Air pollution and fasting blood glucose: A longitudinal study in China

Limited studies have examined the associations between air pollutants [particles with diameters of 10um or less (PM10), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2)] and fasting blood glucose (FBG). We collected data for 27,685 participants who were followed during 2006 and 2008. Generalized Estimating Equation models were used to examine the effects of air pollutants on FBG while controlling for potential confounders. We found that increased exposure to NO2, SO2 and PM10 was significantly associated with increased FBG levels in single pollutant models (p<0.001). For exposure to 4 days’ average of concentrations, a 100 µg/m3 increase in SO2, NO2, and PM10 was associated with 0.17 mmol/L (95%CI: 0.15–0.19), 0.53 mmol/L (95%CI: 0.42–0.65), and 0.11 mmol/L (95%CI: 0.07–0.15) increase in FBG, respectively. In the multi-pollutant models, the effects of SO2 were enhanced, while the effects of NO2 and PM10 were alleviated. The effects of air pollutants on FBG were stronger in female, elderly, and overweight people than in male, young and underweight people. In conclusion, the findings suggest that air pollution increases the levels of FBG. Vulnerable people should pay more attention on highly polluted days to prevent air pollution-related health issues.

Ambient air pollution exposure estimation for the global burden of disease 2013

Exposure to ambient air pollution is a major risk factor for global disease. Assessment of the impacts of air pollution on population health and the evaluation of trends relative to other major risk factors requires regularly updated, accurate, spatially resolved exposure estimates. We combined satellite-based estimates, chemical transport model (CTM) simulations and ground measurements from 79 different countries to produce new global estimates of annual average fine particle (PM2.5) and ozone concentrations at 0.1° × 0.1° spatial resolution for five-year intervals from 1990-2010 and the year 2013. These estimates were then applied to assess population-weighted mean concentrations for 1990 – 2013 for each of 188 countries. In 2013, 87% of the world’s population lived in areas exceeding the World Health Organization (WHO) Air Quality Guideline of 10 μg/m3 PM2.5 (annual average). Between 1990 and 2013, decreases in population-weighted mean concentrations of PM2.5 were evident in most high income countries, in contrast to increases estimated in South Asia, throughout much of Southeast Asia, and in China. Population-weighted mean concentrations of ozone increased in most countries from 1990 - 2013, with modest decreases in North America, parts of Europe, and several countries in Southeast Asia.

New directions: Air pollution challenges for developing megacities like Delhi

Most major cities around the world experience periods of elevated air pollution levels, which exceed international health-based air quality standards (Kumar et al., 2013). Although it is a global problem, some of the highest air pollution levels are found in rapidly expanding cities in India and China. The sources, emissions, transformations and broad effects of meteorology on air pollution are reasonably well accounted in air quality control strategies in many developed cities; however these key factors remain poorly constrained in the growing cities of countries with emerging economies. We focus here on Delhi, one of the largest global population centres, which faces particular air pollution challenges, now and in the future.

Long-term exposure to gaseous air pollutants and cardio-respiratory mortality in Brisbane, Australia

Air pollution is ranked by the World Health Organisation as one of the top ten contributors to the global burden of disease and injury. Exposure to gaseous air pollutants, even at a low level, has been associated with cardiorespiratory diseases (Vedal, Brauer et al. 2003). Most recent epidemiological studies of air pollution have used time-series analyses to explore the relationship between daily mortality or morbidity and daily ambient air pollution concentrations based on the same day or previous days (Hajat, Armstrong et al. 2007). However, most of the previous studies have examined the association between air pollution and health outcomes using air pollution data from a single monitoring site or average values from a few monitoring sites to represent the whole population of the study area. In fact, for a metropolitan city, ambient air pollution levels may differ significantly among the different areas. There is increasing concern that the relationships between air pollution and mortality may vary with geographical area (Chen, Mengersen et al. 2007). Additionally, some studies have indicated that socio-economic status can act as a confounder when investigating the relation between geographical location and health (Scoggins, Kjellstrom et al. 2004). This study examined the spatial variation in the relationship between long-term exposure to gaseous air pollutants (including nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3) and sulphur dioxide (SO2)), and cardiorespiratory mortality in Brisbane, Australia, during the period 1996 - 2004.

