Health impact assessment of a reduction in ambient PM(2.5) levels in Spain

Seasonal Characterization of Primary and Secondary Sources of Fine PM-Bound Water-Soluble Organic Carbon in Central Los Angeles

Understanding the sources and formation processes of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is crucial for improving urban air quality and public health. This study provides a real-time analysis of PM2.5-bound water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) and related carbonaceous species during winter, spring, and summer periods in 2023-2024, aiming to identify their major sources in central Los Angeles. Using advanced online monitoring equipment, including a Sunset Laboratory EC/OC analyzer and a custom-developed setup including a total organic carbon (TOC) analyzer coupled with a particle collection system, we obtained hourly measurements of organic carbon (OC), its fractions (OC1-OC4, based on volatility), elemental carbon (EC), and WSOC. Positive matrix factorization (PMF) identified three principal PM2.5 sources: vehicular emissions, secondary organic carbon (SOC) formation influenced by nighttime aqueous-phase chemical processes, and SOC formation driven by daytime photochemical reactions. Vehicular emissions dominated EC levels, accounting for 86-95% across seasons. This factor also had high contributions from nitrogen oxides (NOₓ) (75-82%), vehicle counts (approximately 85%), and OC1 (51-83%), reflecting the persistent influence of traffic emissions. Nighttime SOC formation was significant in winter, with WSOC and OC4 contributing 58% and 40% to this factor. In contrast, daytime photochemical SOC formation was prominent in summer, with WSOC and OC4 contributing 63% and 47%, and ozone loading up to 89%, reflecting increased photochemical activity. Spring exhibited a mix of aqueous and photochemical SOC formation, with similar contributions from WSOC (38-35%) and OC4 (35-33%), reflecting the transitional season's mixed SOC formation mechanisms. Diurnal profiles revealed that primary emissions peaked during morning rush hours, while secondary formation processes elevated OC levels at night in winter and during afternoons in summer. The EC tracer method corroborated these findings by estimating primary and secondary organic carbon levels, highlighting significant seasonal and diurnal variations in carbonaceous aerosols. These results emphasize the need for targeted strategies addressing both primary emissions and the precursors of secondary aerosol formation, to improve air quality in Los Angeles.

The Impact of Russia-Ukraine geopolitical conflict on the air quality and toxicological properties of ambient PM2.5 in Milan, Italy

The geopolitical conflict between Russia and Ukraine has disrupted Europe's natural gas supplies, driving up gas prices and leading to a shift towards biomass for residential heating during colder months. This study assessed the consequent air quality and toxicological impacts in Milan, Italy, focusing on fine particulate matter (PM2.5, dp < 2.5 μm) emissions. PM2.5 samples were analyzed for their chemical composition and assessed for their oxidative potential using the dithiothreitol (DTT) assay across three periods reflecting residential heating deployment (RHD): pre-RHD, intra-RHD, and post-RHD periods. During the intra-RHD period, PM2.5 levels were significantly higher than those in other periods, with concentrations reaching 57.94 ± 7.57 μg/m3, indicating a deterioration in air quality. Moreover, levoglucosan was 9.2 times higher during the intra-RHD period compared to the pre-RHD period, correlating with elevated levels of elemental carbon (EC) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). These findings were compared with previous local studies before the conflict, underscoring a significant rise in biomass-related emissions. DTT assay levels during the intra-RHD were 2.1 times higher than those observed during the same period in 2022, strongly correlating with biomass burning emissions. Our findings highlight the necessity for policies to mitigate the indirect health effects of increased biomass burning emissions due to the energy crisis triggered by the geopolitical conflict.

Value per Statistical Life at the Sub-National Level as a Tool for Assessing Public Health and Environmental Problems

This article aims to estimate the Value per Statistical Life (VSL) and Value per Statistical Life Year (VSLY) at the sub-national level, which can be used to calculate the economic impact of health and environmental problems. We estimate the value of life for Mexico and its 32 states, grouped into 5 regions for 2021. We used the OECD's guidelines on "Mortality Risk Valuation in Environment, Health and Transport Policies," which applies the measure of Willingness to Pay (WTP) and Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA). Mexico's overall VSL of $2 000 000 USD in 2021 showcases the value placed on human life. The variation in VSL across the 32 states, with Chiapas having the lowest VSL of $400 000 USD and Mexico City boasting the highest VSL of $3 300 000 USD highlights the different levels of regional development and people's willingness to pay to reduce the risk of mortality. Our estimates of VSL and VSLY have the potential to contribute to the evaluation of public policies in the fields of health and the environment. Monetizing human life through these estimates can offer valuable insights to policymakers at both the national and sub-national levels. By quantifying the economic value placed on human life, this paper helps decision-makers prioritize investments, assess the cost-effectiveness of interventions, and allocate resources to maximize societal well-being.

Health and Economic Benefits of Air Pollution Reductions in Vietnam During 2020-2021

Objectives: This paper explores the potential reduction in the number of deaths and the corresponding economic benefits in Vietnam that could have arisen from the decreased in concentrations of particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 μm or less (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Methods: Using Global Exposure Mortality Models, we estimated the potential health and economic benefits on people aged 25 and above across Vietnam's 63 provinces. The counterfactual scenario assumed reducing PM2.5 and NO2 concentrations to levels observed during the two COVID-19 epidemic waves in 2021 with national lockdowns and activity restrictions. Results: In 2019, PM2.5 concentrations ranged from 12.8 to 40.8 μg/m3 while NO2 concentrations ranged between 2.9 and 36.98 μg/m3. The reduced levels of PM2.5 and NO2 resulted in 3,807 (95% CI: 2,845-4,730) and 2,451 (95% CI: 2,845-4,730) avoided deaths of adults aged 25 and above due to non-injury-related causes, respectively. Considering that every prevented death represents potential tangible and intangible cost savings, reduced levels of PM2.5 and NO2 concentrations during COVID-19 restrictions would have resulted in economic benefits of $793.0 million (95% CI: 592.7-985.4) and $510.6 million (95% CI: 381.3-634.9), respectively. Conclusion: The COVID-19 lockdown led to decreased PM2.5 and NO2 concentrations, benefiting health and economy in Vietnam. Our findings highlight the potential advantages of implementing air quality control policies in the country.

Embedded information of aerosol type, hygroscopicity and scattering enhancement factor revealed by the relationship between PM2.5 and aerosol optical depth

Satellite aerosol optical depth (AOD) provides an alternative way to depict the spatial distribution of near-surface PM_2.5. In this study, a mathematical formulation of how PM_2.5 is related to AOD is presented. When simplified to a linear equation, a functional dependence of the slope on the aerosol type, scattering enhancement factor f(RH), and boundary layer height is revealed, while the influence of the vertical aerosol profile is embedded in the intercept. Specifically, we focus on the effects of aerosol properties and employ a new aerosol index (Normalized Gradient Aerosol Index, NGAI) for classifying aerosol subtypes. The combination of AOD difference at shorter wavelengths over longer-wavelength AOD from AERONET data could distinguish and subclassify aerosol types previously indistinguishable by AE (i.e., urban-industrial pollution, U/I, and biomass burning, BB). AOD-PM_2.5 regressions are performed on these aerosol subtypes at various relative humidity (RH) levels. The results suggest that BB aerosols are nearly hydrophobic until the RH exceeds 80 %, while the AOD-PM_2.5 regressions for U/I depend on RH levels. Moreover, the scattering enhancement factor f(RH) can be calculated by taking the ratio of intercepts between dry and humidity conditions, which is proposed and tested for the first time in this study. Our results show an f(RH ≥ 80 %) of ∼2.6 for U/I-dominated aerosols, whereas the value is not over 1.5 for BB aerosols. The f(RH) can be further used to derive the optical hygroscopicity parameter (κ_sca), demonstrating that the NGAI can be used to exploit differences in aerosol hygroscopicity and improve the AOD-PM_2.5 relationship.

Heavy metal content and health risk assessment of atmospheric particles in China: A meta-analysis

In recent decades, China has devoted significant attention to the heavy metals pollution in particulate matter. However, the majority of studies have only focused on the field monitoring in relatively remote areas, which may not be representative of air quality across the country. This study reevaluated the characteristics, temporal and spatial changes, and health concerns associated with heavy metal pollution in atmospheric particulates on a national scale by coupling Meta-analysis and Monte Carlo simulation analysis. In terms of spatial distribution, the heavy metals pollution levels in the northern coast and northeastern regions are relatively high, whereas it is low along the middle Yellow River, middle Yangtze River, as well as Southwest. With the exception of Cu, the distribution of all elements in PM2.5 steadily decreased over time Moreover, PM10 and PM2.5 performed similar where Cd and Ni both first increased followed by a decline while, Cr displayed a decrease before it showed an increment. And since the implementation of prevention and control policies about the atmospheric release, the focus of industrial emission has gradually shifted from energy production and processing to living products manufacturing. Moreover, the carcinogenic risk was shown to be Cr > As, Pb > Ni, Cd, while the non-carcinogenic risk was as follows: As, Ni > Cr, Cd. Among all contaminants, Cd, As, and Cr in PM2.5 and PM10 exceeded the WHO standard in the cities with worst air quality. It was observed that As posed the largest non-carcinogenic risk to adults while, Cr caused the most carcinogenic risk to adults and children, where the carcinogenic risk of children remains higher than that of adults. Therefore, the findings of this study may offer data support to the China's heavy metal pollution standards in airborne particles and offer theoretical data support for pollution management.

