Estimation of PM10 pollutant and its effect on total mortality (TM), hospitalizations due to cardiovascular diseases (HACD), and respiratory disease (HARD) outcome

River Dust-Induced Air Pollution in a Changing Climate: A Study of Taiwan's Choshui and Kaoping Rivers

This study investigates river dust episodes along the Choshui and Kaoping Rivers in Taiwan, focusing on their spatiotemporal distribution and correlation with hydrometeorological factors (temperature, precipitation, relative humidity, and wind speed). Using the Improved Complete Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition with Adaptive Noise (ICEEMDAN) algorithm and time-dependent intrinsic correlation (TDIC) analysis, we identified significant annual and diurnal correlations between PM10 concentrations and these factors. The analysis revealed that wind speed at Lunbei station had a positive annual correlation with PM10, while other factors exhibited significant negative correlations. Seasonal variations in PM10 correlations with temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed were observed, aligning with the prevailing seasons of river dust episodes. Wind motion analysis highlighted diurnal associations with land-sea breezes and annual correlations with the winter monsoon. Specifically, the Choshui River's dust events coincided with the northeast monsoon, whereas the Kaoping River's events occurred during the northwest and southwest monsoons. The study also uncovered that downstream stations (Lunbei and Daliao) were more prone to severe dust events than upstream stations (Douliu and Pingtung). These findings enhance our understanding of the dynamics and environmental impacts of river dust episodes, providing valuable insights for air quality management and health risk mitigation.

The role of large-scale atmospheric circulations on long-term variations of PM10 concentrations over Turkey

PM10 is widely identified as an important atmospheric pollutant posing a serious threat to human health and environment as well as it influences the climate system. To unearth the mechanism involved in its sources and circulation behavior in environment, this study focuses on the role of large-scale atmospheric circulation on the long-term variability of PM10 over Turkey by applying rotated empirical orthogonal functions (REOF) analysis. As a result of the implementation of REOF to the daily PM10 data for 80 air quality stations throughout the period 2010-2020, first REOF mode (REOF1 44.9% in winter, 43.2% in spring, 39.5% in summer and 31.6% in fall) for all the four seasons indicated the role of local emission sources on the variations of PM10, which show high PM10 values in different geographical regions. The results of the second mode (REOF2, 17.9% in winter, 14.0% in spring, 14.0% in summer and 16.3% in fall) indicate the role of large-scale atmospheric circulations on the values of PM10. From the REOF2 analysis and extracted synoptic composite maps, the strength of southerly winds and the presence of southwesterly winds at low levels are very important in transporting of dust pollutants from the Arabian Peninsula and Northern Africa, respectively, to the eastern (EAR) and southeastern (SEAR) regions of Turkey during winter. In spring, sand particles in the interior terrestrial part of the country are carried to the northern regions by the effect of large-scale southerly winds, which cause above-normal PM10 concentrations in the Black Sea region of Turkey. In summer, dust particles together with warm dry air intrusion to the eastern region of Turkey by strong easterly winds are sourced by Caspian Sea and result in high PM10 values. Our findings emphasize that the long-term variations in air quality over Turkey are affected secondary by the variations in the large-scale atmospheric circulations with primary contributions from the changes in local emission sources.

Estimating PM2.5 utilizing multiple linear regression and ANN techniques

The accurate prediction of air pollutants, particularly Particulate Matter (PM), is critical to support effective and persuasive air quality management. Numerous variables influence the prediction of PM, and it's crucial to combine the most relevant input variables to ensure the most dependable predictions. This study aims to address this issue by utilizing correlation coefficients to select the most pertinent input and output variables for an air pollution model. In this work, PM2.5 concentration is estimated by employing concentrations of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and PM10 found in the air through the application of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs). The proposed approach involves the comparison of three ANN models: one trained with the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm (LM-ANN), another with the Bayesian Regularization algorithm (BR-ANN), and a third with the Scaled Conjugate Gradient algorithm (SCG-ANN). The findings revealed that the LM-ANN model outperforms the other two models and even surpasses the Multiple Linear Regression method. The LM-ANN model yields a higher R2 value of 0.8164 and a lower RMSE value of 9.5223.

