fired power plants and diesel cars) and emission control plan, where many controversies and concerns are currently concentrated among local governments in Korea. With this kind of approach, various environmental and social problems related to air quality can also be identified early so that a sustainable and environmentally sound plan can be established by providing data infrastructures to be utilized

Ambient Air Quality Data Inventory

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Office of Air and Radiation's (OAR) Ambient Air Quality Data (Current) contains ambient air pollution data collected by EPA, other federal agencies, as well as state, local, and tribal air pollution control agencies. Its component data sets have been collected over the years from approximately 10,000 monitoring sites, of which approximately 5,000 are currently active. OAR's Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS) and other internal and external users, rely on this data to assess air quality, assist in Attainment/Non-Attainment designations, evaluate State Implementation Plans for Non-Attainment Areas, perform modeling for permit review analysis, and other air quality management functions. Air quality information is also used to prepare reports for Congress as mandated by the Clean Air Act. This data covers air quality data collected after 1980, when the Clean Air Act requirements for monitoring were significantly modified. Air quality data from the Agency's early years (1970s) remains available (see OAR PRIMARY DATA ASSET: Ambient Air Quality Data -- Historical), but because of technical and definitional differences the two data assets are not directly comparable. The Clean Air Act of 1970 provided initial authority for monitoring air quality for Conventional Air Pollutants (CAPs) for which EPA has promulgated National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). Requirements for monitoring visibility-related parameters were added in 1977. Requiremen

Global Air Quality and Climate Impacts of Mitigating Short-lived Climate Pollution in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harper, K.; Unger, N.; Heyes, C.; Kiesewetter, G.; Klimont, Z.; Schoepp, W.; Wagner, F.

2014-12-01

China is a major emitter of harmful air pollutants, including the short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) and their precursors. Implementation of pollution control technologies provides a mechanism for simultaneously protecting human and ecosystem health and achieving near-term climate co-benefits; however, predicting the outcomes of technical and policy interventions is challenging because the SLCPs participate in both climate warming and cooling and share many common emission sources. Here, we present the results of a combined regional integrated assessment and global climate modeling study aimed at quantifying the near-term climate and air quality co-benefits of selective control of Chinese air pollution emissions. Results from IIASA's Greenhouse Gas - Air Pollution Interactions and Synergies (GAINS) integrated assessment model indicate that methane emission reductions make up > 75% of possible CO2-equivalent emission reductions of the SLCPs and their precursors in China in 2030. A multi-pollutant emission reduction scenario incorporating the 2030 Chinese pollution control measures with the highest potential for future climate impact is applied to the NASA ModelE2 - Yale Interactive Terrestrial Biosphere (NASA ModelE2-YIBs) global carbon - chemistry - climate model to assess the regional and long-range impacts of Chinese SLCP mitigation measures. Using model simulations that incorporate dynamic methane emissions and photosynthesis-dependent isoprene emissions, we quantify the impacts of Chinese reductions of the short-lived air pollutants on radiative forcing and on surface ozone and particulate air pollution. Present-day modeled methane mole fractions are evaluated against SCIAMACHY methane columns and NOAA ESRL/GMD surface flask measurements.

30 CFR 780.15 - Air pollution control plan.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Air pollution control plan. 780.15 Section 780....15 Air pollution control plan. (a) For all surface mining activities with projected production rates... application shall contain an air pollution control plan which includes the following: (1) An air quality...

30 CFR 780.15 - Air pollution control plan.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Air pollution control plan. 780.15 Section 780....15 Air pollution control plan. (a) For all surface mining activities with projected production rates... application shall contain an air pollution control plan which includes the following: (1) An air quality...

30 CFR 780.15 - Air pollution control plan.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Air pollution control plan. 780.15 Section 780....15 Air pollution control plan. (a) For all surface mining activities with projected production rates... application shall contain an air pollution control plan which includes the following: (1) An air quality...

30 CFR 780.15 - Air pollution control plan.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Air pollution control plan. 780.15 Section 780....15 Air pollution control plan. (a) For all surface mining activities with projected production rates... application shall contain an air pollution control plan which includes the following: (1) An air quality...

30 CFR 780.15 - Air pollution control plan.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Air pollution control plan. 780.15 Section 780....15 Air pollution control plan. (a) For all surface mining activities with projected production rates... application shall contain an air pollution control plan which includes the following: (1) An air quality...

Trends of multiple air pollutants emissions from residential coal combustion in Beijing and its implication on improving air quality for control measures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xue, Yifeng; Zhou, Zhen; Nie, Teng; Wang, Kun; Nie, Lei; Pan, Tao; Wu, Xiaoqing; Tian, Hezhong; Zhong, Lianhong; Li, Jing; Liu, Huanjia; Liu, Shuhan; Shao, Panyang

2016-10-01

Residential coal combustion is considered to be an important source of air pollution in Beijing. However, knowledge regarding the emission characteristics of residential coal combustion and the related impacts on the air quality is very limited. In this study, we have developed an emission inventory for multiple hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) associated with residential coal combustion in Beijing for the period of 2000-2012. Furthermore, a widely used regional air quality model, the Community Multi-Scale Air Quality model (CMAQ), is applied to analyze the impact of residential coal combustion on the air quality in Beijing in 2012. The results show that the emissions of primary air pollutants from residential coal combustion have basically remained the same levels during the past decade, however, along with the strict emission control imposed on major industrial sources, the contribution of residential coal combustion emissions to the overall emissions from anthropogenic sources have increased obviously. In particular, the contributions of residential coal combustion to the total air pollutants concentrations of PM10, SO2, NOX, and CO represent approximately 11.6%, 27.5%, 2.8% and 7.3%, respectively, during the winter heating season. In terms of impact on the spatial variation patterns, the distributions of the pollutants concentrations are similar to the distribution of the associated primary HAPs emissions, which are highly concentrated in the rural-urban fringe zones and rural suburb areas. In addition, emissions of primary pollutants from residential coal combustion are forecasted by using a scenario analysis. Generally, comprehensive measures must be taken to control residential coal combustion in Beijing. The best way to reduce the associated emissions from residential coal combustion is to use economic incentive means to promote the conversion to clean energy sources for residential heating and cooking. In areas with reliable energy supplies, the coal used

Air pollution and gastrointestinal diseases in Utah

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maestas, Melissa May

The valleys of northern Utah, where most of Utah's population resides, experience episodic air pollution events well in excess of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. Most of the events are due to an accumulation of particulate matter during persistent cold air pools in winter from both direct emissions and secondary chemical reactions in the atmosphere. High wintertime ozone concentrations are occasionally observed in the Uintah Basin, in addition to particulate matter. At other times of the year, blowing dust, wildland fires, fireworks, and summertime ozone formation contribute to local air pollution. The objective of this dissertation is to investigate one facet of the health effects of Utah's air pollution on its residents: the acute impacts of air pollution on gastrointestinal (GI) disease. To study the health effects of these episodic pollution events, some measure of air pollution exposure must be matched to the health data. Time and place are used to link the health data for a person with the pollution data. This dissertation describes the method of kriging data from the sparse pollution monitoring network to estimate personal air pollution history based on the zip code of residence. This dissertation then describes the application of these exposure estimates to a health study on GI disease. The purpose of the GI study is to retrospectively look at two groups of patients during 2000-2014: those with autoimmune disease of the GI tract (inflammatory bowel disease, IBD) and those with allergic disease of the GI tract (eosinophilic esophagitis, EoE) to determine whether disease exacerbations occur more commonly during and following periods of poor air quality compared to periods of good air quality. The primary analysis method is case crossover design. In addition to using the kriged air pollution estimates, the analysis was repeated using simpler empirical estimation methods to assess whether the odds ratios are sensitive to the air pollution estimation

Air Pollution and Environmental Justice Awareness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bouvier-Brown, N. C.

2014-12-01

Air pollution is not equally dispersed in all neighborhoods and this raises many social concerns, such as environmental justice. "Real world" data, whether extracted from online databases or collected in the field, can be used to demonstrate air quality patterns. When students explore these trends, they not only learn about atmospheric chemistry, but they also become socially aware of any inequities. This presentation outlines specific ways to link air pollution and environmental justice suitable for an undergraduate upper division Air Pollution or Atmospheric Chemistry course.

Air pollution and vulnerability: solving the puzzle of prioritization.

PubMed

Wright, Caradee Y; Diab, Roseanne

2011-01-01

While ambient air pollution levels in excess of prescribed health standards are generally unacceptable, the exceedance is even more serious in areas where people reside. Vulnerability caused by poverty, disease, lack of education, and poor living conditions exacerbates the problem. Air quality management plans identify prioritized strategies for improved air quality independent of consideration of vulnerability. A population exposure and vulnerability risk prioritization framework comprising five themes (air pollution sources; air pollution levels; air pollution potential; community awareness, observations, perceptions, and actions; and vulnerability factors) was proposed and applied to the eThekwini Municipality (Durban, South Africa). Data were scored according to predetermined risk threshold values to ascertain at-risk communities. While those urban wards located in a known air pollution hotspot had the highest air pollution levels, a periurban ward with moderate exposure levels was most vulnerable. This framework will prove invaluable for the development of focused interventions to reduce vulnerability and air pollution-associated adverse health impacts.

The impact of European measures to reduce air pollutants on air quality, human health and climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turnock, S.; Butt, E. W.; Richardson, T.; Mann, G.; Forster, P.; Haywood, J. M.; Crippa, M.; Janssens-Maenhout, G. G. A.; Johnson, C.; Bellouin, N.; Spracklen, D. V.; Carslaw, K. S.; Reddington, C.

2015-12-01

European air quality legislation has reduced emissions of air pollutants across Europe since the 1970s, resulting in improved air quality and benefits to human health but also an unintended impact on regional climate. Here we used a coupled chemistry-climate model and a new policy relevant emission scenario to determine the impact of air pollutant emission reductions over Europe. The emission scenario shows that a combination of technological improvements and end-of-pipe abatement measures in the energy, industrial and road transport sectors reduced European emissions of sulphur dioxide, black carbon and organic carbon by 53%, 59% and 32% respectively. We estimate that these emission reductions decreased European annual mean concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) by 35%, sulphate by 44%, black carbon (BC) by 56% and particulate organic matter (POM) by 23%. The reduction in PM2.5 concentrations is calculated to have prevented 107,000 (40,000-172,000, 5-95% confidence intervals) premature deaths annually from cardiopulmonary disease and lung cancer across the EU member states. The decrease in aerosol concentrations caused a positive all-sky aerosol radiative forcing at the top of atmosphere over Europe of 2.3±0.06 W m-2 and a positive clear-sky forcing of 1.7±0.05 W m-2. Additionally, the amount of solar radiation incident at the surface over Europe increased by 3.3±0.07 W m-2 under all-sky and by 2.7±0.05 W m-2 under clear-sky conditions. Reductions in BC concentrations caused a 1 Wm-2 reduction in atmospheric absorption. We use an energy budget approximation to show that the aerosol induced radiative changes caused both temperature and precipitation to increase globally and over Europe. Our results show that the implementation of European legislation to reduce the emission of air pollutants has improved air quality and human health over Europe, as well as altered the regional radiative balance and climate.

Why participation matters for air quality studies: risk perceptions, understandings of air pollution and mobilization in a poor neighborhood in Nairobi, Kenya.

PubMed

Ngo, N S; Kokoyo, S; Klopp, J

2017-01-01

With high urbanization rates, Sub-Saharan Africa is facing growing problems of poor air quality in its cities. We make a case for participatory approaches in air quality studies especially including those living in poor neighborhoods who may be particularly at risk from this trend. We used collaboration with a community based organization, interviews, focus group discussions and a community forum. We conducted a pilot study to assess health risk perceptions of air pollution for civic-minded residents in Mathare, an informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya. Simultaneously, we involved Mathare residents in measuring levels of PM 2.5 and later presented these data at a community forum with the participants of the monitoring study and the focus group discussions. We found that participation in conducting and interpreting air quality studies helped residents improve their understanding of air pollution and also helped them develop responses to it. Initially, participants associated air pollution with a bad odor or discomfort rather than their health, but once the connection to health was made through participation, they sought more information about air quality data and its hazards. Some residents also came up with strategies for coping with their environment and its risks. These results point to the potential of including participation in air quality monitoring as a way to increase awareness and support local action to address it. Discussion and sharing of results at the local level as well as at a wider policy level will be critical for advocacy to improve air quality. Copyright © 2015 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Air pollution: a tale of two countries.

PubMed

Haryanto, Budi; Franklin, Peter

2011-01-01

The fast growing economies and continued urbanization in Asian countries have increased the demand for mobility and energy in the region, resulting in high levels of air pollution in cities from mobile and stationary sources. In contrast, low level of urbanization in Australia produces low level of urban air pollution. The World Health Organization estimates that about 500,000 premature deaths per year are caused by air pollution, leaving the urban poor particularly vulnerable since they live in air pollution hotspots, have low respiratory resistance due to bad nutrition, and lack access to quality health care. Identifying the differences and similarities of air pollution levels and its impacts, between Indonesia and Australia, will provide best lesson learned to tackle air pollution problems for Pacific Basin Rim countries.

Air Pollution Surveillance Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morgan, George B.; And Others

1970-01-01

Describes atmospheric data monitoring as part of total airpollution control effort. Summarizes types of gaseous, liquid and solid pollutants and their sources; contrast between urban and rural environmental air quality; instrumentation to identify pollutants; and anticipated new non-wet chemical physical and physiochemical techniques tor cetection…

Cardiovascular effects of air pollution

PubMed Central

Bourdrel, Thomas; Bind, Marie-Abèle; Béjot, Yannick; Morel, Olivier; Argacha, Jean-François

2018-01-01

Summary Air pollution is composed of particulate matter (PM) and gaseous pollutants, such as nitrogen dioxide and ozone. PM is classified according to size into coarse particles (PM10), fine particles (PM2.5) and ultrafine particles. We aim to provide an original review of the scientific evidence from epidemiological and experimental studies examining the cardiovascular effects of outdoor air pollution. Pooled epidemiological studies reported that a 10 μg/m3 increase in long-term exposure to PM2.5 was associated with an 11% increase in cardiovascular mortality. Increased cardiovascular mortality was also related to long-term and short-term exposure to nitrogen dioxide. Exposure to air pollution and road traffic was associated with an increased risk of arteriosclerosis, as shown by premature aortic and coronary calcification. Short-term increases in air pollution were associated with an increased risk of myocardial infarction, stroke and acute heart failure. The risk was increased even when pollutant concentrations were below European standards. Reinforcing the evidence from epidemiological studies, numerous experimental studies demonstrated that air pollution promotes a systemic vascular oxidative stress reaction. Radical oxygen species induce endothelial dysfunction, monocyte activation and some proatherogenic changes in lipoproteins, which initiate plaque formation. Furthermore, air pollution favours thrombus formation, because of an increase in coagulation factors and platelet activation. Experimental studies also indicate that some pollutants have more harmful cardiovascular effects, such as combustion-derived PM2.5 and ultrafine particles. Air pollution is a major contributor to cardiovascular diseases. Promotion of safer air quality appears to be a new challenge in cardiovascular disease prevention. PMID:28735838

Indoor to outdoor air quality associations with self-pollution implications inside passenger car cabins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abi-Esber, L.; El-Fadel, M.

2013-12-01

In this study, in-vehicle and out-vehicle concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and carbon monoxide (CO) are measured to assess commuter's exposure in a commercial residential area and on a highway, under three popular ventilation modes namely, one window half opened, air conditioning on fresh air intake, and air conditioning on recirculation and examine its relationship to scarcely studied parameters including self pollution, out-vehicle sample intake location and meteorological gradients. Self pollution is the intrusion of a vehicle's own engine fumes into the passenger's compartment. For this purpose, six car makes with different ages were instrumented to concomitantly monitor in- and out-vehicle PM2.5 and CO concentrations as well as meteorological parameters. Air pollution levels were unexpectedly higher in new cars compared to old cars, with in-cabin air quality most correlated to that of out-vehicle air near the front windshield. Self-pollution was observed at variable rates in three of the six tested cars. Significant correlations were identified between indoor to outdoor pressure difference and PM2.5 and CO In/Out (IO) ratios under air recirculation and window half opened ventilation modes whereas temperature and humidity difference affected CO IO ratios only under the air recirculation ventilation mode.

Government employees' perception of urban air pollution and willingness to pay for improved quality: a cross-sectional survey study in Nanchang, China.

PubMed

Liu, Xiaojun; Wu, Yanyan; Hu, Yongxin; Liu, Denglai; Zhang, Jin; Chen, Cheng; Yuan, Zhaokang; Lu, Yuanan

2016-11-01

To improve the public's awareness of urban air pollution and promote establishment of more efficient policy toward urban air pollution, we investigated the government employees' perceptions of current urban air pollution and their willingness to pay (WTP) taxes for improved quality in Nanchang, China. Stratified cluster sampling strategy was used to distribute 629 questionnaires, and 608 were completed anonymously, yielding a 96.7 % response rate. Descriptive statistics frequencies and proportions were used to summarize the sample characteristics, and logistic regression models were performed to assess the associations of perception of urban air quality and WTP versus demographic variables. We found low awareness of urban air pollution (34.5 %) as well as low WTP (44.9 %), especially among the middle aged people (age 30-39 and age 40-49). Our study shows that female employees have better awareness of urban air pollution but much less willingness to pay for air quality improvement. Majority of the government employees showed their support to the government for more effective policies toward environmental protection, indicating more enhanced public education and environmental protection campaigns to improve the public's awareness of air pollution and work with every citizen to improve air quality. This study also obtained baseline information useful to the local regional and even national government in developing nations in their attempt to control urban air pollution in future.

Impact of wildfires on regional air pollution

EPA Science Inventory

We examine the impact of wildfires and agricultural/prescribed burning on regional air pollution and Air Quality Index (AQI) between 2006 and 2013. We define daily regional air pollution using monitoring sites for ozone (n=1595), PM2.5 collected by Federal Reference Method (n=10...

Air Pollution

MedlinePlus

Air pollution is a mixture of solid particles and gases in the air. Car emissions, chemicals from factories, ... Ozone, a gas, is a major part of air pollution in cities. When ozone forms air pollution, it's ...

Air pollution characteristics and health risks in Henan Province, China.

PubMed

Shen, Fuzhen; Ge, Xinlei; Hu, Jianlin; Nie, Dongyang; Tian, Li; Chen, Mindong

2017-07-01

Events of severe air pollution occurred frequently in China recently, thus understanding of the air pollution characteristics and its health risks is very important. In this work, we analyzed a two-year dataset (March 2014 - February 2016) including daily concentrations of six criteria pollutants (PM 2.5 , PM 10 , CO, SO 2 , NO 2 , and O 3 ) from 18 cities in Henan province. Results reveal the serious air pollution status in Henan province, especially the northern part, and Zhengzhou is the city with the worst air quality. Annual average PM 2.5 concentrations exceed the second grade of Chinese Ambient Air Quality Standard (75μg/m 3 ) at both 2014 and 2015. PM 2.5 is typically the major pollutant, but ozone pollution can be significant during summer. Furthermore, as the commonly used air quality index (AQI) neglects the mutual health effects from multiple pollutants, we introduced the aggregate air quality index (AAQI) and health-risk based air quality index (HAQI) to evaluate the health risks. Results show that based on HAQI, the current AQI system likely significantly underestimate the health risks of air pollution, highlighting that the general public may need stricter health protection measures. The population-weighted two-year average HAQI data further demonstrates that all population in the studied cities in Henan province live with polluted air - 72% of the population is exposed to air that is unhealthy for sensitive people, while 28% of people is exposed to air that can be harmful to healthy people; and the health risks are much greater during winter than during other seasons. Future works should further improve the HAQI algorithm, and validate the links between the clinical/epidemiologic data and the HAQI values. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cardiovascular effects of air pollution.

PubMed

Bourdrel, Thomas; Bind, Marie-Abèle; Béjot, Yannick; Morel, Olivier; Argacha, Jean-François

2017-11-01

Air pollution is composed of particulate matter (PM) and gaseous pollutants, such as nitrogen dioxide and ozone. PM is classified according to size into coarse particles (PM 10 ), fine particles (PM 2.5 ) and ultrafine particles. We aim to provide an original review of the scientific evidence from epidemiological and experimental studies examining the cardiovascular effects of outdoor air pollution. Pooled epidemiological studies reported that a 10μg/m 3 increase in long-term exposure to PM 2.5 was associated with an 11% increase in cardiovascular mortality. Increased cardiovascular mortality was also related to long-term and short-term exposure to nitrogen dioxide. Exposure to air pollution and road traffic was associated with an increased risk of arteriosclerosis, as shown by premature aortic and coronary calcification. Short-term increases in air pollution were associated with an increased risk of myocardial infarction, stroke and acute heart failure. The risk was increased even when pollutant concentrations were below European standards. Reinforcing the evidence from epidemiological studies, numerous experimental studies demonstrated that air pollution promotes a systemic vascular oxidative stress reaction. Radical oxygen species induce endothelial dysfunction, monocyte activation and some proatherogenic changes in lipoproteins, which initiate plaque formation. Furthermore, air pollution favours thrombus formation, because of an increase in coagulation factors and platelet activation. Experimental studies also indicate that some pollutants have more harmful cardiovascular effects, such as combustion-derived PM 2.5 and ultrafine particles. Air pollution is a major contributor to cardiovascular diseases. Promotion of safer air quality appears to be a new challenge in cardiovascular disease prevention. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

USE OF REMOTE SENSING AIR QUALITY INFORMATION IN REGIONAL SCALE AIR POLLUTION MODELING: CURRENT USE AND REQUIREMENTS

EPA Science Inventory

In recent years the applications of regional air quality models are continuously being extended to address atmospheric pollution phenomenon from local to hemispheric spatial scales over time scales ranging from episodic to annual. The need to represent interactions between physic...

Controlling Indoor Air Pollution from Moxibustion

PubMed Central

Lu, Chung-Yen; Kang, Sy-Yuan; Liu, Shu-Hui; Mai, Cheng-Wei; Tseng, Chao-Heng

2016-01-01

Indoor air quality (IAQ) control of hospitals plays a critical role in protecting both hospital staffs and patients, particularly those who are highly susceptible to the adverse effects of indoor noxious hazards. However, moxibustion in outpatient departments (OPDs) of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) may be a source of indoor air pollution in hospitals. Some studies have investigated indoor air pollution during moxibustion in Chinese medicine clinics (CMCs) and moxibustion rooms, demonstrating elevated air pollutants that pose a threat to the health of medical staff and patients. Our study investigated the indoor air pollutants of indoor carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), formaldehyde (HCHO), total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs), airborne particulate matter with a diameter of ≤10 µm (PM10) and ≤2.5 µm (PM2.5) during moxibustion in an acupuncture and moxibustion room of the OPD in a hospital in Taipei. To evaluate the different control strategies for indoor air pollution from moxibution, a comparison of air pollutants during moxibution among the methods of using alternative old moxa wools, local exhaust ventilation and an air cleaner was conducted. In this study, burning alternative old moxa wools for moxibustion obviously reduced all gaseous pollutants except for aerosols comparing burning fresh moxa wools. Using local exhaust ventilation reduced most of the aerosols after burning moxa. We also found that using an air cleaner was inefficient for controlling indoor air pollutants, particularly gaseous pollutants. Therefore, combining replacing alternative old moxa wools and local exhaust ventilation could be a suitable design for controlling indoor air pollution during moxibustion therapy. PMID:27331817

Controlling Indoor Air Pollution from Moxibustion.

PubMed

Lu, Chung-Yen; Kang, Sy-Yuan; Liu, Shu-Hui; Mai, Cheng-Wei; Tseng, Chao-Heng

2016-06-20

Indoor air quality (IAQ) control of hospitals plays a critical role in protecting both hospital staffs and patients, particularly those who are highly susceptible to the adverse effects of indoor noxious hazards. However, moxibustion in outpatient departments (OPDs) of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) may be a source of indoor air pollution in hospitals. Some studies have investigated indoor air pollution during moxibustion in Chinese medicine clinics (CMCs) and moxibustion rooms, demonstrating elevated air pollutants that pose a threat to the health of medical staff and patients. Our study investigated the indoor air pollutants of indoor carbon dioxide (CO₂), carbon monoxide (CO), formaldehyde (HCHO), total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs), airborne particulate matter with a diameter of ≤10 µm (PM10) and ≤2.5 µm (PM2.5) during moxibustion in an acupuncture and moxibustion room of the OPD in a hospital in Taipei. To evaluate the different control strategies for indoor air pollution from moxibution, a comparison of air pollutants during moxibution among the methods of using alternative old moxa wools, local exhaust ventilation and an air cleaner was conducted. In this study, burning alternative old moxa wools for moxibustion obviously reduced all gaseous pollutants except for aerosols comparing burning fresh moxa wools. Using local exhaust ventilation reduced most of the aerosols after burning moxa. We also found that using an air cleaner was inefficient for controlling indoor air pollutants, particularly gaseous pollutants. Therefore, combining replacing alternative old moxa wools and local exhaust ventilation could be a suitable design for controlling indoor air pollution during moxibustion therapy.

