Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health 

About: Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health is an academic journal published by Springer Science+Business Media. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Air quality index & Environmental science. It has an ISSN identifier of 1873-9318. Over the lifetime, 1328 publications have been published receiving 25100 citations. The journal is also known as: Air quality, atmosphere and health.

Update of WHO air quality guidelines

Abstract: Based on a systematic review of literature on adverse health effects of air pollution, the World Health Organization has updated its Air Quality Guidelines in 2005. The current update is intended to be relevant and applicable worldwide and takes into consideration large regional inequalities in exposures to air pollution. It recommends guideline levels for particulate matter, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide, as well as the set of interim targets for these pollutants’ concentrations, encouraging gradual improvement of air quality and reduction of health impacts of the pollution.

Mass reconstruction methods for PM2.5: a review

Abstract: Major components of suspended particulate matter (PM) are inorganic ions, organic matter (OM), elemental carbon (EC), geological minerals, salt, non-mineral elements, and water. Since oxygen (O) and hydrogen (H) are not directly measured in chemical speciation networks, more than ten weighting equations have been applied to account for their presence, thereby approximating gravimetric mass. Assumptions for these weights are not the same under all circumstances. OM is estimated from an organic carbon (OC) multiplier (f) that ranges from 1.4 to 1.8 in most studies, but f can be larger for highly polar compounds from biomass burning and secondary organic aerosols. The mineral content of fugitive dust is estimated from elemental markers, while the water-soluble content is accounted for as inorganic ions or salt. Part of the discrepancy between measured and reconstructed PM mass is due to the measurement process, including: (1) organic vapors adsorbed on quartz-fiber filters; (2) evaporation of volatile ammonium nitrate and OM between the weighed Teflon-membrane filter and the nylon-membrane and/or quartz-fiber filters on which ions and carbon are measured; and (3) liquid water retained on soluble constituents during filter weighing. The widely used IMPROVE equations were developed to characterize particle light extinction in U.S. national parks, and variants of this approach have been tested in a large variety of environments. Important factors for improving agreement between measured and reconstructed PM mass are the f multiplier for converting OC to OM and accounting for OC sampling artifacts.

Impact of lockdown on air quality in India during COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract: First time in India, total lockdown was announced on 22 March 2020 to stop the spread of COVID-19 and the lockdown was extended for 21 days on 24 March 2020 in the first phase. During the total lockdown, most of the sources for poor air quality were stopped in India. In this paper, we present an analysis of air quality (particulate matter-PM2.5, Air Quality Index, and tropospheric NO2) over India using ground and satellite observations. A pronounced decline in PM2.5 and AQI (Air Quality Index) is observed over Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Chennai and also a declining trend was observed in tropospheric NO2 concentration during the lockdown period in 2020 compared with the same period in the year 2019. During the total lockdown period, the air quality has improved significantly which provides an important information to the cities' administration to develop rules and regulations on how they can improve air quality.

Long-term exposure to air pollution and the incidence of asthma: meta-analysis of cohort studies

Abstract: We quantified the association between long-term exposure to air pollution and the incidence of asthma by conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies. Incidence was defined as the incidence of diagnosed asthma or of new wheeze symptom between two assessments or, in birth cohorts followed up to 10 years of age, a lifetime prevalence estimate of asthma or wheeze symptom. We identified 17 cohorts (eight birth cohorts and nine child/adult cohorts) with a total of 99 population-based risk estimates. The studies were heterogeneous in their design and methods of measurement. Follow-up ranged from 3 to 23 years. Most studies were based on within-community exposure contrasts dominated by traffic pollution. Twelve of the cohorts reported at least one positive statistically significant association between air pollution and a measure of incidence. Of the total of 99 estimates, only a minority (29) were positive and statistically significant. Estimates for meta-analysis were chosen a priori using a protocol. For the 13 studies with estimates for nitrogen dioxide (NO2), the random effects odds ratio was 1.07 (95% CI 1.02 to 1.13) per 10 μg/m3. For five studies with estimates for particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter <2.5 μm (PM2.5), the random effects estimate was 1.16 (95% CI 0.98 to 1.37) per 10 μg/m3. These estimates were reduced in size and statistical significance by adjustment for publication bias but remained positive. The results are consistent with an effect of outdoor air pollution on asthma incidence. Future meta-analyses would benefit from greater standardisation of cohort methods.

COVID-19: air pollution remains low as people stay at home.

Abstract: Coronavirus diseases 2019 (COVID-19) is transmitted worldwide in over a very short time, as it was originated in late 2019 from Wuhan city, China. To reduce the possible effects due to COVID-19, some sort of lockdown activities have been applied in many countries. In this regard, the outcomes reported bonus benefits to the natural environment showing a significant decrease in air pollution worldwide due to COVID-19. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and European Space Agency (ESA) released air pollution data for Asian and European countries to assess the significant changes in air quality. The main objective of the study is to compare the air quality data released by international agencies before and after the novel coronavirus pandemic.