scholarly journals Health Effects of Metals in Particulate Matter

Author(s):  
T.I. Fortoul ◽  
V. Rodriguez-Lara ◽  
A. Gonzalez-Villalva ◽  
M. Rojas-Lemus ◽  
L. Colin-Barenque ◽  
...  
Author(s):  
Lu Yang ◽  
Hao Zhang ◽  
Xuan Zhang ◽  
Wanli Xing ◽  
Yan Wang ◽  
...  

Particulate matter (PM) is a major factor contributing to air quality deterioration that enters the atmosphere as a consequence of various natural and anthropogenic activities. In PM, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) represent a class of organic chemicals with at least two aromatic rings that are mainly directly emitted via the incomplete combustion of various organic materials. Numerous toxicological and epidemiological studies have proven adverse links between exposure to particulate matter-bound (PM-bound) PAHs and human health due to their carcinogenicity and mutagenicity. Among human exposure routes, inhalation is the main pathway regarding PM-bound PAHs in the atmosphere. Moreover, the concentrations of PM-bound PAHs differ among people, microenvironments and areas. Hence, understanding the behaviour of PM-bound PAHs in the atmosphere is crucial. However, because current techniques hardly monitor PAHs in real-time, timely feedback on PAHs including the characteristics of their concentration and composition, is not obtained via real-time analysis methods. Therefore, in this review, we summarize personal exposure, and indoor and outdoor PM-bound PAH concentrations for different participants, spaces, and cities worldwide in recent years. The main aims are to clarify the characteristics of PM-bound PAHs under different exposure conditions, in addition to the health effects and assessment methods of PAHs.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianlin Hu ◽  
Shantanu Jathar ◽  
Hongliang Zhang ◽  
Qi Ying ◽  
Shu-Hua Chen ◽  
...  

Abstract. Organic aerosol (OA) is a major constituent of ultrafine particulate matter (PM0.1). Recent epidemiological studies have identified associations between PM0.1 OA and premature mortality and low birth weight. In this study, the source-oriented UCD/CIT model was used to simulate the concentrations and sources of primary organic aerosols (POA) and secondary organic aerosols (SOA) in PM0.1 in California for a 9-year (2000–2008) modeling period with 4 km horizontal resolution to provide more insights about PM0.1 OA for health effects studies. As a related quality control, predicted monthly average concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) total organic carbon at six major urban sites had mean fractional bias of −0.31 to 0.19 and mean fractional errors of 0.4 to 0.59. The predicted ratio of PM2.5 SOA/OA was lower than estimates derived from chemical mass balance (CMB) calculations by a factor of 2 ~ 3, which suggests the potential effects of processes such as POA volatility, additional SOA formation mechanism, and missing sources. OA in PM0.1, the focus size fraction of this study, is dominated by POA. Wood smoke is found to be the single biggest source of PM0.1 OA in winter in California, while meat cooking, mobile emissions (gasoline and diesel engines), and other anthropogenic sources (mainly solvent usage and waste disposal) are the most important sources in summer. Biogenic emissions are predicted to be the largest PM0.1 SOA source, followed by mobile sources and other anthropogenic sources, but these rankings are sensitive to the SOA model used in the calculation. Air pollution control programs aiming to reduce the PM0.1 OA concentrations should consider controlling solvent usage, waste disposal, and mobile emissions in California, but these findings should be revisited after the latest science is incorporated into the SOA exposure calculations. The spatial distributions of SOA associated with different sources are not sensitive to the choice of SOA model, although the absolute amount of SOA can change significantly. Therefore, the spatial distributions of PM0.1 POA and SOA over the 9-year study period provide useful information for epidemiological studies to further investigate the associations with health outcomes.


Author(s):  
Francis Olawale Abulude

Particulate matter (PM) is one of the problems faced in environmental science. It has health effects on man and animals in both developed and developing countries. Research and efforts have been on it several years back. Policy statements and efforts have been published. This review paper is an added information on air pollution. In it, efforts were made in discussing these: classification, effects, methodology, case studies and source apportionment. It is hoped that this paper would contribute to existing knowledge on PM.


Air Pollution ◽  
2010 ◽  
pp. 249-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernesto Alfaro-Moreno ◽  
Claudia Garc√≠a-Cuellar ◽  
Andrea De-Vizcaya-Ruiz ◽  
Leonora Rojas-Bracho ◽  
Alvaro Osornio-Vargas

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 353-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helinor J. Johnston ◽  
William Mueller ◽  
Susanne Steinle ◽  
Sotiris Vardoulakis ◽  
Kraichat Tantrakarnapa ◽  
...  

Abstract Purpose of Review A large body of epidemiological evidence demonstrates that exposure to particulate matter (PM) is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Many epidemiology studies have investigated the health effects of PM in Europe and North America and focussed on traffic derived PM. However, elevated levels of PM are a global problem and the impacts of other sources of PM on health should be assessed. Biomass burning can increase PM levels in urban and rural indoor and outdoor environments in developed and developing countries. We aim to identify whether the health effects of traffic and biomass burning derived PM are similar by performing a narrative literature review. We focus on Thailand as haze episodes from agricultural biomass burning can substantially increase PM levels. Recent Findings Existing epidemiology, in vitro and in vivo studies suggest that biomass burning derived PM elicits toxicity via stimulation of oxidative stress, inflammation and genotoxicity. Thus, it is likely to cause similar adverse health outcomes to traffic PM, which causes toxicity via similar mechanisms. However, there is conflicting evidence regarding whether traffic or biomass burning derived PM is most hazardous. Also, there is evidence that PM released from different biomass sources varies in its toxic potency. Summary We recommend that epidemiology studies are performed in Thailand to better understand the impacts of PM emitted from specific biomass sources (e.g. agricultural burning). Further, experimental studies should assess the toxicity of PM emitted from more diverse biomass sources. This will fill knowledge gaps and inform evidence-based interventions that protect human health.


2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (20) ◽  
pp. 15219-15229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hao Guo ◽  
Sri Harsha Kota ◽  
Kaiyu Chen ◽  
Shovan Kumar Sahu ◽  
Jianlin Hu ◽  
...  

Abstract. Health effects of exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in India were estimated in this study based on a source-oriented version of the Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ) model. Contributions of different sources to premature mortality and years of life lost (YLL) were quantified in 2015. Premature mortality due to cerebrovascular disease (CEVD) was the highest in India (0.44 million), followed by ischaemic heart disease (IHD, 0.40 million), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD, 0.18 million), and lung cancer (LC, 0.01 million), with a total of 1.04 million deaths. The states with highest premature mortality were Uttar Pradesh (0.23 million), Bihar (0.12 million), and West Bengal (0.10 million). The highest total YLL was 2 years in Delhi, and the Indo-Gangetic plains and eastern India had higher YLL (∼1 years) than other regions. The residential sector was the largest contributor to PM2.5 concentrations (∼40 µg m−3), total premature mortality (0.58 million), and YLL (∼0.2 years). Other important sources included industry (∼20 µg m−3), agriculture (∼10 µg m−3), and energy (∼5 µg m−3) with their national averaged contributions of 0.21, 0.12, and 0.07 million to premature mortality, and 0.12, 0.1, and 0.05 years to YLL. Reducing PM2.5 concentrations would lead to a significant reduction of premature mortality and YLL. For example, premature mortality in Uttar Pradesh (including Delhi) due to PM2.5 exposures would be reduced by 79 % and YLL would be reduced by 83 % when reducing PM2.5 concentrations to 10 µg m−3.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document