The PM2.5 concentration reduction improves survival rate of lung cancer in Beijing

INTRODUCTION

Long-term exposure to ambient fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) has been linked to increases in the incidence of lung cancer. However, more evidence is needed to conclude its effects on lung cancer survival.

OBJECTIVES

The study aimed to explore the relationship between long-term PM_2.5 exposure and lung cancer survival and evaluated the benefits of clean air actions in Beijing.

METHODS

A whole-population cohort study was conducted on lung cancer patients diagnosed between 2001 and 2017. An atmospheric chemical transport model was used to estimate exposure under a counterfactual scenario without the policy and then quantified the effect of the policy. Cox regression models were used with the seasonality-adjusted PM_2.5 as the main effect.

RESULTS

A 10 μg/m³ increase in PM_2.5 was estimated to be with a 6.5 % (95 % CI: 4.8 %, 8.2 %) increase in the mortality rates. The association was heterogeneous and modified by individual-level characteristics. The clean air actions were estimated to have prevented 3548 (95 % CI: 3280, 3825) premature deaths and to have prolonged survival time by 4.29 months (95 % CI: 0.01, 25.11).

CONCLUSION

Our findings suggest that PM_2.5 exposure lowers the survival rate for lung cancer. The clean air actions implemented in Beijing can protect lung cancer patients by increasing their survival time.

SYNOPSIS

Long-term exposure to PM_2.5 can lower lung patients' survival rates whereas the clean air actions in Beijing have prolonged these patients' survival time by reducing PM_2.5 level.

Air Pollution and Birth Outcomes: Health Impact and Economic Value Assessment in Spain

Air pollution is considered an ongoing major public health and environmental issue around the globe, affecting the most vulnerable, such as pregnant women and fetuses. The aim of this study is to estimate the health impact and economic value on birth outcomes, such as low birthweight (LBW), preterm birth (PTB), small for gestational age (SGA), attributable to a reduction of PM₁₀ levels in Spain. Reduction based on four scenarios was implemented: fulfillment of WHO guidelines and EU limits, and an attributable reduction of 15% and 50% in annual PM₁₀ levels. Retrospective study on 288,229 live-born singleton children born between 2009-2010, using data from Spain Birth Registry Statistics database, as well as mean PM₁₀ mass concentrations. Our finding showed that a decrease in annual exposure to PM₁₀ appears to be associated with a decrease in the annual cases of LBW, SGA and PTB, as well as a reduction in hospital cost attributed to been born with LBW. Improving pregnancy outcomes by reducing the number of LBW up to 5% per year, will result in an estimate associated monetary saving of 50,000 to 7,000,000 euros annually. This study agrees with previous literature and highlights the need to implement, and ensure compliance with, stricter policies that regulate the maximum exposure to outdoor PM permitted in Spain, contributing to decreased environmental health risk, especially negative birth outcomes.

Associations of personal exposure to domestic heating and cooking fuel emissions and epidemiological effects on rural residents in the Fenwei Plain, China

Solid fuel combustion for domestic heating in northern China in the wintertime is of great environmental and health concern. This study assesses personal exposure to particulate matter with different aerodynamic diameters and multiple gaseous pollutants from 123 rural residents in Yuncheng, the Fenwei Plain. The subjects are divided into groups based on the unique energy source applied, including biomass, coal, and electricity/no heating activities. The health effects of the exposures are expressed with four urinary biomarkers. The personal exposure levels to three different aerodynamic particle sizes (i.e., PM₁₀, PM_2.5, and PM₁) of the electricity/no heating group are 5.1 % -12 % lower than those of the coal group. In addition, the exposure levels are 25 %-40 % lower for carbon monoxide (CO) and 10.8 %-20.3 % lower for ozone (O₃) in the electricity/no heating group than the other two fuel groups. C-reactive protein (CRP) in the urine of the participants in biomass and coal groups is significantly higher than that in the electricity/no heating group, consistent with the observations on other biomarkers. Increases in 8-hydroxy-2 deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), interleukin-8 (IL-8), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) are observed for the exposures to higher concentrations of air pollutants. For instance, PMs and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) show significant impacts on positive correlations with 8-OHdG and IL-8, while O₃ positively correlates with CRP. PM₁ exhibits higher effects on the biomarkers than the gaseous pollutants, especially on VEGF and IL-8. The study indicates that excessive use of traditional domestic solid fuels could pose severe health effects on rural residents. The promotion of using clean energy is urgently needed in the rural areas of northern China.

Estimation of exposure and premature mortality from near-roadway fine particulate matter concentrations emitted by heavy-duty diesel trucks in Beijing

Traffic exhaust is a main source of fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) in cities. Heavy-duty diesel trucks (HDDTs), the primary mode of freight transport, contribute significantly to PM_2.5, posing a great threat to public health. However, existing research based on dispersion models to simulate pollutant concentrations lacks high-spatiotemporal-resolution emission inventories of HDDTs as input data, and the public health effects of such emissions in different populations have not been thoroughly assessed. To fill this gap, we focused on Beijing as the research area and developed a high-resolution PM_2.5 emission inventory for HDDTs based on Global Navigation Satellite System-equipped vehicle trajectory data. We then simulated the fine-scale spatial distribution of diesel-related PM_2.5 and assessed the population exposure by integrating the dispersion model and population distributions. Further, we quantified the mortality attributable to noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) plus lower respiratory infections (LRIs) related to PM_2.5 emissions from HDDTs. Results showed that 3.3% of Beijing people lived in areas with high PM_2.5 HDDT emissions, which were near intercity highways. Furthermore, the estimated number of NCD + LRI annual premature deaths attributed to PM_2.5 HDDT emissions in Beijing was 339 (95% CI: 276-401). The NCD + LRI mortality increased with age, and deaths were more frequent in males than females. Our results aid the identification of HDDT PM_2.5 emission exposure hotspots for the formulation of effective mitigation measures and provide important insights into the adverse health impacts of HDDT emissions.

Vehicular Traffic in Urban Areas: Health Burden and Influence of Sustainable Urban Planning and Mobility

Vehicular traffic is one of the major sources of air pollution in European cities. This work aims to understand which characteristics of the urban environment could influence mobility-related air pollution, quantify the health impacts of exposure to traffic-derived PM2.5 and NO2 concentrations, and assess the potential health benefits expected from traffic interventions. The health benefits modeled are intended to provide a set of comparable data to support decision-makers and encourage informed decision-making to design healthier cities. Targeting a large geographical coverage, 12 European cities from 9 countries were comparatively assessed in terms of mean daily traffic volume/area, the number of public transport stops/area, and the percentage of green and outdoor leisure areas, among other urban indicators. This was implemented using an open-source data mining tool, which was seen as a useful engine to identify potential strategies to improve air quality. The comparison of urban indicators in the selected cities evidenced two trends: (a) cities with the most heterogeneous distribution of public transport stops, as an indicator of poor accessibility, are also those with the lowest proportion of km dedicated to cycleways and footways, highlighting the need in these cities for more sustainable mobility management; and (b) the percentage of green and outdoor leisure areas may influence the share of journeys by bicycle, pointing out that promoting the perception of green routes is relevant to enhance the potential of active transport modes. Socioeconomic factors can be key determinants of the urban indicators and would need further consideration. For the health impact assessment (HIA), two baseline scenarios were evaluated and compared. One is based on mean annual traffic contributions to PM2.5 concentrations in each target city (ranging between 1.9 and 13 µg/m3), obtained from the literature, and the second is grounded on mean annual NO2 concentrations at all available traffic and urban background stations within each city (17.2–83.5 µg/m3), obtained from the European Environment Agency database. The intervention scenarios modeled were designed based on traffic mitigation strategies in the literature, and set to ranges of 6–50% in traffic-derived PM2.5 concentrations and of 4–12.5% in NO2 concentrations. These scenarios could result in only a 1.7% (0.6–4%) reduction in premature mortality due to exposure to traffic-derived PM2.5, and 1.0% (0.4–2%) due to exposure to NO2, as the mean for all the cities. This suggests that more ambitious pollution abatement strategies should be targeted.

The Prediction of Influenza-like Illness and Respiratory Disease Using LSTM and ARIMA

This paper proposed the forecasting model of Influenza-like Illness (ILI) and respiratory disease. The dataset was extracted from the Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) for air pollutants data and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for disease cases from 2009 to 2018. First, this paper applied the ARIMA method, which trained based on the weekly number of disease cases in time series. Second, we implemented the Long short-term memory (LSTM) method, which trained based on the correlation between the weekly number of diseases and air pollutants. The models were also trained and evaluated based on five and ten years of historical data. Autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) has an excellent model in the five-year dataset of ILI at 2564.9 compared to ten years at 8173.6 of RMSE value. This accuracy is similar to the Respiratory dataset, which gets 15,656.7 in the five-year dataset and 22,680.4 of RMSE value in the ten-year dataset. On the contrary, LSTM has better accuracy in the ten-year dataset than the five-year dataset. For example, on average of RMSE in the ILI dataset, LSTM has 720.2 RMSE value in five years and 517.0 in ten years dataset. Also, in the Respiratory disease dataset, LSTM gets 4768.6 of five years of data and 3254.3 of the ten-year dataset. These experiments revealed that the LSTM model generally outperforms ARIMA by three to seven times higher model performance.

