Fumes and faeces in Kabul

Air pollution and respiratory health-Do we really need more evidence?

High‐impact poor air quality events, such as Beijing's so‐called “Airpocalypse” in January 2013, demonstrate that short‐lived poor air quality events can have significant effects on health and economic vitality. Poor air quality events result from the combination of the emission of pollutants and meteorological conditions favorable to their accumulation, which include limited scavenging, dispersion, and ventilation. The unprecedented nature of events such as the 2013 Airpocalypse, in conjunction with our nonstationary climate, motivate an assessment of whether climate change has altered the meteorological conditions conducive to poor winter air quality in Beijing. Using three indices designed to quantify the meteorological conditions that support poor air quality and drawing on the attribution methods of Diffenbaugh et al. (2017, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1618082114), we assess (i) the contribution of observed trends to the magnitude of events, (ii) the contribution of observed trends to the probability of events, (iii) the return interval of events in the observational record, preindustrial model‐simulated climate and historical model‐simulated climate, (iv) the probability of the observed trend in the preindustrial and historical model‐simulated climates, and (v) the relative influences of anthropogenic forcing and natural variability on the observed trend. We find that anthropogenic influence has had a small effect on the probability of the January 2013 event in all three indices but has increased the probability of a long‐term positive trend in two out of three indices. This work provides a framework for both further understanding the role of climate change in air quality and expanding the scope of event attribution.

Poor air quality (PAQ) has serious effects on the environment, climate change, and human health. This study investigated the perceived health impacts of PAQ in two cities in Nigeria (Abuja and Enugu), including whether PAQ may have an interaction with COVID-19 infection and intensity. A recent report published in the Lancet has pointed to the complexity of the health care system in Nigeria and a lack of data on disease burden, so the research in this paper took a self-reporting (perceptual) approach to exploring the health impacts of PAQ. The research also sought to explore the main sources of information used by people to inform them about air quality (AQ) and the actions they are likely to take to address PAQ. The results imply that many of the respondents in the two cities perceived their health to be adversely affected by PAQ and that PAQ worsens both the chances of infection and the intensity of COVID-19. Unsurprisingly, older people were found to be more vulnerable to the health impacts of PAQ. Most respondents, especially younger ones, obtained their information on AQ via electronic media (internet, social media) rather than printed media. Respondents considered that the primary action to address PAQ is proper waste management. Paying the government to address PAQ was regarded as the least likely action, although the government was acknowledged as having a key responsibility.

Air pollution is a multidisciplinary research field, which affects sustainable development (SD) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Its multi-level cause and effect shows the direct influence of air pollution on human health, standards and costs of living, health treatment, and the economies of states. Poor air quality, as an SDG factor, may affect both lower wellbeing and economic growth. As developed economies have faced problems due to poor air quality, they have worked out solutions based on their technological engagement. However, emerging economies are still facing poor air quality as a main problem affecting their economic growth. The particulate matter factor, according to the air quality study, was used as the basis for comparative and statistical research. The findings of the study indicate that air pollution causes a serious impact relating to workforce productivity, absence from work, mortality, and even lower crop yields. There is an obvious research gap in the investigated field of comparative studies considering air pollution as an SD factor, understood as an economic concept. Therefore, the current study is proposed to fulfil this gap, contribute to the knowledge base of the factors affecting human development, and expand the statistical data based on the findings from a comparison between Poland and Germany on their performance in air quality tests. This is a novel approach pointing to air pollution as the proposed focus of research for the realisation of SDGs.

ENHANCING CDC AND EPA HEATRISK AND AIR QUALITY RISK RECOMMENDATIONS: A NARRATIVE REVIEW AND ACTION ALGORITHM FOR CARDIAC PATIENTS

Abstract. The structure of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) and its influence on regional air quality over the Pearl River Delta (PRD) were examined through two intensive observations in October 2004 and July 2006. Analytical results show the presence of two types of typical weather conditions associated with poor air quality over the PRD. The first is the warm period before a cold front (WPBCF) and the second is the subsidence period controlled by a tropical cyclone (SPCTC). Two typical low air quality situations, which are affected by WPBCF and SPCTC, and one high air quality situation were analysed in detail. Results showed that continuously low or calm ground winds resulted in the accumulation of pollutants, and sea-land breezes had an important role during low air quality conditions. Data on recirculation factors showed that recirculation was significant during low air quality conditions, and steady transportation occurred during high air quality conditions. The ventilation index and the 24 h average ventilation index during high air quality conditions were significantly higher than those during low air quality conditions. Deep and stable inversion layers inside the ABL remarkably affected low air quality. Surface and low-altitude inversions were usually observed during WPBCF, contrary to during SPCTC, during which only the low-altitude inversion appeared frequently.