Global Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease burden attributable to air pollution from 1990 to 2019

BACKGROUND

The disease burden attributable to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is significant worldwide. Some studies have linked exposure to air pollution to COPD, but there has been little research on this.

METHODS

We aimed to assess the COPD-related disease burden attributable to air pollution from multiple epidemiological perspectives. This study conducted a three-stage analysis. Firstly, we reported on the burden of disease worldwide in 2019 by different subgroups including sex, age, region, and country. Secondly, we studied the trends in disease burden from 1990 to 2019. Finally, we explored the association of some national indicators with disease burden to look for risk factors.

RESULTS

In 2019, the death number of COPD associated with air pollution accounted for 2.32% of the total global death, and the number of DALY accounted for 1.12% of the global DALY. From 1990 to 2019, the death number of COPD associated with air pollution increased peaked at 1.41 million in 1993, fluctuated, and then declined. We found the same temporal pattern of DALY. The corresponding age-standardized rates had been falling. At the same time, the burden of COPD associated with air pollution was also affected by some national indicators.

CONCLUSIONS

This study indicated that air pollution-related COPD contributed to a significant global disease burden. We called for health policymakers to take action and interventions targeting vulnerable countries and susceptible populations.

Effects of green infrastructure on the dispersion of PM2.5 and human exposure on urban roads

Urban green infrastructure (GI) has been widely demonstrated to effectively improve air quality in the built environment. However, due to the lack of comparative studies of the effects of different GI forms on PM_2.5 dispersion, optimal GI designs suitable for different urban road types currently remain unclear. In this study, we adopted different roadside GI types in Hangzhou city as case studies and used the ENVI-met model to compare the effects of the different GI forms on PM_2.5 dispersion and human exposure to PM_2.5. The results indicated that 1) In open roads, the concave-shaped GI type could effectively reduce PM_2.5 aggregation and human exposure on motorways, and the all-tree GI type performed the best in terms of sidewalk PM_2.5 purification. 2) In street canyons, green roof and green screen were highly conducive to PM_2.5 concentration reduction under commuter exposure compared with traditional green solutions. 3) There were trade-offs in the GI-PM_2.5 interaction. GI types which can reduce pedestrian exposure tend to increase exposure in motorways. The same GI type deployed along the two different road types could yield completely opposite dispersion effects. Novel GI types had better environmental performance and relatively high economic cost. All decision-making should be based on the trade-offs between the advantages and disadvantages of GI. Our study also highlights the importance of comprehensive consideration of GI and road types and local wind conditions in future urban road planning and GI applications.

Long-term exposure to particulate matter on cardiovascular and respiratory diseases in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background

Long-term exposure to particulate matter (PM) has essential and profound effects on human health, but most current studies focus on high-income countries. Evidence of the correlations between PM and health effects in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), especially the risk factor PM1 (particles < 1 μm in size), remains unclear.

Objective

To explore the effects of long-term exposure to particulate matter on the morbidity and mortality of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases in LMICs.

Methods

A systematic search was conducted in the PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase databases from inception to May 1, 2022. Cohort studies and case-control studies that examine the effects of PM1, PM2.5, and PM10 on the morbidity and mortality of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases in LMICs were included. Two reviewers independently selected the studies, extracted the data, and assessed the risk of bias. Outcomes were analyzed via a random effects model and are reported as the relative risk (RR) with 95% CI.

Results

Of the 1,978 studies that were identified, 38 met all the eligibility criteria. The studies indicated that long-term exposure to PM2.5, PM10, and PM1 was associated with cardiovascular and respiratory diseases: (1) Long-term exposure to PM2.5 was associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity (RR per 1.11 μg/m3, 95% CI: 1.05, 1.17) and mortality (RR per 1.10 μg/m3, 95% CI: 1.06, 1.14) and was significantly associated with respiratory mortality (RR 1.31, 95% CI: 1.25, 1.38) and morbidity (RR 1.08, 95% CI: 1.02, 1.04); (2) An increased risk of respiratory mortality was observed in the elderly (65+ years) (RR 1.21, 95% CI: 1.00, 1.47) with long-term exposure to PM2.5; (3) Long-term exposure to PM10 was associated with cardiovascular morbidity (RR 1.07, 95% CI 1.01, 1.13), respiratory morbidity (RR 1.43, 95% CI: 1.21, 1.69) and respiratory mortality (RR 1.28, 95% CI 1.10, 1.49); (4) A significant association between long-term exposure to PM1 and cardiovascular disease was also observed.