Does air pollution pose a public health problem for New Zealand?

PubMed

Scoggins, Amanda

2004-02-01

Air pollution is increasingly documented as a threat to public health and a major focus of regulatory activity in developed and developing countries. Air quality indicators suggest New Zealand has clean air relative to many other countries. However, media releases such as 'Christchurch wood fires pump out deadly smog' and 'Vehicle pollution major killer' have sparked public health concern regarding exposure to ambient air pollution, especially in anticipation of increasing emissions and population growth. Recent evidence is presented on the effects of air quality on health, which has been aided by the application of urban airshed models and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Future directions for research into the effects of air quality on health in New Zealand are discussed, including a national ambient air quality management project: HAPINZ--Health and Air Pollution in New Zealand.

Improving and monitoring air quality.

PubMed

DuPont, André

2018-05-01

Since the authorization of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, the air quality in the USA has significantly improved because of strong public support. The lessons learned over the last 25 years are being shared with the policy analysts, technical professionals, and scientist who endeavor to improve air quality in their communities. This paper will review how the USA has achieved the "high" standard of air quality that was envisioned in the early 1990s. This document will describe SO 2 gas emission reduction technology and highlight operation of emission monitoring technology. This paper describes the basic process operation of an air pollution control scrubber. A technical review of measures required to operate and maintain a large-scale pollution control system will be described. Also, the author explains how quality assurance procedures in performance of continuous emission monitoring plays a significant role in reducing air pollution.

EVALUATION OF THE REAL-TIME AIR-QUALITY MODEL USING THE RAPS (REGIONAL AIR POLLUTION STUDY) DATA BASE. VOLUME 1. OVERVIEW

EPA Science Inventory

The theory and programming of statistical tests for evaluating the Real-Time Air-Quality Model (RAM) using the Regional Air Pollution Study (RAPS) data base are fully documented in four report volumes. Moreover, the tests are generally applicable to other model evaluation problem...

Air Pollution Data for Model Evaluation and Application

EPA Science Inventory

One objective of designing an air pollution monitoring network is to obtain data for evaluating air quality models that are used in the air quality management process and scientific discovery.^1.2 A common use is to relate emissions to air quality, including assessing ...

Parents' Guide to School Indoor Air Quality.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Healthy Schools Network, Inc., Albany, NY.

This parents' guide presents articles on school indoor air pollution, children's health and the symptoms of indoor air pollution, and how schools can improve their air quality. Also included are tips on what to do if the school ignores air quality problems, and some examples of what school districts should be doing to improve their air quality.…

Air quality of Prague: traffic as a main pollution source.

PubMed

Branis, Martin

2009-09-01

Political and economical transition in the Central and Eastern Europe at the end of eighties significantly influenced all aspects of life as well as technological infrastructure. Collapse of outdated energy demanding industry and adoption of environmental legislation resulted in seeming improvements of urban environmental quality. Hand in hand with modernization the newly adopted regulations also helped to phase out low quality coal frequently used for domestic heating. However, at the same time, the number of vehicles registered in the city increased. The two processes interestingly acted as parallel but antagonistic forces. To interpret the trends in urban air quality of Prague, Czech capital, monthly averages of PM(10), SO(2), NO(2), NO, O(3) and CO concentrations from the national network of automated monitoring stations were analyzed together with long term trends in fuel consumption and number of vehicles registered in Prague within a period of 1992-2005. The results showed that concentrations of SO(2) (a pollutant strongly related to fossil fuel burning) dropped significantly during the period of concern. Similarly NO(X) and PM(10) concentrations decreased significantly in the first half of the nineties (as a result of solid fuel use drop), but remained rather stable or increased after 2000, presumably reflecting rapid increase of traffic density. In conclusion, infrastructural changes in early nineties had a strong positive effect on Prague air quality namely in the first half of the period studied, nevertheless, the current trend in concentrations of automotive exhaust related pollutants (such as PM(10), NO(X)) needs adoption of stricter measures.

Air pollution and human fertility rates.

PubMed

Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark J; Basagaña, Xavier; Dadvand, Payam; Martinez, David; Cirach, Marta; Beelen, Rob; Jacquemin, Bénédicte

2014-09-01

Some reports have suggested effects of air pollution on semen quality and success rates of in vitro fertilization (IVF) in humans and lower fertility rates in mice. However, no studies have evaluated the impact of air pollution on human fertility rates. We assessed the association between traffic related air pollution and fertility rates in humans in Barcelona, Spain (2011-2012). We hypothesized that higher air pollution levels would be associated with lower fertility rates. We calculated the general fertility rate which is the number of live births per 1000 women between the ages of 15 and 44 years per census tract. We used land use regression (LUR) modeling to estimate the air pollution concentrations (particulate matter, NO2/NOx) per census tract. We used Besag-York-Mollié models to quantify the relationship between air pollution and fertility rates with adjustment for a number of potential confounders such as maternal age and area level socio-economic status. We found a statistically significant reduction of fertility rates with an increase in traffic related air pollution levels, particularly for the coarse fraction of particulate matter (IRR=0.87 95% CI 0.82, 0.94 per IQR). This is the first study in humans to show an association between reduced fertility rates and higher traffic related air pollution levels. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Air pollution holiday effect in metropolitan Kaohsiung

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tan, P.; Chen, P. Y.

2014-12-01

Different from Taipei, the metropolitan Kaohsiung which is a coastal and industrial city has the major pollution sources from stationary sources such as coal-fired power plants, petrochemical facilities and steel plants, rather than mobile sources. This study was an attempt to conduct a comprehensive and systematical examination of the holiday effect, defined as the difference in air pollutant concentrations between holiday and non-holiday periods, over the Kaohsiung metropolitan area. We documented evidence of a "holiday effect", where concentrations of NOx, CO, NMHC, SO2 and PM10 were significantly different between holidays and non-holidays, in the Kaohsiung metropolitan area from daily surface measurements of seven air quality monitoring stations of the Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration during the Chinese New Year (CNY) and non-Chinese New Year (NCNY) periods of 1994-2010. Concentrations of the five pollutants were lower in the CNY than in the NCNY period, however, that of O3 was higher in the CNY than in the NCNY period and had no holiday effect. The exclusion of the bad air quality day (PSI > 100) and the Lantern Festival Day showed no significant effects on the holiday effects of air pollutants. Ship transportation data of Kaohsiung Harbor Bureau showed a statistically significant difference in the CNY and NCNY period. This difference was consistent with those found in air pollutant concentrations of some industrial and general stations in coastal areas, implying the possible impact of traffic activity on the air quality of coastal areas. Holiday effects of air pollutants over the Taipei metropolitan area by Tan et al. (2009) are also compared.

Air Quality Criteria for Ozone and Related Photochemical ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

In February 2006, EPA released the final document, Air Quality Criteria for Ozone and Other Photochemical Oxidants. Tropospheric or surface-level ozone (O3) is one of six major air pollutants regulated by National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) under the U.S. Clean Air Act. As mandated by the Clean Air Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must periodically review the scientific bases (or criteria) for the various NAAQS by assessing newly available scientific information on a given criteria air pollutant. This document, Air Quality Criteria for Ozone and Other Photochemical Oxidants, is an updated revision of the 1996 Ozone Air Quality Criteria Document (O3 AQCD) that provided scientific bases for the current O3 NAAQS set in 1997. The Clean Air Act mandates periodic review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for six common air pollutants, also referred to as criteria pollutants, including ozone.

New Directions: Questions surrounding suspended particle mass used as a surrogate for air quality and for regulatory control of ambient urban air pollution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoare, John L.

2014-07-01

The original choice of particulate matter mass (PM) as a realistic surrogate for gross air pollution has gradually evolved into routine use nowadays of epidemiologically-based estimates of the monetary and other benefits expected from regulating urban air quality. Unfortunately, the statistical associations facilitating such calculations usually are based on single indices of air pollution whereas the health effects themselves are more broadly based causally. For this and other reasons the economic benefits of control tend to be exaggerated. Primarily because of their assumed inherently inferior respirability, particles ≥10 μm are generally excluded from such considerations. Where the particles themselves are chemically heterogeneous, as in an urban context, this may be inappropriate. Clearly all air-borne particles, whether coarse or fine, are susceptible to inhalation. Hence, the possibility exists for any adhering potentially harmful semi-volatile substances to be subsequently de-sorbed in vivo thereby facilitating their transport deeper into the lungs. Consequently, this alone may be a sufficient reason for including rather than rejecting during air quality monitoring the relatively coarse 10-100 μm particle fraction, ideally in conjunction with routine estimation of the gaseous co-pollutants thereby facilitating a multi-pollutant approach apropos regulation.

Association between air pollution and sperm quality: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Deng, Zibing; Chen, Fei; Zhang, Meixia; Lan, Lan; Qiao, Zhijiao; Cui, Yan; An, Jinghuan; Wang, Nan; Fan, Zhiwei; Zhao, Xing; Li, Xiaosong

2016-01-01

Exposure to ambient air pollution has been clearly linked to adverse reproductive outcome and fecundation index, but its effects on male semen quality are still uncertain. In this study, we reviewed information from ten studies to get the qualitative evidence of the influence of the ambient air pollution on sperm quality and collected data from six of the ten studies to conduct meta-analysis. The original studies classified participants into different exposure levels and the highest and lowest expose levels were chosen as high expose and low expose groups, respectively. The random-effect model was used in the meta-analysis with the weight mean difference (WMD) as the measure indicator. The WMDs (95% confidence intervals, CIs) of sperm volume, sperm count, semen concentration, sperm progressive motility, total motility, and normal morphology were 0.09 (-0.04, 0.23), 0.46 (-4.47, 5.39), -8.21 (-20.38, 3.96), -7.76 (-16.26, 0.74), -7.61 (-16.97, 1.74) and -3.40 (-7.42, 0.62), respectively. In conclusion, although the differences are not statistically significant between the two groups, the overall trends and evidence from this review indicate the chronic exposure to ambient pollutants at high level may alter men sperm quality. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Air Pollution and Preterm Birth in the U.S. State of Georgia (2002-2006): Associations with Concentrations of 11 Ambient Air Pollutants Estimated by Combining Community Multiscale Air Quality Model (CMAQ) Simulations with Stationary Monitor Measurements.

PubMed

Hao, Hua; Chang, Howard H; Holmes, Heather A; Mulholland, James A; Klein, Mitch; Darrow, Lyndsey A; Strickland, Matthew J

2016-06-01

Previous epidemiologic studies suggest associations between preterm birth and ambient air pollution. We investigated associations between 11 ambient air pollutants, estimated by combining Community Multiscale Air Quality model (CMAQ) simulations with measurements from stationary monitors, and risk of preterm birth (< 37 weeks of gestation) in the U.S. state of Georgia. Birth records for singleton births ≥ 27 weeks of gestation with complete covariate information and estimated dates of conception between 1 January 2002 and 28 February 2006 were obtained from the Office of Health Indicators for Planning, Georgia Department of Public Health (n = 511,658 births). Daily pollutant concentrations at 12-km resolution were estimated for 11 ambient air pollutants. We used logistic regression with county-level fixed effects to estimate associations between preterm birth and average pollutant concentrations during the first and second trimester. Discrete-time survival models were used to estimate third-trimester and total pregnancy associations. Effect modification was investigated by maternal education, race, census tract poverty level, and county-level urbanicity. Trimester-specific and total pregnancy associations (p < 0.05) were observed for several pollutants. All the traffic-related pollutants (carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, PM2.5 elemental carbon) were associated with preterm birth [e.g., odds ratios for interquartile range increases in carbon monoxide during the first, second, and third trimesters and total pregnancy were 1.005 (95% CI: 1.001, 1.009), 1.007 (95% CI: 1.002, 1.011), 1.010 (95% CI: 1.006, 1.014), and 1.011 (95% CI: 1.006, 1.017)]. Associations tended to be higher for mothers with low educational attainment and African American mothers. Several ambient air pollutants were associated with preterm birth; associations were observed in all exposure windows. Hao H, Chang HH, Holmes HA, Mulholland JA, Klein M, Darrow LA, Strickland MJ. 2016. Air pollution

Framework for assessing causality of air pollution-related health effects for reviews of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards.

PubMed

Owens, Elizabeth Oesterling; Patel, Molini M; Kirrane, Ellen; Long, Thomas C; Brown, James; Cote, Ila; Ross, Mary A; Dutton, Steven J

2017-08-01

To inform regulatory decisions on the risk due to exposure to ambient air pollution, consistent and transparent communication of the scientific evidence is essential. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) develops the Integrated Science Assessment (ISA), which contains evaluations of the policy-relevant science on the effects of criteria air pollutants and conveys critical science judgments to inform decisions on the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. This article discusses the approach and causal framework used in the ISAs to evaluate and integrate various lines of scientific evidence and draw conclusions about the causal nature of air pollution-induced health effects. The framework has been applied to diverse pollutants and cancer and noncancer effects. To demonstrate its flexibility, we provide examples of causality judgments on relationships between health effects and pollutant exposures, drawing from recent ISAs for ozone, lead, carbon monoxide, and oxides of nitrogen. U.S. EPA's causal framework has increased transparency by establishing a structured process for evaluating and integrating various lines of evidence and uniform approach for determining causality. The framework brings consistency and specificity to the conclusions in the ISA, and the flexibility of the framework makes it relevant for evaluations of evidence across media and health effects. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Economic damages of ozone air pollution to crops using combined air quality and GIS modelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vlachokostas, Ch.; Nastis, S. A.; Achillas, Ch.; Kalogeropoulos, K.; Karmiris, I.; Moussiopoulos, N.; Chourdakis, E.; Banias, G.; Limperi, N.

2010-09-01

This study aims at presenting a combined air quality and GIS modelling methodological approach in order to estimate crop damages from photochemical air pollution, depict their spatial resolution and assess the order of magnitude regarding the corresponding economic damages. The analysis is conducted within the Greater Thessaloniki Area, Greece, a Mediterranean territory which is characterised by high levels of photochemical air pollution and considerable agricultural activity. Ozone concentration fields for 2002 and for specific emission reduction scenarios for the year 2010 were estimated with the Ozone Fine Structure model in the area under consideration. Total economic damage to crops turns out to be significant and estimated to be approximately 43 M€ for the reference year. Production of cotton presents the highest economic loss, which is over 16 M€, followed by table tomato (9 M€), rice (4.2 M€), wheat (4 M€) and oilseed rape (2.8 M€) cultivations. Losses are not spread uniformly among farmers and the major losses occur in areas with valuable ozone-sensitive crops. The results are very useful for highlighting the magnitude of the total economic impacts of photochemical air pollution to the area's agricultural sector and can potentially be used for comparison with studies worldwide. Furthermore, spatial analysis of the economic damage could be of importance for governmental authorities and decision makers since it provides an indicative insight, especially if the economic instruments such as financial incentives or state subsidies to farmers are considered.

Controlling Urban Air Pollution: A Benefit-Cost Assessment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Krupnick, Alan J.; Portney, Paul R.

1991-01-01

The pros and cons of air pollution control efforts are discussed. Both national and regional air pollution control plans are described. Topics of discussion include benefit-cost analysis, air quality regulation, reducing ozone in the urban areas, the Los Angeles plan, uncertainties, and policy implications. (KR)

Air Pollution Episodes Associated with Prescribed Burns

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hart, M.; Di Virgilio, G.; Jiang, N.

2017-12-01

Air pollution events associated with wildfires have been associated with extreme health impacts. Prescribed burns are an important tool to reduce the severity of wildfires. However, if undertaken during unfavourable meteorological conditions, they too have the capacity to trigger extreme air pollution events. The Australian state of New South Wales has increased the annual average area treated by prescribed burn activities by 45%, in order to limit wildfire activity. Prescribed burns need to be undertaken during meteorological conditions that allow the fuel load to burn, while still allowing the burn to remain under control. These conditions are similar to those that inhibit atmospheric dispersion, resulting in a fine balance between managing fire risk and managing ambient air pollution. During prescribed burns, the Sydney air shed can experience elevated particulate matter concentrations, especially fine particulates (PM2.5) that occasionally exceed national air quality standards. Using pollutant and meteorological data from sixteen monitoring stations in Sydney we used generalized additive model and CART analyses to profile the meteorological conditions influencing air quality during planned burns. The insights gained from this study will help improve prescribed burn scheduling in order to reduce the pollution risk to the community, while allowing fire agencies to conduct this important work.

The effects of transboundary air pollution following major events in China on air quality in the U.S.: Evidence from Chinese New Year and sandstorms.

PubMed

Ngo, N S; Zhong, N; Bao, X

2018-04-15

Transboundary air pollution is a global environmental and public health problem including in the U.S., where pollution emissions from China, the largest emitter of anthropogenic air pollution in the world, can travel across the Pacific Ocean and reach places like California and Oregon. We examine the effects of transboundary air pollution following major events in China, specifically sandstorms, a natural-occurring source of air pollution, and Chinese New Year, a major 7-day holiday, on background air quality in the U.S. We focus on high elevation sites on the west coast between 2000 and 2013. We use regression analysis and a natural experiment to exploit the variation in the timing of these events in China, which are plausibly uncorrelated to other factors that affect air quality in China and the U.S. We find that sandstorms are associated with statistically significant increases in background coarse and fine particulate matter (PM) in the U.S., representing between 16 and 39% of average weekly PM levels. We also find Chinese New Year is associated with modest reductions in background air quality in the U.S., representing between 0.4 and 2.5% of PM levels. Findings are robust to different models and falsification tests. These results suggest that regression analysis could be a powerful tool to complement other, more widely used techniques in the environmental sciences that study this problem. This also has important implications for policymakers, who could track major sandstorms in China and prepare for possible increased foreign pollution emissions in the U.S. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hybrid Air Quality Modeling Approach for use in the Hear-road Exposures to Urban air pollutant Study(NEXUS)

EPA Science Inventory

The paper presents a hybrid air quality modeling approach and its application in NEXUS in order to provide spatial and temporally varying exposure estimates and identification of the mobile source contribution to the total pollutant exposure. Model-based exposure metrics, associa...

Ozone - Current Air Quality Index

MedlinePlus

GO! Local Air Quality Conditions Zip Code: State : My Current Location Current AQI Forecast AQI Loop More Maps AQI: Good (0 - 50) ... resources for Hawaii residents and visitors more announcements Air Quality Basics Air Quality Index | Ozone | Particle Pollution | Smoke ...

Air quality management in China: issues, challenges, and options.

PubMed

Wang, Shuxiao; Hao, Jiming

2012-01-01

This article analyzed the control progress and current status of air quality, identified the major air pollution issues and challenges in future, proposed the long-term air pollution control targets, and suggested the options for better air quality in China. With the continuing growth of economy in the next 10-15 years, China will face a more severe situation of energy consumption, electricity generation and vehicle population leading to increase in multiple pollutant emissions. Controlling regional air pollution especially fine particles and ozone, as well as lowering carbon emissions from fossil fuel consumption will be a big challenge for the country. To protect public health and the eco-system, the ambient air quality in all Chinese cities shall attain the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) and ambient air quality guideline values set by the World Health Organization (WHO). To achieve the air quality targets, the emissions of SO2, NOx, PM10, and volatile organic compounds (VOC) should decrease by 60%, 40%, 50%, and 40%, respectively, on the basis of that in 2005. A comprehensive control policy focusing on multiple pollutants and emission sources at both the local and regional levels was proposed to mitigate the regional air pollution issue in China. The options include development of clean energy resources, promotion of clean and efficient coal use, enhancement of vehicle pollution control, implementation of synchronous control of multiple pollutants including SO2, NOx, VOC, and PM emissions, joint prevention and control of regional air pollution, and application of climate friendly air pollution control measures.

EVALUATION OF THE REAL-TIME AIR-QUALITY MODEL USING THE RAPS (REGIONAL AIR POLLUTION STUDY) DATA BASE. VOLUME 4. EVALUATION GUIDE

EPA Science Inventory

The theory and programming of statistical tests for evaluating the Real-Time Air-Quality Model (RAM) using the Regional Air Pollution Study (RAPS) data base are fully documented in four volumes. Moreover, the tests are generally applicable to other model evaluation problems. Volu...

Impacts of the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution on air quality in Europe.

PubMed

Bull, Keith; Johansson, Matti; Krzyzanowski, Michal

2008-01-01

The Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution has been one of the main ways of protecting the environment in Europe from air pollution. This convention has successfully bridged different political systems even through times of political change, and is a prime example of what can be achieved through intergovernmental cooperation. Through creating an effective framework for controlling and reducing the damage to human health and the environment from transboundary air pollution, this convention has proved successful. This article considers the development of the convention and its work on adverse air pollution effects, in particular on activities related to quantifying effects on human health as carried out by the convention's joint (with WHO) Task Force on the Health Effects of Air Pollution (Task Force on Health), and concludes with some indications of the convention's future priorities.

Air Pollution and Preterm Birth in the U.S. State of Georgia (2002–2006): Associations with Concentrations of 11 Ambient Air Pollutants Estimated by Combining Community Multiscale Air Quality Model (CMAQ) Simulations with Stationary Monitor Measurements

PubMed Central

Hao, Hua; Chang, Howard H.; Holmes, Heather A.; Mulholland, James A.; Klein, Mitch; Darrow, Lyndsey A.; Strickland, Matthew J.

2015-01-01

Background: Previous epidemiologic studies suggest associations between preterm birth and ambient air pollution. Objective: We investigated associations between 11 ambient air pollutants, estimated by combining Community Multiscale Air Quality model (CMAQ) simulations with measurements from stationary monitors, and risk of preterm birth (< 37 weeks of gestation) in the U.S. state of Georgia. Methods: Birth records for singleton births ≥ 27 weeks of gestation with complete covariate information and estimated dates of conception between 1 January 2002 and 28 February 2006 were obtained from the Office of Health Indicators for Planning, Georgia Department of Public Health (n = 511,658 births). Daily pollutant concentrations at 12-km resolution were estimated for 11 ambient air pollutants. We used logistic regression with county-level fixed effects to estimate associations between preterm birth and average pollutant concentrations during the first and second trimester. Discrete-time survival models were used to estimate third-trimester and total pregnancy associations. Effect modification was investigated by maternal education, race, census tract poverty level, and county-level urbanicity. Results: Trimester-specific and total pregnancy associations (p < 0.05) were observed for several pollutants. All the traffic-related pollutants (carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, PM2.5 elemental carbon) were associated with preterm birth [e.g., odds ratios for interquartile range increases in carbon monoxide during the first, second, and third trimesters and total pregnancy were 1.005 (95% CI: 1.001, 1.009), 1.007 (95% CI: 1.002, 1.011), 1.010 (95% CI: 1.006, 1.014), and 1.011 (95% CI: 1.006, 1.017)]. Associations tended to be higher for mothers with low educational attainment and African American mothers. Conclusion: Several ambient air pollutants were associated with preterm birth; associations were observed in all exposure windows. Citation: Hao H, Chang HH, Holmes HA

Health effects of outdoor air pollution

PubMed Central

Abelsohn, Alan; Stieb, Dave M.

2011-01-01

Abstract Objective To inform family physicians about the health effects of air pollution and to provide an approach to counseling vulnerable patients in order to reduce exposure. Sources of information MEDLINE was searched using terms relevant to air pollution and its adverse effects. We reviewed English-language articles published from January 2008 to December 2009. Most studies provided level II evidence. Main message Outdoor air pollution causes substantial morbidity and mortality in Canada. It can affect both the respiratory system (exacerbating asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and the cardiovascular system (triggering arrhythmias, cardiac failure, and stroke). The Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) is a new communication tool developed by Health Canada and Environment Canada that indicates the level of health risk from air pollution on a scale of 1 to 10. The AQHI is widely reported in the media, and the tool might be of use to family physicians in counseling high-risk patients (such as those with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or cardiac failure) to reduce exposure to outdoor air pollution. Conclusion Family physicians can use the AQHI and its health messages to teach patients with asthma and other high-risk patients how to reduce health risks from air pollution. PMID:21841106

Air pollution in China: Status and spatiotemporal variations.