Incidence of Lung Cancer Among Never-Smoking Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Females

BACKGROUND

Although lung cancer incidence rates according to smoking status, sex, and detailed race/ethnicity have not been available, it is estimated that more than half of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) females with lung cancer have never smoked.

METHODS

We calculated age-adjusted incidence rates for lung cancer according to smoking status and detailed race/ethnicity among females, focusing on AANHPI ethnic groups, and assessed relative incidence across racial/ethnic groups. We used a large-scale dataset that integrates data from electronic health records from 2 large health-care systems-Sutter Health in Northern California and Kaiser Permanente Hawai'i-linked to state cancer registries for incident lung cancer diagnoses between 2000 and 2013. The study population included 1 222 694 females (n = 244 147 AANHPI), 3297 of which were diagnosed with lung cancer (n = 535 AANHPI).

RESULTS

Incidence of lung cancer among never-smoking AANHPI as an aggregate group was 17.1 per 100 000 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 14.9 to 19.4) but varied widely across ethnic groups. Never-smoking Chinese American females had the highest rate (22.8 per 100 000, 95% CI = 17.3 to 29.1). Except for Japanese American females, incidence among every never-smoking AANHPI female ethnic group was higher than that of never-smoking non-Hispanic White females, from 66% greater among Native Hawaiian females (incidence rate ratio = 1.66, 95% CI = 1.03 to 2.56) to more than 100% greater among Chinese American females (incidence rate ratio = 2.26, 95% CI = 1.67 to 3.02).

CONCLUSIONS

Our study revealed high rates of lung cancer among most never-smoking AANHPI female ethnic groups. Our approach illustrates the use of innovative data integration to dispel the myth that AANHPI females are at overall reduced risk of lung cancer and demonstrates the need to disaggregate this highly diverse population.

Health and Economic Impacts Assessment of O3 Exposure in Mexico

Health effects related to exposure to air pollution such as ozone (O₃) have been documented. The World Health Organization has recommended the use of the Sum of O₃ Means Over 35 ppb (SOMO35) to perform Health Impact Assessments (HIA) for long-term exposure to O₃. We estimated the avoidable mortality associated with long-term exposure to tropospheric O₃ in 14 cities in Mexico using information for 2015. The economic valuation of avoidable deaths related to SOMO35 exposure was performed using the willingness to pay (WTP) and human capital (HC) approaches. We estimated that 627 deaths (95% uncertainty interval (UI): 227–1051) from respiratory diseases associated with the exposure to O₃ would have been avoided in people over 30 years in the study area, which confirms the public health impacts of ambient air pollution. The avoidable deaths account for almost 1400 million USD under the WTP approach, whilst the HC method yielded a lost productivity estimate of 29.7 million USD due to premature deaths. Our findings represent the first evidence of the health impacts of O₃ exposure in Mexico, using SOMO35 metrics.

Estimating the health and economic burden of shipping related air pollution in the Iberian Peninsula

Air pollution is the leading cause of the global burden of disease from the environment, entailing substantial economic consequences. International shipping is a significant source of NO_x, SO₂, CO and PM, which can cause known negative health impacts. Thus, this study aimed to estimate the health impacts and the associated external costs of ship-related air pollution in the Iberian Peninsula for 2015. Moreover, the impact of CAP2020 regulations on 2015 emissions was studied. Log-linear functions based on WHO-HRAPIE relative risks for PM_2.5 and NO₂ all-cause mortality and morbidity health end-points, and integrated exposure-response functions for PM_2.5 cause-specific mortality, were used to calculate the excess burden of disease. The number of deaths and years of life lost (YLL) due to NO₂ ship-related emissions was similar to those of PM_2.5 ship-related emissions. Estimated all-cause premature deaths attributable to PM_2.5 ship-related emissions represented an average increase of 7.7% for the Iberian Peninsula when compared to the scenario without shipping contribution. Costs of around 9 100 million € yr-1 (for value of statistical life approach - VSL) and 1 825 million € yr^-1 (for value of life year approach - VOLY) were estimated for PM and NO₂ all-cause burden of disease. For PM_2.5 cause-specific mortality, a cost of around 3 475 million € yr^-1 (for VSL approach) and 851 million € yr^-1 (for VOLY approach) were estimated. Costs due to PM and NO₂ all-cause burden represented around 0.72% and 0.15% of the Iberian Peninsula gross domestic product in 2015, respectively for VSL and VOLY approaches. For PM_2.5 cause-specific mortality, costs represented around 0.28% and 0.06%, respectively, for VSL and VOLY approaches. If CAP2020 regulations had been applied in 2015, around 50% and 30% respectively of PM_2.5 and NO₂ ship-related mortality would been avoided. These results show that air pollution from ships has a considerable impact on health and associated costs affecting the Iberian Peninsula.

Monetary valuation of air quality improvement with the stated preference technique: A multi-pollutant perspective

Air pollution is an important global issue, and governments are making efforts to reduce air pollutant emissions. The elaborate calculation of the social costs of air pollution is essential for justifying the substantial public expenditure on air pollution control policies. This study aims to derive the monetary value of reducing different kinds of air pollutants through the public's willingness to pay (WTP). A choice experiment survey is conducted to examine the public perception of air quality improvement, and the collected stated preference data are analysed with the hierarchical Bayesian logit model. The analysis results show that the public valuation of the emission reduction differs for individual pollutants. On average, the monetary value of one ton of emission reduction follows the order of PM_2.5, PM₁₀, SO_x, TSP, NO_x, and VOC. Based on the elicited WTP, the economic feasibility of the two air pollutant reduction plans of the South Korean Government is assessed. The benefit-to-cost ratio of the plans is 0.61 and 0.66, respectively, based on the mean WTP, indicating that they are not economically feasible at the moment. Implications for the efficient budget allocation of air pollution control policies are provided based on the results.

Effects of deployment of electric vehicles on air quality in the urban area of Turin (Italy)

This study aims to evaluate and quantify the environmental, health, and economic benefits due to the penetration of electric vehicles in the fleet composition by replacing conventional vehicles in an urban area. This study has been performed for the city of Turin, where road transport represents one of the main primary emission sources. Air pollution data were evaluated by ADMS-Roads, the flow traffic data used for simulation come from a real-time monitoring. Instead, statistics on mortality and hospitalizations due to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases were collected from the regional health information system and the National Health Institute and implemented in the BenMap software to evaluate the health and economic impacts. In both cases, two scenarios to evaluate the annual benefits of reducing PM₁₀, PM_2.5 and NO₂ were used: reduction to the levels gained by the assumptions of 2025 and 2030 Scenario and the PM₁₀, PM_2.5 and NO₂ concentrations were considered for evaluating short-term and long-term effects. The analysis performed doesn't include background pollution levels, i.e. the concentrations percentage reductions are only related to the local contribution, therefore derived from the contribution only of traffic source. The results show that fleet electrification has a potential benefit for concentrations reduction in comparison to the base Scenario, especially related to NO₂, less for PM₁₀ and PM_2.5. Regarding 2025 Scenario (4 % (passenger car) and 5 % (light-duty vehicles) electric vehicles), reductions of 52 % of NO2, 35 % of PM10 and 49 % of PM2.5 are observed. Meanwhile, as regards 2030 Scenario reductions of 87 % of NO2, 36 % of PM10 and 50 % of PM2.5 are reached. Also, in terms of social costs a decrease of 47 % for the 2025 Scenario and 66 % for the 2030 Scenario in comparison to the base Scenario is arise.

Application of a health index using PM2.5 concentration reductions for evaluating cross-administrative region air quality policies

The primary goal of air quality policies is to reduce the impact of air pollution on human health, in particular, it is very important in the attainment-closing geographic areas with densely populated like Taiwan. Air quality policies in general only consider the reduction of emission as well as concentration, in order to highlight the effects of air pollution reduction responded on human health, a health index using PM_2.5 concentration reductions (HI-cr) was adopted to evaluate air quality policies in this study. To investigate priorities of cross-administrative region air quality policies, the HI-cr were calculated by using annual results of atmospheric modeling and air quality modeling, which involved the meteorological effect and spatial distribution of air pollution. By studying the emission reduction targets of three administrative regions, Taichung, Changhwa, and Nantau in the Central Taiwan, 8 reduction scenarios were designed and examined. It is found that HI-cr can present detailed information in human health.From the results of adaptability assessement based on health, the equal reduction of emission in present air quality policy gave the most concentration reduction area with lower HI-cr. But according to the analysis in different proportion of emission reduction scenarios, it found that emission reduced more in the most population region, even the concentration reduction is not the highest but HI-cr increased. According to the analysis of different emission reduction policies, this study suggests HI-cr is an important index to evaluate the air pollution control policies instead of considering the impact of air pollutant concentrations only, especially in cross-administrative regions.Implications: In this study, we present a modified health index, HI-cr, to determine the priority of cross-administrative air quality policies using PM_2.5 concentration reduction. HI-cr is adaptable for any types of geography, in particular for areas where the air quality is almost attainment like Taiwan. Cross-administrative air quality policies could be evaluated using HI-cr, it could highlight the high performance on population health improvement rather than high concentration reduction. In particular, for economies where the air quality is almost attainment and with complex terrain and dense population, air quality policies should consider the health prevention issues.