Conclusions

Long-term exposure to PM2.5, PM10 and PM1 was all related to cardiovascular and respiratory disease events. PM2.5 had a greater effect than PM10, especially on respiratory diseases, and the risk of respiratory mortality was significantly higher for LMICs than high-income countries. More studies are needed to confirm the effect of PM1 on cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.

Nitrogen dioxide and hospital length of stay and cost for systemic lupus erythematosus in Hunan, China

BACKGROUND

Evidence of both epidemiological and clinical studies exploring the impact of nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) on the systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) disease activity have been contradictory.

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the association between short-term NO₂ exposure and length of hospital stay (LOS) and hospital cost of SLE and estimate the burden of disease attributable to NO₂ exposure.

METHODS

We collected health data of SLE inpatients who were hospitalized at secondary and tertiary hospitals in Hunan province of China during 2017-2019. Daily ambient concentrations of air pollutants (O₃, CO, NO₂, SO₂, PM_2.5 and PM₁₀) and other environmental factors were obtained from public repositories by linking to individual addresses and date of hospitalization. Mixed effect models were employed to assess the associations between LOS and hospital cost for SLE inpatients and NO₂ exposures during the previous 1 to 21 days (lag₁-lag₂₁) before hospitalization. We further estimated excess LOS and hospital cost attributable to NO₂ exposure according to China's and World Health Organization's air quality guideline (AQG) respectively.

RESULTS

A total of 11,447 records from 221 hospitals were finally included in our study. After full adjustments, 1 μg/m³ increment of NO₂ was significantly associated with 0.038 day increase in LOS (95%CI: 0.0159-0.0601, P = 0.0008) and 0.0384 thousand yuan increase in hospital cost (95%CI: 0.0017-0.0679, P = 0.0395) with a lagged effect of 7 days prior to admission. Based on the adjusted effects of lag₇, controlling for short-term NO₂ exposure according to AQG could avoid up to 1.47 thousand days of hospitalization and 1.35 million yuan of cost for SLE in Hunan province during 2017 to 2019.

CONCLUSIONS

Excess LOS and substantial economic burden among SLE inpatients attributable to NO₂ could be avoid if policies were implemented to reduce the exposure.

Health Endpoint of Exposure to Criteria Air Pollutants in Ambient Air of on a Populated in Ahvaz City, Iran

The presence of criteria air pollutants (CAP) in the ambient air of a populated inhalation region is one of the main serious public health concerns. The present study evaluated the number of cardiovascular mortalities (CM), hospital admissions with cardiovascular disease (HACD), and hospital admissions for respiratory disease (HARD) due to CAP exposure between 2010 and 2014. The study used the Air Q model and descriptive analysis to investigate the health endpoint attributed to the ground level of ozone (O₃), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), sulfide dioxide (SO₂), and particle matter (PM₁₀). Baseline incidence (BI) and relative risk (RR) are the most important factors in the evaluation of health outcomes from exposure to CAP in the ambient air of a populated area according to EPA and the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. Our study showed that annual cases of cardiovascular mortality during the period 2010–2014 relating to particle mater were 478, 506, 469, 427, and 371; ozone was 19, 24, 43, 56, and 49; nitrogen dioxide was 18, 20, 23, 27, and 21; and sulfide dioxide was 26, 31, 37, 43 and 11, in the years 2010 to 2014, respectively. These results indicate that the number of hospital admissions for respiratory disease attributed to PM were 2054, 2277, 2675, 2042, and 1895; O₃ was 27, 35, 58, 73, and 63; NO₂ was 23, 24, 15, 25, and 18; and SO₂ was 23, 24, 25, 30, and 20, in the years from 2010 to 2014, respectively. The results also showed that the number of hospital admissions for cardiovascular disease related to particle mater was 560, 586, 529, 503, and 472; ozone was 22, 32, 38, 55, and 51; nitrogen dioxide was 19, 18, 13, 21, and 14; and sulfide dioxide was 12, 14, 16, 22, and 9, in the same period, respectively. Observations showed that most of the pollution was from outdoor air and in the human respiratory tract. Increased levels of sulfide dioxide, particle matter, nitrogen dioxide, and ozone can cause additional morbidity and mortality for exposed populations. According to the results, it is possible to help increase the level of public health. The use of these findings could also be of great help to health professionals and facilitators at regional and national levels.