PubMed

Song, Congbo; Wu, Lin; Xie, Yaochen; He, Jianjun; Chen, Xi; Wang, Ting; Lin, Yingchao; Jin, Taosheng; Wang, Anxu; Liu, Yan; Dai, Qili; Liu, Baoshuang; Wang, Ya-Nan; Mao, Hongjun

2017-08-01

In recent years, China has experienced severe and persistent air pollution associated with rapid urbanization and climate change. Three years' time series (January 2014 to December 2016) concentrations data of air pollutants including particulate matter (PM 2.5 and PM 10 ) and gaseous pollutants (SO 2 , NO 2 , CO, and O 3 ) from over 1300 national air quality monitoring sites were studied to understand the severity of China's air pollution. In 2014 (2015, 2016), annual population-weighted-average (PWA) values in China were 65.8 (55.0, 50.7) μg m -3 for PM 2.5 , 107.8 (91.1, 85.7) μg m -3 for PM 10 , 54.8 (56.2, 57.2) μg m -3 for O 3 _8 h, 39.6 (33.3, 33.4) μg m -3 for NO 2 , 34.1 (26, 21.9) μg m -3 for SO 2 , 1.2 (1.1, 1.1) mg m -3 for CO, and 0.60 (0.59, 0.58) for PM 2.5 /PM 10 , respectively. In 2014 (2015, 2016), 7% (14%, 19%), 17% (27%, 34%), 51% (67%, 70%) and 88% (97%, 98%) of the population in China lived in areas that meet the level of annual PM 2.5 , PM 10 , NO 2 , and SO 2 standard metrics from Chinese Ambient Air Quality Standards-Grade II. The annual PWA concentrations of PM 2.5 , PM 10 , O 3 _8 h, NO 2 , SO 2 , CO in the Northern China are about 40.4%, 58.9%, 5.9%, 24.6%, 96.7%, and 38.1% higher than those in Southern China, respectively. Though the air quality has been improving recent years, PM 2.5 pollution in wintertime is worsening, especially in the Northern China. The complex air pollution caused by PM and O 3 (the third frequent major pollutant) is an emerging problem that threatens the public health, especially in Chinese mega-city clusters. NOx controls were more beneficial than SO 2 controls for improvement of annual PM air quality in the northern China, central, and southwest regions. Future epidemiologic studies are urgently required to estimate the health impacts associated with multi-pollutants exposure, and revise more scientific air quality index standards. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Air pollution: worldwide effects on mountain forests

Treesearch

Anne M. Rosenthal; Andrzej Featured: Bytnerowicz

2004-01-01

Widespread forest decline in remote areas of the Carpathian Mountains has been linked to air pollution from urban and industrial regions. Besides injuring plant tissues directly, pollutants may deposit to soils and water, drastically changing susceptible ecosystems. Researcher Andrzej Bytnerowicz has developed effective methods for assessing air quality over wildlands...

[Study on emission standard system of air pollutants].

PubMed

Jiang, Mei; Zhang, Guo-Ning; Zhang, Ming-Hui; Zou, Lan; Wei, Yu-Xia; Ren, Chun

2012-12-01

Scientific and reasonable emission standard system of air pollutants helps to systematically control air pollution, enhance the protection of the atmospheric environment effect and improve the overall atmospheric environment quality. Based on the study of development, situation and characteristics of national air pollutants emission standard system, the deficiencies of system were pointed out, which were not supportive, harmonious and perfect, and the improvement measures of emission standard system were suggested.

Uncertainty in exposure to air pollution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pebesma, Edzer; Helle, Kristina; Christoph, Stasch; Rasouli, Soora; Timmermans, Harry; Walker, Sam-Erik; Denby, Bruce

2013-04-01

To assess exposure to air pollution for a person or for a group of people, one needs to know where the person or group is as a function of time, and what the air pollution is at these times and locations. In this study we used the Albatross activity-based model to assess the whereabouts of people and the uncertainties in this, and a probabilistic air quality system based on TAPM/EPISODE to assess air quality probabilistically. The outcomes of the two models were combined to assess exposure to air pollution, and the errors in it. We used the area around Rotterdam (Netherlands) as a case study. As the outcomes of both models come as Monte Carlo realizations, it was relatively easy to cancel one of the sources of uncertainty (movement of persons, air pollution) in order to identify their respective contributions, and also to compare evaluations for individuals with averages for a population of persons. As the output is probabilistic, and in addition spatially and temporally varying, the visual analysis of the complete results poses some challenges. This case study was one of the test cases in the UncertWeb project, which has built concepts and tools to realize the uncertainty-enabled model web. Some of the tools and protocols will be shown and evaluated in this presentation. For the uncertainty of exposure, the uncertainty of air quality was more important than the uncertainty of peoples locations. This difference was stronger for PM10 than for NO2. The workflow was implemented as generic Web services in UncertWeb that also allow for other inputs than the simulated activity schedules and air quality with other resolution. However, due to this flexibility, the Web services require standardized formats and the overlay algorithm is not optimized for the specific use case resulting in a data and processing overhead. Hence, we implemented the full analysis in parallel in R, for this specific case as the model web solution had difficulties with massive data.

Air Pollution.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gilpin, Alan

A summary of one of our most pressing environmental problems, air pollution, is offered in this book by the Director of Air Pollution Control for the Queensland (Australia) State Government. Discussion of the subject is not restricted to Queensland or Australian problems and policies, however, but includes analysis of air pollution the world over.…

Controlling Air Pollution; A Primer on Stationary Source Control Techniques.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Corman, Rena

This companion document to "Air Pollution Primer" is written for the nonexpert in air pollution; however, it does assume a familiarity with air pollution problems. This work is oriented toward providing the reader with knowledge about current and proposed air quality legislation and knowledge about available technology to meet these standards for…

THE PITTSBURGH AIR POLLUTION EPISODE OF NOVEMBER 17-21 1975: AIR QUALITY

EPA Science Inventory

In November 1975 a serious air stagnation problem developed over Western Pennsylvania, with extremely heavy air pollution in the Pittsburgh area. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Health Effects Research Laboratory (HERL) mobilized a team of air monitoring and epidemiolo...

A review of AirQ Models and their applications for forecasting the air pollution health outcomes.

PubMed

Oliveri Conti, Gea; Heibati, Behzad; Kloog, Itai; Fiore, Maria; Ferrante, Margherita

2017-03-01

Even though clean air is considered as a basic requirement for the maintenance of human health, air pollution continues to pose a significant health threat in developed and developing countries alike. Monitoring and modeling of classic and emerging pollutants is vital to our knowledge of health outcomes in exposed subjects and to our ability to predict them. The ability to anticipate and manage changes in atmospheric pollutant concentrations relies on an accurate representation of the chemical state of the atmosphere. The task of providing the best possible analysis of air pollution thus requires efficient computational tools enabling efficient integration of observational data into models. A number of air quality models have been developed and play an important role in air quality management. Even though a large number of air quality models have been discussed or applied, their heterogeneity makes it difficult to select one approach above the others. This paper provides a brief review on air quality models with respect to several aspects such as prediction of health effects.

Air Quality Modeling

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

In this technical support document (TSD) EPA describes the air quality modeling performed to support the Environmental Protection Agency’s Transport Rule proposal (now known as the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule).

The link between symptoms of office building occupants and in-office air pollution: the Indoor Air Pollution Index.

PubMed

Sofuoglu, S C; Moschandreas, D J

2003-12-01

The lack of an effective indoor air quality (IAQ) metric causes communication concerns among building tenants (the public), building managers (decision-makers), and IAQ investigators (engineers). The Indoor Air Pollution Index (IAPI) is developed for office buildings to bridge this communication discord. The index, simple and easily understood, employs the range of pollutant concentrations and concentrations in the subject building to estimate a unitless single number, the IAPI, between 0 (lowest pollution level and best IAQ) and ten (highest pollution level and worst IAQ). The index provides a relative measure of indoor air pollution for office buildings and ranks office indoor air pollution relative to the index distribution of the US office building population. Furthermore, the index associates well with occupant symptoms, percentage of occupants with persistent symptoms. A tree-structured method is utilized in conjunction with the arithmetic mean as the aggregation function. The hierarchical structure of the method renders not only one index value, but also several sub-index values that are critical in the study of an office air environment. The use of the IAPI for IAQ management is illustrated with an example. The decomposition of the index leads to the ranking of sampled pollutants by their relative contribution to the index and the identification of dominant pollutant(s). This information can be applied to design an effective strategy for reducing in-office air pollution.

The public health relevance of air pollution abatement.

PubMed

Künzli, N

2002-07-01

Assuming a causal relationship between current levels of air pollution and morbidity/mortality, it is crucial to estimate the public health relevance of the problem. The derivation of air pollution attributable cases faces inherent uncertainties and requires influential assumptions. Based on the results of the trinational impact assessment study of Austria, France, and Switzerland, where prudent estimates of the air pollution attributable cases (mortality, chronic bronchitis incidence, hospital admissions, acute bronchitis among children, restricted activity days, asthma attacks) have been made, influential uncertainties are quantified in this review. The public health impact of smoking, environmental tobacco smoke, and air pollution on the prevalence of chronic cough/phlegm are outlined. Despite all methodological caveats, impact assessment studies clearly suggest that public health largely benefits from better air quality. The studies are selective underestimates as they are strongly driven by mortality, but do not include full quantification of the impact on morbidity and their consequences on quality of life among the diseased and the caregivers. Air pollution abatement strategies are usually political in nature, targeting at polities, regulation and technology in mobile or stationary sources rather than at individuals. It is of note that key clean air strategies converge into abatement of climate change. In general, energy consumption is very closely related to both air pollution and greenhouse gases. The dominant causes of both problems are the excessive and inefficient combustion of fossil fuel. Thus, for many policy options, the benefit of air pollution abatement will go far beyond what prudent health-impact assessments may derive. From a climate change and air pollution perspective, improved energy efficiency and a strong and decisive departure from the "fossil fuel" combustion society is a science-based must. Health professionals must raise their voices

Using Social Media to Detect Outdoor Air Pollution and Monitor Air Quality Index (AQI): A Geo-Targeted Spatiotemporal Analysis Framework with Sina Weibo (Chinese Twitter).

PubMed

Jiang, Wei; Wang, Yandong; Tsou, Ming-Hsiang; Fu, Xiaokang

2015-01-01

Outdoor air pollution is a serious problem in many developing countries today. This study focuses on monitoring the dynamic changes of air quality effectively in large cities by analyzing the spatiotemporal trends in geo-targeted social media messages with comprehensive big data filtering procedures. We introduce a new social media analytic framework to (1) investigate the relationship between air pollution topics posted in Sina Weibo (Chinese Twitter) and the daily Air Quality Index (AQI) published by China's Ministry of Environmental Protection; and (2) monitor the dynamics of air quality index by using social media messages. Correlation analysis was used to compare the connections between discussion trends in social media messages and the temporal changes in the AQI during 2012. We categorized relevant messages into three types, retweets, mobile app messages, and original individual messages finding that original individual messages had the highest correlation to the Air Quality Index. Based on this correlation analysis, individual messages were used to monitor the AQI in 2013. Our study indicates that the filtered social media messages are strongly correlated to the AQI and can be used to monitor the air quality dynamics to some extent.

Using Social Media to Detect Outdoor Air Pollution and Monitor Air Quality Index (AQI): A Geo-Targeted Spatiotemporal Analysis Framework with Sina Weibo (Chinese Twitter)

PubMed Central

Tsou, Ming-Hsiang; Fu, Xiaokang

2015-01-01

Outdoor air pollution is a serious problem in many developing countries today. This study focuses on monitoring the dynamic changes of air quality effectively in large cities by analyzing the spatiotemporal trends in geo-targeted social media messages with comprehensive big data filtering procedures. We introduce a new social media analytic framework to (1) investigate the relationship between air pollution topics posted in Sina Weibo (Chinese Twitter) and the daily Air Quality Index (AQI) published by China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection; and (2) monitor the dynamics of air quality index by using social media messages. Correlation analysis was used to compare the connections between discussion trends in social media messages and the temporal changes in the AQI during 2012. We categorized relevant messages into three types, retweets, mobile app messages, and original individual messages finding that original individual messages had the highest correlation to the Air Quality Index. Based on this correlation analysis, individual messages were used to monitor the AQI in 2013. Our study indicates that the filtered social media messages are strongly correlated to the AQI and can be used to monitor the air quality dynamics to some extent. PMID:26505756

Mobile Air Monitoring Data Processing Strategies and Effects on Spatial Air Pollution Trends

EPA Science Inventory

The collection of real-time air quality measurements while in motion (i.e., mobile monitoring) is currently conducted worldwide to evaluate in situ emissions, local air quality trends, and air pollutant exposure. This measurement strategy pushes the limits of traditional data an...

Indoor Air Pollution (Environmental Health Student Portal)

MedlinePlus

... on how indoor and outdoor air pollution affects human health. Healthy Air at Home (American Lung Association) - Resources ... and the environment, and the potential risks to human health. Experiments and Projects Air Quality (PDF, 981.40 ...

Health Effects of Ambient Air Pollution in Developing Countries.

PubMed

Mannucci, Pier Mannuccio; Franchini, Massimo

2017-09-12

The deleterious effects of ambient air pollution on human health have been consistently documented by many epidemiologic studies worldwide, and it has been calculated that globally at least seven million deaths are annually attributable to the effects of air pollution. The major air pollutants emitted into the atmosphere by a number of natural processes and human activities include nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, and particulate matter. In addition to the poor ambient air quality, there is increasing evidence that indoor air pollution also poses a serious threat to human health, especially in low-income countries that still use biomass fuels as an energy resource. This review summarizes the current knowledge on ambient air pollution in financially deprived populations.

Air Pollution.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fox, Donald L.

1989-01-01

Materials related to air pollution are reviewed for the period January 1987, to October 1988. The topics are pollution monitoring, air pollution, and environmental chemistry. The organization consists of two major analytical divisions: (1) gaseous methods; and (2) aerosol and particulate methods. (MVL)

Air pollution and chronic airway diseases: what should people know and do?

PubMed

Jiang, Xu-Qin; Mei, Xiao-Dong; Feng, Di

2016-01-01

The health effects of air pollution remain a public health concern worldwide. Exposure to air pollution has many substantial adverse effects on human health. Globally, seven million deaths were attributable to the joint effects of household and ambient air pollution. Subjects with chronic respiratory diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma are especially vulnerable to the detrimental effects of air pollutants. Air pollution can induce the acute exacerbation of COPD and onset of asthma, increase the respiratory morbidity and mortality. The health effects of air pollution depend on the components and sources of pollutants, which varied with countries, seasons, and times. Combustion of solid fuels is a major source of air pollutants in developing countries. To reduce the detrimental effects of air pollution, people especially those with COPD or asthma should be aware of the air quality and take extra measures such as reducing the time outdoor and wearing masks when necessary. For reducing the air pollutants indoor, people should use clean fuels and improve the stoves so as to burn fuel more efficiently and vent emissions to the outside. Air cleaners that can improve the air quality efficiently are recommended.

Air pollution and chronic airway diseases: what should people know and do?

PubMed Central

Jiang, Xu-Qin; Feng, Di

2016-01-01

The health effects of air pollution remain a public health concern worldwide. Exposure to air pollution has many substantial adverse effects on human health. Globally, seven million deaths were attributable to the joint effects of household and ambient air pollution. Subjects with chronic respiratory diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma are especially vulnerable to the detrimental effects of air pollutants. Air pollution can induce the acute exacerbation of COPD and onset of asthma, increase the respiratory morbidity and mortality. The health effects of air pollution depend on the components and sources of pollutants, which varied with countries, seasons, and times. Combustion of solid fuels is a major source of air pollutants in developing countries. To reduce the detrimental effects of air pollution, people especially those with COPD or asthma should be aware of the air quality and take extra measures such as reducing the time outdoor and wearing masks when necessary. For reducing the air pollutants indoor, people should use clean fuels and improve the stoves so as to burn fuel more efficiently and vent emissions to the outside. Air cleaners that can improve the air quality efficiently are recommended. PMID:26904251

EVALUATION OF THE REAL-TIME AIR-QUALITY MODEL USING THE RAPS (REGIONAL AIR POLLUTION STUDY) DATA BASE. VOLUME 3. PROGRAM USER'S GUIDE

EPA Science Inventory

The theory and programming of statistical tests for evaluating the Real-Time Air-Quality Model (RAM) using the Regional Air Pollution Study (RAPS) data base are fully documented in four volumes. Moreover, the tests are generally applicable to other model evaluation problems. Volu...

Ships, ports and particulate air pollution - an analysis of recent studies

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

The duration of use is usually significantly longer for marine vessels than for roadside vehicles. Therefore, these vessels are often powered by relatively old engines which may propagate air pollution. Also, the quality of fuel used for marine vessels is usually not comparable to the quality of fuels used in the automotive sector and therefore, port areas may exhibit a high degree of air pollution. In contrast to the multitude of studies that addressed outdoor air pollution due to road traffic, only little is known about ship-related air pollution. Therefore the present article aims to summarize recent studies that address air pollution, i.e. particulate matter exposure, due to marine vessels. It can be stated that the data in this area of research is still largely limited. Especially, knowledge on the different air pollutions in different sea areas is needed. PMID:22141925

Air Quality Management Process Cycle

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Air quality management are activities a regulatory authority undertakes to protect human health and the environment from the harmful effects of air pollution. The process of managing air quality can be illustrated as a cycle of inter-related elements.

[Study on air quality and pollution meteorology conditions of Guangzhou during the 2010 Asian games].

PubMed

Li, Ting-Yuan; Deng, Xue-Jiao; Fan, Shao-Jia; Wu, Dui; Li, Fei; Deng, Tao; Tan, Hao-Bo; Jiang, De-Hai

2012-09-01

Based on the monitoring data of NO2, O3, SO2, PM, visibility, regional air quality index (RAQI) and the atmospheric transport and diffusion data from Nov. 4, 2010 to Dec. 10, 2010 in Guangzhou area, the variations of air quality and meteorological conditions during the Guangzhou Asian Games were analyzed. It was found that, during the Asian Games, the air quality was better than the air quality before or after the Asian Games. The visibility was greater than the visibility before or after the Asian Games, while the concentrations of PM1 and PM2.5 were lower. The correlation coefficient between visibility and the concentrations of PM1, PM2.5 indicated anti-correlation relationships. Daily and hourly concentrations of NO2 and SO2 met the primary ambient air quality standards, whereas the daily concentration of PM10 and hourly concentration of O3 met the secondary ambient air quality standards. Pollutants had been well controlled during the Asian Games. The concentration of SO2 in Guangzhou was influenced by local sources and long distance transmission, while the concentration of NO2 was significantly influenced by local sources. The emissions of NO2, SO2 and PM10 surrounding Guangzhou had a trend to affect the concentrations in Guangzhou, but the situation of O3 was opposite, the relatively high concentration of O3 in Guangzhou had tendency to be transported to the surrounding areas. The pollution meteorology conditions in the period of Asian Games were better than the conditions before or after the Asian Games. The decrease in the concentrations during the Asian Games did not only benefit from the emission control by the government, but also from the good meteorological conditions.

Health effects associated with exposure to ambient air pollution.

PubMed

Samet, Jonathan; Krewski, Daniel

2007-02-01

The World Health Organization has identified ambient air pollution as a high public health priority, based on estimates of air pollution related death and disability-adjusted life years derived in its Global Burden of Disease initiative. The NERAM Colloquium Series on Health and Air Quality was initiated to strengthen the linkage between scientists, policymakers, and other stakeholders by reviewing the current state of science, identifying policy-relevant gaps and uncertainties in the scientific evidence, and proposing a path forward for research and policy to improve air quality and public health. The objective of this paper is to review the current state of science addressing the impacts of air pollution on human health. The paper is one of four background papers prepared for the 2003 NERAM/AirNet Conference on Strategies for Clean Air and Health, the third meeting in the international Colloquium Series. The review is based on the framework and findings of the U.S. National Research Committee (NRC) on Research Priorities for Airborne Particulate Matter and addresses key questions underlying air quality risk management policy decisions.

Effect of Using an Indoor Air Quality Sensor on Perceptions of and Behaviors Toward Air Pollution (Pittsburgh Empowerment Library Study): Online Survey and Interviews

PubMed Central

Dias, M Beatrice; Taylor, Michael

2018-01-01

Background Air quality affects us all and is a rapidly growing concern in the 21st century. We spend the majority of our lives indoors and can be exposed to a number of pollutants smaller than 2.5 microns (particulate matter, PM2.5) resulting in detrimental health effects. Indoor air quality sensors have the potential to provide people with the information they need to understand their risk and take steps to reduce their exposure. One such sensor is the Speck sensor developed at the Community Robotics, Education and Technology Empowerment Lab at Carnegie Mellon University. This sensor provides users with continuous real-time and historical PM2.5 information, a Web-based platform where people can track their PM2.5 levels over time and learn about ways to reduce their exposure, and a venue (blog post) for the user community to exchange information. Little is known about how the use of such monitors affects people’s knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors with respect to indoor air pollution. Objective The aim of this study was to assess whether using the sensor changes what people know and do about indoor air pollution. Methods We conducted 2 studies. In the first study, we recruited 276 Pittsburgh residents online and through local branches of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, where the Speck sensor was made available by the researchers in the library catalog. Participants completed a 10- to 15-min survey on air pollution knowledge (its health impact, sources, and mitigation options), perceptions of indoor air quality, confidence in mitigation, current behaviors toward air quality, and personal empowerment and creativity in the spring and summer of 2016. In our second study, we surveyed 26 Pittsburgh residents in summer 2016 who checked out the Speck sensor for 3 weeks on the same measures assessed in the first study, with additional questions about the perception and use of the sensor. Follow-up interviews were conducted with a subset of those who used the Speck

Highway Air Pollution Dispersion Modeling : Preliminary Evaluation of Thirteen Models

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1978-06-01

Thirteen highway air pollution dispersion models have been tested, using a portion of the Airedale air quality data base. The Transportation Air Pollution Studies (TAPS) System, a data base management system specifically designed for evaluating dispe...

Highway Air Pollution Dispersion Modeling : Preliminary Evaluation of Thirteen Models

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1977-01-01

Thirteen highway air pollution dispersion models have been tested, using a portion of the Airedale air quality data base. The Transportation Air Pollution Studies (TAPS) System, a data base management system specifically designed for evaluating dispe...

Air Quality Modeling of Traffic-related Air Pollutants for the NEXUS Study

EPA Science Inventory

The paper presents the results of the model applications to estimate exposure metrics in support of an epidemiologic study in Detroit, Michigan. A major challenge in traffic-related air pollution exposure studies is the lack of information regarding pollutant exposure characteriz...

Air pollution forecasting in Ankara, Turkey using air pollution index and its relation to assimilative capacity of the atmosphere.

PubMed

Genc, D Deniz; Yesilyurt, Canan; Tuncel, Gurdal

2010-07-01

Spatial and temporal variations in concentrations of CO, NO, NO(2), SO(2), and PM(10), measured between 1999 and 2000, at traffic-impacted and residential stations in Ankara were investigated. Air quality in residential areas was found to be influenced by traffic activities in the city. Pollutant ratios were proven to be reliable tracers to differentiate between different sources. Air pollution index (API) of the whole city was calculated to evaluate the level of air quality in Ankara. Multiple linear regression model was developed for forecasting API in Ankara. The correlation coefficients were found to be 0.79 and 0.63 for different time periods. The assimilative capacity of Ankara atmosphere was calculated in terms of ventilation coefficient (VC). The relation between API and VC was investigated and found that the air quality in Ankara was determined by meteorology rather than emissions.

Indoor Air Quality Manual.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baldwin Union Free School District, NY.

This manual identifies ways to improve a school's indoor air quality (IAQ) and discusses practical actions that can be carried out by school staff in managing air quality. The manual includes discussions of the many sources contributing to school indoor air pollution and the preventive planning for each including renovation and repair work,…

Investigating air quality status and air pollutant trends over the Metropolitan Area of Tehran, Iran over the past decade between 2005 and 2014.

PubMed

Jamaati, Hamidreza; Attarchi, Mirsaeed; Hassani, Somayeh; Farid, Elham; Seyedmehdi, Mohammad; Salimi Pormehr, Pegah

2018-06-03

Studies on the trend of air pollution in Tehran as one of the most polluted metropolis in the world are scant, and today Tehran is known for its high levels of air pollution. In this study, the trend of air pollution concentration was evaluated over the past 10 years (2004-2015). The data were collected from 22 stations of the Air Quality Control Company. Daily concentrations of CO, NO2, SO2, O3, PM10 were analyzed using SPSS 16 based on the statistical method, repeated measures, and intra-group test to determine the pattern of each pollutant changes. As a result of the 22 air pollution monitoring stations, NO2 and SO2 concentrations have been increasing over the period of 10 years. The highest anomaly is related to SO2. The CO concentrations represent a descending pattern over the period, although there was a slight increase in 2013 and 2014. The ozone concentrations declined in the following years. The average concentration of PM10 has been rising during the period. Also we evaluated changes of each pollutant in different months and calculated the number of clean, healthy, unhealthy days for sensitive, unhealthy, very unhealthy, and dangerous groups. The study findings illustrated the necessity for larger investment in air pollution abatement. Over ally, trends have been progressed to worsening, the number of healthy days has been declined and the number of unhealthy days has been increased in recent years.

