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Emerging Issues in Air Quality: Pollutants, Sources, Concentrations, Chemistry, and Health Risks

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2020) | Viewed by 23012

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Joseph Pinto

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599‑7400, USA
Interests: atmospheric chemistry and physics
Dr. Janice S. Lee

E-Mail Website
Assistant Guest Editor
National Center for Environmental Assessment, US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), Washington, DC 20004, USA
Interests: human health risk assessment; susceptibility; mode of action; systematic review

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In addition to the most intensively studied pollutants, such as particulate matter (PM), ozone, and nitrogen oxides, other contaminants are emerging in importance as threats to indoor and outdoor air quality. This is occurring because of evolving technologies, economic growth, and controls on the direct emissions of PM and emissions of precursors to secondary PM and ozone. These other pollutants are derived from items such as personal care and household cleaning products, coatings and packaging, air fresheners, refrigerants, and e-cigarettes. Pollutants derived from consumer products are also precursors to the formation of PM and ozone. Are there approaches for evaluating human exposures to pollutants derived from consumer products, their reaction products, and the risks they pose to human health?

Emphasis on assigning health outcomes to PM exposure focuses mainly on mass instead of specific PM components. Is there new evidence relating health outcomes to specific PM components?

Nitrogen and sulfur oxides react with naturally occurring molecules in the atmosphere. Is there new evidence linking the species formed from this interaction to health outcomes?

Existing ambient air monitoring networks are limited in their capability to measure exposure to air pollutants. Are there advances in measurement techniques based on remote sensing and/or in-situ sensors that will substantively improve the spatial and temporal coverage for monitoring pollutants?

What human or animal evidence is there relating health outcomes to emerging contaminants?

Dr. Joseph Pinto
Dr. Janice S. Lee
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • human exposure
  • risk assessment
  • air quality
  • consumer products
  • PM components
  • isoprene
  • advances in monitoring methods

