Epidemiology of childhood cancer.

/pdf/health-risk-assessment-of-chemical-mixtures-ckj9l0tuox.pdf

Health risk assessment of chemical mixtures

Pro-inflammatory effects and oxidative stress in lung macrophages and epithelial cells induced by ambient particulate matter

Proinflammatory effects and oxidative stress within human bronchial epithelial cells exposed to atmospheric particulate matter (PM(2.5) and PM(>2.5)) collected from Cotonou, Benin.

Ever growing populations in cities are associated with a major increase in road vehicles and air pollution. The overall high levels of urban air pollution have been shown to be of a significant risk to city dwellers. However, the impacts of very high but temporally and spatially restricted pollution, and thus exposure, are still poorly understood. Conventional approaches to air quality monitoring are based on networks of static and sparse measurement stations. However, these are prohibitively expensive to capture tempo-spatial heterogeneity and identify pollution hotspots, which is required for the development of robust real-time strategies for exposure control. Current progress in developing low-cost micro-scale sensing technology is radically changing the conventional approach to allow real-time information in a capillary form. But the question remains whether there is value in the less accurate data they generate. This article illustrates the drivers behind current rises in the use of low-cost sensors for air pollution management in cities, whilst addressing the major challenges for their effective implementation.

The rise of low-cost sensing for managing air pollution in cities

Air pollution, one of ten most important causes of premature mortality worldwide, remains a major issue also in the EU, with more than 400,000 premature deaths due to exposure to PM2.5 reported yearly. The issue is particularly significant in Poland, where there is the highest concentration of PM2.5 among the UE countries. This study focused on the proportion of mortality due to lung cancer and cardiopulmonary diseases attributable to PM2.5 in eleven biggest Polish cities in the years 2006–2011. The findings demonstrate that the mean annual concentration of PM2.5 varied from 14.3 to 52.5 μg/m3. The average population attributable fractions varied from 0.195 to 0.413 in case of lung cancer and from 0.130 to 0.291 for cardiopulmonary diseases. Such substantial values of this ratio translate into a considerable number of deaths, which ranged between 9.6 and 22.8 cases for lung cancer and 48.6 to 136.6 cases for cardiopulmonary diseases per 100,000 inhabitants. We conclude that the impact of PM2.5 concentration on the incidence of premature deaths is unduly high in Polish cities.

Ambient PM2.5 Exposure and Mortality Due to Lung Cancer and Cardiopulmonary Diseases in Polish Cities.

The aim of this study was to investigate how atmospheric air pollutants and meteorological conditions affected atmospheric visibility in the largest Polish agglomeration. The correlation analysis, principal component analysis (PCA) and generalized regression models (GRMs) were used to accomplish this objective. The meteorological parameters (temperature, relative humidity, precipitation, wind speed and insolation) and concentrations of the air pollutants (PM10, SO2, NO2, CO and O3) were recorded in 2004–2013. The data came from the Ursynow-SGGW, MzWarszUrsynow and Okecie monitoring stations, located in the south of Warsaw (Poland). It was shown that the PM10 concentration was the most important parameter affecting the visibility in Warsaw. The concentration, and indirectly the visibility, was mainly affected by the pollutant emission from the flat/building heating (combustion of various fuels). It changed intensively during the research period. There were also periods in which this emission type did not have a great influence on the pollutant concentrations (mainly PM10) and visibility. In such seasons, the research revealed the influence of the traffic emission and secondary aerosol formation processes on the visibility.

The Impact of Selected Parameters on Visibility: First Results from a Long-Term Campaign in Warsaw, Poland

It is essential in pulmonary disease research to take into account traffic-related air pollutant exposure among urban inhabitants. In our study, 4985 people were examined for spirometric parameters in the presented research which was conducted in the years 2008–2012. The research group was divided into urban and rural residents. Traffic density, traffic structure and velocity, as well as concentrations of selected air pollutants (CO, NO2 and PM10) were measured at selected areas. Among people who live in the city, lower percentages of predicted values of spirometric parameters were noticed in comparison to residents of rural areas. Taking into account that the difference in the five-year mean concentration of PM10 in the considered city and rural areas was over 17 μg/m3, each increase of PM10 by 10 μg/m3 is associated with the decline in FEV1 (forced expiratory volume during the first second of expiration) by 1.68%. These findings demonstrate that traffic-related air pollutants may have a significant influence on the decline of pulmonary function and the growing rate of respiratory diseases.

https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/17/11/1954/pdf

Pulmonary Function and Incidence of Selected Respiratory Diseases Depending on the Exposure to Ambient PM10

Air pollution is the most important environmental health risk leading to premature mortality, respiratory and other health problems. The aim of this study was to quantify its impact on infants and children in Warsaw (Poland), following the principles of Health Impact Assessment method. Particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) was considered as the indicator of air pollution. Exposure-response functions between air pollution and health impacts were employed based on the literature. According to the calculations, around 5,201 asthma symptoms and 234 hospital respiratory admissions were caused annually due to air pollution. Hospitalizations due to cardiovascular problems related to air pollution amounted to 13. The mortality among infants and children is relatively low and occurs mostly in the postneonatal period. Nonetheless, approx. 5 mortality cases were assessed to be air pollution-attributable. The study demonstrates a significant impact of air pollution on infants and children, which is manifested primarily as a range of respiratory problems.

Artur Badyda

Papers

Ambient PM2.5 Exposure and Mortality Due to Lung Cancer and Cardiopulmonary Diseases in Polish Cities.

The Impact of Selected Parameters on Visibility: First Results from a Long-Term Campaign in Warsaw, Poland

Pulmonary Function and Incidence of Selected Respiratory Diseases Depending on the Exposure to Ambient PM10

The Influence of Particulate Matter on Respiratory Morbidity and Mortality in Children and Infants

Risk of bronchi obstruction among non-smokers--review of environmental factors affecting bronchoconstriction.