CityAir app: Mapping air-quality perception using people as sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Castell, Nuria; Fredriksen, Mirjam; Cole-Hunter, Thomas; Robinson, Johanna; Keune, Hans; Nieuwenhuijsen, Mark; Bartonova, Alena

2016-04-01

Outdoor air pollution is a major environmental health problem affecting all people in developed and developing countries alike. Ambient (outdoor) air pollution in both cities and rural areas was estimated to cause 3.7 million premature deaths worldwide in 2012. In modern society, people are expending an increasing amount of time in polluted urban environments, thus increasing their exposure and associated health responses. Some cities provide information about air pollution levels to their citizens using air quality monitoring networks. However, due to their high cost and maintenance, the density of the monitoring networks is very low and not capable to capture the high temporal and spatial variability of air pollution. Thus, the citizen lacks a specific answer to the question of "how the air quality is in our surroundings". In the framework of the EU-funded CITI-SENSE project the innovative concept of People as Sensors is being applied to the field of outdoor air pollution. This is being done in eight European cities, including Barcelona, Belgrade, Edinburgh, Haifa, Ljubljana, Oslo, Ostrava and Vienna. People as Sensors defines a measurement model, in which measurements are not only taken by hardware sensors, but in which also humans can contribute with their individual "measurements" such as their subjective perception of air quality and other personal observations. In order to collect the personal observations a mobile app, CityAir, has been developed. CityAir allows citizens to rate the air quality in their surroundings with colour at their current location: green if air quality is very good, yellow if air quality is good, orange if air quality is poor and red if air quality is very poor. The users have also the possibility of indicating the source of pollution (i.e. traffic, industry, wood burning) and writing a comment. The information is on-line and accessible for other app users, thus contributing to create an air-quality map based on citizens' perception

Evaluating impacts of air pollution in China on public health: Implications for future air pollution and energy policies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Xiaoping; Mauzerall, Denise L.

Our objective is to establish the link between energy consumption and technologies, air pollution concentrations, and resulting impacts on public health in eastern China. We use Zaozhuang, a city in eastern China heavily dependent on coal, as a case study to quantify the impacts that air pollution in eastern China had on public health in 2000 and the benefits in improved air quality and health that could be obtained by 2020, relative to business-as-usual (BAU), through the implementation of best available emission control technology (BACT) and advanced coal gasification technologies (ACGT). We use an integrated assessment approach, utilizing state-of-the-science air quality and meteorological models, engineering, epidemiology, and economics, to achieve this objective. We find that total health damages due to year 2000 anthropogenic emissions from Zaozhuang, using the "willingness-to-pay" metric, was equivalent to 10% of Zaozhuang's GDP. If all health damages resulting from coal use were internalized in the market price of coal, the year 2000 price would have more than tripled. With no new air pollution controls implemented between 2000 and 2020 but with projected increases in energy use, we estimate health damages from air pollution exposure to be equivalent to 16% of Zaozhuang's projected 2020 GDP. BACT and ACGT (with only 24% penetration in Zaozhuang and providing 2% of energy needs in three surrounding municipalities) could reduce the potential health damage of air pollution in 2020 to 13% and 8% of projected GDP, respectively. Benefits to public health, of substantial monetary value, can be achieved through the use of BACT; health benefits from the use of ACGT could be even larger. Despite significant uncertainty associated with each element of the integrated assessment approach, we demonstrate that substantial benefits to public health could be achieved in this region of eastern China through the use of additional pollution controls and particularly from the

Air pollution interventions and their impact on public health.

PubMed

Henschel, Susann; Atkinson, Richard; Zeka, Ariana; Le Tertre, Alain; Analitis, Antonis; Katsouyanni, Klea; Chanel, Olivier; Pascal, Mathilde; Forsberg, Bertil; Medina, Sylvia; Goodman, Patrick G

2012-10-01

Numerous epidemiological studies have found a link between air pollution and health. We are reviewing a collection of published intervention studies with particular focus on studies assessing both improvements in air quality and associated health effects. Interventions, defined as events aimed at reducing air pollution or where reductions occurred as a side effect, e.g. strikes, German reunification, from the 1960s onwards were considered for inclusion. This review is not a complete record of all existing air pollution interventions. In total, 28 studies published in English were selected based on a systematic search of internet databases. Overall air pollution interventions have succeeded at improving air quality. Consistently published evidence suggests that most of these interventions have been associated with health benefits, mainly by the way of reduced cardiovascular and/or respiratory mortality and/or morbidity. The decrease in mortality from the majority of the reviewed interventions has been estimated to exceed the expected predicted figures based on the estimates from time-series studies. There is consistent evidence that decreased air pollution levels following an intervention resulted in health benefits for the assessed population.

The state of ambient air quality in Pakistan--a review.

PubMed

Colbeck, Ian; Nasir, Zaheer Ahmad; Ali, Zulfiqar

2010-01-01

Pakistan, during the last decade, has seen an extensive escalation in population growth, urbanization, and industrialization, together with a great increase in motorization and energy use. As a result, a substantial rise has taken place in the types and number of emission sources of various air pollutants. However, due to the lack of air quality management capabilities, the country is suffering from deterioration of air quality. Evidence from various governmental organizations and international bodies has indicated that air pollution is a significant risk to the environment, quality of life, and health of the population. The Government has taken positive steps toward air quality management in the form of the Pakistan Clean Air Program and has recently established a small number of continuous monitoring stations. However, ambient air quality standards have not yet been established. This paper reviews the data being available on the criteria air pollutants: particulate matter (PM), sulfur dioxide, ozone, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and lead. Air pollution studies in Pakistan published in both scientific journals and by the Government have been reviewed and the reported concentrations of PM, SO(2), O(3), CO, NO(2), and Pb collated. A comparison of the levels of these air pollutants with the World Health Organization air quality guidelines was carried out. Particulate matter was the most serious air pollutant in the country. NO(2) has emerged as the second high-risk pollutant. The reported levels of PM, SO(2), CO, NO(2), and Pb were many times higher than the World Health Organization air quality guidelines. Only O(3) concentrations were below the guidelines. The current state of air quality calls for immediate action to tackle the poor air quality. The establishment of ambient air quality standards, an extension of the continuous monitoring sites, and the development of emission control strategies are essential.

The Covariance between Air Pollution Annoyance and Noise Annoyance, and Its Relationship with Health-Related Quality of Life.

PubMed

Shepherd, Daniel; Dirks, Kim; Welch, David; McBride, David; Landon, Jason

2016-08-06

Air pollution originating from road traffic is a known risk factor of respiratory and cardiovascular disease (both in terms of chronic and acute effects). While adverse effects on cardiovascular health have also been linked with noise (after controlling for air pollution), noise exposure has been commonly linked to sleep impairment and negative emotional reactions. Health is multi-faceted, both conceptually and operationally; Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) is one of many measures capable of probing health. In this study, we examine pre-collected data from postal surveys probing HRQOL obtained from a variety of urban, suburban, and rural contexts across the North Island of New Zealand. Analyses focus on the covariance between air pollution annoyance and noise annoyances, and their independent and combined effects on HRQOL. Results indicate that the highest ratings of air pollution annoyance and noise annoyances were for residents living close to the motorway, while the lowest were for rural residents. Most of the city samples indicated no significant difference between air pollution- and noise-annoyance ratings, and of all of the correlations between air pollution- and noise-annoyance, the highest were found in the city samples. These findings suggest that annoyance is driven by exposure to environmental factors and not personality characteristics. Analysis of HRQOL indicated that air pollution annoyance predicts greater variability in the physical HRQOL domain while noise annoyance predicts greater variability in the psychological, social and environmental domains. The lack of an interaction effect between air pollution annoyance and noise annoyance suggests that air pollution and noise impact on health independently. These results echo those obtained from objective measures of health and suggest that mitigation of traffic effects should address both air and noise pollution.

The Covariance between Air Pollution Annoyance and Noise Annoyance, and Its Relationship with Health-Related Quality of Life

PubMed Central

Shepherd, Daniel; Dirks, Kim; Welch, David; McBride, David; Landon, Jason

2016-01-01

Air pollution originating from road traffic is a known risk factor of respiratory and cardiovascular disease (both in terms of chronic and acute effects). While adverse effects on cardiovascular health have also been linked with noise (after controlling for air pollution), noise exposure has been commonly linked to sleep impairment and negative emotional reactions. Health is multi-faceted, both conceptually and operationally; Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) is one of many measures capable of probing health. In this study, we examine pre-collected data from postal surveys probing HRQOL obtained from a variety of urban, suburban, and rural contexts across the North Island of New Zealand. Analyses focus on the covariance between air pollution annoyance and noise annoyances, and their independent and combined effects on HRQOL. Results indicate that the highest ratings of air pollution annoyance and noise annoyances were for residents living close to the motorway, while the lowest were for rural residents. Most of the city samples indicated no significant difference between air pollution- and noise-annoyance ratings, and of all of the correlations between air pollution- and noise-annoyance, the highest were found in the city samples. These findings suggest that annoyance is driven by exposure to environmental factors and not personality characteristics. Analysis of HRQOL indicated that air pollution annoyance predicts greater variability in the physical HRQOL domain while noise annoyance predicts greater variability in the psychological, social and environmental domains. The lack of an interaction effect between air pollution annoyance and noise annoyance suggests that air pollution and noise impact on health independently. These results echo those obtained from objective measures of health and suggest that mitigation of traffic effects should address both air and noise pollution. PMID:27509512

Health Effects of Ambient Air Pollution in Developing Countries

PubMed Central

Mannucci, Pier Mannuccio; Franchini, Massimo

2017-01-01

The deleterious effects of ambient air pollution on human health have been consistently documented by many epidemiologic studies worldwide, and it has been calculated that globally at least seven million deaths are annually attributable to the effects of air pollution. The major air pollutants emitted into the atmosphere by a number of natural processes and human activities include nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, and particulate matter. In addition to the poor ambient air quality, there is increasing evidence that indoor air pollution also poses a serious threat to human health, especially in low-income countries that still use biomass fuels as an energy resource. This review summarizes the current knowledge on ambient air pollution in financially deprived populations. PMID:28895888

The development of effects-based air quality management regimes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Longhurst, J. W. S.; Irwin, J. G.; Chatterton, T. J.; Hayes, E. T.; Leksmono, N. S.; Symons, J. K.

This paper considers the evolution of attempts to control and manage air pollution, principally but not exclusively focussing upon the challenge of managing air pollution in urban environments. The development and implementation of a range of air pollution control measures are considered. Initially the measures implemented primarily addressed point sources, a small number of fuel types and a limited number of pollutants. The adequacy of such a source-control approach is assessed within the context of a changing and challenging air pollution climate. An assessment of air quality management in the United Kingdom over a 50-year timeframe exemplifies the range of issues and challenges in contemporary air quality management. The need for new approaches is explored and the development and implementation of an effects-based, risk management system for air quality regulation is evaluated.

Parent's Guide to School Indoor Air Quality. Revised

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Healthy Schools Network, Inc., 2012

2012-01-01

Air pollution is air pollution, indoors or out. Good indoor air quality (IAQ) contributes to a favorable learning environment for students, protects health, and supports the productivity of school personnel. In schools in poor repair, leaky roofs and crumbling walls have caused additional indoor air quality problems, including contamination with…

Global Air Quality and Climate

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fiore, Arlene M.; Naik, Vaishali; Steiner, Allison; Unger, Nadine; Bergmann, Dan; Prather, Michael; Righi, Mattia; Rumbold, Steven T.; Shindell, Drew T.; Skeie, Ragnhild B.;

Global air quality and climate.

PubMed

Fiore, Arlene M; Naik, Vaishali; Spracklen, Dominick V; Steiner, Allison; Unger, Nadine; Prather, Michael; Bergmann, Dan; Cameron-Smith, Philip J; Cionni, Irene; Collins, William J; Dalsøren, Stig; Eyring, Veronika; Folberth, Gerd A; Ginoux, Paul; Horowitz, Larry W; Josse, Béatrice; Lamarque, Jean-François; MacKenzie, Ian A; Nagashima, Tatsuya; O'Connor, Fiona M; Righi, Mattia; Rumbold, Steven T; Shindell, Drew T; Skeie, Ragnhild B; Sudo, Kengo; Szopa, Sophie; Takemura, Toshihiko; Zeng, Guang

2012-10-07

Emissions of air pollutants and their precursors determine regional air quality and can alter climate. Climate change can perturb the long-range transport, chemical processing, and local meteorology that influence air pollution. We review the implications of projected changes in methane (CH(4)), ozone precursors (O(3)), and aerosols for climate (expressed in terms of the radiative forcing metric or changes in global surface temperature) and hemispheric-to-continental scale air quality. Reducing the O(3) precursor CH(4) would slow near-term warming by decreasing both CH(4) and tropospheric O(3). Uncertainty remains as to the net climate forcing from anthropogenic nitrogen oxide (NO(x)) emissions, which increase tropospheric O(3) (warming) but also increase aerosols and decrease CH(4) (both cooling). Anthropogenic emissions of carbon monoxide (CO) and non-CH(4) volatile organic compounds (NMVOC) warm by increasing both O(3) and CH(4). Radiative impacts from secondary organic aerosols (SOA) are poorly understood. Black carbon emission controls, by reducing the absorption of sunlight in the atmosphere and on snow and ice, have the potential to slow near-term warming, but uncertainties in coincident emissions of reflective (cooling) aerosols and poorly constrained cloud indirect effects confound robust estimates of net climate impacts. Reducing sulfate and nitrate aerosols would improve air quality and lessen interference with the hydrologic cycle, but lead to warming. A holistic and balanced view is thus needed to assess how air pollution controls influence climate; a first step towards this goal involves estimating net climate impacts from individual emission sectors. Modeling and observational analyses suggest a warming climate degrades air quality (increasing surface O(3) and particulate matter) in many populated regions, including during pollution episodes. Prior Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) scenarios (SRES) allowed unconstrained growth, whereas

Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollutants: Issues, Progress, and Implications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keating, T.

2007-12-01

Once thought of as only a local or regional issue, air quality is now understood to be influenced by local, regional, hemispheric, and global phenomena. There is well-documented evidence from ground-, aircraft-, and satellite- based observations for the intercontinental transport of ozone, aerosols, mercury, and some persistent organic pollutants. Global and regional models have provided a range of estimates of the influence of emissions on one continent on concentrations and deposition levels on another continent. These estimates have been difficult to compare and the significance of this intercontinental influence for the design of air pollution control policies is not well understood. The Task Force on Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollutants organized under the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution is developing the first systematic assessment of intercontinental transport and hemispheric pollution in the Northern Hemisphere. This presentation by one of the co-chairs of the Task Force will explore the motivations behind the creation of the Task Force, review its progress, and discuss the implications of its work for the development of domestic and international air quality management policies.

Addition of PM2.5 into the National Ambient Air Quality Standards of China and the Contribution to Air Pollution Control: The Case Study of Wuhan, China

PubMed Central

You, Mingqing

2014-01-01

PM2.5 has gradually become a major environmental problem of China with its rapid economic development, urbanization, and increasing of motor vehicles. Findings and awareness of serious PM2.5 pollution make the PM2.5 a new criterion pollutant of the Chinese National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) revised in 2012. The 2012 NAAQS sets the PM2.5 concentrate limitation with the 24-hour average value and the annual mean value. Wuhan is quite typical among central and southern China in climate, economy, development level, and energy consumption. The data are cited from the official website of Wuhan Environmental Protection Bureau and cover the period from 1 January to 30 June 2013. The data definitely confirm the existence of serious PM2.5 pollution in Wuhan and indicate that the addition of PM2.5 as a criterion pollutant significantly brings down the attainment rate of air quality. The example of Wuhan reveals that local governments should take measures to reduce the emission of PM2.5 if it affects the attainment rate and the performance evaluation value of air quality. The main contribution of 2012 NAAQS is that it brings down the attainment rate of the air quality and forces local governmental officials to take the measures accordingly. PMID:24982994

75 FR 24406 - Revisions to the California State Implementation Plan, Placer County Air Pollution Control...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-05

... Metropolitan Air Quality Management District, San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District, and South Coast Air Quality Management District AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION... Air Pollution Control District (PCAPCD), Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District...

Source Emissions in Multipollutant Air Quality Management

EPA Science Inventory

Human activities and natural processes that emit pollutants into the ambient atmosphere are the underlying cause of all air quality problems. In a technical sense, we refer to these activities and processes as pollutant sources. Although air quality management is usually concerne...

Impact of air pollution on fertility: a systematic review.

PubMed

Frutos, Víctor; González-Comadrán, Mireia; Solà, Ivan; Jacquemin, Benedicte; Carreras, Ramón; Checa Vizcaíno, Miguel A

2015-01-01

Air pollution has gained considerable interest because of the multiple adverse effects reported on human health, although its impact on fertility remains unclear. A systematic search was performed to evaluate the impact of air pollutants on fertility. Controlled trials and observational studies assessing animal model and epidemiological model were included. Occupational exposure and semen quality studies were not considered. Outcomes of interest included live birth, miscarriage, clinical pregnancy, implantation, and embryo quality. Ten studies were included and divided into two groups: animal studies and human epidemiological studies including the general population as well as women undergoing in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF/ET). Results from this systematic review suggest a significant impact of air pollution on miscarriage and clinical pregnancy rates in the general population, whereas among subfertile patients certain air pollutants seem to exert a greater impact on fertility outcomes, including miscarriage and live birth rates. Besides, studies in mammals observed a clear detrimental effect on fertility outcomes associated to air pollutants at high concentration. The lack of prospective studies evaluating the effect of air pollution exposure in terms of live birth constitutes an important limitation in this review. Thus, further studies are needed to confirm these findings.

Air pollution removal by urban forests in Canada and its effect on air quality and human health

Treesearch

David J. Nowak; Satoshi Hirabayashi; Marlene Doyle; Mark McGovern; Jon Pasher

2018-01-01

Urban trees perform a number of ecosystem services including air pollution removal, carbon sequestration, cooling air temperatures and providing aesthetic beauty to the urban landscape. Trees remove air pollution by intercepting particulate matter on plant surfaces and absorbing gaseous pollutants through the leaf stomata. Computer simulations with local environmental...

Modelled air pollution levels versus EC air quality legislation - results from high resolution simulation.

PubMed

Chervenkov, Hristo

2013-12-01

An appropriate method for evaluating the air quality of a certain area is to contrast the actual air pollution levels to the critical ones, prescribed in the legislative standards. The application of numerical simulation models for assessing the real air quality status is allowed by the legislation of the European Community (EC). This approach is preferable, especially when the area of interest is relatively big and/or the network of measurement stations is sparse, and the available observational data are scarce, respectively. Such method is very efficient for similar assessment studies due to continuous spatio-temporal coverage of the obtained results. In the study the values of the concentration of the harmful substances sulphur dioxide, (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), particulate matter - coarse (PM10) and fine (PM2.5) fraction, ozone (O3), carbon monoxide (CO) and ammonia (NH3) in the surface layer obtained from modelling simulations with resolution 10 km on hourly bases are taken to calculate the necessary statistical quantities which are used for comparison with the corresponding critical levels, prescribed in the EC directives. For part of them (PM2.5, CO and NH3) this is done for first time with such resolution. The computational grid covers Bulgaria entirely and some surrounding territories and the calculations are made for every year in the period 1991-2000. The averaged over the whole time slice results can be treated as representative for the air quality situation of the last decade of the former century.

Action for Environmental Quality. Standards and Enforcement for Air and Water Pollution Control.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for setting and enforcing environmental quality standards for the nation. With the Clean Air Act of 1970 (P.L. 91-604) and the Water Pollution Control Act of 1972 (P.L. 92-500), the first truly nationwide control programs were established. This booklet is designed to inform the public…

Effect of Using an Indoor Air Quality Sensor on Perceptions of and Behaviors Toward Air Pollution (Pittsburgh Empowerment Library Study): Online Survey and Interviews.

PubMed

Wong-Parodi, Gabrielle; Dias, M Beatrice; Taylor, Michael

2018-03-08

Air quality affects us all and is a rapidly growing concern in the 21st century. We spend the majority of our lives indoors and can be exposed to a number of pollutants smaller than 2.5 microns (particulate matter, PM 2.5 ) resulting in detrimental health effects. Indoor air quality sensors have the potential to provide people with the information they need to understand their risk and take steps to reduce their exposure. One such sensor is the Speck sensor developed at the Community Robotics, Education and Technology Empowerment Lab at Carnegie Mellon University. This sensor provides users with continuous real-time and historical PM 2.5 information, a Web-based platform where people can track their PM 2.5 levels over time and learn about ways to reduce their exposure, and a venue (blog post) for the user community to exchange information. Little is known about how the use of such monitors affects people's knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors with respect to indoor air pollution. The aim of this study was to assess whether using the sensor changes what people know and do about indoor air pollution. We conducted 2 studies. In the first study, we recruited 276 Pittsburgh residents online and through local branches of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, where the Speck sensor was made available by the researchers in the library catalog. Participants completed a 10- to 15-min survey on air pollution knowledge (its health impact, sources, and mitigation options), perceptions of indoor air quality, confidence in mitigation, current behaviors toward air quality, and personal empowerment and creativity in the spring and summer of 2016. In our second study, we surveyed 26 Pittsburgh residents in summer 2016 who checked out the Speck sensor for 3 weeks on the same measures assessed in the first study, with additional questions about the perception and use of the sensor. Follow-up interviews were conducted with a subset of those who used the Speck sensor. A series of paired t

Community Multiscale Air Quality Modeling System (CMAQ)

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

CMAQ is a computational tool used for air quality management. It models air pollutants including ozone, particulate matter and other air toxics to help determine optimum air quality management scenarios.

Outdoor air pollution and human infertility: a systematic review.

PubMed

Checa Vizcaíno, Miguel A; González-Comadran, Mireia; Jacquemin, Benedicte

2016-09-15

Air pollution is a current research priority because of its adverse effects on human health, including on fertility. However, the mechanisms through which air pollution impairs fertility remain unclear. In this article, we perform a systematic review to evaluate currently available evidence on the impact of air pollution on fertility in humans. Several studies have assessed the impact of air pollutants on the general population, and have found reduced fertility rates and increased risk of miscarriage. In subfertile patients, women exposed to higher concentrations of air pollutants while undergoing IVF showed lower live birth rates and higher rates of miscarriage. After exposure to similar levels of air pollutants, comparable results have been found regardless of the mode of conception (IVF versus spontaneous conception), suggesting that infertile women are not more susceptible to the effects of pollutants than the general population. In addition, previous studies have not observed impaired embryo quality after exposure to air pollution, although evidence for this question is sparse. Copyright © 2016 American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of Observation-Fused Regional Air Quality Model Results for Population Air Pollution Exposure Estimation

PubMed Central

Chen, Gang; Li, Jingyi; Ying, Qi; Sherman, Seth; Perkins, Neil; Rajeshwari, Sundaram; Mendola, Pauline

2014-01-01

In this study, Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model was applied to predict ambient gaseous and particulate concentrations during 2001 to 2010 in 15 hospital referral regions (HRRs) using a 36-km horizontal resolution domain. An inverse distance weighting based method was applied to produce exposure estimates based on observation-fused regional pollutant concentration fields using the differences between observations and predictions at grid cells where air quality monitors were located. Although the raw CMAQ model is capable of producing satisfying results for O3 and PM2.5 based on EPA guidelines, using the observation data fusing technique to correct CMAQ predictions leads to significant improvement of model performance for all gaseous and particulate pollutants. Regional average concentrations were calculated using five different methods: 1) inverse distance weighting of observation data alone, 2) raw CMAQ results, 3) observation-fused CMAQ results, 4) population-averaged raw CMAQ results and 5) population-averaged fused CMAQ results. It shows that while O3 (as well as NOx) monitoring networks in the HRR regions are dense enough to provide consistent regional average exposure estimation based on monitoring data alone, PM2.5 observation sites (as well as monitors for CO, SO2, PM10 and PM2.5 components) are usually sparse and the difference between the average concentrations estimated by the inverse distance interpolated observations, raw CMAQ and fused CMAQ results can be significantly different. Population-weighted average should be used to account spatial variation in pollutant concentration and population density. Using raw CMAQ results or observations alone might lead to significant biases in health outcome analyses. PMID:24747248

UNDERSTANDING THE EFFECTS OF AIR POLLUTION ON HUMAN HEALTH

EPA Science Inventory

Modern air pollution regulation is first and foremost motivated by concerns about the effects of air pollutants on human health and secondarily by concerns about its effects on ecosystems, cultural artifacts, and quality of life values such as visibility. This order of priority ...

Indoor Air Quality in Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Torres, Vincent M.

Asserting that the air quality inside schools is often worse than outdoor pollution, leading to various health complaints and loss of productivity, this paper details factors contributing to schools' indoor air quality. These include the design, operation, and maintenance of heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems; building…

Air pollution, avoidance behaviour and children's respiratory health: evidence from England.

PubMed

Janke, Katharina

2014-12-01

Despite progress in air pollution control, concerns remain over the health impact of poor air quality. Governments increasingly issue air quality information to enable vulnerable groups to avoid exposure. Avoidance behaviour potentially biases estimates of the health effects of air pollutants. But avoidance behaviour imposes a cost on individuals and therefore may not be taken in all circumstances. This paper exploits panel data at the English local authority level to estimate the relationship between children's daily hospital emergency admissions for respiratory diseases and common air pollutants, while allowing for avoidance behaviour in response to air pollution warnings. A 1% increase in nitrogen dioxide or ozone concentrations increases hospital admissions by 0.1%. For the subset of asthma admissions - where avoidance is less costly - there is evidence of avoidance behaviour. Ignoring avoidance behaviour, however, does not result in statistically significant underestimation of the health effect of air pollution. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Redox Toxicology of Ambient Air Pollution

EPA Science Inventory

Ambient air pollution is a leading global cause of morbidity and mortality. Millions of Americans live in areas in which levels of tropospheric ozone exceed air quality standards, while exposure to particulate matter (PM2.5) alone results in 3.2 million excess deaths annually wor...