Indoor air pollution and its impact on the lungs.

Excellent air quality is crucial for human health, safety, security, and the environment. Air quality deteriorates as cities and businesses grow, affecting the existence of numerous species as well as the service life and aesthetic appeal of materials. Measuring and evaluating surrounding air quality is the first and most significant step in minimising air toxicity. A large number of water quality surveillance does not always inform the scientific community about the state of the air quality, policymakers, regulating bodies, and, most crucially, the general population. Environmental authorities utilize air quality indexes (AQI) to communicate and interpret information widely due to the health dangers connected with poor air quality. An air quality index is a unique number that represents the air’s quality in terms of its impact on human health. In its most sophisticated version, it combines multiple contaminant amounts in some mathematical equations to obtain at a single figure for air quality. The current study examines into how the COVID-19 pandemic spread affected the quality of the surrounding air during the lockdown and recovery phases. Changes in the air quality index were detected both during phases of the winter period, which lasted from October to January, using data from Adarsh Nagar-Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) station. The findings found that the city’s quality of air had drastically worsened following the lockdown. When compared to the previous years’ data during the same era, before to the COVID-19 epidemic, the quantity of particulate and gaseous pollution increased dramatically following the lockdown period. It was noted that, in addition to PM 10, that was the primary pollutants in the air quality index previous to the epidemic, PM 2.5, and PM 10 were all present.This study presents a quick summary of the relatively significant areas that need more focus from lawmakers in order to launch policies targeted at creating adequate air pollution reduction measures.

Poor air quality is one of the main dysfunctions of the rapid urbanisation process in Africa. Although the information is fragmented, the limited evidence available points out that air quality is a leading health risk in Africa, especially affecting the poorest, most vulnerable communities. In this study, we look into five cities in Africa to understand the nature of urban air quality issues and to delve into the initial responses. We report on the status of the main air quality management dimensions, including air quality standards and monitoring strategy/capabilities, emission inventories and air quality modelling, health impact assessment studies, communication practices, development and implementation of clean air action plans (in connection with other relevant strategies, i.e. climate change policies) and governance issues. We find that all cities have limited monitoring capabilities although communication strategies may differ substantially. While indoor pollution sources are declining in more developed economies, traffic is a growing concern in all five cities. In most cases, air quality issues are mostly related to PM2.5 and natural contributions worsen air pollution from road transport, biomass and open waste burning. While nationally-driven strategies, often based on large-scale engineering projects and financial schemes, may report substantial gains in early stages, multi-level governance and planning is likely to maximize benefits and provide a useful framework for the complex problem of air quality management in the long run. The integration of air quality plans in overarching strategies to tackle persistent poverty and social inequity is urgently needed.

More than 80% of the people in urban regions and about 98% of cities in low and middle income countries have poor air quality according to the World Health Organization. People living in such environment suffer from many disorders like a headache, shortness of breath or even the worst diseases like lung cancer, asthma etc. The main objective of the thesis is to create awareness about the air quality and the factors that are causing air pollution to the people which is really important and provide tools at their convenience to measure and analyze the air quality. Taking real time air quality scenarios, various experiments were made using efficient sensors to study both the indoor and outdoor air quality. These experimental results will eventually help people to understand air quality better. An outdoor air quality data measurement system is developed in this research using Python programming to provide people an opportunity to retrieve and manage the air quality data and get the concentrations of the leading pollutants. The entire designing of the program is made to run with the help of a graphical user interface tool for the user, as user convenience is considered as one of the objectives of the thesis. A graphical user interface is made for the user convenience to visualize graphically the data from the database. The designed system is tested and used for the measurement and analysis of the outdoor air quality. This data will be available in the database so it can be used for analyzing the air quality data for several days or months or years. Using the GrayWolf system and the designed outdoor air quality data measurement system, both the indoor and outdoor air quality was measured to analyze and correlate.