Sequential SEM-EDS, PLM, and MRS Microanalysis of Individual Atmospheric Particles: A Useful Tool for Assigning Emission Sources

In this work, the particulate matter (PM) from three different monitoring stations in the Monterrey Metropolitan Area in Mexico were investigated for their compositional, morphological, and optical properties. The main aim of the research was to decipher the different sources of the particles. The methodology involved the ex situ sequential analysis of individual particles by three analytical techniques: scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), polarized light microscopy (PLM), and micro-Raman spectroscopy (MRS). The microanalysis was performed on samples of total suspended particles. Different morphologies were observed for particles rich in the same element, including prismatic, spherical, spheroidal, and irregular morphologies. The sequential microanalysis by SEM-EDS/PLM/MRS revealed that Fe-rich particles with spherical and irregular morphologies were derived from anthopogenic sources, such as emissions from the metallurgical industry and the wear of automobile parts, respectively. In contrast, Fe-rich particles with prismatic morphologies were associated with natural sources. In relation to carbon (C), the methodology was able to distinguish between the C-rich particles that came from different anthopogenic sources—such as the burning of fossil fuels, biomass, or charcoal—and the metallurgical industry. The optical properties of the Si-rich particles depended, to a greater extent, on their chemical composition than on their morphology, which made it possible to quickly and accurately differentiate aluminosilicates from quartz. The methodology demonstrated in this study was useful for performing the speciation of the particles rich in different elements. This differentiation helped to assign their possible emission sources.

Air Pollution Health Risk Assessment (AP-HRA), Principles and Applications

Air pollution is a major public health problem. A significant number of epidemiological studies have found a correlation between air quality and a wide variety of adverse health impacts emphasizing a considerable role of air pollution in the disease burden in the general population ranging from subclinical effects to premature death. Health risk assessment of air quality can play a key role at individual and global health promotion and disease prevention levels. The Air Pollution Health Risk Assessment (AP-HRA) forecasts the expected health effect of policies impacting air quality under the various policy, environmental and socio-economic circumstances, making it a key tool for guiding public policy decisions. This paper presents the concept of AP-HRA and offers an outline for the proper conducting of AP-HRA for different scenarios, explaining in broad terms how the health hazards of air emissions and their origins are measured and how air pollution-related impacts are quantified. In this paper, seven widely used AP-HRA tools will be deeply explored, taking into account their spatial resolution, technological factors, pollutants addressed, geographical scale, quantified health effects, method of classification, and operational characteristics. Finally, a comparative analysis of the proposed tools will be conducted, using the SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) method.

Cardiopulmonary Impact of Particulate Air Pollution in High-Risk Populations: JACC State-of-the-Art Review

Fine particulate air pollution <2.5 μm in diameter (PM2.5) is a major environmental threat to global public health. Multiple national and international medical and governmental organizations have recognized PM2.5 as a risk factor for cardiopulmonary diseases. A growing body of evidence indicates that several personal-level approaches that reduce exposures to PM2.5 can lead to improvements in health endpoints. Novel and forward-thinking strategies including randomized clinical trials are important to validate key aspects (e.g., feasibility, efficacy, health benefits, risks, burden, costs) of the various protective interventions, in particular among real-world susceptible and vulnerable populations. This paper summarizes the discussions and conclusions from an expert workshop, Reducing the Cardiopulmonary Impact of Particulate Matter Air Pollution in High Risk Populations, held on May 29 to 30, 2019, and convened by the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Measuring The Impact Of Air Pollution On Health Care Costs

Air pollution contributes to the development of numerous adverse human health outcomes. The Environmental Protection Agency's Environmental Benefits Mapping and Analysis Program-Community Edition (BenMAP-CE) tool is widely used in estimating the health care costs of air pollution and in the development of federal and state regulations and policy. Its default features consider only the costs of hospital and emergency department admissions. A more complete accounting of the chain of costs would include ambulatory and other care. In this article we use employer health insurance claims data to infer additional costs that accompany hospitalizations but are not included in BenMAP-CE. Including additional categories increases BenMAP-CE health care cost estimates by approximately 40 percent for respiratory and cardiovascular patients. That is, for each dollar of health care costs captured by BenMAP-CE, a more complete accounting would include an additional 40 cents. These results suggest that because such air pollution costs are underestimated, the health care benefits associated with reducing air pollution may be much larger than previously estimated.

Fate of PM2.5-bound PAHs in Xiangyang, central China during 2018 Chinese spring festival: Influence of fireworks burning and air-mass transport

Variations of levels, possible source and air mass transmission were investigated for 16 USEPA priority-controlled PAHs in PM_2.5 during 2018 Chinese Spring Festival (CSF) in Xiangyang City, central China which is the North-South pollutant airmass transport channel of China. Totally 37 samples were collected. Mass concentrations of Σ₁₆PAHs for the Pre-CSF day (Pre-CSFD), during the CSF day (CSFD) and after the CSF day (Af-CSFD) are 33.78 ± 17.68 ng/m³, 22.98 ± 6.49 ng/m³, and 8.99 ± 4.44 ng/m³, respectively. High resolution samples showed that Σ₁₆PAHs are higher in the morning (06:00-11:00) or afternoon (11:30-16:30), than those in the evening (17:00-22:00) and at night (22:30-05:30), whereas the result is reversed during the CSFD. Fireworks burning can obviously increase the mass concentration of PAHs. Air mass trajectory indicated that Xiangyang is a sink area of pollutants for northwest and southeast, and the sources of the northeast and southwest. The air mass only can be transmitted out through northeast and southwest. It is effective for improvement of air quality in Wuhan and Hunan to control fireworks emission in Henan and local areas. Fireworks burning was an important source for PAHs during CSFD, biomass, coal combustion, and traffic emission were the main sources of PAHs for Pre-CSFD and Af-CSFD periods. The health risk on the CSFD was higher than the acceptable levels, especially during the intensive fireworks burning, the risk value far exceed 1.0 × 10^-4, controlling burning fireworks is required.

The Silver Lining of COVID-19: Estimation of Short-Term Health Impacts Due to Lockdown in the Yangtze River Delta Region, China

The outbreak of COVID-19 in China has led to massive lockdowns in order to reduce the spread of the epidemic and control human-to-human transmission. Subsequent reductions in various anthropogenic activities have led to improved air quality during the lockdown. In this study, we apply a widely used exposure-response function to estimate the short-term health impacts associated with PM_2.5 changes over the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region due to COVID-19 lockdown. Concentrations of PM_2.5 during lockdown period reduced by 22.9% to 54.0% compared to pre-lockdown level. Estimated PM_2.5-related daily premature mortality during lockdown period is 895 (95% confidential interval: 637-1,081), which is 43.3% lower than pre-lockdown period and 46.5% lower compared with averages of 2017-2019. According to our calculation, total number of avoided premature death aassociated with PM_2.5 reduction during the lockdown is estimated to be 42.4 thousand over the YRD region, with Shanghai, Wenzhou, Suzhou (Jiangsu province), Nanjing, and Nantong being the top five cities with largest health benefits. Avoided premature mortality is mostly contributed by reduced death associated with stroke (16.9 thousand, accounting for 40.0%), ischemic heart disease (14.0 thousand, 33.2%), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (7.6 thousand, 18.0%). Our calculations do not support or advocate any idea that pandemics produce a positive note to community health. We simply present health benefits from air pollution improvement due to large emission reductions from lowered human and industrial activities. Our results show that continuous efforts to improve air quality are essential to protect public health, especially over city-clusters with dense population.

Modeling PM2.5 and O3 with aerosol feedbacks using WRF/Chem over the Sichuan Basin, southwestern China

With a large population and fast economic growth, the Sichuan Basin (SCB) has been suffering from air pollution in recent years. However, limited studies have estimated air pollution levels in consideration of the feedbacks of aerosols on meteorology in the SCB. In this study, simulation of fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) and ozone (O₃) over the SCB with a horizontal resolution of 36 km over China and 12 km was conducted for summer (July) and winter (January) in 2015 using the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry (WRF/Chem). The model well captured the variations of PM_2.5 and daily maximum 8 h average (MDA8) O₃ in the 18 cities, especially O₃ in July and PM_2.5 in January. From rim to center, averaged PM_2.5 increased from 40 μg/m³ to 100 μg/m³ in January while averaged O₃ ranged from 60 to 90 ppb in July. Aerosol radiation decreased surface temperature by 1-2 °C, wind speed (WS) by ∼ 0.3 m/s, planetary boundary layer (PBL) height by 10-20%, solar radiation (SR) by ∼30%, and precipitation by 0.02-0.2 mm, while increased relative humidity (RH) by up to 2-4% in January, which resulted in up to 10 μg/m³ increase of PM_2.5 in January and 2 ppb decrease of O₃ in July. The effect increased as the increase of PM_2.5 concentration and can be up to 18% in January and 25% in July. This study highlights the importance of considering meteorology feedbacks in understanding and controlling air pollution in the SCB.