SEMEN QUALITY AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH OF YOUNG CZECH MEN EXPOSED TO SEASONAL AIR POLLUTION

EPA Science Inventory

Semen quality and reproductive health of young Czech men exposed to seasonal air pollution.

Selevan SG, Borkovec L, Slott VL, Zudova Z, Rubes J, Evenson DP, Perreault SD.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC 20460, USA.

This study of male repr...

Regional air pollution at a turning point.

PubMed

Grennfelt, Peringe; Hov, Oystein

2005-02-01

The control of transboundary air pollution in Europe has been successful. Emissions of many key pollutants are decreasing and there are signs of improvements in damaged ecosystems. The strategies under development within the CAFE programme under the European Commission and the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP), aim to take regional air pollution control a large step further, in particular with respect to small particles. In this paper we highlight the new strategies but look primarily at socioeconomic trends and climate change feedbacks that may have a significant influence on the outcome of the strategies and which so far have not been considered. In particular, we point out the influence on air quality of increased summer temperatures in Europe and of increasing emissions including international shipping, outside of Europe. Taken together the further emissions reductions in Europe and the increasing background pollution, slowly cause a greying of the Northern Hemisphere troposphere rather than the traditional picture of dominant emissions in Europe and North America ('black') with much lower emission intensities elsewhere ('white'). A hemispheric approach to further combat air pollution will become necessary in Europe and elsewhere.

Temporal variability of air-pollutants over Abu Dhabi, UAE

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghedira, H.; Ben Romdhane, H.; Beegum S, N.

2013-12-01

Air quality, the measure of the concentrations of gaseous pollutants and size or number of particulate matter, is one of the most important problems worldwide and has strong implications on human health, ecosystems, as well as regional and global climate. The levels of air pollutants such as sulphur dioxide (SO2), particulate matters (PM10, PM2.5), Ozone (O3), Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Carbon monoxide (CO), etc. show an alarming increase in urban cities across the world and in many cases, the concentrations have grown well above the World Health Organization's guidelines for ambient air-quality standards. Here, we present the periodic fluctuations observed in the concentrations of air pollutants such as SO2, NO2, O3, CO, H2S, NMHC (Non methane Hydro Carbon) and VOC (volatile organic compounds) based on the measurements collected during the period 2008-2010 at Masdar City, Abu Dhabi (24.42oN, 54.61oE, 7m MSL). The measurements were carried out using an Air Quality Monitoring System (AQM60). All these pollutant species showed statistical periodic: diurnal, monthly, seasonal and annual variations. Diurnally, all the species, except ozone, depicted an afternoon low and nighttime/early morning high, attributed to the dynamics of the local atmospheric boundary layer. Whereas, an opposite pattern with daytime high and nighttime low was observed for O3, as the species is formed in the troposphere by catalytic photochemical reactions of NOx with CO, CH4 and other VOCs. Seasonally, the pollutants depicted higher values during summer and relatively lower values during winter, associated with changes in synoptic airmass types and/or removal processes. Concentrations of all the gaseous pollutants are within the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) throughout the year, whereas the PM10 often exceeded the limits, especially during dust storm episodes.

Air pollution and the heart : cardiovascular effects and mechanisms.

PubMed

Barclay, Justin; Hillis, Graham; Ayres, Jon

2005-01-01

There has been increasing awareness in recent years of the adverse cardiovascular effects of ambient air pollution. The recent publication of a statement from the Expert Panel on Population and Prevention Science of the American Heart Association has highlighted this issue. It has been appreciated for several decades that major pollution episodes, such as that associated with the London Fog of 1952, are responsible for increased numbers of deaths and most of these are due to cardiorespiratory causes. Realisation of this prompted government and environmental health initiatives to reduce emissions through establishing air quality standards. Previously, the major sources of air pollution were related to domestic coal burning and industry. However, the pattern of emissions in modern developed countries has changed, resulting in a pollution mixture of different composition to that on which early air quality standards were based. Even current 'lower' levels of air pollution have been shown consistently to be associated with adverse health effects. Over the past two decades, a wealth of epidemiological studies have considered both long- and short-term health effects of air pollution. Although the relative risk of respiratory disease in relation to air pollution exposure seems to be higher than that of cardiovascular disease, the latter are of greater absolute significance in population terms. A number of hypotheses have been proposed in order to explain the observed associations, and recent research efforts have focused on examining the mechanisms underlying the effects. It is suggested that certain subgroups of the population such as the elderly or those with pre-existing cardiorespiratory disease may be more susceptible to the effects of air pollution, and analysis of survival data from cohort studies supports this observation.

Air quality during the 2008 Beijing Olympics: secondary pollutants and regional impact

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, T.; Nie, W.; Gao, J.; Xue, L. K.; Gao, X. M.; Wang, X. F.; Qiu, J.; Poon, C. N.; Meinardi, S.; Blake, D.; Ding, A. J.; Chai, F. H.; Zhang, Q. Z.; Wang, W. X.

2010-05-01

This paper presents the first results of the atmospheric measurements of trace gases and aerosols at three surface sites in and around Beijing before and during the 2008 Olympics. We focus on secondary pollutants including ozone, fine sulfate and nitrate, and the contribution of regional sources in summer 2008. The results reveal different responses of secondary pollutants to the control measures from primary pollutants. Ambient concentrations of vehicle-related nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) at an urban site dropped by 25% and 20-45% in the first two weeks after full control was put in place, but the levels of ozone, sulfate and nitrate in PM2.5 increased by 16%, 64%, 37%, respectively, compared to the period prior to the full control; wind data and back trajectories indicated the contribution of regional pollution from the North China Plain. Air quality (for both primary and secondary pollutants) improved significantly during the Games, which were also associated with the changes in weather conditions (prolonged rainfall, decreased temperature, and more frequent air masses from clean regions). A comparison of the ozone data at three sites on eight ozone-pollution days, when the air masses were from the southeast-south-southwest sector, showed that regional pollution sources contributed 34%-88% to the peak ozone concentrations in urban Beijing. Ozone production efficiencies at two sites were low (~3 ppbv/ppbv), indicating that ozone formation was being controlled by VOCs. Compared with data collected in 2005 at a downwind site, the concentrations of ozone, sulfur dioxide (SO2), total sulfur (SO2+PM2.5 sulfate), carbon monoxide (CO), reactive aromatics (toluene and xylenes) sharply decreased (by 8-64%) in 2008, but no significant changes were observed for the concentrations of PM2.5, fine sulfate, total odd reactive nitrogen (NOy), and longer lived alkanes and benzene. We suggest that these results indicate the success of the government

Urban Form, Air Pollution, and Health.

PubMed

Hankey, Steve; Marshall, Julian D

2017-12-01

Urban form can impact air pollution and public health. We reviewed health-related articles that assessed (1) the relationships among urban form, air pollution, and health as well as (2) aspects of the urban environment (i.e., green space, noise, physical activity) that may modify those relationships. Simulation and empirical studies demonstrate an association between compact growth, improved regional air quality, and health. Most studies are cross-sectional and focus on connections between transportation emissions and land use. The physical and mental health impacts of green space, public spaces that promote physical activity, and noise are well-studied aspects of the urban environment and there is evidence that these factors may modify the relationship between air pollution and health. Urban form can support efforts to design clean, health-promoting cities. More work is needed to operationalize specific strategies and to elucidate the causal pathways connecting various aspects of health.

Air pollution in India and related adverse respiratory health effects: past, present, and future directions.

PubMed

Khilnani, Gopi C; Tiwari, Pawan

2018-03-01

The review describes current status of air pollution in India, summarizes recent research on adverse health effects of ambient and household air pollution, and outlines the ongoing efforts and future actions required to improve air quality and reduce morbidity and mortality because of air pollution in India. Global burden of disease data analysis reveals more than one million premature deaths attributable to ambient air pollution in 2015 in India. More than one million additional deaths can be attributed to household air pollution. Particulate matter with diameter 2.5 μm or less has been causatively linked with most premature deaths. Acute respiratory tract infections, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, exacerbations of preexisting obstructive airway disease and lung cancer are proven adverse respiratory effects of air pollution. Targeting air quality standards laid by WHO can significantly reduce morbidity and mortality because of air pollution in India. India is currently exposed to high levels of ambient and household air pollutants. Respiratory adverse effects of air pollution are significant contributors to morbidity and premature mortality in India. Substantial efforts are being made at legislative, administrative, and community levels to improve air quality. However, much more needs to be done to change the 'status quo' and attain the target air quality standards. VIDEO ABSTRACT: http://links.lww.com/COPM/A24.

Methods for Environments and Contaminants: Hazardous Air Pollutants

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

EPA’s Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards estimated census tract annual average outdoor concentrations of 181i hazardous air pollutants, also known as air toxics, as part of EPA’s National Air Toxics Assessment (NATA) for the calendar year 2005.

Probe into Gaseous Pollution and Assessment of Air Quality Benefit under Sector Dependent Emission Control Strategies over Megacities in Yangtze River Delta, China

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dong, Xinyi; Gao, Yang; Fu, Joshua S.

On February 29th 2012, China published its new National Ambient Air Quality Standard (CH-NAAQS) aiming at revising the standards and measurements for both gaseous pollutants including ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and sulfur dioxide (SO2), and also particle pollutants including PM10 and PM2.5. In order to understand the air pollution status regarding this new standard, the integrated MM5/CMAQ modeling system was applied over Yangtze River Delta (YRD) within this study to examine the criteria gaseous pollutants listed in the new CH-NAAQS. Sensitivity simulations were also conducted to assess the responses of gaseous pollutants under 8 different sector-dependent emission reduction scenariosmore » in order to evaluate the potential control strategies. 2006 was selected as the simulation year in order to review the air quality condition at the beginning of China’s 11th Five-Year-Plan (FYP, from 2006 to 2010), and also compared with air quality status in 2010 as the end of 11th FYP to probe into the effectiveness of the national emission control efforts. Base case simulation showed distinct seasonal variation for gaseous pollutants: SO2, and NO2 were found to have higher surface concentrations in winter while O3 was found to have higher concentrations in spring and summer than other seasons. According to the analyses focused on 3 megacities within YRD, Shanghai, Nanjing, and Hangzhou, we found different air quality conditions among the cities: NO2 was the primary pollutant that having the largest number of days exceeding the CH-NAAQS daily standard (80 μg/m3) in Shanghai (59 days) and Nanjing (27 days); SO2 was the primary pollutant with maximum number of days exceeding daily air quality standard (150 μg/m3) in Hangzhou (28 days), while O3 exceeding the daily maximum 8-hour standard (160 μg/m3) for relatively fewer days in all the three cities (9 days in Shanghai, 14 days in Nanjing, and 11 days in Hangzhou). Simulation results from predefined potential

Urban Air Quality Modelling with AURORA: Prague and Bratislava

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Veldeman, N.; Viaene, P.; De Ridder, K.; Peelaerts, W.; Lauwaet, D.; Muhammad, N.; Blyth, L.

2012-04-01

The European Commission, in its strategy to protect the health of the European citizens, states that in order to assess the impact of air pollution on public health, information on long-term exposure to air pollution should be available. Currently, indicators of air quality are often being generated using measured pollutant concentrations. While air quality monitoring stations data provide accurate time series information at specific locations, air quality models have the advantage of being able to assess the spatial variability of air quality (for different resolutions) and predict air quality in the future based on different scenarios. When running such air quality models at a high spatial and temporal resolution, one can simulate the actual situation as closely as possible, allowing for a detailed assessment of the risk of exposure to citizens from different pollutants. AURORA (Air quality modelling in Urban Regions using an Optimal Resolution Approach), a prognostic 3-dimensional Eulerian chemistry-transport model, is designed to simulate urban- to regional-scale atmospheric pollutant concentration and exposure fields. The AURORA model also allows to calculate the impact of changes in land use (e.g. planting of trees) or of emission reduction scenario's on air quality. AURORA is currently being applied within the ESA atmospheric GMES service, PASODOBLE (http://www.myair-eu.org), that delivers information on air quality, greenhouse gases, stratospheric ozone, … At present there are two operational AURORA services within PASODOBLE. Within the "Air quality forecast service" VITO delivers daily air quality forecasts for Belgium at a resolution of 5 km and for the major Belgian cities: Brussels, Ghent, Antwerp, Liege and Charleroi. Furthermore forecast services are provided for Prague, Czech Republic and Bratislava, Slovakia, both at a resolution of 1 km. The "Urban/regional air quality assessment service" provides urban- and regional-scale maps (hourly resolution

Colorado Air Quality Control Regulations and Ambient Air Quality Standards.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Colorado State Dept. of Health, Denver. Div. of Air Pollution Control.

Regulations and standards relative to air quality control in Colorado are defined in this publication. Presented first are definitions of terms, a statement of intent, and general provisions applicable to all emission control regulations adopted by the Colorado Air Pollution Control Commission. Following this, three regulations are enumerated: (1)…

Air Pollution Affects Community Health

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shy, Carl M.; Finklea, John F.

1973-01-01

Community Health and Environmental Surveillance System (CHESS), a nationwide program relating community health to environmental quality, is designed to evaluate existing environmental standards, obtain health intelligence for new standards, and document health benefits of air pollution control. (BL)

Impact of ambient air pollution on obesity: a systematic review.

PubMed

An, Ruopeng; Ji, Mengmeng; Yan, Hai; Guan, Chenghua

2018-05-24

Over 80% of the global populations living in urban areas are exposed to air quality levels that exceed the World Health Organization limits. Air pollution may lead to unhealthy body weight through metabolic dysfunction, chronic disease onset, and disruption of regular physical activity. A literature search was conducted in the PubMed and Web of Science for peer-reviewed articles published until September 2017 that assessed the relationship between air pollution and body weight status. A standardized data extraction form was used to collect methodological and outcome variables from each eligible study. Sixteen studies met the selection criteria and were included in the review. They were conducted in seven countries, including the US (n = 9), China (n = 2), Canada (n = 1), Italy (n = 1), The Netherlands (n = 1), Serbia (n = 1), and South Korea (n = 1). Half of them adopted a longitudinal study design, and the rest adopted a cross-sectional study design. Commonly examined air pollutants included PM, NO 2 , SO 2 , O 3 , and overall air quality index. Among a total of 66 reported associations between air pollution and body weight status, 29 (44%) found air pollution to be positively associated with body weight, 29 (44%) reported a null finding, and the remaining eight (12%) found air pollution to be negatively associated with body weight. The reported associations between air pollution and body weight status varied by sex, age group, and type of air pollutant. Three pathways hypothesized in the selected studies were through increased oxidative stress and adipose tissue inflammation, elevated risk for chronic comorbidities, and insufficient physical activity. Concurrent evidence regarding the impact of air pollution on body weight status remains mixed. Future studies should assess the impact of severe air pollution on obesity in developing countries, focus on a homogenous population subgroup, and elucidate the biomedical and psychosocial

Indoor air pollution: Acute adverse health effects and host susceptibility

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zummo, S.M.; Karol, M.H.

1996-01-01

Increased awareness of the poor quality of indoor air compared with outdoor air has resulted in a significant amount of research on the adverse health effects and mechanisms of action of indoor air pollutants. Common indoor air agents are identified, along with resultant adverse health effects, mechanisms of action, and likely susceptible populations. Indoor air pollutants range from biological agents (such as dust mites) to chemical irritants (such as nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, formaldehyde, and isocyanates). These agents may exert their effects through allergic as well as nonallergic mechanisms. While the public does not generally perceive poor indoormore » air quality as a significant health risk, increasing reports of illness related to indoor air and an expanding base of knowledge on the health effects of indoor air pollution are likely to continue pushing the issue to the forefront.« less

High-Resolution Air Pollution Mapping with Google Street View Cars: Exploiting Big Data.

PubMed

Apte, Joshua S; Messier, Kyle P; Gani, Shahzad; Brauer, Michael; Kirchstetter, Thomas W; Lunden, Melissa M; Marshall, Julian D; Portier, Christopher J; Vermeulen, Roel C H; Hamburg, Steven P

2017-06-20

Air pollution affects billions of people worldwide, yet ambient pollution measurements are limited for much of the world. Urban air pollution concentrations vary sharply over short distances (≪1 km) owing to unevenly distributed emission sources, dilution, and physicochemical transformations. Accordingly, even where present, conventional fixed-site pollution monitoring methods lack the spatial resolution needed to characterize heterogeneous human exposures and localized pollution hotspots. Here, we demonstrate a measurement approach to reveal urban air pollution patterns at 4-5 orders of magnitude greater spatial precision than possible with current central-site ambient monitoring. We equipped Google Street View vehicles with a fast-response pollution measurement platform and repeatedly sampled every street in a 30-km 2 area of Oakland, CA, developing the largest urban air quality data set of its type. Resulting maps of annual daytime NO, NO 2 , and black carbon at 30 m-scale reveal stable, persistent pollution patterns with surprisingly sharp small-scale variability attributable to local sources, up to 5-8× within individual city blocks. Since local variation in air quality profoundly impacts public health and environmental equity, our results have important implications for how air pollution is measured and managed. If validated elsewhere, this readily scalable measurement approach could address major air quality data gaps worldwide.

Air pollution and health in Sri Lanka: a review of epidemiologic studies.

PubMed

Nandasena, Yatagama Lokuge S; Wickremasinghe, Ananda R; Sathiakumar, Nalini

2010-06-02

Air pollution is increasingly documented as a threat to public health in most developing countries. Evaluation of current air quality levels, regulatory standards and scientific literature on outdoor and indoor air pollution, and health effects are important to identify the burden, develop and implement interventions and to fill knowledge gaps in Sri Lanka. PUBMED and Medline databases, local journals and conference proceedings were searched for epidemiologic studies pertaining to air pollution and health effects in Sri Lanka. All the studies pertaining to air pollution and health effects were considered. Sixteen studies investigated the association between exposure to ambient or indoor air pollution (IAP) and various health outcomes ranging from respiratory symptoms, low birth weight and lung cancers. Of the sixteen, three used a case control design. Half of the studies collected exposure data only through questionnaires. There were positive associations between air pollution and adverse health effects in all studies. Methodological limitations in most of the studies resulted in poor quantification of risk estimates. A limited number of epidemiological studies in Sri Lanka have investigated the health effects of air pollution. Based on findings of studies and reported air quality levels, air pollution may be considered a neglected public health problem in Sri Lanka.

Optimum Installation of Sorptive Building Materials Using Contribution Ratio of Pollution Source for Improvement of Indoor Air Quality.

PubMed

Park, Seonghyun; Seo, Janghoo

2016-04-01

Reinforcing the insulation and airtightness of buildings and the use of building materials containing new chemical substances have caused indoor air quality problems. Use of sorptive building materials along with removal of pollutants, constant ventilation, bake-out, etc. are gaining attention in Korea and Japan as methods for improving such indoor air quality problems. On the other hand, sorptive building materials are considered a passive method of reducing the concentration of pollutants, and their application should be reviewed in the early stages. Thus, in this research, activated carbon was prepared as a sorptive building material. Then, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was conducted, and a method for optimal installation of sorptive building materials was derived according to the indoor environment using the contribution ratio of pollution source (CRP) index. The results show that a method for optimal installation of sorptive building materials can be derived by predicting the contribution ratio of pollutant sources according to the CRP index.

Using geo-targeted social media data to detect outdoor air pollution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, W.; Wang, Y.; Tsou, M. H.; Fu, X.

2016-06-01

Outdoor air pollution has become a more and more serious issue over recent years (He, 2014). Urban air quality is measured at air monitoring stations. Building air monitoring stations requires land, incurs costs and entails skilled technicians to maintain a station. Many countries do not have any monitoring stations and even lack any means to monitor air quality. Recent years, the social media could be used to monitor air quality dynamically (Wang, 2015; Mei, 2014). However, no studies have investigated the inter-correlations between real-space and cyberspace by examining variation in micro-blogging behaviors relative to changes in daily air quality. Thus, existing methods of monitoring AQI using micro-blogging data shows a high degree of error between real AQI and air quality as inferred from social media messages. In this paper, we introduce a new geo-targeted social media analytic method to (1) investigate the dynamic relationship between air pollution-related posts on Sina Weibo and daily AQI values; (2) apply Gradient Tree Boosting, a machine learning method, to monitor the dynamics of AQI using filtered social media messages. Our results expose the spatiotemporal relationships between social media messages and real-world environmental changes as well suggesting new ways to monitor air pollution using social media.

Impacts of stove use patterns and outdoor air quality on household air pollution and cardiovascular mortality in southwestern China.

PubMed

Snider, Graydon; Carter, Ellison; Clark, Sierra; Tseng, Joy Tzu Wei; Yang, Xudong; Ezzati, Majid; Schauer, James J; Wiedinmyer, Christine; Baumgartner, Jill

2018-05-04

Decades of intervention programs that replaced traditional biomass stoves with cleaner-burning technologies have failed to meet the World Health Organization (WHO) interim indoor air quality target of 35-μg m -3 for PM 2.5 . Many attribute these results to continued use of biomass stoves and poor outdoor air quality, though the relative impacts of these factors have not been empirically quantified. We measured 496 days of real-time stove use concurrently with outdoor and indoor air pollution (PM 2.5 ) in 150 rural households in Sichuan, China. The impacts of stove use patterns and outdoor air quality on indoor PM 2.5 were quantified. We also estimated the potential avoided cardiovascular mortality in southwestern China associated with transition from traditional to clean fuel stoves using established exposure-response relationships. Mean daily indoor PM 2.5 was highest in homes using both wood and clean fuel stoves (122 μg m -3 ), followed by exclusive use of wood stoves (106 μg m -3 ) and clean fuel stoves (semi-gasifiers: 65 μg m -3 ; gas or electric: 55 μg m -3 ). Wood stoves emitted proportionally higher indoor PM 2.5 during ignition, and longer stove use was not associated with higher indoor PM 2.5 . Only 24% of days with exclusive use of clean fuel stoves met the WHO indoor air quality target, though this fraction rose to 73% after subtracting the outdoor PM 2.5 contribution. Reduced PM 2.5 exposure through exclusive use of gas or electric stoves was estimated to prevent 48,000 yearly premature deaths in southwestern China, with greater reductions if local outdoor PM 2.5 is also reduced. Clean stove and fuel interventions are not likely to reduce indoor PM 2.5 to the WHO target unless their use is exclusive and outdoor air pollution is sufficiently low, but may still offer some cardiovascular benefits. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

The impact of European legislative and technology measures to reduce air pollutants on air quality, human health and climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turnock, S. T.; Butt, E. W.; Richardson, T. B.; Mann, G. W.; Reddington, C. L.; Forster, P. M.; Haywood, J.; Crippa, M.; Janssens-Maenhout, G.; Johnson, C. E.; Bellouin, N.; Carslaw, K. S.; Spracklen, D. V.

2016-02-01

European air quality legislation has reduced emissions of air pollutants across Europe since the 1970s, affecting air quality, human health and regional climate. We used a coupled composition-climate model to simulate the impacts of European air quality legislation and technology measures implemented between 1970 and 2010. We contrast simulations using two emission scenarios; one with actual emissions in 2010 and the other with emissions that would have occurred in 2010 in the absence of technological improvements and end-of-pipe treatment measures in the energy, industrial and road transport sectors. European emissions of sulphur dioxide, black carbon (BC) and organic carbon in 2010 are 53%, 59% and 32% lower respectively compared to emissions that would have occurred in 2010 in the absence of legislative and technology measures. These emission reductions decreased simulated European annual mean concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) by 35%, sulphate by 44%, BC by 56% and particulate organic matter by 23%. The reduction in PM2.5 concentrations is calculated to have prevented 80 000 (37 000-116 000, at 95% confidence intervals) premature deaths annually across the European Union, resulting in a perceived financial benefit to society of US232 billion annually (1.4% of 2010 EU GDP). The reduction in aerosol concentrations due to legislative and technology measures caused a positive change in the aerosol radiative effect at the top of atmosphere, reduced atmospheric absorption and also increased the amount of solar radiation incident at the surface over Europe. We used an energy budget approximation to estimate that these changes in the radiative balance have increased European annual mean surface temperatures and precipitation by 0.45 ± 0.11 °C and by 13 ± 0.8 mm yr-1 respectively. Our results show that the implementation of European legislation and technological improvements to reduce the emission of air pollutants has improved air quality and human

Development of wireless sensor network for monitoring indoor air pollutant

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saad, Shaharil Mad; Shakaff, Ali Yeon Md; Saad, Abdul Rahman Mohd; Yusof @ Kamarudin, Azman Muhamad

2015-05-01

The air that we breathe with everyday contains variety of contaminants and particles. Some of these contaminants and particles are hazardous to human health. Most of the people don't realize that the content of air they being exposed to whether it was a good or bad air quality. The air quality whether in indoor or outdoor environment can be influenced by physical factors like dust particles, gaseous pollutants (including carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds) and biological like molds and bacteria growth which largely depend on temperature and humidity condition of a room. These kinds of pollutants can affect human health, physical reaction, comfort or work performance. In this study, a wireless sensor network (WSN) monitoring system for monitor air pollutant in indoor environment was developed. The system was divided into three parts: web-based interface program, sensing module and a base station. The measured data was displayed on the web which is can be accessed by the user. The result shows that the overall measured parameters were meet the acceptable limit, requirement and criteria of indoor air pollution inside the building. The research can be used to improve the indoor air quality level in order to create a comfortable working and healthy environment for the occupants inside the building.