Perceptions about air quality of individuals who work outdoors in the San Joaquin Valley, California

Epidemiological studies on air pollution, diabetes, and hypertension conflict. This study examined air pollution, diabetes, and hypertension in adults in 11 metropolitan areas of Iran (2012-2016). Local environment departments and the Tehran Air Quality Control Company provided air quality data. The VIZIT website and Stepwise Approach to Chronic Disease Risk Factor Surveillance study delivered chronic disease data. Multiple logistic regression and generalized estimating equations evaluated air pollution-related diabetes and hypertension. In Isfahan, Ahvaz, and Tehran, PM2.5 was linked to diabetes. In all cities except Urmia, Yasuj, and Yazd, PM2.5 was statistically related to hypertension. O3 was connected to hypertension in Ahvaz, Tehran, and Shiraz, whereas NO2 was not. BMI and gender predict hypertension and diabetes. Diabetes, SBP, and total cholesterol were correlated. Iran's largest cities' poor air quality may promote diabetes and hypertension. PM2.5 impacts many cities' outcomes. Therefore, politicians and specialists have to control air pollution.

The continuous change in climatic conditions has created a very difficult situation for the people living all over the world. The cities with higher population and poor air quality have been hard hit by the rising temperature and humidity, bad air quality of an urban environment plays a significant role in affecting climatic variables. As Delhi, the capital of India, tops the list of air pollution hotspots among all top polluted cities around the world is selected for this study. Through this study a relationship was assessed, among criteria air pollutants and meteorological parameters. It was hypothesized that criteria air pollutants will positively predict the change in temperature and relative humidity (pillars of climate change) during daily dataset(January 01, 2015 – December 31, 2021) and average annual dataset (2000 to 2021) in Delhi. To test this hypothesis, elastic net-applied regularization has been used in model exploration and coefficient estimation using EVIEWS 12. It was found that during the selected study period, most of the criteria air pollutants were playing a significant role in increasing the changes in climatic conditions of Delhi. This research further explains about the interlinkage between air pollution and climate change with the help of available literature.

Cities in Poland still suffer from poor air quality during winter. Most intense smog episodes, with very high PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations, occur during calm periods, with temperature inversions when the emission from residential sources with low injection height increases. Modelling results tend to underestimate those episodes, despite the good agreement with measured data during low and mid-concentration periods. While the variability of near-surface concentrations is well-known based on the fixed stations and the low-cost sensors measurements, the information on vertical distribution is limited.As measurements with drones tend to be problematic and weather balloons measure only meteorological parameters, new approaches are being developed. In Cracow (in the past one of the cities in Poland with the worst air pollution) measurement campaign with the use of sensors installed on sightseeing, hot air balloons have been carried out in 2019 to check the impact of meteorological conditions on the thickness of the atmospheric layer with poor air quality (Sekula et al., 2021).  Helium tethered aerostat (Knap et al., 2021) with installed sensors is also used by the Polish Academy of Sciences as a measurement platform for vertical profiles in Warsaw (the capital city of Poland).These two platforms were used for a short-period measurement campaign in the winter of 2023. The main goal of the project was to assess differences between modelled and observed vertical profiles of temperature, relative humidity, PM10 and PM2.5 in Warsaw and Cracow cities. The national air quality forecast calculated with the GEM-AQ model was evaluated. In addition, the model's capability to reproduce temperature inversion will be examined.We will present and discuss the results of the measurement campaigns, and the comparison with the model results, in different meteorological and air quality conditions. 

Air quality monitoring (AQM) is key to maintaining healthy air in cities. This is crucial in low- and middle-income countries due to increasing evidence of poor air quality but lack of monitors to consistently collect evaluate air quality data and effect policy changes, mainly because of the costs of monitoring devices. In participating in a challenge for the development of low-cost AQM devices in low-resource regions, an Arduino-based device with sensors for particulate matter size, temperature, and humidity data acquisition was developed for deployment in Port Harcourt, a city in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region, exposed to poor air quality partly due to gas and oil production activities. During the project, challenges to AQM were encountered, including inadequate awareness of air quality issues, lack of necessary AQM device components, unavailability of trained manpower and partnerships, and lack of funding. However, lack of a means of calibrating the device was a major hindrance, as no reference AQM instrument was available, rendering the data acquired largely qualitative, educational, and useless for regulatory purposes. There is an urgent need for AQM in such cities. However, a robust AQM strategy must be designed and used to address these constraints, especially whilst using low-cost devices, for significant progress in acquiring robust air quality data in such low-resource regions to be made.