Assessment of genotoxic effects on elderly populations exposed to high traffic areas: Results for supporting public health surveillance

The role of urban transport in delivering Sustainable Development Goal 11: Learning from two Indian cities

The next wave of unprecedented urbanisation is expected to occur in South Asia and Africa, with India being the most populous country. India's urbanisation choices will influence the success of the three global agendas: New Urban Agenda, Sustainable Development Goals, and the Paris Agreement. Sustainable urban transport is vital in delivering United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 11 (SDG11) on inclusive and sustainable urbanisation. SDG11 includes dimensions such as equity, gender equality, health, employment, and climate change. Through a mixed-methods approach, the paper develops an assessment framework to investigate: 'What are the roles of existing urban transport interventions in delivering SDG11?' in two Indian cities: Surat (an industrial city of 5.9 million) and Udaipur (a tourist city of 0.8 million) across three interrelated transport roles: providing Inclusive Access, delivering Climate-Resilient Development, and delivering Context-Sensitive Planning. Each urban transport interaction is assigned synergy (+1), trade-off (-1) or mixed impacts (-/+1). The paper finds that current transport interventions in Surat & Udaipur largely result in trade-offs across all three themes Inclusive Access (-1 for Surat & Udaipur), Climate Vulnerability (-1 for Surat & Udaipur), and Context-Sensitive Planning (-1 for Surat & +1 for Udaipur).

Empirical relationship between chromosomal damage and airborne particulate matter: A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies in exposed populations

Ambient particulate matter (PM) has gained significant attention as an environmental risk factor for human health. Although the association between ambient PM and micronucleus (MN) induction has been investigated, the quantitative association of PM and genomic instability is inconclusive. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to study the association between PM exposure and MN endpoint. Four databases were systematically searched for studies published up to November 2022, to find papers investigating the relationship between ambient PM and MN induction. Random effect models were conducted to estimate the overall effect based on the Ratio of Means (RoM) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). Subgroup analysis, funnel plot, and Egger and Begg tests, were also performed. Twenty-three studies across nine countries, including 4450 participants, were included. A meta-RoM of 2.13 for MN (95% CI 1.63-2.79) was observed for individuals exposed to ambient PM compared to non-exposed. A significant difference in the subgroup test was found for buccal cells (3.16, 95% CI 2.20-4.52) and low economy level (3.61, 95% CI 1.44-9.01). Our meta-analysis suggests the presence of an association between PM exposure and the frequency of MN and identified the kind of cells and economic status as possible effect modifiers. The use of effective methods, such as the MN assay, enables identification of early genetic damage in humans, which in turn may anticipate the risk of developing respiratory diseases, including lung cancer.

Analysis of genotoxic effects on plants exposed to high traffic volume in urban crossing intersections

A biological assessment of environmental quality was performed using the tropical plant species Tradescantia pallida (Rose) D.R. Hunt. var. purpurea exposed to different levels of air contamination in urban intersections with high volume of vehicle traffic. Air quality (average daily levels of particulate material in the PM_{1, 2.5, 10} fractions) and traffic volume in crossing intersections were monitored for 30 days before the collection of plants. Frequency of micronuclei and pollen abortivity in inflorescences collected at different intersections with gradual levels of traffic volume were evaluated as biomarkers of genotoxicity. In addition, the concentrations of bioaccumulated heavy metals in the leaves of the collected plants were also investigated. The proposed biological assessment model found a positive association between the environmental variables (traffic volume; concentration of particulate material) and biological effects (leaf concentration of Cr and Cd; micronucleus frequencies and pollen abortivity).