The Value of Clean Air: Comparing Discounting of Delayed Air Quality and Money Across Magnitudes.

PubMed

Berry, Meredith S; Friedel, Jonathan E; DeHart, William B; Mahamane, Salif; Jordan, Kerry E; Odum, Amy L

2017-06-01

The detrimental health effects of exposure to air pollution are well established. Fostering behavioral change concerning air quality may be challenging because the detrimental health effects of exposure to air pollution are delayed. Delay discounting, a measure of impulsive choice, encapsulates this process of choosing between the immediate conveniences of behaviors that increase pollution and the delayed consequences of prolonged exposure to poor air quality. In Experiment 1, participants completed a series of delay-discounting tasks for air quality and money. We found that participants discounted delayed air quality more than money. In Experiment 2, we investigated whether the common finding that large amounts of money are discounted less steeply than small amounts of money generalized to larger and smaller improvements in air quality. Participants discounted larger improvements in air quality less steeply than smaller improvements, indicating that the discounting of air quality shares a similar process as the discounting of money. Our results indicate that the discounting of delayed money is strongly related to the discounting of delayed air quality and that similar mechanisms may be involved in the discounting of these qualitatively different outcomes. These data are also the first to demonstrate the malleability of delay discounting of air quality, and provide important public health implications for decreasing delay discounting of air quality.

Mobile Sensors and Applications for Air Pollutants

EPA Science Inventory

Executive Summary The public has long been interested in understanding what pollutants are in the air they breathe so they can best protect their environmental health and welfare. The current air quality monitoring network consists of discrete stations with expensive equipment ...

Research on Air Quality Evaluation based on Principal Component Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Xing; Wang, Zilin; Guo, Min; Chen, Wei; Zhang, Huan

2018-01-01

Economic growth has led to environmental capacity decline and the deterioration of air quality. Air quality evaluation as a fundamental of environmental monitoring and air pollution control has become increasingly important. Based on the principal component analysis (PCA), this paper evaluates the air quality of a large city in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Area in recent 10 years and identifies influencing factors, in order to provide reference to air quality management and air pollution control.

Impacts of Climate Policy on Regional Air Quality, Health, and Air Quality Regulatory Procedures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thompson, T. M.; Selin, N. E.

2011-12-01

Both the changing climate, and the policy implemented to address climate change can impact regional air quality. We evaluate the impacts of potential selected climate policies on modeled regional air quality with respect to national pollution standards, human health and the sensitivity of health uncertainty ranges. To assess changes in air quality due to climate policy, we couple output from a regional computable general equilibrium economic model (the US Regional Energy Policy [USREP] model), with a regional air quality model (the Comprehensive Air Quality Model with Extensions [CAMx]). USREP uses economic variables to determine how potential future U.S. climate policy would change emissions of regional pollutants (CO, VOC, NOx, SO2, NH3, black carbon, and organic carbon) from ten emissions-heavy sectors of the economy (electricity, coal, gas, crude oil, refined oil, energy intensive industry, other industry, service, agriculture, and transportation [light duty and heavy duty]). Changes in emissions are then modeled using CAMx to determine the impact on air quality in several cities in the Northeast US. We first calculate the impact of climate policy by using regulatory procedures used to show attainment with National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone and particulate matter. Building on previous work, we compare those results with the calculated results and uncertainties associated with human health impacts due to climate policy. This work addresses a potential disconnect between NAAQS regulatory procedures and the cost/benefit analysis required for and by the Clean Air Act.

Air pollution in Boston bars before and after a smoking ban.

PubMed

Repace, James L; Hyde, James N; Brugge, Doug

2006-10-27

We quantified the air quality benefits of a smoke-free workplace law in Boston Massachusetts, U.S.A., by measuring air pollution from secondhand smoke (SHS) in 7 pubs before and after the law, comparing actual ventilation practices to engineering society (ASHRAE) recommendations, and assessing SHS levels using health and comfort indices. We performed real-time measurements of respirable particle (RSP) air pollution and particulate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PPAH), in 7 pubs and outdoors in a model-based design yielding air exchange rates for RSP removal. We also assessed ventilation rates from carbon dioxide concentrations. We compared RSP air pollution to the federal Air Quality Index (AQI) and the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) to assess health risks, and assessed odor and irritation levels using published SHS-RSP thresholds. Pre-smoking-ban RSP levels in 6 pubs (one pub with a non-SHS air quality problem was excluded) averaged 179 microg/m3, 23 times higher than post-ban levels, which averaged 7.7 microg/m3, exceeding the NAAQS for fine particle pollution (PM2.5) by nearly 4-fold. Pre-smoking ban levels of fine particle air pollution in all 7 of the pubs were in the Unhealthy to Hazardous range of the AQI. In the same 6 pubs, pre-ban indoor carcinogenic PPAH averaged 61.7 ng/m3, nearly 10 times higher than post-ban levels of 6.32 ng/m3. Post-ban particulate air pollution levels were in the Good AQI range, except for 1 venue with a defective gas-fired deep-fat fryer, while post-ban carcinogen levels in all 7 pubs were lower than outdoors. During smoking, although pub ventilation rates per occupant were within ASHRAE design parameters for the control of carbon dioxide levels for the number of occupants present, they failed to control SHS carcinogens or RSP. Nonsmokers' SHS odor and irritation sensory thresholds were massively exceeded. Post-ban air pollution measurements showed 90% to 95% reductions in PPAH and RSP respectively, differing

InMAP: A model for air pollution interventions

DOE PAGES

Tessum, Christopher W.; Hill, Jason D.; Marshall, Julian D.; ...

2017-04-19

Mechanistic air pollution modeling is essential in air quality management, yet the extensive expertise and computational resources required to run most models prevent their use in many situations where their results would be useful. We present InMAP (Intervention Model for Air Pollution), which offers an alternative to comprehensive air quality models for estimating the air pollution health impacts of emission reductions and other potential interventions. InMAP estimates annual-average changes in primary and secondary fine particle (PM2.5) concentrations—the air pollution outcome generally causing the largest monetized health damages–attributable to annual changes in precursor emissions. InMAP leverages pre-processed physical and chemical informationmore » from the output of a state-of-the-science chemical transport model and a variable spatial resolution computational grid to perform simulations that are several orders of magnitude less computationally intensive than comprehensive model simulations. In comparisons we run, InMAP recreates comprehensive model predictions of changes in total PM2.5 concentrations with population-weighted mean fractional bias (MFB) of -17% and population-weighted R2 = 0.90. Although InMAP is not specifically designed to reproduce total observed concentrations, it is able to do so within published air quality model performance criteria for total PM2.5. Potential uses of InMAP include studying exposure, health, and environmental justice impacts of potential shifts in emissions for annual-average PM2.5. InMAP can be trained to run for any spatial and temporal domain given the availability of appropriate simulation output from a comprehensive model. The InMAP model source code and input data are freely available online under an open-source license.« less

InMAP: A model for air pollution interventions

PubMed Central

Hill, Jason D.; Marshall, Julian D.

2017-01-01

Mechanistic air pollution modeling is essential in air quality management, yet the extensive expertise and computational resources required to run most models prevent their use in many situations where their results would be useful. Here, we present InMAP (Intervention Model for Air Pollution), which offers an alternative to comprehensive air quality models for estimating the air pollution health impacts of emission reductions and other potential interventions. InMAP estimates annual-average changes in primary and secondary fine particle (PM2.5) concentrations—the air pollution outcome generally causing the largest monetized health damages–attributable to annual changes in precursor emissions. InMAP leverages pre-processed physical and chemical information from the output of a state-of-the-science chemical transport model and a variable spatial resolution computational grid to perform simulations that are several orders of magnitude less computationally intensive than comprehensive model simulations. In comparisons run here, InMAP recreates comprehensive model predictions of changes in total PM2.5 concentrations with population-weighted mean fractional bias (MFB) of −17% and population-weighted R2 = 0.90. Although InMAP is not specifically designed to reproduce total observed concentrations, it is able to do so within published air quality model performance criteria for total PM2.5. Potential uses of InMAP include studying exposure, health, and environmental justice impacts of potential shifts in emissions for annual-average PM2.5. InMAP can be trained to run for any spatial and temporal domain given the availability of appropriate simulation output from a comprehensive model. The InMAP model source code and input data are freely available online under an open-source license. PMID:28423049

InMAP: A model for air pollution interventions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tessum, Christopher W.; Hill, Jason D.; Marshall, Julian D.

Mechanistic air pollution modeling is essential in air quality management, yet the extensive expertise and computational resources required to run most models prevent their use in many situations where their results would be useful. We present InMAP (Intervention Model for Air Pollution), which offers an alternative to comprehensive air quality models for estimating the air pollution health impacts of emission reductions and other potential interventions. InMAP estimates annual-average changes in primary and secondary fine particle (PM2.5) concentrations—the air pollution outcome generally causing the largest monetized health damages–attributable to annual changes in precursor emissions. InMAP leverages pre-processed physical and chemical informationmore » from the output of a state-of-the-science chemical transport model and a variable spatial resolution computational grid to perform simulations that are several orders of magnitude less computationally intensive than comprehensive model simulations. In comparisons we run, InMAP recreates comprehensive model predictions of changes in total PM2.5 concentrations with population-weighted mean fractional bias (MFB) of -17% and population-weighted R2 = 0.90. Although InMAP is not specifically designed to reproduce total observed concentrations, it is able to do so within published air quality model performance criteria for total PM2.5. Potential uses of InMAP include studying exposure, health, and environmental justice impacts of potential shifts in emissions for annual-average PM2.5. InMAP can be trained to run for any spatial and temporal domain given the availability of appropriate simulation output from a comprehensive model. The InMAP model source code and input data are freely available online under an open-source license.« less

Current Indoor Air Quality in Japan.

PubMed

Jinno, Hideto

2016-01-01

People spend more than two thirds of their daily time indoors. Hence, maintaining a healthy indoor environment is indispensable for the prevention of building related illness. In Japan, guidelines for indoor air quality have been established for 13 volatile/semi-volatile organic compounds (VOCs/SVOCs). These guidelines are now under revision by the Committee on Sick House Syndrome: Indoor Air Pollution. In order to gain information on the current indoor air pollutants and their levels, we carried out a nation-wide survey of VOCs and aldehydes in indoor residential air during 2012-2013. In this review, I concisely summarized the current indoor air quality of Japan.

Mapping Emissions that Contribute to Air Pollution Using Adjoint Sensitivity Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bastien, L. A. J.; Mcdonald, B. C.; Brown, N. J.; Harley, R.

2014-12-01

The adjoint of the Community Multiscale Air Quality model (CMAQ) is used to map emissions that contribute to air pollution at receptors of interest. Adjoint tools provide an efficient way to calculate the sensitivity of a model response to a large number of model inputs, a task that would require thousands of simulations using a more traditional forward sensitivity approach. Initial applications of this technique, demonstrated here, are to benzene and directly-emitted diesel particulate matter, for which atmospheric reactions are neglected. Emissions of these pollutants are strongly influenced by light-duty gasoline vehicles and heavy-duty diesel trucks, respectively. We study air quality responses in three receptor areas where populations have been identified as especially susceptible to, and adversely affected by air pollution. Population-weighted air basin-wide responses for each pollutant are also evaluated for the entire San Francisco Bay area. High-resolution (1 km horizontal grid) emission inventories have been developed for on-road motor vehicle emission sources, based on observed traffic count data. Emission estimates represent diurnal, day of week, and seasonal variations of on-road vehicle activity, with separate descriptions for gasoline and diesel sources. Emissions that contribute to air pollution at each receptor have been mapped in space and time using the adjoint method. Effects on air quality of both relative (multiplicative) and absolute (additive) perturbations to underlying emission inventories are analyzed. The contributions of local versus upwind sources to air quality in each receptor area are quantified, and weekday/weekend and seasonal variations in the influence of emissions from upwind areas are investigated. The contribution of local sources to the total air pollution burden within the receptor areas increases from about 40% in the summer to about 50% in the winter due to increased atmospheric stagnation. The effectiveness of control

Biodiversity, air quality and human health

Treesearch

David J. Nowak; Sarah Jovan; Christina Branquinho; Sofia Augusto; Manuel C. Ribeiro; Conor E. Kretsch

2015-01-01

Air pollution is a significant problem in cities across the world. It affects human health and well-being, ecosystem health, crops, climate, visibility and human-made materials. Health effects related to air pollution include its impact on the pulmonary, cardiac, vascular and neurological systems (Section 2). Trees affect air quality through a number of means (Section...

In Brief: Air pollution app

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Showstack, Randy

2010-10-01

A new smartphone application takes advantage of various technological capabilities and sensors to help users monitor air quality. Tapping into smartphone cameras, Global Positioning System (GPS) sensors, compasses, and accelerometers, computer scientists with the University of Southern California's (USC) Viterbi School of Engineering have developed a new application, provisionally entitled “Visibility.” Currently available for the Android telephone operating system, the application is available for free download at http://robotics.usc.edu/˜mobilesensing/Projects/AirVisibilityMonitoring. An iPhone application may be introduced soon. Smartphone users can take a picture of the sky and then compare it with models of sky luminance to estimate visibility. While conventional air pollution monitors are costly and thinly deployed in some areas, the smartphone application potentially could help fill in some blanks in existing air pollution maps, according to USC computer science professor Gaurav Sukhatme.

Air Pollution, A Scientists' Institute for Public Information Workbook.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nadler, Allen A.; And Others

Documentation is given on the known and potential effects of air pollution on human health, weather conditions, and biosphere. Practical applications of this information are discussed, with special reference to the Federal Air Quality Act and to the planning of urban expressways. Problems in defining standards of air quality are discussed.…

Impacts of Particulate Pollution from Fossil Fuel and Biomass Burnings on the Air Quality and Human Health in Southeast Asia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, H. H.; Iraqui, O.; Gu, Y.; Yim, S. H. L.; Wang, C.

2017-12-01

Severe haze events in Southeast Asia have attracted the attention of governments and the general public in recent years, due to their impact on local economies, air quality and public health. Widespread biomass burning activities are a major source of severe haze events in Southeast Asia. On the other hand, particulate pollutants from human activities other than biomass burning also play an important role in degrading air quality in Southeast Asia. These pollutants can be locally produced or brought in from neighboring regions by long-range transport. A better understanding of the respective contributions of fossil fuel and biomass burning aerosols to air quality degradation becomes an urgent task in forming effective air pollution mitigation policies in Southeast Asia. In this study, to examine and quantify the contributions of fossil fuel and biomass burning aerosols to air quality and visibility degradation over Southeast Asia, we conducted three numerical simulations using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model coupled with a chemistry component (WRF-Chem). These simulations were driven by different aerosol emissions from: (a) fossil fuel burning only, (b) biomass burning only, and (c) both fossil fuel and biomass burning. By comparing the simulation results, we examined the corresponding impacts of fossil fuel and biomass burning emissions, separately and combined, on the air quality and visibility of the region. The results also showed that the major contributors to low visibility days (LVDs) among 50 ASEAN cities are fossil fuel burning aerosols (59%), while biomass burning aerosols provided an additional 13% of LVDs in Southeast Asia. In addition, the number of premature mortalities among ASEAN cities has increased from 4110 in 2002 to 6540 in 2008, caused primarily by fossil fuel burning aerosols. This study suggests that reductions in both fossil fuel and biomass burning emissions are necessary to improve the air quality in Southeast Asia.

Overview of Megacity Air Pollutant Emissions and Impacts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kolb, C. E.

2013-05-01

The urban metabolism that characterizes major cities consumes very large qualities of humanly produced and/or processed food, fuel, water, electricity, construction materials and manufactured goods, as well as, naturally provided sunlight, precipitation and atmospheric oxygen. The resulting urban respiration exhalations add large quantities of trace gas and particulate matter pollutants to urban atmospheres. Key classes of urban primary air pollutants and their sources will be reviewed and important secondary pollutants identified. The impacts of these pollutants on urban and downwind regional inhabitants, ecosystems, and climate will be discussed. Challenges in quantifying the temporally and spatially resolved urban air pollutant emissions and secondary pollutant production rates will be identified and possible measurement strategies evaluated.

Future air pollution in the Shared Socio-economic Pathways

DOE PAGES

Rao, Shilpa; Klimont, Zbigniew; Smith, Steven J.; ...

2016-07-15

Emissions of air pollutants such as sulfur and nitrogen oxides and particulates have significant health impacts as well as effects on natural and anthropogenic ecosystems. These same emissions also can change atmospheric chemistry and the planetary energy balance, thereby impacting global and regional climate. Long-term scenarios for air pollutant emissions are needed as inputs to global climate and chemistry models, and for analysis linking air pollutant impacts across sectors. In this paper we present methodology and results for air pollutant emissions in Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP) scenarios. We first present a set of three air pollution narratives that describe high,more » central, and low pollution control ambitions over the 21 st century. These narratives are then translated into quantitative guidance for use in integrated assessment models. We provide an overview of pollutant emission trajectories under the SSP scenarios. Pollutant emissions in these scenarios cover a wider range than the scenarios used in previous international climate model comparisons. Furthermore, the SSP scenarios provide the opportunity to access a more comprehensive range of future global and regional air quality outcomes.« less

Future air pollution in the Shared Socio-economic Pathways

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rao, Shilpa; Klimont, Zbigniew; Smith, Steven J.

Emissions of air pollutants such as sulfur and nitrogen oxides and particulates have significant health impacts as well as effects on natural and anthropogenic ecosystems. These same emissions also can change atmospheric chemistry and the planetary energy balance, thereby impacting global and regional climate. Long-term scenarios for air pollutant emissions are needed as inputs to global climate and chemistry models, and for analysis linking air pollutant impacts across sectors. In this paper we present methodology and results for air pollutant emissions in Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP) scenarios. We first present a set of three air pollution narratives that describe high,more » central, and low pollution control ambitions over the 21 st century. These narratives are then translated into quantitative guidance for use in integrated assessment models. We provide an overview of pollutant emission trajectories under the SSP scenarios. Pollutant emissions in these scenarios cover a wider range than the scenarios used in previous international climate model comparisons. Furthermore, the SSP scenarios provide the opportunity to access a more comprehensive range of future global and regional air quality outcomes.« less

Spatiotemporal Variations and Driving Factors of Air Pollution in China.

PubMed

Zhan, Dongsheng; Kwan, Mei-Po; Zhang, Wenzhong; Wang, Shaojian; Yu, Jianhui

2017-12-08

In recent years, severe and persistent air pollution episodes in China have drawn wide public concern. Based on ground monitoring air quality data collected in 2015 in Chinese cities above the prefectural level, this study identifies the spatiotemporal variations of air pollution and its associated driving factors in China using descriptive statistics and geographical detector methods. The results show that the average air pollution ratio and continuous air pollution ratio across Chinese cities in 2015 were 23.1 ± 16.9% and 16.2 ± 14.8%. The highest levels of air pollution ratio and continuous air pollution ratio were observed in northern China, especially in the Bohai Rim region and Xinjiang province, and the lowest levels were found in southern China. The average and maximum levels of continuous air pollution show distinct spatial variations when compared with those of the continuous air pollution ratio. Monthly changes in both air pollution ratio and continuous air pollution ratio have a U-shaped variation, indicating that the highest levels of air pollution occurred in winter and the lowest levels happened in summer. The results of the geographical detector model further reveal that the effect intensity of natural factors on the spatial disparity of the air pollution ratio is greater than that of human-related factors. Specifically, among natural factors, the annual average temperature, land relief, and relative humidity have the greatest and most significant negative effects on the air pollution ratio, whereas human factors such as population density, the number of vehicles, and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) witness the strongest and most significant positive effects on air pollution ratio.

Spatiotemporal Variations and Driving Factors of Air Pollution in China

PubMed Central

Zhan, Dongsheng; Zhang, Wenzhong; Wang, Shaojian; Yu, Jianhui

2017-01-01

In recent years, severe and persistent air pollution episodes in China have drawn wide public concern. Based on ground monitoring air quality data collected in 2015 in Chinese cities above the prefectural level, this study identifies the spatiotemporal variations of air pollution and its associated driving factors in China using descriptive statistics and geographical detector methods. The results show that the average air pollution ratio and continuous air pollution ratio across Chinese cities in 2015 were 23.1 ± 16.9% and 16.2 ± 14.8%. The highest levels of air pollution ratio and continuous air pollution ratio were observed in northern China, especially in the Bohai Rim region and Xinjiang province, and the lowest levels were found in southern China. The average and maximum levels of continuous air pollution show distinct spatial variations when compared with those of the continuous air pollution ratio. Monthly changes in both air pollution ratio and continuous air pollution ratio have a U-shaped variation, indicating that the highest levels of air pollution occurred in winter and the lowest levels happened in summer. The results of the geographical detector model further reveal that the effect intensity of natural factors on the spatial disparity of the air pollution ratio is greater than that of human-related factors. Specifically, among natural factors, the annual average temperature, land relief, and relative humidity have the greatest and most significant negative effects on the air pollution ratio, whereas human factors such as population density, the number of vehicles, and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) witness the strongest and most significant positive effects on air pollution ratio. PMID:29292783

Impacts of Air Pollution on Health in Eastern China: Implications for future air pollution and energy policies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, X.; Mauzerall, D.

2004-12-01

Our objective is to establish the link between energy consumption and technologies, air pollution and resulting impacts on public health in eastern China. We quantify the impacts that air pollution in the Shandong region of eastern China has on public health in 2000 and quantify the benefits in improved air quality and health that could be obtained by 2020, relative to business-as-usual, through the implementation of new energy technology. We first develop a highly-resolved emission inventory for the year 2000 for the Shandong region of China including emissions from large point, area, mobile and biogenic sources. We use the Sparse Matrix Operator Kernel Emissions Modeling System (SMOKE) to process emissions from this inventory for use in the Community Multi-scale Air Quality modeling system (CMAQ) which we drive with the NCAR/PSU MM5 meso-scale meteorology model. We evaluate the inventory by comparing CMAQ results with available measurements of PM10 and SO2 from air pollution indices (APIs) reported in various Chinese municipalities during 2002-2004. We use epidemiological dose-response functions to quantify health impacts and values of a statistical life (VSL) and years-of-life-lost (YLL) to establish a range for the monetary value of these impacts. To examine health impacts and their monetary value, we focus explicitly on Zaozhuang, a coal-intensive city in the Shandong region of eastern China, and quantify the mortalities and morbidities resulting from air pollutants emitted from this city in 2000, and in 2020 using business-as-usual, best-available control technology, and advanced coal gasification technology scenarios. In all scenarios most health damages arise from exposure to particulate matter. We find that total health damages due to year 2000 anthropogenic emissions from Zaozhuang accounted for 4-10% of its GDP. If all health damages resulting from coal use were internalized in the market price of coal, the year 2000 price would have doubled. With no new

[Analysis of the quality of data issued from Beirut's hospitals in order to measure short-term health effects of air pollution].

PubMed

Mrad Nakhlé, M; Farah, W; Ziade, N; Abboud, M; Gerard, J; Zaarour, R; Saliba, N; Dabar, G; Abdel Massih, T; Zoghbi, A; Coussa-Koniski, M-L; Annesi-Maesano, I

2013-12-01

The effects of air pollution on human health have been the subject of much public health research. Several techniques and methods of analysis have been developed. Thus, Beirut Air Pollution and Health Effects (BAPHE) was designed to develop a methodology adapted to the context of the city of Beirut in order to quantify the short-term health effects of air pollution. The quality of data collected from emergency units was analyzed in order to properly estimate hospitalizations via these units. This study examined the process of selecting and validating health and pollution indicators. The different sources of data from emergency units were not correlated. BAPHE was therefore reoriented towards collecting health data from the emergency registry of each hospital. A pilot study determined the appropriate health indicators for BAPHE and created a classification methodology for data collection. In Lebanon, several studies have attempted to indirectly assess the impact of air pollution on health. They had limitations and weaknesses and offered no recommendations regarding the sources and quality of data. The present analysis will be useful for BAPHE and for planning further studies. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

[Air pollution and health - counselling options for physicians].