Using Costs and Health Benefits to Estimate the Priority of Air Pollution Control Action Plan: A Case Study in Taiwan

A comparative analysis was conducted between the costs and health benefits of the Air Pollution Control Action Plan (APCAP), which can be implemented in any country to improve air quality and human health. In this study, air quality modeling was used to simulate several scenarios and implement the Kriging method to describe the PM2.5 reduction concentration instantly. Then, health benefits were estimated using the environmental benefit mapping and analysis program (BenMAP) with results from the air quality modeling and Kriging method. To estimate the priority of APCAP, 14 pollution control measures that cover point, mobile, and area sources of air pollution in Taiwan were analyzed. The results indicate that the health benefits of the Taiwan APCAP (TAPCAP) are generally greater than the technical costs. Thus, the implementation of this strategy may result in net benefits. In addition, the benefit-to-control cost ratio for health for the 14 pollution control measures was calculated. The results provide evidence to prioritize the implementation of air quality policies with a higher benefit-cost ratio.

Public health effect and its economics loss of PM2.5 pollution from coal consumption in China

China's energy structure is based on coal resource and it accounts for main proportion in the primary energy consumption. Coal consumption produces PM_2.5 pollution, which seriously affects public health. Considering that there are few studies on the effect PM_2.5 pollution produced by coal consumption, this paper uses the Poisson Regression model to estimate the impacts on public health and the economic loss of PM_2.5 pollution produced by coal consumption using the data in 2015. Based on these results, the paper also predicts the impacts on public health effect and its economic loss caused by PM_2.5 pollution from coal consumption under the baseline scenario and total coal consumption control scenario in 2020 and 2030. Finally, based on the research conclusions, suggestions are proposed to reduce the public health economic loss from PM_2.5 pollution caused by coal consumption.

Fine Particulate Air Pollution, Public Service, and Under-Five Mortality: A Cross-Country Empirical Study

The impacts of fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) air pollution on health outcomes, especially those of children, have attracted worldwide attention. Based on the PM_2.5 concentration data of 94 countries, including the least developed countries estimated by satellite observations in nearly 20 years, this paper investigated the impacts of PM_2.5 pollution on under-five mortality rate (U5MR) and analyzed the role of public service in moderating the PM_2.5-mortality relationship. Results indicated that PM_2.5 pollution had significantly positive influence on U5MR globally. However, the effects of fine particulate pollution on child mortality were heterogeneous in terms of their significance and degrees in countries with different levels of development. A further test based on panel threshold model revealed that public service, measured by public education spending and sanitation service, played a positive moderating role in the PM_2.5-mortality relationship. Specifically, when the ratio of public education expenditure in GDP of a country exceeded the first threshold value 3.39% and the second threshold value 5.47%, the magnitude of the impacts of PM_2.5 pollution on U5MR significantly decreased accordingly. When the percentage of population with access to improved sanitation facilities in a country was over 41.3%, the health damaging effects were reduced by more than half. This paper fills the current gap of PM_2.5 research in least developed countries and provides key policy recommendations.

A study of cardiorespiratory related mortality as a result of exposure to black carbon

INTRODUCTION

Air pollution is a global phenomenon which invariably leads to a serious environmental and health related sequalae. "Black carbon" (BC), a subset of fine particulate matter ≤2.5 μm (PM_2.5), is a fossil fuel emission by-product and has more recently been recognized as a major health hazard. The objective of this study is to statistically analyze the BC concentration and its correlation with cardiorespiratory related mortality and to estimate the benefits of BC reduction on the health of the population in the capital city of Tehran.

METHODS

We analyzed the ambient air BC concentration and its correlation with cardiorespiratory related mortality and conducted health impact assessment of BC in Tehran (Jan 2018-Jan 2019). The data pertaining to BC concentration was obtained from Tehran's four major pollution monitoring stations. The mortality data was obtained from Tehran's cemetery registry. We calculated and analyzed BC concentration statistics including the mean, standard deviation, coefficient of variation, skewness, and kurtosis. We then assessed the cross-correlation and temporal relationship (0-7 days) between the daily mean concentration of BC for the entire city and cardiorespiratory related mortality. The BenMAP software was utilized to estimate the potential reduction in cardiorespiratory related mortality rates if BC concentration is reduced. Three hypothetical scenarios were employed in the analysis, utilizing the BenMAP software: (I) BC concentration was completely removed from the ambient air; (II) BC concentration was eliminated, and the remaining (non-BC portion of) PM_2.5 concentration was reverted to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s standard level (i.e., 35 μg/m³); and (III) The BC emission during the night (22:00 h-6:00 h, when heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs) are allowed to commute in the city) was distributed throughout the whole day. Since the planetary boundary layer during daytime is much higher than that of nighttime, with the same rate of emission, lower concentrations are spread during the whole day.

RESULTS

The trend of BC concentration variation revealed a persistently higher emission of BC during the nighttime, which is consistent with the large-scale operation of HDVs during these hours in the city of Tehran. We observed a direct correlation between BC concentration and cardiorespiratory related mortality. Analysis also showed a 1.4-day lag period from the time of exposure to BC polluted air and respiratory related deaths, and 2 days for cardiovascular related deaths. As a result, the reduction in BC has significant beneficial effects in reducing potentially preventable cardiorespiratory related mortality. The aforementioned three scenarios for age groups of 30 and above yielded the following results: (I) 11,369 (126 per 100,000 population), (II) 15,386 (171 per 100,000 population), and (III) 2552 (28 per 100,000 population) potentially preventable all-cause (including cardiorespiratory) related deaths annually.

CONCLUSIONS

The BC concentration is relatively high in Tehran and HDVs have a major role in emission of this pollutant. A direct correlation between BC concentration and cardiorespiratory related mortality is observed. There are considerable health benefits in reducing BC concentration in this city. Our findings highlight the urgent need to actively curtail emissions of this harmful pollutant. This can be achieved through utilizing control mechanisms such as particulate filters or amending traffic laws.

Estimated health impacts from maritime transport in the Mediterranean region and benefits from the use of cleaner fuels

Ship traffic emissions degrade air quality in coastal areas and contribute to climate impacts globally. The estimated health burden of exposure to shipping emissions in coastal areas may inform policy makers as they seek to reduce exposure and associated potential health impacts. This work estimates the PM2.5-attributable impacts in the form of premature mortality and cardiovascular and respiratory hospital admissions, from long-term exposure to shipping emissions. Health impact assessment (HIA) was performed in 8 Mediterranean coastal cities, using a baseline conditions from the literature and a policy case accounting for the MARPOL Annex VI rules requiring cleaner fuels in 2020. Input data were (a) shipping contributions to ambient PM2.5 concentrations based on receptor modelling studies found in the literature, (b) population and health incidence data from national statistical registries, and (c) geographically-relevant concentration-response functions from the literature. Long-term exposure to ship-sourced PM2.5 accounted for 430 (95% CI: 220-650) premature deaths per year, in the 8 cities, distributed between groups of cities: Barcelona and Athens, with >100 premature deaths/year, and Nicosia, Brindisi, Genoa, Venice, Msida and Melilla, with tens of premature deaths/year. The more stringent standards in 2020 would reduce the number of PM2.5-attributable premature deaths by 15% on average. HIA provided a comparative assessment of the health burden of shipping emissions across Mediterranean coastal cities, which may provide decision support for urban planning with a special focus on harbour areas, and in view of the reduction in sulphur content of marine fuels due to MARPOL Annex VI in 2020.

PM2.5-Related Health Economic Benefits Evaluation Based on Air Improvement Action Plan in Wuhan City, Middle China

On the basis of PM_2.5 data of the national air quality monitoring sites, local population data, and baseline all-cause mortality rate, PM_2.5-related health economic benefits of the Air Improvement Action Plan implemented in Wuhan in 2013–2017 were investigated using health-impact and valuation functions. Annual avoided premature deaths driven by the average concentration of PM_2.5 decrease were evaluated, and the economic benefits were computed by using the value of statistical life (VSL) method. Results showed that the number of avoided premature deaths in Wuhan are 21,384 (95% confidence interval (CI): 15,004 to 27,255) during 2013–2017, due to the implementation of the Air Improvement Action Plan. According to the VSL method, the obtained economic benefits of Huangpi, Wuchang, Hongshan, Xinzhou, Jiang’an, Hanyang, Jiangxia, Qiaokou, Jianghan, Qingshan, Caidian, Dongxihu, and Hannan District were 8.55, 8.19, 8.04, 7.39, 5.78, 4.84, 4.37, 4.04, 3.90, 3.30, 2.87, 2.42, and 0.66 billion RMB (1 RMB = 0.1417 USD On 14 October 2019), respectively. These economic benefits added up to 64.35 billion RMB (95% CI: 45.15 to 82.02 billion RMB), accounting for 4.80% (95% CI: 3.37% to 6.12%) of the total GDP of Wuhan in 2017. Therefore, in the process of formulating a regional air quality improvement scheme, apart from establishing hierarchical emission-reduction standards and policies, policy makers should give integrated consideration to the relationship between regional economic development, environmental protection and residents’ health benefits. Furthermore, for improving air quality, air quality compensation mechanisms can be established on the basis of the status quo and trends of air quality, population distribution, and economic development factors.

