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Ambient Air Pollution and Health Vulnerability
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Ambient Air Pollution and Health Vulnerability

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 November 2017) | Viewed by 50211

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Stuart Batterman

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, 1415 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
Interests: exposure assessment; occupational; environmental health; emerging contaminants; air quality; biological monitoring; environmental engineering; toxics; environmental justice; life course exposures; uncertainty analysis; inhalation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

A Special Issue on ambient air quality, health and vulnerability in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, is being organized. For detailed information on the journal, I refer you to https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph.

Exposure to ambient air pollutants is the leading environmental risk factor for death and an important cause of morbidity, and specific sub-populations can be particularly vulnerable to the adverse health impacts of pollution. Vulnerability has multiple dimensions, including increased individual biological responses or susceptibility to exposure; increased exposure due to time–activity–location factors; co-exposure to multiple stressors including other pollutants (“cumulative” exposure), noise, heat and poor nutrition; and socio-economic-political structures that affect the aforementioned concerns as well as attitudes and interventions. Several of these dimensions have been recognized and addressed in the toxicologic, epidemiologic, risk and health impact assessment literature, but others have received scant attention, in part due to methodologic and feasibility issues. Present-day gaps in understanding and addressing vulnerability, however, may lead to suboptimal policies and actions aimed at protecting public health. Thus, approaches that can better characterize and utilize vulnerability factors in air quality and health studies are of great interest to the scientific, practice, policy and justice communities.

Researchers and practitioners are broadening and extending the approaches and scope of studies used to investigate the health impacts of air pollutants. This Special Issue examines advances in characterizing and addressing the various dimensions of vulnerability in air quality and health studies. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the susceptibility of subpopulations, evaluation of vulnerability mapping and other indicators, methods to address vulnerability in epidemiologic and health impact studies, the incorporation of multiple stressors and pollutant mixtures in health studies, and policy-oriented applications.

This Special Issue is open to the subject area of air quality, health and vulnerability. The keywords listed below provide an outline of some of the possible areas of interest.

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.

Keywords

  • air quality
  • health
  • epidemiology
  • vulnerability
  • susceptibility
  • cumulative impact
  • dose–response
  • pollutant mixtures
  • life-stage

