Epidemiological Research on Air Pollution Exposure

Dear Colleagues,

Recent years have seen exciting advancements in characterizing air pollution exposure that has refined our understanding of the pollution–health nexus and led to striking discoveries of linkages with brain health, developmental changes and other health outcomes. Satellite data are allowing regional to global coverage of exposure data, chemical transport models incorporate the mechanistic relationships between emission sources and exposure, low-cost sensors and personal devices are filling in gaps in monitoring networks, and machine learning and advanced analytics allow the integration of these datasets as well as geographical and population data that often have significant predictive value. These factors provide exposure scientists with a staggering amount of data and numerous and valuable research opportunities. Still, humans and communities are exceedingly diverse, and exposure measurement error remains a critical, if not the most important, barrier and limitation for environmental epidemiology. Furthermore, new epidemiological applications can be expected that need or would benefit from exposure data that presently appear to be unavailable and prohibited using current approaches. Examples of challenges include air pollution information for the life course, spanning 50 to 100 years from preconception to death, allowing investigations of both cumulative stress and exposure during critical exposure windows; exposures to air toxics including organic and inorganic compounds that are infrequently measured in existing monitoring networks and poorly modeled; assessing effects of an individual’s time activity, indoor and occupational environments, especially in communities enduring environmental injustices; characterizing air pollution exposures linked to the increasing large number of analytes in ‘omics’ studies; and identifying specific pollution sources causing exposure and poor health to facilitate development of health-promoting policies and interventions.

This Special Issue of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH) focuses on the current state of knowledge and potential methodological advancements for air pollution exposure data for occupational and environmental epidemiology. New research papers, reviews, and case reports are welcome. We specifically welcome methodological papers presenting new approaches to derive air pollution exposures, reduce exposure measurement errors, and most significantly, address the challenges noted above that might allow quantum advances in environmental and occupational epidemiology. We will accept manuscripts from different disciplines including exposure assessment science, epidemiology, intervention studies, and others aimed at characterizing air pollution exposures.

Prof. Dr. Stuart Batterman
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 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 2500 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.

• air pollution
• exposure assessment
• environmental and occupational epidemiology
• indoor and ambient air quality
• inhalation
• chemical transport models
• emerging pollutants
• biological monitoring