Cytotoxicity Assessment of PM2.5 Collected from Specific Anthropogenic Activities in Taiwan

Fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) from different sources with different components have different health impact. In this research in Taiwan, composition and cytotoxicity of PM_2.5 from long-range transport event (LRT), traffic activity, and outdoor cooking at night market were studied. The PM_2.5 mass concentrations were 39.0 μg/m³ during LRT, 42.9 μg/m³ at traffic area, and 28.3 μg/m³ at the night market. Traffic area had highest concentrations of PCDD/Fs (46.9 fg I-TEQ/m³) when highest PAH concentrations of 3.57 BaPeq-ng/m³ were found at night market area. One quarter of PM_2.5 mass at LRT and night market was constituted by water-soluble ion (26.02–28.93%). Road dust (represented by high concentration of Al and Ca) was the main contributor for metal element at traffic station whereas presence of natural salt (Na and Cl elements) was a marker of LRT and cooking activities. Cell viability reduced 9% after exposure to organic extracts of 0.316 μg of PM_2.5 from LRT and night market samples. 150% elevation of ROS production was observed after exposure with organic compound of night market samples at the dose equivalent to 10.0 μg PM_2.5. Organic extracts from night market induced positive genotoxicity in umu test (at a dose of 20.0 μg PM_2.5).

Association between heavy metals and metalloids in topsoil and mental health in the adult population of Spain

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Despite the biological plausibility of the association between heavy metal exposure and mental health disorders, epidemiological evidence remains scarce. The objective was to estimate the association between heavy metals and metalloids in soil and the prevalence of mental disorders in the adult population of Spain.

METHODS

Individual data came from the Spanish National Health Survey 2011-2012, 18,073 individuals residing in 1772 census sections. Mental health was measured with the 12-item General Health Questionnaire. The concentration estimates of heavy metal and metalloid levels in topsoil (upper soil horizon) came from the Geochemical Atlas of Spain based on 13,317 soil samples. Levels of lead (Pb), arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd) and manganese (Mn) were estimated in each census section by "ordinary Kriging". Odds ratios (OR) were calculated by multilevel logistic regression models.

RESULTS

Compared with the lowest Pb concentration levels quartile, the OR for the second quartile was 1.29 (95%CI: 1.11-1.50), increasing progressively to 1.37 (95%CI: 1.17-1.60) and 1.51 (95%CI: 1.27-1.79) in the third and fourth quartiles, respectively. For As, the association was observed in the third and fourth quartiles: 1.21 (95%CI: 1.04-1.41) and 1.42 (95% CI: 1.21-1.65), respectively. Cd was associated also following a gradient from the second quartile: 1.34 (95%CI: 1.15-1.57) through the fourth: 1.84 (95%CI: 1.56-2.15). In contrast, Mn only showed a positive association at the second quartile. Additionally, individuals consuming vegetables > once a day the OR for the fourth quartile of Pb concentration, vs. the first, increased to 2.93 (95%CI: 1.97-4.36); similarly for As: 3.00 (95%CI: 2.08-4.31), and for Cd: 3.49 (95%CI: 2.33-5.22).

CONCLUSIONS

Living in areas with a higher concentration of heavy metals and metalloids in soil was associated with an increased probability of having a mental disorder. These relationships were strengthened in individuals reporting consuming vegetables > once a day.

Impact of weather changes on air quality and related mortality in Spain over a 25 year period [1993-2017]

Climate change is a major public health concern. In addition to its direct impacts on temperature patterns and extreme weather events, climate change affects public health indirectly through its influence on air quality. Pollution trends are not only affected by emissions changes but also by weather changes. In this paper we analyze air quality trends in Spain of important air pollutants (C₆H₆, CO, NO₂, NO_x, O₃, PM₁₀, PM_2.5, and SO₂) recorded during the last 25 years, from 1993 to 2017. We found substantial reductions in ambient concentration levels for all the pollutants studied except for O₃. To assess the influence of recent weather changes on air quality trends we applied generalized additive models (GAMs) using nonparametric smoothing; with and without adjusting for weather parameters including temperature, wind speed, humidity and precipitation frequency. The difference of annual slopes estimated by the models without and with adjusting for these meteorological variables represents the impact of weather changes on pollutant trends, i.e. the 'weather penalty'. The analyses were seasonally and geographically stratified to account for temporal and regional differences across Spain. The results were meta-analyzed to estimate weather penalties on ambient concentration trends at a national level as well as the impact on mortality for the most relevant pollutants. We found significant penalties for most pollutants, implying that air quality would have improved even more during our study period if weather conditions had remained constant. The largest weather influences were found for PM₁₀, with seasonal penalties up to 22 μg⋅m^-3 accumulated over the 25-year period in some regions. The national meta-analysis shows penalties of 0.060 μg⋅m^-3 per year (95% Confidence Interval, CI: 0.004, 0.116) in cold months and 0.127 μg⋅m^-3 per year (95% CI: 0.089, 0.164) in warm months. Penalties of this magnitude would correspond to 129 annual deaths (95% CI: 25, 233), i.e. approximately 3200 deaths over the 25-year period in Spain. According to our results, the health benefits of recent emission abatements for this pollutant in Spain would have been up to 10% greater if weather conditions had remained constant during the last 25 years.

The relationship between air pollutants and healthcare expenditure: empirical evidence from South Korea

This study analyzes the relationship between air pollutants (represented as the air quality index or AQI) and healthcare expenditure. It uses balanced monthly panel data that provides information about the healthcare expenditure, concentration of air pollutants, and regional characteristics. It considers all the variables for 16 cities and provinces in Korea for the period January 2010 to September 2017. It uses the panel data methodology to estimate the effects of air pollutants on healthcare expenditure conditional on controlling for different determinants of healthcare expenditure. The important determinants of variations in healthcare expenditure that this study identifies include the following: five air pollutants' quality indices, personal income, population share of the elderly and the young, per capita registered and operated cars, the number of industries, and atmospheric factors. Results indicate that air pollutants, NO2, O3, and PM10 exert a positive effect on healthcare expenditure. The study also sheds light on the socially optimal allocation of future healthcare resources in South Korea and shows that South Korea could reduce its healthcare expenditure by following the World Health Organization's air quality standards. The findings have three implications: developing health-conscious air quality standards; design and implementation of location-specific customized policies; health benefits of improved air quality standards. This research also provides useful evidence for policymakers to address current environmental problems.

Relationship between fine particulate air pollution exposure and human adult life expectancy in Taiwan

Among the air pollutants, particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 um (PM_2.5) is of particular interest to environmental medicine as epidemiologic studies consistently reported that long-term exposure to PM_2.5 is associated with increased risk of premature death in adults. Life expectancy is a well-documented and important measure of overall public health policy. However, few investigators examined the relationship between PM_2.5 levels and adult life expectancy. In this Taiwan-wide study, county-level annual mean PM_2.5 concentrations data were collected concomitantly with potential confounding variables including demographic and socioeconomic status, as well as smoking prevalence. Subsequently, these PM_2.5 data were analyzed with respect to county-level adult life expectancy data for the period 2010 to 2017. Linear regression was used to determine the relationship between PM_2.5 and life expectancy in adults. Residents residing in the counties characterized as containing higher levels of PM_2.5 exhibited significantly reduced life expectancy after controlling for potential confounders. For each 10 ug/m³ increase in PM_2.5 there was an estimated mean decrease in life expectancy in adults of 0.3 years. The results of this study shed light on the relationship between fine particulate air pollution exposure and risk to human health in Taiwan.

Alveolar macrophage reaction to PM2.5 of hazy day in vitro: Evaluation methods and mitochondrial screening to determine mechanisms of biological effect

Hazy weather in China has recently become a major public health concern due to high levels of atmospheric fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) with a large amount of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs). In this study, the mass concentration of PAHs in hazy PM_2.5 in urban Taiyuan city, China was determined and toxicities of different dosage of the hazy PM_2.5 on rat alveolar macrophages (AMs) were examined. It was found that the hazy PM_2.5, bounded with many species of PAHs (CHR, BbF, BaP, BaA, and etc.), significantly increased cellular malondialdehyde (MDA) content followed by the decreasing in superoxide (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) in AMs. They induced mitochondrial changes in ultrastructure as evidenced by mitochondrial swelling and cristae disorganization, and a dose-dependent decrease in mitochondrial profile density. Also, the mRNA expression levels of mitochondrial fusion-related genes were modified. The Mfn1 and Mfn2 which are essential for mitochondrial fusion increased significantly in hazy PM_2.5-treated group compared to the control in a dose-dependent manner, OPA1 was significantly increased at the highest PM_2.5 dose delivered. These findings suggested that exposure to hazy PM_2.5 could activate oxidative stress pathways in AMs, resulting in abnormal mitochondrial morphology and fusion/fission frequency. Possibly, the toxic effects were mostly attributed to the high burden of varied PAHs in hazy PM_2.5.