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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19 pages, 2018 KiB  
Article
Toxicity of Urban PM10 and Relation with Tracers of Biomass Burning
by Rosette Van Den Heuvel, Jeroen Staelens, Gudrun Koppen and Greet Schoeters
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2018, 15(2), 320; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15020320 - 12 Feb 2018
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 4233
Abstract
The chemical composition of particles varies with space and time and depends on emission sources, atmospheric chemistry and weather conditions. Evidence suggesting that particles differ in toxicity depending on their chemical composition is growing. This in vitro study investigated the biological effects of [...] Read more.
The chemical composition of particles varies with space and time and depends on emission sources, atmospheric chemistry and weather conditions. Evidence suggesting that particles differ in toxicity depending on their chemical composition is growing. This in vitro study investigated the biological effects of PM10 in relation to PM-associated chemicals. PM10 was sampled in ambient air at an urban traffic site (Borgerhout) and a rural background location (Houtem) in Flanders (Belgium). To characterize the toxic potential of PM10, airway epithelial cells (Beas-2B cells) were exposed to particles in vitro. Different endpoints were studied including cell damage and death (cell viability) and the induction of interleukin-8 (IL-8). The mutagenic capacity was assessed using the Ames II Mutagenicity Test. The endotoxin levels in the collected samples were analyzed and the oxidative potential (OP) of PM10 particles was evaluated by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. Chemical characteristics of PM10 included tracers for biomass burning (levoglucosan, mannosan and galactosan), elemental and organic carbon (EC/OC) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Most samples displayed dose-dependent cytotoxicity and IL-8 induction. Spatial and temporal differences in PM10 toxicity were seen. PM10 collected at the urban site was characterized by increased pro-inflammatory and mutagenic activity as well as higher OP and elevated endotoxin levels compared to the background area. Reduced cell viability (−0.46 < rs < −0.35, p < 0.01) and IL-8 induction (−0.62 < rs < −0.67, p < 0.01) were associated with all markers for biomass burning, levoglucosan, mannosan and galactosan. Furthermore, direct and indirect mutagenicity were associated with tracers for biomass burning, OC, EC and PAHs. Multiple regression analyses showed levoglucosan to explain 16% and 28% of the variance in direct and indirect mutagenicity, respectively. Markers for biomass burning were associated with altered cellular responses and increased mutagenic activity. These findings may indicate a role of biomass burning in the observed adverse health effect of particulate matter. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ambient Air Pollution and Health Vulnerability)
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10 pages, 437 KiB  
Article
The Association between Air Pollution and Outpatient and Inpatient Visits in Shenzhen, China
by Yachuan Liu, Shanen Chen, Jian Xu, Xiaojian Liu, Yongsheng Wu, Lin Zhou, Jinquan Cheng, Hanwu Ma, Jing Zheng, Denan Lin, Li Zhang and Lili Chen
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2018, 15(2), 178; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15020178 - 23 Jan 2018
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 4483
Abstract
Nowadays, air pollution is a severe environmental problem in China. To investigate the effects of ambient air pollution on health, a time series analysis of daily outpatient and inpatient visits in 2015 were conducted in Shenzhen (China). Generalized additive model was employed to [...] Read more.
Nowadays, air pollution is a severe environmental problem in China. To investigate the effects of ambient air pollution on health, a time series analysis of daily outpatient and inpatient visits in 2015 were conducted in Shenzhen (China). Generalized additive model was employed to analyze associations between six air pollutants (namely SO2, CO, NO2, O3, PM10, and PM2.5) and daily outpatient and inpatient visits after adjusting confounding meteorological factors, time and day of the week effects. Significant associations between air pollutants and two types of hospital visits were observed. The estimated increase in overall outpatient visits associated with each 10 µg/m3 increase in air pollutant concentration ranged from 0.48% (O3 at lag 2) to 11.48% (SO2 with 2-day moving average); for overall inpatient visits ranged from 0.73% (O3 at lag 7) to 17.13% (SO2 with 8-day moving average). Our results also suggested a heterogeneity of the health effects across different outcomes and in different populations. The findings in present study indicate that even in Shenzhen, a less polluted area in China, significant associations exist between air pollution and daily number of overall outpatient and inpatient visits. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ambient Air Pollution and Health Vulnerability)
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2614 KiB  
Article
Disease and Health Inequalities Attributable to Air Pollutant Exposure in Detroit, Michigan
by Sheena E. Martenies, Chad W. Milando, Guy O. Williams and Stuart A. Batterman
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2017, 14(10), 1243; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14101243 - 19 Oct 2017
Cited by 46 | Viewed by 8422
Abstract
The environmental burden of disease is the mortality and morbidity attributable to exposures of air pollution and other stressors. The inequality metrics used in cumulative impact and environmental justice studies can be incorporated into environmental burden studies to better understand the health disparities [...] Read more.
