Urban Air Pollution Exposure and Health Vulnerability

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Air Quality and Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 December 2024 | Viewed by 2414

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (ISAC), National Research Council (CNR), 00133 Rome, Italy
Interests: air quality; atmospheric aerosol; health effects; characterization of ultrafine particles; combustion generated aerosol and urban areas; black carbon and carbonaceous aerosol, and relevant toxicology
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce that Atmosphere is now compiling a collection of outstanding papers in the field of “Urban air pollution and health”.

Earth is continuously urbanising, and there are new pressing urban issues in the scientific community, such as the triple crisis of urban pollution, biodiversity loss, and climate change, as well as their cascading hazards. Urban living is synonymous with higher multiple exposures to several environmental stressors, such as traffic-related air pollution, urban heat island, and landscape transformation. A new urban science is auspicable to face these isuues, bringing multiple disciplines together and characterised by a transdisciplinary approach.

We encourage papers focusing on associations between multiple types of urban exposures (air pollution, noise, heat, and artificial light, including effects associated with a lack of greenspace and weather extremes) and human health. In this context, we welcome studies focussing on the effects of criteria pollutants, fine particulate matter, and emerging or unregulated pollutants (e.g., ultrafine particles and black carbon). In addition, studies that explore toxicological indicators, features of particulate matter that induce oxidative stress (e.g., oxidative potential), and epidemiological outcomes of atmospeheric pollutants in urban areas are encouarged.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to publish a set of insightful and influential papers composed of either original contributions or reviews. All papers in this Special Issue will be collected into a printed edition book.

Dr. Daniele Contini
Dr. Francesca Costabile
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Atmosphere is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • air pollution
  • ultrafine particles
  • black carbon
  • pollutants of emerging concern
  • toxicology
  • epidemiology
  • exposome
  • one health
  • oxidative stress

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 3618 KiB  
Article
Modeling of Air Quality near Indian Informal Settlements Where Limited Local Monitoring Data Exist
by Ryan W. Hirst, Myra J. Giesen, Maria-Valasia Peppa, Kelly Jobling, Dnyaneshwari Jadhav, S. Ziauddin Ahammad, Anil Namdeo and David W. Graham
Atmosphere 2024, 15(9), 1072; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos15091072 - 5 Sep 2024
Viewed by 649
Abstract
The world is becoming increasingly urbanized, with migration rates often exceeding the infra-structural capacity in cities across the developing world. As such, many migrants must reside in informal settlements that lack civil and health protection infrastructure, including air quality monitoring. Here, geospatial inverse [...] Read more.
The world is becoming increasingly urbanized, with migration rates often exceeding the infra-structural capacity in cities across the developing world. As such, many migrants must reside in informal settlements that lack civil and health protection infrastructure, including air quality monitoring. Here, geospatial inverse distance weighting and archived Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) air quality data for neighboring stations from 2018 to 2021 were used to estimate air conditions in five informal settlements in Delhi, India, spanning the 2020 pandemic lockdown. The results showed that WHO limits for PM2.5 and NO2 were exceeded regularly, although air quality improved during the pandemic. Air quality was always better during the monsoon season (44.3 ± 3.47 and 26.9 ± 2.35 μg/m3 for PM2.5 and NO2, respectively) and poorest in the post-monsoon season (180 ± 15.5 and 55.2 ± 3.59 μg/m3 for PM2.5 and NO2). Differences in air quality among settlements were explained by the proximity to major roads and places of open burning, with NO2 levels often being greater near roads and PM2.5 levels being elevated near places with open burning. Field monitoring was performed in 2023 at three settlements and local CPCB stations. Air quality at settlements and their closest station were not significantly different (p < 0.01). However, field data showed that on-site factors within settlements, such as cooking, ad hoc burning, or micro-scale industry, impact air quality on local scales, suggesting health risks are greater in informal settlements because of greater unregulated activity. City-scale models can estimate mean air quality concentrations at unmonitored locations, but caution is needed because such models can miss local exposures that may have the greatest impact on local health. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Air Pollution Exposure and Health Vulnerability)
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Review

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18 pages, 336 KiB  
Review
Occurrence of Microplastics in the Atmosphere: An Overview on Sources, Analytical Challenges, and Human Health Effects
by Fabiana Carriera, Cristina Di Fiore and Pasquale Avino
Atmosphere 2024, 15(7), 863; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos15070863 - 21 Jul 2024
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Abstract
The rapid spread and accumulation of microplastics (MPs) in environmental ecosystems result from extensive plastic usage. MPs have been found in both indoor and outdoor air. Outdoor MP levels vary widely across global cities, with reported ranges from 36 to 118 MPs m [...] Read more.
The rapid spread and accumulation of microplastics (MPs) in environmental ecosystems result from extensive plastic usage. MPs have been found in both indoor and outdoor air. Outdoor MP levels vary widely across global cities, with reported ranges from 36 to 118 MPs m−2 day−1. However, differing measurement units complicate comparisons. Indoor MPs are particularly concerning due to the significant amount of time people spend indoors. For instance, MP concentrations in workplaces like reception areas and nail salons were found to be 309 ± 214 and 46 ± 55 MPs m−3, respectively. Technological limitations hinder the identification of MPs, with methods like µ-ATR-FTIR, µ-FTIR, and µ-Raman identifying MPs of different sizes. MPs smaller than 0.3 µm pose a health risk as they can be internalized in lung cells, while MPs larger than 10 µm are too large to enter alveolar macrophages. This review highlights the current understanding of airborne MPs, focusing on their sources, transport, and deposition mechanisms. It aims to provide a foundation for further studies to deeply assess the presence, abundance, and occurrence of MPs in aerosols, a subject that remains underexplored. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Air Pollution Exposure and Health Vulnerability)

Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

Tentative title: Association of PM2.5 and Temperature Changes with Cardiovascular Disease Mortality: Findings from the Vital Registration in urban Shanghai, China, during 2015-2020
Author: Li Qi
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