Value Assessment of Health Losses Caused by PM2.5 in Changsha City, China

With the advancement of urbanization, the harm caused to human health by PM2.5 pollution has been receiving increasing attention worldwide. In order to increase public awareness and understanding of the damage caused by PM2.5 in the air and gain the attention of relevant management departments, Changsha City is used as the research object, and the environmental quality data and public health data of Changsha City from 2013 to 2017 are used. All-cause death, respiratory death, cardiovascular death, chronic bronchitis, and asthma were selected as the endpoints of PM2.5 pollution health effects, according to an exposure-response coefficient, Poisson regression model, and health-impact-assessment-related methods (the Human Capital Approach, the Willingness to Pay Approach, and the Cost of Illness Approach), assessing the health loss and economic loss associated with PM2.5. The results show that the pollution of PM2.5 in Changsha City is serious, which has resulted in extensive health hazards and economic losses to local residents. From 2013 to 2017, when annual average PM2.5 concentrations fell to 10 μg/m3, the total annual losses from the five health-effect endpoints were $2788.41 million, $2123.18 million, $1657.29 million, $1402.90 million, and $1419.92 million, respectively. The proportion of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the current year was 2.69%, 1.87%, 1.34%, 1.04% and 0.93%, respectively. Furthermore, when the concentration of PM2.5 in Changsha City drops to the safety threshold of 10 μg/m3, the number of affected populations and health economic losses can far exceed the situation when it falls to 35 μg/m3, as stipulated by the national secondary standard. From 2013 to 2017, the total loss under the former situation was 1.48 times, 1.54 times, 1.86 times, 2.25 times, and 2.33 times that of the latter, respectively. Among them, all-cause death and cardiovascular death are the main sources of health loss. Taking 2017 as an example, when the annual average concentration dropped to 10 μg/m3, the health loss caused by deaths from all-cause death and cardiovascular disease was 49.16% of the total loss and 35.73%, respectively. Additionally, deaths as a result of respiratory disease, asthma, and chronic bronchitis contributed to 7.31%, 7.29%, and 0.51% of the total loss, respectively. The research results can provide a reference for the formulation of air pollution control policies based on health effects, which is of great significance for controlling air pollution and protecting people's health.

Estimation of health benefits from air quality improvement using the MODIS AOD dataset in Seoul, Korea

BACKGROUND

Exposure to fine particles in the atmosphere can adversely affect health and even lead to premature death. Recently, South Korea has attracted attention because of its rapid increase in the concentration of Particulate Matter (PM).

OBJECTIVES

We estimated the economic benefits of reducing PM₁₀ in Seoul, South Korea, based on MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD). Based on the retrieved PM₁₀ data, we estimated its effects on overall health in each district of Seoul, Korea between 2014 and 2015.

METHODS

The relationships between MODIS AOD and ground-based PM₁₀ data were identified in different seasons in South Korea between 2012 and 2013 using the linear regression model. The health benefits were estimated by the Benefits Mapping and Analysis Program (Benmap) using the scenarios from the World Health Organization (WHO).

RESULTS

The correlation between MODIS AOD and PM₁₀ concentration differed with the season. There was a higher correlation between MODIS AOD and PM₁₀ concentration in winter (R = 0.57) than there was in other seasons. Based on the MODIS AOD, the average annual PM₁₀ concentration in Seoul was higher in 2014 than it was in 2015, at values of 45.7 μg/m³, and 41.6 μg/m³, respectively. The greatest economic benefit of reducing PM₁₀ concentration (WHO annual standard of 20 μg/m³) was in 2014. This benefit was estimated to be 7022 (95% CI: 599, 20496), 2617 (95% CI: 216, 7750), and 1328 (95% CI: -159, 4679) billion KRW for all-cause, cardiovascular, and respiratory mortalities in 2014 and 2015, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

These results demonstrate that, despite considerable improvements in air quality in recent decades, there is still a need for countermeasures to prevent economic loss due to air pollution in Seoul.

Quantifying health impacts and economic costs of PM2.5 exposure in Mexican cities of the National Urban System

OBJECTIVES

To estimate avoidable mortality, potential years of life lost and economic costs associated with particulate matter PM_2.5 exposure for 2 years (2013 and 2015) in Mexico using two scenarios of reduced concentrations (i.e., mean annual PM_2.5 concentration < 12 µg/m³ and mean annual PM_2.5 concentration < 10 µg/m³).

METHODS

The health impact assessment method was followed. This method consists of: identification of health effects, selection of concentration-response functions, estimation of exposure, quantification of impacts quantification and economic assessment using the willingness to pay and human capital approaches.

RESULTS

For 2013, we included data from 62 monitoring sites in ten cities, (113 municipalities) where 36,486,201 live. In 2015, we included 71 monitoring sites from fifteen cities (121 municipalities) and 40,479,629 inhabitants. It was observed that reduction in the annual PM_2.5 average to 10 μg/would have prevented 14,666 deaths and 150,771 potential years of life lost in 2015, with estimated costs of 64,164 and 5434 million dollars, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Reducing PM_2.5 concentration in the Mexican cities studied would reduce mortality by all causes by 8.1%, representing important public health benefits.

Population dynamics based on mobile phone data to improve air pollution exposure assessments

Air pollution is one of the greatest challenges cities are facing today and improving air quality is a pressing need to reduce negative health impacts. In order to efficiently evaluate which are the most appropriate policies to reduce the impact of urban pollution sources (such as road traffic), it is essential to conduct rigorous population exposure assessments. One of the main limitations associated with those studies is the lack of information about population distribution in the city along the day (population dynamics). The pervasive use of mobile devices in our daily lives opens new opportunities to gather large amounts of anonymized and passively collected geolocation data allowing the analysis of population activity and mobility patterns. This study presents a novel methodology to estimate population dynamics from mobile phone data based on a user-centric mobility model approach. The methodology was tested in the city of Madrid (Spain) to evaluate population exposure to NO₂. A comparison with traditional census-based methods shows relevant discrepancies at disaggregated levels and highlights the need to incorporate mobility patterns into population exposure assessments.

Retrieval of Daily PM2.5 Concentrations Using Nonlinear Methods: A Case Study of the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Region, China

Exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is associated with adverse health impacts on the population. Satellite observations and machine learning algorithms have been applied to improve the accuracy of the prediction of PM2.5 concentrations. In this study, we developed a PM2.5 retrieval approach using machine-learning methods, based on aerosol products from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the NASA Earth Observation System (EOS) Terra and Aqua polar-orbiting satellites, near-ground meteorological variables from the NASA Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS), and ground-based PM2.5 observation data. Four models, which are orthogonal regression (OR), regression tree (Rpart), random forests (RF), and support vector machine (SVM), were tested and compared in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) region of China in 2015. Aerosol products derived from the Terra and Aqua satellite sensors were also compared. The 10-repeat 5-fold cross-validation (10 × 5 CV) method was subsequently used to evaluate the performance of the different aerosol products and the four models. The results show that the performance of the Aqua dataset was better than that of the Terra dataset, and that the RF algorithm has the best predictive performance (Terra: R = 0.77, RMSE = 43.51 μg/m3; Aqua: R = 0.85, RMSE = 33.90 μg/m3). This study shows promise for predicting the spatiotemporal distribution of PM2.5 using the RF model and Aqua aerosol product with the assistance of PM2.5 site data.

Assessment of impact of traffic-related air pollution on morbidity and mortality in Copenhagen Municipality and the health gain of reduced exposure

BACKGROUND

Health impact assessment (HIA) of exposure to air pollution is commonly based on city level (fine) particle concentration and may underestimate health consequences of changing local traffic. Exposure to traffic-related air pollution can be assessed at a high resolution by modelling levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), which together with ultrafine particles mainly originate from diesel-powered vehicles in urban areas. The purpose of this study was to estimate the health benefits of reduced exposure to vehicle emissions assessed as NO₂ at the residence among the citizens of Copenhagen Municipality, Denmark.

METHODS

We utilized residential NO₂ concentrations modelled by use of chemistry transport models to calculate contributions from emission sources to air pollution. The DYNAMO-HIA model was applied to the population of Copenhagen Municipality by using NO₂ concentration estimates combined with demographic data and data from nationwide registers on incidence and prevalence of selected diseases, cause specific mortality, and total mortality of the population of Copenhagen. We used exposure-response functions linking NO₂ concentration estimates at the residential address with the risk of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and respiratory diseases derived from a large Danish cohort study with the majority of subjects residing in Copenhagen between 1971 and 2010. Different scenarios were modelled to estimate the dynamic impact of NO₂ exposure on related diseases and the potential health benefits of lowering the NO₂ level in the Copenhagen Municipality.

RESULTS

The annual mean NO₂ concentration was 19.6 μg/m³ and for 70% of the population the range of exposure was between 15 and 21 μg/m³. If NO₂ exposure was reduced to the annual mean rural level of 6 μg/m³, life expectancy in 2040 would increase by one year. The greatest gain in disease-free life expectancy would be lifetime without ischemic heart disease (1.4 years), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (1.5 years for men and 1.6 years for women), and asthma (1.3 years for men and 1.5 years for women). Lowering NO₂ exposure by 20% would increase disease-free life expectancy for the different diseases by 0.3-0.5 years. Using gender specific relative risks affected the results.