PubMed

Künzli, Nino; Kutlar, Meltem

2013-12-01

While air quality is usually an environmental condition patients can little do about, there are a few options and decisions that modify the personal exposure and risk. Location - in particular the residence - time and activity are the key determinants of personal exposure. Traffic-related primary pollutants such as ultrafine particles or diesel soot are highly concentrated along busy roads but reach urban background concentrations already some 100 - 200 meters off. Morbidity and mortality follow this spatial pattern, which is usually attributed to these pollutants. Depending on ventilation systems, indoor exposure can be substantially lower. Studies done in China confirm that the use of face masks in extremely polluted cities can reduce exposure, resulting in lower inflammatory and cardiovascular responses. A diet rich in antioxidants appears to also reduce some of the oxidative and inflammatory effects of air pollution and treatments such as leucotrien receptor antagonists or statins pay interfere with some of the adverse effects of pollution. However, the benefits, if any, are unlikely to be large. A quantitative comparison of the various pollution related health effects - namely from smoking, passive smoking and air pollution - reveal a typical paradox to be well understood: the individual risks related to air pollution and that one may reduce through personal decisions are rather small. However, given the large number of people exposed (i. e. in essence the entire population), the overall air pollution related health burden is rather substantial. This underscores that sustained clean air policies are indeed the most important and efficient solution to reduce the air pollution related health effects.

LOWER RIO GRANDE VALLEY TRANSBOUNDARY AIR POLLUTION PROJECT (TAPP) (MAIN REPORT)

EPA Science Inventory

The purpose of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Transboundary Air Pollution Project (TAPP) was to obtain air quality data for a full year at three border monitoring sites to assess anthropogenic and biogenic emission impacts and transboundary air pollution transport in the Lower Rio...

Traffic-related air pollution, particulate matter, and autism.

PubMed

Volk, Heather E; Lurmann, Fred; Penfold, Bryan; Hertz-Picciotto, Irva; McConnell, Rob

2013-01-01

Autism is a heterogeneous disorder with genetic and environmental factors likely contributing to its origins. Examination of hazardous pollutants has suggested the importance of air toxics in the etiology of autism, yet little research has examined its association with local levels of air pollution using residence-specific exposure assignments. To examine the relationship between traffic-related air pollution, air quality, and autism. This population-based case-control study includes data obtained from children with autism and control children with typical development who were enrolled in the Childhood Autism Risks from Genetics and the Environment study in California. The mother's address from the birth certificate and addresses reported from a residential history questionnaire were used to estimate exposure for each trimester of pregnancy and first year of life. Traffic-related air pollution was assigned to each location using a line-source air-quality dispersion model. Regional air pollutant measures were based on the Environmental Protection Agency's Air Quality System data. Logistic regression models compared estimated and measured pollutant levels for children with autism and for control children with typical development. Case-control study from California. A total of 279 children with autism and a total of 245 control children with typical development. Crude and multivariable adjusted odds ratios (AORs) for autism. Children with autism were more likely to live at residences that had the highest quartile of exposure to traffic-related air pollution, during gestation (AOR, 1.98 [95% CI, 1.20-3.31]) and during the first year of life (AOR, 3.10 [95% CI, 1.76-5.57]), compared with control children. Regional exposure measures of nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter less than 2.5 and 10 μm in diameter (PM2.5 and PM10) were also associated with autism during gestation (exposure to nitrogen dioxide: AOR, 1.81 [95% CI, 1.37-3.09]; exposure to PM2.5: AOR, 2.08 [95

Flared gases and other pollutants associated with air quality in industrial areas of Nigeria: an overview.

PubMed

Osuji, Leo C; Avwiri, Greg O

2005-10-01

Nigeria, like any other developing nation, is faced with the twin problem of development without destruction. Industrialization, though an important component of development, has had a large share in the despoilation of air quality in the country by the release of high amounts of pollutants into the atmosphere. Petroleum hydrocarbons from refineries, flared gases, dusts, and fumes of metal-smelting and cement works, odorous gases of chemical and allied industries, carbon monoxide and oxides of sulfur and nitrogen of internal combustion engines, the charred particulates and sulfur dioxide emissions of the steel industries etc., all constitute pollutants or co-pollutants of the Nigerian atmosphere. This review article gives an insight into the phenomenal concentrations of some of these pollutants in the Nigerian atmosphere, which point to their unsafe levels and concomitant health risks. It is against this background that there should be continuous but sound monitoring exercise of the Nigerian environment, devoid of the peculiar mix of politics and science, in order to properly audit the quality of air, especially in areas of heavy industrial pollution. Such checks and balances would provide empirical data to assess the various trade-offs of atmospheric pollution in industrial areas of the country such as the Niger Delta region where oil and gas are produced. There should also be enforcement, thereof, of all existing and/or revised standards or regulations such as the compliance limits of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) or the erstwhile Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA).

Air pollution and non-respiratory health hazards for children

PubMed Central

Poursafa, Parinaz

2010-01-01

Air pollution is a global health issue with serious public health implications, particularly for children. Usually respiratory effects of air pollutants are considered, but this review highlights the importance of non-respiratory health hazards. In addition to short-term effects, exposure to criteria air pollutants from early life might be associated with low birth weight, increase in oxidative stress and endothelial dysfunction, which in turn might have long-term effects on chronic non-communicable diseases. In view of the emerging epidemic of chronic disease in low- and middle- income countries, the vicious cycle of rapid urbanization and increasing levels of air pollution, public health and regulatory policies for air quality protection should be integrated into the main priorities of the primary health care system and into the educational curriculum of health professionals. PMID:22371790

Air Pollution and Stroke

PubMed Central

Lee, Kuan Ken; Miller, Mark R.; Shah, Anoop S. V.

2018-01-01

The adverse health effects of air pollution have long been recognised; however, there is less awareness that the majority of the morbidity and mortality caused by air pollution is due to its effects on the cardiovascular system. Evidence from epidemiological studies have demonstrated a strong association between air pollution and cardiovascular diseases including stroke. Although the relative risk is small at an individual level, the ubiquitous nature of exposure to air pollution means that the absolute risk at a population level is on a par with “traditional” risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Of particular concern are findings that the strength of this association is stronger in low and middle income countries where air pollution is projected to rise as a result of rapid industrialisation. The underlying biological mechanisms through which air pollutants exert their effect on the vasculature are still an area of intense discussion. A greater understanding of the effect size and mechanisms is necessary to develop effective strategies at individual and policy levels to mitigate the adverse cardiovascular effects of air pollution. PMID:29402072

Air Pollution and Stroke.

PubMed

Lee, Kuan Ken; Miller, Mark R; Shah, Anoop S V

2018-01-01

The adverse health effects of air pollution have long been recognised; however, there is less awareness that the majority of the morbidity and mortality caused by air pollution is due to its effects on the cardiovascular system. Evidence from epidemiological studies have demonstrated a strong association between air pollution and cardiovascular diseases including stroke. Although the relative risk is small at an individual level, the ubiquitous nature of exposure to air pollution means that the absolute risk at a population level is on a par with "traditional" risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Of particular concern are findings that the strength of this association is stronger in low and middle income countries where air pollution is projected to rise as a result of rapid industrialisation. The underlying biological mechanisms through which air pollutants exert their effect on the vasculature are still an area of intense discussion. A greater understanding of the effect size and mechanisms is necessary to develop effective strategies at individual and policy levels to mitigate the adverse cardiovascular effects of air pollution.

An Overview of Air Pollution Problem in Megacities and City Clusters in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, X.

2007-05-01

China has experienced the rapid economic growth in last twenty years. City clusters, which consist of one or several mega cities in close vicinity and many satellite cities and towns, are playing a leading role in Chinese economic growth, owing to their collective economic capacity and interdependency. However, accompanying with the economic boom, population growth and increased energy consumption, the air quality has been degrading in the past two decades. Air pollution in those areas is characterized by concurrent occurrence of high concentrations of multiple primary pollutants leading to form complex secondary pollution problem. After decades long efforts to control air pollution, both the government and scientific communities have realized that to control regional scale air pollution, regional efforts are needed. Field experiments covering the regions like Pearl River Delta region and Beijing City with surrounding areas are critical to understand the chemical and physical processes leading to the formation of regional scale air pollution. In order to formulate policy suggestions for air quality attainment during 2008 Beijing Olympic game and to propose objectives of air quality attainment in 2010 in Beijing, CAREBEIJING (Campaigns of Air Quality Research in Beijing and Surrounding Region) was organized by Peking University in 2006 to learn current air pollution situation of the region, and to identify the transport and transformation processes that lead to the impact of the surrounding area on air quality in Beijing. Same as the purpose for understanding the chemical and physical processes happened in regional scale, the fall and summer campaigns in 2004 and 2006 were carried out in Pearl River Delta. More than 16 domestic and foreign institutions were involved in these campaigns. The background, current status, problems, and some results of these campaigns will be introduced in this presentation.

The Value of Clean Air: Comparing Discounting of Delayed Air Quality and Money Across Magnitudes

PubMed Central

Friedel, Jonathan E.; DeHart, William B.; Mahamane, Salif; Jordan, Kerry E.; Odum, Amy L.

2018-01-01

The detrimental health effects of exposure to air pollution are well established. Fostering behavioral change concerning air quality may be challenging because the detrimental health effects of exposure to air pollution are delayed. Delay discounting, a measure of impulsive choice, encapsulates this process of choosing between the immediate conveniences of behaviors that increase pollution and the delayed consequences of prolonged exposure to poor air quality. In Experiment 1, participants completed a series of delay-discounting tasks for air quality and money. We found that participants discounted delayed air quality more than money. In Experiment 2, we investigated whether the common finding that large amounts of money are discounted less steeply than small amounts of money generalized to larger and smaller improvements in air quality. Participants discounted larger improvements in air quality less steeply than smaller improvements, indicating that the discounting of air quality shares a similar process as the discounting of money. Our results indicate that the discounting of delayed money is strongly related to the discounting of delayed air quality and that similar mechanisms may be involved in the discounting of these qualitatively different outcomes. These data are also the first to demonstrate the malleability of delay discounting of air quality, and provide important public health implications for decreasing delay discounting of air quality. PMID:29606776

Air Quality Awareness Among U.S. Adults With Respiratory and Heart Disease.

PubMed

Mirabelli, Maria C; Boehmer, Tegan K; Damon, Scott A; Sircar, Kanta D; Wall, Hilary K; Yip, Fuyuen Y; Zahran, Hatice S; Garbe, Paul L

2018-05-01

Poor air quality affects respiratory and cardiovascular health. Information about health risks associated with outdoor air quality is communicated to the public using air quality alerts. This study was conducted to assess associations of existing respiratory and heart disease with three aspects of air quality awareness: awareness of air quality alerts, discussing with a health professional strategies to reduce air pollution exposure, and avoiding busy roads to reduce air pollution exposure when walking, biking, or exercising outdoors. During 2014-2016, a total of 12,599 U.S. adults participated in summer waves of the ConsumerStyles surveys and self-reported asthma, emphysema/chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease, and each aspect of air quality awareness. In 2017, associations between each health condition and air quality awareness were estimated using log binomial and multinomial regression. Overall, 49% of respondents were aware of air quality alerts, 3% discussed with a health professional strategies to reduce air pollution exposure, and 27% always/usually avoided busy roads to reduce air pollution exposure. Asthma was associated with increased prevalence of awareness of air quality alerts (prevalence ratio=1.11, 95% CI=1.04, 1.20), discussing with a health professional (prevalence ratio=4.88, 95% CI=3.74, 6.37), and always/usually avoiding busy roads to reduce air pollution exposure (prevalence ratio=1.13, 95% CI=1.01, 1.27). Heart disease was not associated with air quality awareness. Existing respiratory disease, but not heart disease, was associated with increased air quality awareness. These findings reveal important opportunities to raise awareness of air quality alerts and behavior changes aimed at reducing air pollution exposure among adults at risk of exacerbating respiratory and heart diseases. Published by Elsevier Inc.

A Multiplatform Observations of Air Quality in Korea as the Pre-campaign of Korea and US Air Quality (KORUS-AQ) Study.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, J. H.; Hong, J.; Hong, Y.; Song, C. K.; Kim, S. K.; Chang, L. S.; Lim, J.; Ahn, J.; Kim, J. Y.; Han, Y. J.; Kim, J.; Park, R.; Lee, G.; Park, J.

2015-12-01

Despite the Korea government's efforts to regulate air pollutant emission for attaining the national air quality standard, current serious dust events and high ozone episodes in summer time remain important societal issues in Korea. In order to make effective policy for air quality attainment, it is contingent upon a thorough understanding of chemical production/loss mechanism of air pollutants and their precursors which drive air quality such as nitrogen oxides (NOX), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and oxidants (e.g. OH, HO2, RO, RO2, etc.). At present, policy development is constrained by a lack of data for broad suite of chemical species which significantly affect on air quality.During 4 weeks between May and June 2013, the pre-campaign for the Korea and U.S. Air Quality (KORUS-AQ) study took place in multiplatform including fifteen ground sites, one mobile laboratory, and one small air crafts. An integrated research activity covering field observations, chemical transport models, and remote sensing has been intensively conducted. This study was focused on studying photochemistry and nighttime chemistry in urban area and transboundary transport of air pollutants from upwind. Scientific overview and outcomes from the campaign will be presented.

40 CFR 52.2682 - Air quality surveillance.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 4 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Air quality surveillance. 52.2682... (CONTINUED) APPROVAL AND PROMULGATION OF IMPLEMENTATION PLANS (CONTINUED) Guam § 52.2682 Air quality... Pollution Control Standards and Regulations” (buffer zones—air quality sampling) are not in conformance with...

40 CFR 52.2682 - Air quality surveillance.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 5 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Air quality surveillance. 52.2682... (CONTINUED) APPROVAL AND PROMULGATION OF IMPLEMENTATION PLANS (CONTINUED) Guam § 52.2682 Air quality... Pollution Control Standards and Regulations” (buffer zones—air quality sampling) are not in conformance with...

40 CFR 52.2682 - Air quality surveillance.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 5 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Air quality surveillance. 52.2682... (CONTINUED) APPROVAL AND PROMULGATION OF IMPLEMENTATION PLANS (CONTINUED) Guam § 52.2682 Air quality... Pollution Control Standards and Regulations” (buffer zones—air quality sampling) are not in conformance with...

40 CFR 52.2682 - Air quality surveillance.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 5 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Air quality surveillance. 52.2682... (CONTINUED) APPROVAL AND PROMULGATION OF IMPLEMENTATION PLANS (CONTINUED) Guam § 52.2682 Air quality... Pollution Control Standards and Regulations” (buffer zones—air quality sampling) are not in conformance with...

40 CFR 52.2682 - Air quality surveillance.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 4 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Air quality surveillance. 52.2682... (CONTINUED) APPROVAL AND PROMULGATION OF IMPLEMENTATION PLANS (CONTINUED) Guam § 52.2682 Air quality... Pollution Control Standards and Regulations” (buffer zones—air quality sampling) are not in conformance with...

Rural southeast Texas air quality measurements during the 2006 Texas Air Quality Study.

PubMed

Schade, Gunnar W; Khan, Siraj; Park, Changhyoun; Boedeker, Ian

2011-10-01

The authors conducted air quality measurements of the criteria pollutants carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and ozone together with meteorological measurements at a park site southeast of College Station, TX, during the 2006 Texas Air Quality Study II (TexAQS). Ozone, a primary focus of the measurements, was above 80 ppb during 3 days and above 75 ppb during additional 8 days in summer 2006, suggestive of possible violations of the ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) in this area. In concordance with other air quality measurements during the TexAQS II, elevated ozone mixing ratios coincided with northerly flows during days after cold front passages. Ozone background during these days was as high as 80 ppb, whereas southerly air flows generally provided for an ozone background lower than 40 ppb. Back trajectory analysis shows that local ozone mixing ratios can also be strongly affected by the Houston urban pollution plume, leading to late afternoon ozone increases of as high as 50 ppb above background under favorable transport conditions. The trajectory analysis also shows that ozone background increases steadily the longer a southern air mass resides over Texas after entering from the Gulf of Mexico. In light of these and other TexAQS findings, it appears that ozone air quality is affected throughout east Texas by both long-range and regional ozone transport, and that improvements therefore will require at least a regionally oriented instead of the current locally oriented ozone precursor reduction policies.

Importance and Challenges in Use and Uptake of Air Quality Modelling in Developing Countries: Use of CAMx for Air Quality Management in the City of Johannesburg.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garland, R. M.; Naidoo, M.; Sibiya, B.; Naidoo, S.; Bird, T.; von Gruenewaldt, R.; Liebenberg-Enslin, H.; Nekhwalivhe, M.; Netshandama, J.; Mahlatji, M.

2017-12-01

Ambient air pollution levels are regulated in South Africa; however in many areas pollution concentrations exceed these levels. The South African Air Quality Act also stipulates that government across all levels must have Air Quality Management Plans (AQMP) in place that outline the current state of air quality and emissions, as well as the implementable plan to manage, and where necessary improve, air quality. Historically, dispersion models have been used to support air quality management decisions, including in AQMPs. However, with the focus of air quality management shifting from focusing on industrial point sources to a more integrated and holistic management of all sources, chemical transport models are needed. CAMx was used in the review and development of the City of Johannesburg's AQMP to simulate hot spots of air pollution, as well as to model intervention scenarios. As the pollutants of concern in Johannesburg are ozone and particulate matter, it is critical to use a model that can simulate chemistry. CAMx was run at 1 km with a locally derived emissions inventory for 2014. The sources of pollution in the City are diverse (including, industrial, vehicles, domestic burning, natural), and many sources have large uncertainties in estimating emissions due to lack of necessary data and local emission factors. These uncertainties, together with a lack of measurements to validate the model against, hinder the performance of the model to simulate air quality and thus inform air quality management. However, as air quality worsens in Africa, it is critical for decision makers to have a strong evidence base on the state of air quality and impact of interventions in order to improve air quality effectively. This presentation will highlight the findings from using a chemical transport model for air quality management in the largest city in South Africa, the use and limitations of these for decision-makers, and proposed way forward.

Deep learning architecture for air quality predictions.

PubMed

Li, Xiang; Peng, Ling; Hu, Yuan; Shao, Jing; Chi, Tianhe

2016-11-01

With the rapid development of urbanization and industrialization, many developing countries are suffering from heavy air pollution. Governments and citizens have expressed increasing concern regarding air pollution because it affects human health and sustainable development worldwide. Current air quality prediction methods mainly use shallow models; however, these methods produce unsatisfactory results, which inspired us to investigate methods of predicting air quality based on deep architecture models. In this paper, a novel spatiotemporal deep learning (STDL)-based air quality prediction method that inherently considers spatial and temporal correlations is proposed. A stacked autoencoder (SAE) model is used to extract inherent air quality features, and it is trained in a greedy layer-wise manner. Compared with traditional time series prediction models, our model can predict the air quality of all stations simultaneously and shows the temporal stability in all seasons. Moreover, a comparison with the spatiotemporal artificial neural network (STANN), auto regression moving average (ARMA), and support vector regression (SVR) models demonstrates that the proposed method of performing air quality predictions has a superior performance.

Chemical Characterization of the Indoor Air Quality of a University Hospital: Penetration of Outdoor Air Pollutants.

PubMed

Scheepers, Paul T J; Van Wel, Luuk; Beckmann, Gwendolyn; Anzion, Rob B M

2017-05-08

For healthcare centers, local outdoor sources of air pollution represent a potential threat to indoor air quality (IAQ). The aim of this study was to study the impact of local outdoor sources of air pollution on the IAQ of a university hospital. IAQ was characterized at thirteen indoor and two outdoor locations and source samples were collected from a helicopter and an emergency power supply. Volatile organic compounds (VOC), acrolein, formaldehyde, nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), respirable particulate matter (PM-4.0 and PM-2.5) and their respective benz(a)pyrene contents were determined over a period of two weeks. Time-weighted average concentrations of NO₂ (4.9-17.4 μg/m³) and formaldehyde (2.5-6.4 μg/m³) were similar on all indoor and outdoor locations. The median concentration VOC in indoor air was 119 μg/m³ (range: 33.1-2450 μg/m³) and was fivefold higher in laboratories (316 μg/m³) compared to offices (57.0 μg/m³). PM-4.0 and benzo(a)pyrene concentration were lower in buildings serviced by a >99.95% efficiency particle filter, compared to buildings using a standard 80-90% efficiency filter ( p < 0.01). No indications were found that support a significant contribution of known local sources such as fuels or combustion engines to any of the IAQ parameters measured in this study. Chemical IAQ was primarily driven by known indoor sources and activities.

REGIONAL AIR POLLUTION STUDY, QUALITY ASSURANCE AUDITS

EPA Science Inventory

RAPS Quality Assurance audits were conducted under this Task Order in continuation of the audit program previously conducted under Task Order No. 58. Quantitative field audits were conducted of the Regional Air Monitoring System (RAMS) Air Monitoring Stations, Local Air Monitorin...

[Estimating emergency hospital admissions to gauge short-term effects of air pollution: evaluation of health data quality].

PubMed

Bois de Fer, Béatrice; Host, Sabine; Chardon, Benoît; Chatignoux, Edouard; Beaujouan, Laure; Brun-Ney, Dominique; Grémy, Isabelle

2009-01-01

The study of the short-term effects and health impact of air pollution is carrier out by the ERPURS regional surveillance program which utilizes hospitalization data obtained from the French hospital information system (PMSI) to determine these links. This system does not permit the distinction between emergency hospital admissions from scheduled ones, which cannot be related to short term changes in air pollution levels. This study examines how scheduled admissions affect the quality of the health indicators used to estimate air pollution effects. This indicator is compared to three new emergency hospitalisation indicators reconstructed based on data from the public hospitals in Paris, partly from the PMSI data and partly with data from an on-line emergency network that regroups all of the computerized emergency services. According to the pathology, scheduled admissions present a difficulty which affects the capacity to highlight the weakest risks with any precision.

Air Quality Response Modeling for Decision Support | Science ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Air quality management relies on photochemical models to predict the responses of pollutant concentrations to changes in emissions. Such modeling is especially important for secondary pollutants such as ozone and fine particulate matter which vary nonlinearly with changes in emissions. Numerous techniques for probing pollutant-emission relationships within photochemical models have been developed and deployed for a variety of decision support applications. However, atmospheric response modeling remains complicated by the challenge of validating sensitivity results against observable data. This manuscript reviews the state of the science of atmospheric response modeling as well as efforts to characterize the accuracy and uncertainty of sensitivity results. The National Exposure Research Laboratory′s (NERL′s) Atmospheric Modeling and Analysis Division (AMAD) conducts research in support of EPA′s mission to protect human health and the environment. AMAD′s research program is engaged in developing and evaluating predictive atmospheric models on all spatial and temporal scales for forecasting the Nation′s air quality and for assessing changes in air quality and air pollutant exposures, as affected by changes in ecosystem management and regulatory decisions. AMAD is responsible for providing a sound scientific and technical basis for regulatory policies based on air quality models to improve ambient air quality. The models developed by AMAD are being use

Acute Health Impact of Air Pollution in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, T.; Zhao, Y.; Zheng, M.

2014-12-01

Air pollution not only has long term health impact, but can affect health through acute exposure. This paper, using air pollution index (API) as overall evaluation of air quality, blood pressure and vital capacity as health outcomes, focuses on the acute health impact of air pollution in China. Current result suggests that after controlling smoking history, occupational exposure, income and education, API is positively associated with blood pressure and negatively associated with vital capacity. The associations became stronger for people with hypertension or pulmonary functional diseases, which indicates that these people are more sensitive to air pollution. Among three pollutants which API measures, that is inhalable particles (PM10), sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), PM10 is most statistically associated with blood pressure increase and vital capacity decrease. Further study will focusing on the following two questions. The first question is how various time lags affect the associations among API, blood pressure and vital capacity. The second question is how differently people in various cohorts reacts to acute exposure to air pollution. The differences in reactions of blood pressure and vital capacity between people in urban and rural areas, genders, various age cohorts, distinct income and education groups will be further studied.

Improving indoor air quality through botanical air filtration in energy efficient residences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Newkirk, Daniel W.

According to the U.S. EPA, the average American spends 90% of their time indoors where pollutants are two to five times more prevalent than outside. The consequences of these pollutants are estimated to cost the U.S. 125 billion dollars in lost health and productivity. Background literature suggests botanical air filtration may be able to solve this problem by leveraging the natural ability of plants to purify indoor air. By improving indoor air quality, energy consumption can also be reduced by bringing in less outside air to dilute contaminants within the space. A botanical air filter, called the Biowall, was designed and grown aeroponically in a sealed environmental chamber. Precise measurements of air temperature, air humidity, air quality and energy consumption were made under various lighting levels, plant species and watering strategies to optimize its performance. It was found to reduce indoor air pollutants 60 percent and has the potential to reduce heating and cooling energy consumption by 20 to 30 percent.

APEX (Air Pollution Exercise) Volume 21: Legal References: Air Pollution Control Regulations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC. Office of Manpower Development.

The Legal References: Air Pollution Control Regulations Manual is the last in a set of 21 manuals (AA 001 009-001 029) used in APEX (Air Pollution Exercise), a computerized college and professional level "real world" game simulation of a community with urban and rural problems, industrial activities, and air pollution difficulties. The manual…

United Kingdom unveils ambitious air pollution plan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Warren, Matthew

2018-06-01

The U.K. government's new strategy to combat air pollution has drawn praise for its ambitious goals—and reservations about whether they will be achieved. Environmental scientists have applauded the aims of the Clean Air Strategy, which include substantially reducing the number of people breathing air containing high levels of fine particulates and curbing ammonia emissions from agriculture. But for now, the document, published as a draft for public consultation on 22 May, remains light on the specific policies that will help the country attain these goals. And although the government has said that with the new strategy it will go further than the European Union in tackling air pollution post-Brexit, scientists say major improvements to air quality will require a coordinated effort across Europe.