The environmental burden of disease is the mortality and morbidity attributable to exposures of air pollution and other stressors. The inequality metrics used in cumulative impact and environmental justice studies can be incorporated into environmental burden studies to better understand the health disparities of ambient air pollutant exposures. This study examines the diseases and health disparities attributable to air pollutants for the Detroit urban area. We apportion this burden to various groups of emission sources and pollutants, and show how the burden is distributed among demographic and socioeconomic subgroups. The analysis uses spatially-resolved estimates of exposures, baseline health rates, age-stratified populations, and demographic characteristics that serve as proxies for increased vulnerability, e.g., race/ethnicity and income. Based on current levels, exposures to fine particulate matter (PM2.5), ozone (O3), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) are responsible for more than 10,000 disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) per year, causing an annual monetized health impact of $6.5 billion. This burden is mainly driven by PM2.5 and O3 exposures, which cause 660 premature deaths each year among the 945,000 individuals in the study area. NO2 exposures, largely from traffic, are important for respiratory outcomes among older adults and children with asthma, e.g., 46% of air-pollution related asthma hospitalizations are due to NO2 exposures. Based on quantitative inequality metrics, the greatest inequality of health burdens results from industrial and traffic emissions. These metrics also show disproportionate burdens among Hispanic/Latino populations due to industrial emissions, and among low income populations due to traffic emissions. Attributable health burdens are a function of exposures, susceptibility and vulnerability (e.g., baseline incidence rates), and population density. Because of these dependencies, inequality metrics should be calculated using the attributable health burden when feasible to avoid potentially underestimating inequality. Quantitative health impact and inequality analyses can inform health and environmental justice evaluations, providing important information to decision makers for prioritizing strategies to address exposures at the local level. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ambient Air Pollution and Health Vulnerability)
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3164 KiB  
Article
The Association between Air Pollution and Population Health Risk for Respiratory Infection: A Case Study of Shenzhen, China
by Xiaolin Xia, An Zhang, Shi Liang, Qingwen Qi, Lili Jiang and Yanjun Ye
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2017, 14(9), 950; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14090950 - 23 Aug 2017
Cited by 65 | Viewed by 8656
Abstract
Nowadays, most of the research on air pollution and its adverse effects on public health in China has focused on megacities and heavily-polluted regions. Fewer studies have focused on cities that are slightly polluted. Shenzhen used to have a favorable air environment, but [...] Read more.
Nowadays, most of the research on air pollution and its adverse effects on public health in China has focused on megacities and heavily-polluted regions. Fewer studies have focused on cities that are slightly polluted. Shenzhen used to have a favorable air environment, but its air quality has deteriorated gradually as a result of development in recent years. So far, no systematic investigations have been conducted on the adverse effects of air pollution on public health in Shenzhen. This research has applied a time series analysis model to study the possible association between different types of air pollution and respiratory hospital admission in Shenzhen in 2013. Respiratory hospital admission was divided into two categories for comparison analysis among various population groups: acute upper respiratory infection and acute lower respiratory infection. The results showed that short-term exposure to ambient air pollution was significantly associated with acute respiratory infection hospital admission in Shenzhen in 2013. Children under 14 years old were the main susceptible population of acute respiratory infection due to air pollution. PM10, PM2.5 and NO2 were the primary air pollutants threatening respiratory health in Shenzhen. Though air pollution level is generally relatively low in Shenzhen, it will benefit public health to control the pollution of particulate matter as well as other gaseous pollutants. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ambient Air Pollution and Health Vulnerability)
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Review

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271 KiB  
Review
Health Effects of Ambient Air Pollution in Developing Countries
by Pier Mannuccio Mannucci and Massimo Franchini
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2017, 14(9), 1048; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14091048 - 12 Sep 2017
Cited by 335 | Viewed by 23758
Abstract
The deleterious effects of ambient air pollution on human health have been consistently documented by many epidemiologic studies worldwide, and it has been calculated that globally at least seven million deaths are annually attributable to the effects of air pollution. The major air [...] Read more.
The deleterious effects of ambient air pollution on human health have been consistently documented by many epidemiologic studies worldwide, and it has been calculated that globally at least seven million deaths are annually attributable to the effects of air pollution. The major air pollutants emitted into the atmosphere by a number of natural processes and human activities include nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, and particulate matter. In addition to the poor ambient air quality, there is increasing evidence that indoor air pollution also poses a serious threat to human health, especially in low-income countries that still use biomass fuels as an energy resource. This review summarizes the current knowledge on ambient air pollution in financially deprived populations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ambient Air Pollution and Health Vulnerability)
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