CONCLUSIONS

Reducing the NO₂ exposure by controlling traffic-related air pollution reduces the occurrence of some of the most prevalent chronic diseases and increases life expectancy. Such health benefits can be quantified by DYNAMO-HIA in a high resolution exposure modelling. This paper demonstrates how traffic planners can assess health benefits from reduced levels of traffic-related air pollution.

Classification and Regression Tree Approach for Prediction of Potential Hazards of Urban Airborne Bacteria during Asian Dust Events

Despite progress in monitoring and modeling Asian dust (AD) events, real-time public hazard prediction based on biological evidence during AD events remains a challenge. Herein, both a classification and regression tree (CART) and multiple linear regression (MLR) were applied to assess the applicability of prediction for potential urban airborne bacterial hazards during AD events using metagenomic analysis and real-time qPCR. In the present work, Bacillus cereus was screened as a potential pathogenic candidate and positively correlated with PM10 concentration (p < 0.05). Additionally, detection of the bceT gene with qPCR, which codes for an enterotoxin in B. cereus, was significantly increased during AD events (p < 0.05). The CART approach more successfully predicted potential airborne bacterial hazards with a relatively high coefficient of determination (R2) and small bias, with the smallest root mean square error (RMSE) and mean absolute error (MAE) compared to the MLR approach. Regression tree analyses from the CART model showed that the PM10 concentration, from 78.4 µg/m3 to 92.2 µg/m3, is an important atmospheric parameter that significantly affects the potential airborne bacterial hazard during AD events. The results show that the CART approach may be useful to effectively derive a predictive understanding of potential airborne bacterial hazards during AD events and thus has a possible for improving decision-making tools for environmental policies associated with air pollution and public health.

An approach estimating the short-term effect of NO2 on daily mortality in Spanish cities

BACKGROUND

Road traffic is the most significant source of urban air pollution. PM_2.5 is the air pollutant whose health effects have been most closely studied, and is the variable most commonly used as a proxy indicator of exposure to air pollution, whereas evidence on NO₂ concentrations per se is still under study. In the case of Spain, there are no specific updated studies which calculate short-term NO₂-related mortality.

OBJECTIVE

To quantify the relative risks (RRs) and attributable risks (ARs) of daily mortality associated with NO₂ concentrations recorded in Spain across the study period, 2000-2009; and to calculate the number of NO₂-related deaths.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

We calculated daily mortality due to natural causes (ICD-10: A00 R99), circulatory causes (ICD-10: I00 I99) and respiratory causes (ICD-10: J00 J99) for each province across the period 2000-2009, using data supplied by the National Statistics Institute. Mean daily NO₂ concentrations in μg/m³ for each provincial capital were furnished by the Ministry of Agriculture & Environment, along with the equivalent figures for the control pollutants (PM₁₀). To estimate RRs and ARs, we used generalised linear models with a Poisson link, controlling for maximum and minimum daily temperature, trend of the series, seasonalities, and the autoregressive nature of the series. A meta-analysis with random effects was used to estimate RRs and ARs nationwide.

RESULTS

The overall RRs obtained for Spain, corresponding to increases of 10 μg/m³ in NO₂ concentrations were 1.012 (95% CI: 1.010 1.014) for natural-cause mortality, 1.028 (95% CI: 1.019 1.037) for respiratory-cause mortality, and 1.016 (95% CI: 1.012 1.021) for circulatory-cause mortality. This amounted to an annual overall 6085 deaths (95% CI: 3288 9427) due to natural causes, 1031 (95% CI: 466 1585) due to respiratory causes, and 1978 (95% CI: 828 3197) due to circulatory causes.

CONCLUSION

By virtue of the number of cities involved and the nature of the analysis performed, with quantification of the RRs and ARs of the short-term impact of NO₂ on daily mortality in Spain, this study provides an updated estimate of the effect had by this type of pollutant on causes of mortality, and constitutes an important basis for reinforcing public health measures at a national level.

Chemical characterization and quantitativ e assessment of source-specific health risk of trace metals in PM1.0 at a road site of Delhi, India

This study presents the concentration of submicron aerosol (PM_1.0) collected during November, 2009 to March, 2010 at two road sites near the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi campus. In winter, PM_1.0 composed 83% of PM_2.5 indicating the dominance of combustion activity-generated particles. Principal component analysis (PCA) proved secondary aerosol formation as a dominant process in enhancing aerosol concentration at a receptor site along with biomass burning, vehicle exhaust, road dust, engine and tire tear wear, and secondary ammonia. The non-carcinogenic and excess cancer risk for adults and children were estimated for trace element data set available for road site and at elevated site from another parallel work. The decrease in average hazard quotient (HQ) for children and adults was estimated in following order: Mn > Cr > Ni > Pb > Zn > Cu both at road and elevated site. For children, the mean HQs were observed in safe level for Cu, Ni, Zn, and Pb; however, values exceeded safe limit for Cr and Mn at road site. The average highest hazard index values for children and adults were estimated as 22 and 10, respectively, for road site and 7 and 3 for elevated site. The road site average excess cancer risk (ECR) risk of Cr and Ni was close to tolerable limit (10^-4) for adults and it was 13-16 times higher than the safe limit (10^-6) for children. The ECR of Ni for adults and children was 102 and 14 times higher at road site compared to elevated site. Overall, the observed ECR values far exceed the acceptable level.

Sensitivities of Simulated Source Contributions and Health Impacts of PM2.5 to Aerosol Models

Chemical transport models are useful tools for evaluating source contributions and health impacts of PM_2.5 in the atmosphere. We recently found that concentrations of PM_2.5 compounds over Japan were much better reproduced by a volatility basis set model with an enhanced dry deposition velocity of HNO₃ and NH₃ compared with a two-product yield model. In this study, we evaluated the sensitivities to organic aerosol models of the simulated source contributions to PM_2.5 concentrations and of PM_2.5-related mortality. Overall, the simulated source contributions to PM_2.5 were similar between the two models. However, because of the improvements associated with the volatility basis set model, the contributions of ammonia sources decreased, particularly in winter and spring, and contributions of biogenic and stationary evaporative sources increased in spring and summer. The improved model estimated that emission sources in Japan contributed 35%-48% of the PM_2.5-related mortality in Japan. These values were higher than the domestic contributions to average PM_2.5 concentrations in Japan (26%-33%) because the domestic contributions were higher in higher population areas. These results indicate that control of both domestic and foreign emissions is necessary to reduce health impacts due to PM_2.5 in Japan.

Aerosol Health Effects from Molecular to Global Scales

Poor air quality is globally the largest environmental health risk. Epidemiological studies have uncovered clear relationships of gaseous pollutants and particulate matter (PM) with adverse health outcomes, including mortality by cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Studies of health impacts by aerosols are highly multidisciplinary with a broad range of scales in space and time. We assess recent advances and future challenges regarding aerosol effects on health from molecular to global scales through epidemiological studies, field measurements, health-related properties of PM, and multiphase interactions of oxidants and PM upon respiratory deposition. Global modeling combined with epidemiological exposure-response functions indicates that ambient air pollution causes more than four million premature deaths per year. Epidemiological studies usually refer to PM mass concentrations, but some health effects may relate to specific constituents such as bioaerosols, polycyclic aromatic compounds, and transition metals. Various analytical techniques and cellular and molecular assays are applied to assess the redox activity of PM and the formation of reactive oxygen species. Multiphase chemical interactions of lung antioxidants with atmospheric pollutants are crucial to the mechanistic and molecular understanding of oxidative stress upon respiratory deposition. The role of distinct PM components in health impacts and mortality needs to be clarified by integrated research on various spatiotemporal scales for better evaluation and mitigation of aerosol effects on public health in the Anthropocene.

Atmospheric levels and cytotoxicity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and oxygenated-PAHs in PM2.5 in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region

The chemical composition of PM_2.5 and cellular effects from exposure to fine aerosol extracts were studied for samples collected in Beijing, Tianjin, Shijiazhuang, and Hengshui, China in winter 2015. Effects of priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their oxygenated derivatives (OPAHs) in PM_2.5 on cell cultures were a major focus of the study. Total quantified PAHs and OPAHs at Shijiazhuang and Hengshui were higher than at Beijing and Tianjin, and benz(a)anthracene, chrysene and 1,8-naphthalic anhydride were the most abundant species. Exposure to PM_2.5 extracts caused a concentration-dependent decline in cell viability and a dose-dependent increase in nitric oxide production. Two cytokines, tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and interleukin 6 (IL-6), also increased when A549 test cells were exposed to PM_2.5 extracts. PAHs and OPAHs in PM_2.5 can potentially cause cell damage and induce cytotoxicity and pro-inflammatory responses: benzo(a)anthracene-7,12-dione was highly correlated with NO production, dibenz(a,h)anthracene and 1,4-chrysenequinone were correlated with TNF-α production, and 1-naphthaldehyde was significantly correlated with IL-6 production. The study provides a new approach for evaluating relationships between air-quality and cell toxicity with respect to specific chemicals.