Estimation of the effects PM2.5, NO2, O3 pollutants on the health of Shahrekord residents based on AirQ+ software during (2012-2018)

Research objectives

Intertwined with modern life, air pollution is not a new phenomenon. Air pollution imposes a significant number of deaths and disease complications on society, and therefore it is very important to determine the extent of its effects on health in any society. This study sought to evaluate the concentration and short-term and long-term excess mortality attributed to PM2.5, NO₂ and O3 observed in Shahrekord.

Procedure

Hourly concentrations of PM2.5, O₃, and NO₂ measured at different stations of the Shahrekord Monitoring Network were obtained from the Shahrekord Department of Environment (DOE). Then, for different air quality monitoring stations, the average 24-hour PM2.5 concentration, the one-hour average NO₂ concentration and the maximum 8-hour daily O₃ concentration were calculated using Excel 2010. When the maximum 8-hour daily ozone level exceeds 35, it drops below 35 to calculate the SOMO35 index for modeling.

Results

The death rates of IHD, COPD, lung cancer and ALRI and stroke related to PM2.5 were 176, 7, 0, 10, 105, respectively. The effect of ozone on respiratory mortality was zero. During the study period in Shahrekord, no respiratory mortality was determined due to ozone and acute lower respiratory tract infection (ALRI). this study is first ever study on health effects of air pollution in shahrekord city.

Conclusion

A significant number of deaths due to air pollutants in Shahrekord have been reported. It can be concluded that by designing and implementing strategies and measures to control air pollution, both health effects and economic losses are prevented.

Time series analysis of short-term effects of particulate matter pollution on the circulatory system disease mortality risk in Lishui District, China

Epidemiological evidence has shown a significant association between short-term exposure to air pollution and mortality risk for circulatory system diseases (CSD). However, informative insights on the significance and magnitude of its relationship in the process of government interventions on abating air pollution are still lacking, particularly in a burgeoning Chinese city. In this study, we conducted a time series study in Lishui District, Nanjing, to examine the effect of ambient particulate matter (PM), e.g., PM_2.5 and PM₁₀, on daily death counts of CSD which included cardiovascular disease (CVD), cerebrovascular disease (CEVD), and arteriosclerotic heart disease (ASHD) mortality from January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2019. The results revealed that each 10 μg/m³ increase in PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ concentration at lag0 day was associated with an increase of 1.33% (95% confidence interval, 0.08%, 2.60%) and 1.12% (0.43%, 1.82%) in CSD mortality; 2.42% (0.44%, 4.43%) and 1.43% (0.32%, 2.55%) in CVD mortality; 1.20% (- 0.31%, 2.73%) and 1.21% (0.38%, 2.05%) in CEVD mortality; and 2.78% (0.00%, 5.62%) and 1.66% (0.14%, 3.21%) in ASHD mortality, respectively. For cumulative risk, the corresponding increase in daily mortality for the same change in PM_2.5 concentration at lag03 day was significantly associated with 1.94% (0.23%, 3.68%), 3.17% (0.58%, 5.84%), 2.38% (0.17%, 4.63%), and 4.92% (1.18%, 8.81%) for CSD, CVD, CEVD, and ASHD, respectively. The exposure-response curves were approximately nonlinear over the entire exposure range of the PM concentrations. We also analyzed the effect modifications by season (warm or cold), age group (0-64 years, 65-74 years, or ≥ 75 years), and sex (male or female). Although not statistically significant, stratified analysis showed greater vulnerability to PM exposure for cold season, population over 65 years of age, and female group.