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 1881 KiB  
Article
The Impact of Device Settings, Use Patterns, and Flavorings on Carbonyl Emissions from Electronic Cigarettes
by Yeongkwon Son, Clifford Weisel, Olivia Wackowski, Stephan Schwander, Cristine Delnevo and Qingyu Meng
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(16), 5650; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17165650 - 05 Aug 2020
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 4454
Abstract
Health impacts of electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) vaping are associated with the harmful chemicals emitted from e-cigarettes such as carbonyls. However, the levels of various carbonyl compounds under real-world vaping conditions have been understudied. This study evaluated the levels of carbonyl compounds (e.g., formaldehyde, [...] Read more.
Health impacts of electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) vaping are associated with the harmful chemicals emitted from e-cigarettes such as carbonyls. However, the levels of various carbonyl compounds under real-world vaping conditions have been understudied. This study evaluated the levels of carbonyl compounds (e.g., formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, glyoxal, and diacetyl, etc.) under various device settings (i.e., power output), vaping topographies, and e-liquid compositions (i.e., base liquid, flavor types). The results showed that e-vapor carbonyl levels were the highest under higher power outputs. The propylene glycol (PG)-based e-liquids generated higher formaldehyde and acetaldehyde than vegetable glycerin (VG)-based e-liquids. In addition, fruit flavored e-liquids (i.e., strawberry and dragon fruit) generated higher formaldehyde emissions than mint/menthol and creamy/sweet flavored e-liquids. While single-top coils formed 3.5-fold more formaldehyde per puff than conventional cigarette smoking, bottom coils generated 10–10,000 times less formaldehyde per puff. In general, increases in puff volume and longer puff durations generated significantly higher amounts of formaldehyde. While e-cigarettes emitted much lower levels of carbonyl compounds compared to conventional cigarettes, the presence of several toxic carbonyl compounds in e-cigarette vapor may still pose potential health risks for users without smoking history, including youth. Therefore, the public health administrations need to consider the vaping conditions which generated higher carbonyls, such as higher power output with PG e-liquid, when developing e-cigarette product standards. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Issues in Air Quality: Pollutants, Sources, Concentrations, Chemistry, and Health Risks)
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19 pages, 5616 KiB  
Article
Dynamic Correlation Analysis Method of Air Pollutants in Spatio-Temporal Analysis
by Yu-ting Bai, Xue-bo Jin, Xiao-yi Wang, Xiao-kai Wang and Ji-ping Xu
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(1), 360; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17010360 - 05 Jan 2020
Cited by 24 | Viewed by 4164
Abstract
Pollutant analysis and pollution source tracing are critical issues in air quality management, in which correlation analysis is important for pollutant relation modeling. A dynamic correlation analysis method was proposed to meet the real-time requirement in atmospheric management. Firstly, the spatio-temporal analysis framework [...] Read more.
Pollutant analysis and pollution source tracing are critical issues in air quality management, in which correlation analysis is important for pollutant relation modeling. A dynamic correlation analysis method was proposed to meet the real-time requirement in atmospheric management. Firstly, the spatio-temporal analysis framework was designed, in which the process of data monitoring, correlation calculation, and result presentation were defined. Secondly, the core correlation calculation method was improved with an adaptive data truncation and grey relational analysis. Thirdly, based on the general framework and correlation calculation, the whole algorithm was proposed for various analysis tasks in time and space, providing the data basis for ranking and decision on pollutant effects. Finally, experiments were conducted with the practical data monitored in an industrial park of Hebei Province, China. The different pollutants in multiple monitoring stations were analyzed crosswise. The dynamic features of the results were obtained to present the variational correlation degrees from the proposed and contrast methods. The results proved that the proposed dynamic correlation analysis could quickly acquire atmospheric pollution information. Moreover, it can help to deduce the influence relation of pollutants in multiple locations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Issues in Air Quality: Pollutants, Sources, Concentrations, Chemistry, and Health Risks)
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10 pages, 5900 KiB  
Article
Ethylene Oxide Exposure Attribution and Emissions Quantification Based on Ambient Air Measurements near a Sterilization Facility
by Eduardo P. Olaguer, Amy Robinson, Susan Kilmer, James Haywood and Doreen Lehner
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(1), 42; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17010042 - 19 Dec 2019
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 4653
Abstract
Ethylene oxide (EtO) is a known carcinogen and mutagen associated with increased incidence of breast and blood cancers. The largest medical sterilization facility in Michigan had been assessed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as imposing an additional cancer risk greater than one [...] Read more.
Ethylene oxide (EtO) is a known carcinogen and mutagen associated with increased incidence of breast and blood cancers. The largest medical sterilization facility in Michigan had been assessed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as imposing an additional cancer risk greater than one in one thousand in nearby neighborhoods. This prompted the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (now referred to as the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy) to conduct an air quality modeling study of the ambient EtO impacts of the sterilization facility, followed by 24 h Summa canister sampling and TO-15 analysis in two phases. Inverse modeling of the measured 24 h EtO concentrations during the second phase yielded estimates of 594 lbs/year for the facility’s total emissions of EtO and 0.247 µg/m3 for the urban background concentration. The inverse-modeled emissions are similar to reported emissions by the facility operator based on indoor air measurements and simple mass balance assumptions, while the inferred background concentration agrees with estimates from other field investigations. The estimated peak 24 h exposure to EtO caused by the sterilization facility in nearby neighborhoods was 1.83 μg/m3 above the background level, corresponding to an additional cancer risk of approximately one in one hundred, if assumed to represent annual mean exposure. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Issues in Air Quality: Pollutants, Sources, Concentrations, Chemistry, and Health Risks)
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13 pages, 1356 KiB  
Review
Impact of Air Pollution on the Health of the Population in Parts of the Czech Republic
by Radim J. Sram
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(18), 6454; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17186454 - 04 Sep 2020
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3413
Abstract
Thirty years ago, Northern Bohemia in the Czech Republic was one of the most air polluted areas in Europe. After political changes, the Czech government put forward a research program to determine if air pollution is really affecting human health. This program, later [...] Read more.
Thirty years ago, Northern Bohemia in the Czech Republic was one of the most air polluted areas in Europe. After political changes, the Czech government put forward a research program to determine if air pollution is really affecting human health. This program, later called the “Teplice Program”, was initiated in collaboration with scientists from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA). This cooperation made possible the use of methods on the contemporary level. The very high concentrations of sulphur dioxide (SO2), particulate matter of 10 micrometers or less (PM10), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) present in the air showed, for the first time, the impact of air pollutants on the health of the population in mining districts: adverse pregnancy outcomes, the impact of air pollution on sperm morphology, learning disabilities in children, and respiratory morbidity in preschool children. A surprising result came from the distribution of the sources of pollution: 70% of PM10 pollution came from local heating and not from power plants as expected. Thanks to this result, the Czech government supported changes in local heating from brown coal to natural gas. This change substantially decreased SO2 and PM10 pollution and affected mortality, especially cardiovascular mortality. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Issues in Air Quality: Pollutants, Sources, Concentrations, Chemistry, and Health Risks)
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28 pages, 1328 KiB  
Review
New Approach Methods to Evaluate Health Risks of Air Pollutants: Critical Design Considerations for In Vitro Exposure Testing
by Jose Zavala, Anastasia N. Freedman, John T. Szilagyi, Ilona Jaspers, John F. Wambaugh, Mark Higuchi and Julia E. Rager
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(6), 2124; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17062124 - 23 Mar 2020
Cited by 49 | Viewed by 5128
Abstract
Air pollution consists of highly variable and complex mixtures recognized as major contributors to morbidity and mortality worldwide. The vast number of chemicals, coupled with limitations surrounding epidemiological and animal studies, has necessitated the development of new approach methods (NAMs) to evaluate air [...] Read more.
Air pollution consists of highly variable and complex mixtures recognized as major contributors to morbidity and mortality worldwide. The vast number of chemicals, coupled with limitations surrounding epidemiological and animal studies, has necessitated the development of new approach methods (NAMs) to evaluate air pollution toxicity. These alternative approaches include in vitro (cell-based) models, wherein toxicity of test atmospheres can be evaluated with increased efficiency compared to in vivo studies. In vitro exposure systems have recently been developed with the goal of evaluating air pollutant-induced toxicity; though the specific design parameters implemented in these NAMs-based studies remain in flux. This review aims to outline important design parameters to consider when using in vitro methods to evaluate air pollutant toxicity, with the goal of providing increased accuracy, reproducibility, and effectiveness when incorporating in vitro data into human health evaluations. This review is unique in that experimental considerations and lessons learned are provided, as gathered from first-hand experience developing and testing in vitro models coupled to exposure systems. Reviewed design aspects include cell models, cell exposure conditions, exposure chambers, and toxicity endpoints. Strategies are also discussed to incorporate in vitro findings into the context of in vivo toxicity and overall risk assessment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Issues in Air Quality: Pollutants, Sources, Concentrations, Chemistry, and Health Risks)
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