Urban air quality, meteorology and traffic linkages: Evidence from a sixteen-day particulate matter pollution event in December 2015, Beijing.

PubMed

Hu, Dongmei; Wu, Jianping; Tian, Kun; Liao, Lyuchao; Xu, Ming; Du, Yiman

2017-09-01

A heavy 16-day pollution episode occurred in Beijing from December 19, 2015 to January 3, 2016. The mean daily AQI and PM 2.5 were 240.44 and 203.6μg/m 3 . We analyzed the spatiotemporal characteristics of air pollutants, meteorology and road space speed during this period, then extended to reveal the combined effects of traffic restrictions and meteorology on urban air quality with observational data and a multivariate mutual information model. Results of spatiotemporal analysis showed that five pollution stages were identified with remarkable variation patterns based on evolution of PM 2.5 concentration and weather conditions. Southern sites (DX, YDM and DS) experienced heavier pollution than northern ones (DL, CP and WL). Stage P2 exhibited combined functions of meteorology and traffic restrictions which were delayed peak-clipping effects on PM 2.5 . Mutual information values of Air quality-Traffic-Meteorology (ATM-MI) revealed that additive functions of traffic restrictions, suitable relative humidity and temperature were more effective on the removal of fine particles and CO than NO 2 . Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Impact of air quality guidelines on COPD sufferers

PubMed Central

Liu, Youcheng; Yan, Shuang; Poh, Karen; Liu, Suyang; Iyioriobhe, Emanehi; Sterling, David A

2016-01-01

Background COPD is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in both high- and low-income countries and a major public health burden worldwide. While cigarette smoking remains the main cause of COPD, outdoor and indoor air pollution are important risk factors to its etiology. Although studies over the last 30 years helped reduce the values, it is not very clear if the current air quality guidelines are adequately protective for COPD sufferers. Objective This systematic review was to summarize the up-to-date literature on the impact of air pollution on the COPD sufferers. Methods PubMed and Google Scholar were utilized to search for articles related to our study’s focus. Search terms included “COPD exacerbation”, “air pollution”, “air quality guidelines”, “air quality standards”, “COPD morbidity and mortality”, “chronic bronchitis”, and “air pollution control” separately and in combination. We focused on articles from 1990 to 2015. We also used articles prior to 1990 if they contained relevant information. We focused on articles written in English or with an English abstract. We also used the articles in the reference lists of the identified articles. Results Both short-term and long-term exposures to outdoor air pollution around the world are associated with the mortality and morbidity of COPD sufferers even at levels below the current air quality guidelines. Biomass cooking in low-income countries was clearly associated with COPD morbidity in adult nonsmoking females. Conclusion There is a need to continue to improve the air quality guidelines. A range of intervention measures could be selected at different levels based on countries’ socioeconomic conditions to reduce the air pollution exposure and COPD burden. PMID:27143874

End-user perspective of low-cost sensors for outdoor air pollution monitoring.

PubMed

Rai, Aakash C; Kumar, Prashant; Pilla, Francesco; Skouloudis, Andreas N; Di Sabatino, Silvana; Ratti, Carlo; Yasar, Ansar; Rickerby, David

2017-12-31

Low-cost sensor technology can potentially revolutionise the area of air pollution monitoring by providing high-density spatiotemporal pollution data. Such data can be utilised for supplementing traditional pollution monitoring, improving exposure estimates, and raising community awareness about air pollution. However, data quality remains a major concern that hinders the widespread adoption of low-cost sensor technology. Unreliable data may mislead unsuspecting users and potentially lead to alarming consequences such as reporting acceptable air pollutant levels when they are above the limits deemed safe for human health. This article provides scientific guidance to the end-users for effectively deploying low-cost sensors for monitoring air pollution and people's exposure, while ensuring reasonable data quality. We review the performance characteristics of several low-cost particle and gas monitoring sensors and provide recommendations to end-users for making proper sensor selection by summarizing the capabilities and limitations of such sensors. The challenges, best practices, and future outlook for effectively deploying low-cost sensors, and maintaining data quality are also discussed. For data quality assurance, a two-stage sensor calibration process is recommended, which includes laboratory calibration under controlled conditions by the manufacturer supplemented with routine calibration checks performed by the end-user under final deployment conditions. For large sensor networks where routine calibration checks are impractical, statistical techniques for data quality assurance should be utilised. Further advancements and adoption of sophisticated mathematical and statistical techniques for sensor calibration, fault detection, and data quality assurance can indeed help to realise the promised benefits of a low-cost air pollution sensor network. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Mapping real-time air pollution health risk for environmental management: Combining mobile and stationary air pollution monitoring with neural network models.

PubMed

Adams, Matthew D; Kanaroglou, Pavlos S

2016-03-01

Air pollution poses health concerns at the global scale. The challenge of managing air pollution is significant because of the many air pollutants, insufficient funds for monitoring and abatement programs, and political and social challenges in defining policy to limit emissions. Some governments provide citizens with air pollution health risk information to allow them to limit their exposure. However, many regions still have insufficient air pollution monitoring networks to provide real-time mapping. Where available, these risk mapping systems either provide absolute concentration data or the concentrations are used to derive an Air Quality Index, which provides the air pollution risk for a mix of air pollutants with a single value. When risk information is presented as a single value for an entire region it does not inform on the spatial variation within the region. Without an understanding of the local variation residents can only make a partially informed decision when choosing daily activities. The single value is typically provided because of a limited number of active monitoring units in the area. In our work, we overcome this issue by leveraging mobile air pollution monitoring techniques, meteorological information and land use information to map real-time air pollution health risks. We propose an approach that can provide improved health risk information to the public by applying neural network models within a framework that is inspired by land use regression. Mobile air pollution monitoring campaigns were conducted across Hamilton from 2005 to 2013. These mobile air pollution data were modelled with a number of predictor variables that included information on the surrounding land use characteristics, the meteorological conditions, air pollution concentrations from fixed location monitors, and traffic information during the time of collection. Fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide were both modelled. During the model fitting process we reserved

Discriminatory Air Pollution

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCaull, Julian

1976-01-01

Described are the patterns of air pollution in certain large urban areas. Persons in poverty, in occupations below the management or professional level, in low-rent districts, and in black population are most heavily exposed to air pollution. Pollution paradoxically is largely produced by high energy consuming middle-and upper-class households.…

Visual air quality simulation techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Molenar, John V.; Malm, William C.; Johnson, Christopher E.

Visual air quality is primarily a human perceptual phenomenon beginning with the transfer of image-forming information through an illuminated, scattering and absorbing atmosphere. Visibility, especially the visual appearance of industrial emissions or the degradation of a scenic view, is the principal atmospheric characteristic through which humans perceive air pollution, and is more sensitive to changing pollution levels than any other air pollution effect. Every attempt to quantify economic costs and benefits of air pollution has indicated that good visibility is a highly valued and desired environmental condition. Measurement programs can at best approximate the state of the ambient atmosphere at a few points in a scenic vista viewed by an observer. To fully understand the visual effect of various changes in the concentration and distribution of optically important atmospheric pollutants requires the use of aerosol and radiative transfer models. Communication of the output of these models to scientists, decision makers and the public is best done by applying modern image-processing systems to generate synthetic images representing the modeled air quality conditions. This combination of modeling techniques has been under development for the past 15 yr. Initially, visual air quality simulations were limited by a lack of computational power to simplified models depicting Gaussian plumes or uniform haze conditions. Recent explosive growth in low cost, high powered computer technology has allowed the development of sophisticated aerosol and radiative transfer models that incorporate realistic terrain, multiple scattering, non-uniform illumination, varying spatial distribution, concentration and optical properties of atmospheric constituents, and relative humidity effects on aerosol scattering properties. This paper discusses these improved models and image-processing techniques in detail. Results addressing uniform and non-uniform layered haze conditions in both

Air pollution removal by urban trees and shrubs in the United States

Treesearch

David J. Nowak; Daniel E. Crane; Jack C. Stevens

2006-01-01

A modeling study using hourly meteorological and pollution concentration data from across the coterminous United States demonstrates that urban trees remove large amounts of air pollution that consequently improve urban air quality. Pollution removal (03, PM10, NO2, SO2, CO)...

Co-benefits of air quality and climate change policies on air quality of the Mediterranean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pozzoli, Luca; Mert Gokturk, Ozan; Unal, Alper; Kindap, Tayfun; Janssens-Maenhout, Greet

2015-04-01

The Mediterranean basin is one of the regions of the world where significant impacts due to climate changes are predicted to occur in the future. Observations and model simulations are used to provide to the policy makers scientifically based estimates of the necessity to adjust national emission reductions needed to achieve air quality objectives in the context of a changing climate, which is not only driven by GHGs, but also by short lived climate pollutants, such as tropospheric ozone and aerosols. There is an increasing interest and need to design cost-benefit emission reduction strategies, which could improve both regional air quality and global climate change. In this study we used the WRF-CMAQ air quality modelling system to quantify the contribution of anthropogenic emissions to ozone and particulate matter concentrations in Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean and to understand how this contribution could change in different future scenarios. We have investigated four different future scenarios for year 2050 defined during the European Project CIRCE: a "business as usual" scenario (BAU) where no or just actual measures are taken into account; an "air quality" scenario (BAP) which implements the National Emission Ceiling directive 2001/81/EC member states of the European Union (EU-27); a "climate change" scenario (CC) which implements global climate policies decoupled from air pollution policies; and an "integrated air quality and climate policy" scenario (CAP) which explores the co-benefit of global climate and EU-27 air pollution policies. The BAP scenario largely decreases summer ozone concentrations over almost the entire continent, while the CC and CAP scenarios similarly determine lower decreases in summer ozone but extending all over the Mediterranean, the Middle East countries and Russia. Similar patterns are found for winter PM concentrations; BAP scenario improves pollution levels only in the Western EU countries, and the CAP scenario determines

The Role of Plant–Microbe Interactions and Their Exploitation for Phytoremediation of Air Pollutants

PubMed Central

Weyens, Nele; Thijs, Sofie; Popek, Robert; Witters, Nele; Przybysz, Arkadiusz; Espenshade, Jordan; Gawronska, Helena; Vangronsveld, Jaco; Gawronski, Stanislaw W.

2015-01-01

Since air pollution has been linked to a plethora of human health problems, strategies to improve air quality are indispensable. Despite the complexity in composition of air pollution, phytoremediation was shown to be effective in cleaning air. Plants are known to scavenge significant amounts of air pollutants on their aboveground plant parts. Leaf fall and runoff lead to transfer of (part of) the adsorbed pollutants to the soil and rhizosphere below. After uptake in the roots and leaves, plants can metabolize, sequestrate and/or excrete air pollutants. In addition, plant-associated microorganisms play an important role by degrading, detoxifying or sequestrating the pollutants and by promoting plant growth. In this review, an overview of the available knowledge about the role and potential of plant–microbe interactions to improve indoor and outdoor air quality is provided. Most importantly, common air pollutants (particulate matter, volatile organic compounds and inorganic air pollutants) and their toxicity are described. For each of these pollutant types, a concise overview of the specific contributions of the plant and its microbiome is presented. To conclude, the state of the art and its related future challenges are presented. PMID:26516837

The Role of Plant-Microbe Interactions and Their Exploitation for Phytoremediation of Air Pollutants.

PubMed

Weyens, Nele; Thijs, Sofie; Popek, Robert; Witters, Nele; Przybysz, Arkadiusz; Espenshade, Jordan; Gawronska, Helena; Vangronsveld, Jaco; Gawronski, Stanislaw W

2015-10-26

Since air pollution has been linked to a plethora of human health problems, strategies to improve air quality are indispensable. Despite the complexity in composition of air pollution, phytoremediation was shown to be effective in cleaning air. Plants are known to scavenge significant amounts of air pollutants on their aboveground plant parts. Leaf fall and runoff lead to transfer of (part of) the adsorbed pollutants to the soil and rhizosphere below. After uptake in the roots and leaves, plants can metabolize, sequestrate and/or excrete air pollutants. In addition, plant-associated microorganisms play an important role by degrading, detoxifying or sequestrating the pollutants and by promoting plant growth. In this review, an overview of the available knowledge about the role and potential of plant-microbe interactions to improve indoor and outdoor air quality is provided. Most importantly, common air pollutants (particulate matter, volatile organic compounds and inorganic air pollutants) and their toxicity are described. For each of these pollutant types, a concise overview of the specific contributions of the plant and its microbiome is presented. To conclude, the state of the art and its related future challenges are presented.

Car indoor air pollution - analysis of potential sources

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

The population of industrialized countries such as the United States or of countries from the European Union spends approximately more than one hour each day in vehicles. In this respect, numerous studies have so far addressed outdoor air pollution that arises from traffic. By contrast, only little is known about indoor air quality in vehicles and influences by non-vehicle sources. Therefore the present article aims to summarize recent studies that address i.e. particulate matter exposure. It can be stated that although there is a large amount of data present for outdoor air pollution, research in the area of indoor air quality in vehicles is still limited. Especially, knowledge on non-vehicular sources is missing. In this respect, an understanding of the effects and interactions of i.e. tobacco smoke under realistic automobile conditions should be achieved in future. PMID:22177291

The expanding scope of air pollution monitoring can facilitate sustainable development.

PubMed

Knox, Andrew; Mykhaylova, Natalia; Evans, Greg J; Lee, Colin J; Karney, Bryan; Brook, Jeffrey R

2013-03-15

This paper explores technologies currently expanding the physical scope of air pollution monitoring and their potential contributions to the assessment of sustainable development. This potential lies largely in the ability of these technologies to address issues typically on the fringe of the air pollution agenda. Air pollution monitoring tends to be primarily focused on human health, and largely neglects other aspects of sustainable development. Sensor networks, with their relatively inexpensive monitoring nodes, allow for monitoring with finer spatiotemporal resolution. This resolution can support more conclusive studies of air pollution's effect on socio-ecological justice and human quality of life. Satellite observation of air pollution allows for wider geographical scope, and in doing so can facilitate studies of air pollution's effects on natural capital and ecosystem resilience. Many air pollution-related aspects of the sustainability of development in human systems are not being given their due attention. Opportunities exist for air pollution monitoring to attend more to these issues. Improvements to the resolution and scale of monitoring make these opportunities realizable. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Setting limits: Using air pollution thresholds to protect and restore US ecosystems

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fenn, Mark E.; Lambert, Kathleen F.; Blett, Tamara F.; Burns, Douglas A.; Pardo, Linda H.; Lovett, Gary M.; Haeuber, Richard A.; Evers, David C.; Driscoll, Charles T.; Jeffries, Dean S.

2011-01-01

More than four decades of research provide unequivocal evidence that sulfur, nitrogen, and mercury pollution have altered, and will continue to alter, our nation's lands and waters. The emission and deposition of air pollutants harm native plants and animals, degrade water quality, affect forest productivity, and are damaging to human health. Many air quality policies limit emissions at the source but these control measures do not always consider ecosystem impacts. Air pollution thresholds at which ecological effects are observed, such as critical loads, are effective tools for assessing the impacts of air pollution on essential ecosystem services and for informing public policy. U.S. ecosystems can be more effectively protected and restored by using a combination of emissions-based approaches and science-based thresholds of ecosystem damage.

Air Quality Criteria for Particulate Matter.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Air Pollution Control Administration (DHEW), Washington, DC.

To assist states in developing air quality standards, this book offers a review of literature related to atmospheric particulates and the development of criteria for air quality. It not only summarizes the current scientific knowledge of particulate air pollution, but points up the major deficiencies in that knowledge and the need for further…

75 FR 78952 - Approval and Promulgation of State Air Quality Plans for Designated Facilities and Pollutants...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-12-17

... Promulgation of State Air Quality Plans for Designated Facilities and Pollutants; Commonwealth of Virginia... Declaration and Withdrawal of EPA Plan Approval AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION... request for EPA withdrawal of its section 111(d)/129 plan (the plan) approval for HMIWI units. Submittal...

Air Quality and Indoor Environmental Exposures: Clinical ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Indoor air quality (IAQ) is a term which refers to the air quality within and around buildings and homes as it relates to the health and comfort of the occupants. Many ambient (outdoor) air pollutants readily permeate indoor spaces. Because indoor air can be considerably more polluted than ambient air, the USEPA lists poor IAQ as a major environmental concern. In the sections that follow, health effects associated with commonly encountered ambient air pollutants and indoor contaminants will be broken down by agent class. In some cases, exposure may be acute, with one or more pets (and owners) experiencing signs within a relatively short period. However, most exposures are episodic or chronic, making it difficult to definitively link poor IAQ to respiratory or other adverse health outcomes. Age or underlying immunologic, cardiac, or respiratory disease may further complicate the clinical picture, as those patients may be more sensitive to (and affected by) lower concentrations than prove problematic for healthy housemates. Because pets, like their owners, spend most of their lives indoors, we will discuss how certain home conditions can worsen indoor air quality and will briefly discuss measures to improve IAQ for owners and their pets. In this overview presentation, health effects associated with commonly encountered ambient air pollutants and indoor contaminants will be broken down by agent class. Because pets, like their owners, spend most of their lives indoo

Fundamentals of Indoor Air Quality in Buildings

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This module provides the fundamentals to understanding indoor air quality. It provides a rudimentary framework for understanding how indoor and outdoor sources of pollution affect the indoor air quality of buildings.

Do Individual and Neighborhood Characteristics Influence Perceived Air Quality?

PubMed Central

Deguen, Séverine; Padilla, Manon; Kihal-Talantikite, Wahida

2017-01-01

Background: Despite improvements, air pollution still remains a major public health issue. Numerous epidemiological studies have demonstrated the adverse health effects of air pollution exposure based on modeled measures, but only a few have considered the health impact of perceived air quality. Improving our knowledge of individual perceptions is crucial to defining targeted actions and promoting appropriate intervention measures. Our objective is to investigate the relationship between subjective and objective measures of air pollution and to focus on how individual characteristics combined with the neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation index, measured at a fine spatial scale, may or may not alter this relationship. Materials and Methods: The subjective measures of air quality reported by a sample of Lyon residents were collected via an individual questionnaire. The objective measures of air pollution were modeled by the local air quality monitoring network of the Rhône-Alpes region at census block level. We used a socioeconomic deprivation index to capture the different socioeconomic dimensions at census block level. The statistical analysis was structured in two steps: (1) identification of individual determinants of the subjective measures of air quality using multiple correspondence analysis followed by hierarchical clustering; (2) identification of individual and contextual characteristics that may alter the relationship between the objective and subjective measures of air pollution. Results: Among the youngest and the middle aged population (ages 30 to 59), consistent results between level of satisfaction, perceived air quality and objective measures of air pollution were found whatever the individual characteristics of the population. It is less clear among the oldest population: globally no significant difference between the NO2 concentrations and the level of satisfaction was observed. Conclusions: We found a significant relationship between the

Do Individual and Neighborhood Characteristics Influence Perceived Air Quality?

PubMed

Deguen, Séverine; Padilla, Manon; Padilla, Cindy; Kihal-Talantikite, Wahida

2017-12-12

Background : Despite improvements, air pollution still remains a major public health issue. Numerous epidemiological studies have demonstrated the adverse health effects of air pollution exposure based on modeled measures, but only a few have considered the health impact of perceived air quality. Improving our knowledge of individual perceptions is crucial to defining targeted actions and promoting appropriate intervention measures. Our objective is to investigate the relationship between subjective and objective measures of air pollution and to focus on how individual characteristics combined with the neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation index, measured at a fine spatial scale, may or may not alter this relationship. Materials and Methods : The subjective measures of air quality reported by a sample of Lyon residents were collected via an individual questionnaire. The objective measures of air pollution were modeled by the local air quality monitoring network of the Rhône-Alpes region at census block level. We used a socioeconomic deprivation index to capture the different socioeconomic dimensions at census block level. The statistical analysis was structured in two steps: (1) identification of individual determinants of the subjective measures of air quality using multiple correspondence analysis followed by hierarchical clustering; (2) identification of individual and contextual characteristics that may alter the relationship between the objective and subjective measures of air pollution. Results : Among the youngest and the middle aged population (ages 30 to 59), consistent results between level of satisfaction, perceived air quality and objective measures of air pollution were found whatever the individual characteristics of the population. It is less clear among the oldest population: globally no significant difference between the NO₂ concentrations and the level of satisfaction was observed. Conclusion s : We found a significant relationship between the

Ambient air pollution, climate change, and population health in China.

PubMed

Kan, Haidong; Chen, Renjie; Tong, Shilu

2012-07-01

As the largest developing country, China has been changing rapidly over the last three decades and its economic expansion is largely driven by the use of fossil fuels, which leads to a dramatic increase in emissions of both ambient air pollutants and greenhouse gases (GHGs). China is now facing the worst air pollution problem in the world, and is also the largest emitter of carbon dioxide. A number of epidemiological studies on air pollution and population health have been conducted in China, using time-series, case-crossover, cross-sectional, cohort, panel or intervention designs. The increased health risks observed among Chinese population are somewhat lower in magnitude, per amount of pollution, than the risks found in developed countries. However, the importance of these increased health risks is greater than that in North America or Europe, because the levels of air pollution in China are very high in general and Chinese population accounts for more than one fourth of the world's totals. Meanwhile, evidence is mounting that climate change has already affected human health directly and indirectly in China, including mortality from extreme weather events; changes in air and water quality; and changes in the ecology of infectious diseases. If China acts to reduce the combustion of fossil fuels and the resultant air pollution, it will reap not only the health benefits associated with improvement of air quality but also the reduced GHG emissions. Consideration of the health impact of air pollution and climate change can help the Chinese government move forward towards sustainable development with appropriate urgency. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Assessment of Indoor Air Pollution in Homes with Infants

PubMed Central

Pickett, Anna Ruth; Bell, Michelle L.

2011-01-01

Infants spend most of their indoor time at home; however, residential air quality is poorly understood. We investigated the air quality of infants’ homes in the New England area of the U.S. Participants (N = 53) were parents of infants (0–6 months) who completed telephone surveys to identify potential pollutant sources in their residence. Carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤0.5 µm (PM0.5), and total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs) were measured in 10 homes over 4–7 days, and levels were compared with health-based guidelines. Pollutant levels varied substantially across homes and within homes with overall levels for some homes up to 20 times higher than for other homes. Average levels were 0.85 ppm, 663.2 ppm, 18.7 µg/m3, and 1626 µg/m3 for CO, CO2, PM0.5, and TVOCs, respectively. CO2, TVOCs, and PM0.5 levels exceeded health-based indoor air quality guidelines. Survey results suggest that nursery renovations and related potential pollutant sources may be associated with differences in urbanicity, income, and presence of older children with respiratory ailments, which could potentially confound health studies. While there are no standards for indoor residential air quality, our findings suggest that additional research is needed to assess indoor pollution exposure for infants, which may be a vulnerable population. PMID:22408586

Forest fires and air quality issues in southern Europe

Treesearch

Ana Isabel Miranda; Enrico Marchi; Marco Ferretti; Millán M. Millán

2009-01-01

Each summer forest fires in southern Europe emit large quantities of pollutants to the atmosphere. These fires can generate a number of air pollution episodes as measured by air quality monitoring networks. We analyzed the impact of forest fires on air quality of specific regions of southern Europe. Data from several summer seasons were studied with the aim of...

76 FR 5277 - Revisions to the California State Implementation Plan, Santa Barbara Air Pollution Control...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-01-31

... the California State Implementation Plan, Santa Barbara Air Pollution Control District, Antelope Valley Air Quality Management District, Ventura County Air Pollution Control District and Placer County Air Pollution Control District AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Direct final...

76 FR 5319 - Revisions to the California State Implementation Plan, Santa Barbara Air Pollution Control...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-01-31

... the California State Implementation Plan, Santa Barbara Air Pollution Control District, Placer County Air Pollution Control District, Antelope Valley Air Quality Management District, and Ventura County Air Pollution Control District AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Proposed rule...

Urban air pollution in Sub-Saharan Africa: Time for action.

PubMed

Amegah, A Kofi; Agyei-Mensah, Samuel

2017-01-01

Air quality in cities of Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries has deteriorated with the situation driven by rapid population growth and its attendant increased vehicle ownership, increased use of solid fuels for cooking and heating, and poor waste management practices. Industrial expansion in these cities is also a major contributor to the worsening air pollution. Exposure to ambient air pollution is a major threat to human health in SSA with 176,000 deaths and 626,000 DALYs in the region attributable to ambient air pollution exposure. These estimates are however likely to be much higher than reported due to the limited data emanating from the region. Recently, the adoption of the World Health Assembly resolution on air pollution and health, and Sustainable Development Goals are a welcome boost for urban air pollution control efforts in SSA. In this article, we have outlined within the broad framework of these international policy instruments, measures for addressing urban air pollution and its associated health impacts in SSA sustainably. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.