Air quality and its impact on health: focus on particulate matter

Inadequate air quality and the inhalation of airborne pollutants pose many risks to human health and wellbeing, and are listed among the top environmental risks worldwide. The importance of outdoor air quality was recognised in the 1950s and indoor air quality emerged as an issue some time later and was soon recognised as having an equal, if not greater importance than outdoor air quality. Identification of ambient air pollution as a health hazard was followed by steps, undertaken by a broad range of national and international professional and government organisations, aimed at reduction or elimination of the hazard. However, the process of achieving better air quality is still in progress. The last 10 years or so have seen an unprecedented increase in the interest in, and attention to, airborne particles, with a special focus on their finer size fractions, including ultrafine (< 0.1 m) and their subset, nano particles (< 0.05 m). This paper discusses the current status of scientific knowledge on the links between air quality and health, with a particular focus on airborne particulate matter, and the directions taken by national and international bodies to improve air quality.

Impact of prescribed burning on urban air quality : a case study

For fuel management and/or ecological reasons prescribed burnings are conducted each year across Australia. Smoke from prescribed burnings could be the major source of air pollution in urban environment during the period of intensive prescribed burning. To investigate the impact of prescribed burning on air quality and the characteristics of prescribed burning particles, field measurements were conducted during the end period of a prescribed burning event in September 2011, Brisbane, Australia.

Monitoring charged particles in indoor air using a neutral cluster and air ion spectrometer

While there are sources of ions both outdoors and indoors, ventilation systems can introduce as well as remove ions from the air. As a result, indoor ion concentrations are not directly related to air exchange rates in buildings. In this study, we attempt to relate these quantities with the view of understanding how charged particles may be introduced into indoor spaces.

Air crimes and atmospheric justice

This chapter explores the political economy of air pollution. It draws on discourses of power, harm and violence to analyse air pollution within emerging frameworks of 'eco-crime' and atmospheric justice' (see Vanderheiden 2008; Walters 2010). In doing so, it identifies how green criminology continues to push new boundaries by engaging with issues of both global and local concern.

Editorial : forecasting urban air quality

Air pollution has significant impacts on both the environment and human health. Therefore, urban areas have received ever growing attention, because they not only have the highest concentrations of air pollutants, but they also have the highest human population. In modern societies, urban air quality (UAQ) is routinely evaluated and local authorities provide regular reports to the public about current UAQ levels. Both local and international authorities also recommended that some air pollutant concentrations remain below a certain level, with the aim of reducing emissions and improving the air quality, both in urban areas and on a more regional scale. In some countries, protocols aimed at reducing emissions have come in force as a result of international agreements.

Energy-pollution nexus for urban buildings

Since the first oil crisis in 1974, economic reasons placed energy saving among the top priorities in most industrialised countries. In the decades that followed, another, equally strong driver for energy saving emerged: climate change caused by anthropogenic emissions, a large fraction of which result from energy generation. Intrinsically linked to energy consumption and its related emissions is another problem: indoor air quality. City dwellers in industrialised nations spend over 90% of their time indoors and exposure to indoor pollutants contributes to ~2.6% of global burden of disease and nearly 2 million premature deaths per year1. Changing climate conditions, together with human expectations of comfortable thermal conditions, elevates building energy requirements for heating, cooling, lighting and the use of other electrical equipment. We believe that these changes elicit a need to understand the nexus between energy consumption and its consequent impact on indoor air quality in urban buildings. In our opinion the key questions are how energy consumption is distributed between different building services, and how the resulting pollution affects indoor air quality. The energy-pollution nexus has clearly been identified in qualitative terms; however the quantification of such a nexus to derive emissions or concentrations per unit energy consumption is still weak, inconclusive and requires forward thinking. Of course, various aspects of energy consumption and indoor air quality have been studied in detail separately, but in-depth, integrated studies of the energy-pollution nexus are hard to come by. We argue that such studies could be instrumental in providing sustainable solutions to maintain the trade-off between the energy efficiency of buildings and acceptable levels of air pollution for healthy living.