Long-term exposure to PM10 above WHO guidelines exacerbates COVID-19 severity and mortality

BACKGROUND

Age, sex, race and comorbidities are insufficient to explain why some individuals remain asymptomatic after SARS-CoV-2 infection, while others die. In this sense, the increased risk caused by the long-term exposure to air pollution is being investigated to understand the high heterogeneity of the COVID-19 infection course.

OBJECTIVES

We aimed to assess the underlying effect of long-term exposure to NO2 and PM10 on the severity and mortality of COVID-19.

METHODS

A retrospective observational study was conducted with 2112 patients suffering COVID-19 infection. We built two sets of multivariate predictive models to assess the relationship between the long-term exposure to NO2 and PM10 and COVID-19 outcome. First, the probability of either death or severe COVID-19 outcome was predicted as a function of all the clinical variables together with the pollutants exposure by means of two regularized logistic regressions. Subsequently, two regularized linear regressions were constructed to predict the percentage of dead or severe patients. Finally, odds ratios and effects estimates were calculated.

RESULTS

We found that the long-term exposure to PM10 is a more important variable than some already stated comorbidities (i.e.: COPD/Asthma, diabetes, obesity) in the prediction of COVID-19 severity and mortality. PM10 showed the highest effects estimates (1.65, 95% CI 1.32-2.06) on COVID-19 severity. For mortality, the highest effect estimates corresponded to age (3.59, 95% CI 2.94-4.40), followed by PM10 (2.37, 95% CI 1.71-3.32). Finally, an increase of 1 µg/m3 in PM10 concentration causes an increase of 3.06% (95% CI 1.11%-4.25%) of patients suffering COVID-19 as a severe disease and an increase of 2.68% (95% CI 0.53%-5.58%) of deaths.

DISCUSSION

These results demonstrate that long-term PM10 burdens above WHO guidelines exacerbate COVID-19 health outcomes. Hence, WHO guidelines, the air quality standard established by the Directive 2008/50/EU, and that of the US-EPA should be updated accordingly to protect human health.

The human health risk assessment of particulate air pollution (PM2.5 and PM10) in Romania

Air pollution, especially the concentration of particulate matter (PM_2.5, PM₁₀) is a major issue and is the biggest environmental risk for early death. In the present study, we aimed to estimate the human health risk and to describe the spatial and temporal variation of particulate matter in Romania between 2009 and 2018. The average concentration of PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ particulate matter in the eight studied regions varied between 17.01 and 22.91 µg m⁻³ and 23.02–33.29 µg m⁻³, while the PM_2.5/PM₁₀ ratio varied between 0.52 and 0.76, respectively. The relative risk generated by PM₁₀ in all-cause mortality had a significant variation between the regions, a relative risk of 1.017 in case of Bucharest and1.025 for western regions, with an average of 1.020 ( ± 0.002). According to our observations, a positive relative risk was identified in the case of cardiopulmonary and lung cancer morbidity mainly attributed to PM_2.5 exposure, hence the resulted risk for the country average values was 1.26 ( ± 0.023) and 1.42 ( ± 0.037), respectively. The results revealed that the excess risk and attributable fraction for cardiopulmonary mortality can be reduced by 26.7% and 21.0%. Analyzing the evolution of particulate matters and the possible health impacts of PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ in all region of Romania a strong positive correlation was observed. Since the distributions of PM in different region had significant variation, more investigation is required to understand and decipher the most important regional emission sources for each region. In order to address this issue an in-depth investigation should separately analyze the regional characteristics of air pollution.

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PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ level were 1.82 and 1.35 times higher than annually acceptable limit.

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PMs shows a higher concentration in winter and lower concentration in summer.

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The ratio between the fine and coarse particular matter in Romania was 0.66.

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The relative risk caused by PM_2.5 was higher with one magnitude than the PM_10.