Effects of Airborne Particulate Matter on Human Health in Urban Environments

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2019) | Viewed by 7695

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Environmental Engineering, Valahia University of Târgoviste, 130004 Targoviste, Romania
Interests: heavy metals; time series analysis; environmental engineering; water quality; renewable energy; environment; environmental impact assessment; plant biology; time series; environmental pollution
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Future major challenges in the development of society will soon occur due to intensive urbanization. The latest global scenarios estimate that poor air quality and population growth in urban areas will become the main environmental health risk factors in the coming decades, significantly influencing the morbidity and mortality levels of inner city residents, and consequently the development of society.

One of the most important health stressors related to air quality is particulate matter (PM), resulting mainly from industrial, traffic and domestic heating emissions. The human health effects associated with airborne PM pollution can include nausea, difficulty breathing, skin irritation, cancer, birth defects, significant developmental delays in children, and reduced activity of the immune system, which may lead to a number of acute or chronic diseases. The Special Issue seeks to condense knowledge of these health effects (symptoms and diseases) and to summarize the recent data on effect strength (research articles and topical systematic reviews). It may support the identification of knowledge gaps and help to take research in a new direction for better quality of life in urban environments. There is evidence that a long-term reduced level of PM results both in health benefits and in reduced national health costs (e.g. improving life expectancy, and diminished hospitalizations and associated treatment).

We invite papers on the following topics:

- PM health effects and effect strength (focus on epidemiologic studies) in various vulnerable groups (newborns, infants, pupils, adolescents, elders, and sensitive people).
- Assessment of urban residents exposure to PM (depending on country, living conditions, indoor, outdoor, etc.).
- Sick building syndrome, PM and health effects.
- PM health effects related to pathogenesis (e.g. inflammatory path ways, oxidative stress, genotoxicity) and research on pathogenesis.
- Cellular responses and biomarkers related to PM exposure.
- Effect strength of different types of particles (fine, coarse, ultrafine/chemistry/particle mass vs. particle number, particle morphology).
- Potentially mutagenic airborne particles as carriers of condensed semi-volatile and non-volatile organic compounds.
- Long-term and short term health effects (with respect to exposure and the effects themselves)
- Modeling and forecasting of PM health effects, costs or risks.

Dr. Daniel Dunea
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • PM fractions
  • diseases
  • symptoms
  • exposure
  • particle mass
  • particle number
  • particle morphology
  • PM speciation
  • sensitive groups

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 1228 KiB  
Article
Seasonal Variability in the Composition of Particulate Matter and the Microclimate in Cultural Heritage Areas
by Cristiana Radulescu, Claudia Stihi, Rodica-Mariana Ion, Ioana-Daniela Dulama, Sorina-Geanina Stanescu, Raluca Maria Stirbescu, Sofia Teodorescu, Ion-Valentin Gurgu, Dorin-Dacian Let, Liviu Olteanu, Nicolae-Mihail Stirbescu, Ioan-Alin Bucurica, Radu-Lucian Olteanu and Cristina-Mihaela Nicolescu
Atmosphere 2019, 10(10), 595; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos10100595 - 2 Oct 2019
Cited by 24 | Viewed by 3179
Abstract
This study is the first attempt to decipher the effect of particulate matter (PM) composition on people’s health and on historic sites, in correlation with the daily and seasonal microclimate monitoring of the indoor and outdoor areas of the Roman Mosaic Edifice museum [...] Read more.
This study is the first attempt to decipher the effect of particulate matter (PM) composition on people’s health and on historic sites, in correlation with the daily and seasonal microclimate monitoring of the indoor and outdoor areas of the Roman Mosaic Edifice museum (the maritime port of Constanta, Romania). More specifically, the increase of metal concentrations in particulate matter during the summer of 2018 and spring of 2019 in the museum under investigation could possibly be associated with the microclimates of both seasons, with coastal factors, as well as with the anthropic activities specific to the port of Constanta. FTIR and inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) techniques, used for the investigation of PM2.5–10 samples, revealed high concentrations of Fe, Al-rich, and soluble particles inside the investigated museum area. In this respect, the chemical measurements of the PM2.5–10 masses highlighted high concentrations of heavy metals (i.e., Al, Fe, Zn, Mn, and Pb) and low concentrations of trace metals (i.e., Cr, Ni, Cu, and Cd). Statistical analysis showed that the chemical compositions of the particulate matter in the indoor and outdoor areas of the Roman Mosaic Edifice were influenced by microclimatic conditions, mainly temperature and relative humidity (RH). A potential health risk for tourists is the thermal and humid conditions, alongside the toxic components of the particulate matter. This research seeks to provide solutions for improving the environmental conditions inside the Roman Mosaic Edifice and to offer useful suggestions concerning health promotion and the protection of museum exhibits against possible future deterioration. Full article
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15 pages, 2612 KiB  
Article
Spatial Distribution, Chemical Speciation and Health Risk of Heavy Metals from Settled Dust in Qingdao Urban Area
by Hongxia Xu, Yan Wang, Ruhai Liu, Mingyu Wang and Yanyan Zhang
Atmosphere 2019, 10(2), 73; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos10020073 - 12 Feb 2019
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 3829
Abstract
Settled dust samples were collected from Qingdao urban area to analyze the spatial distribution, chemical speciation and sources of metals, and to evaluate the health risk of metals from atmospheric dust. The average contents of Hg, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn [...] Read more.
Settled dust samples were collected from Qingdao urban area to analyze the spatial distribution, chemical speciation and sources of metals, and to evaluate the health risk of metals from atmospheric dust. The average contents of Hg, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn in the atmospheric settled dust of Qingdao were 0.17, 0.75, 153.1, 456.7, 60.9, 176.0 and 708.3 mg/kg, respectively, which were higher than soil background values. The mean exchangeable metal and carbonated-associated fraction proportions of Cd, Zn and Pb were 43.6%, 26.1% and 15%, which implies that they have high mobility and bioavailability. Higher contents of heavy metals appeared in old city areas because of the historical accumulation of metals. Principal component analysis showed that combustion sources partially contributed to Pb, Zn and other trace metals. Hg, Pb and Zn mainly originated from business, human activities and municipal construction. Cd and Cu from settled dust of the old city originated from the erosion and ageing of construction materials. The non-carcinogenic risk rankings for the seven determined heavy metals were ingestion > dermal > inhalation. Cd, Cr and Ni from settled dust showed a low carcinogenic risk. The health risks of Cr, Cu and Pb were higher in old city areas and, therefore, need special attention. Full article
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