The Latest Advances in Air Pollution and Human Health

A special issue of Toxics (ISSN 2305-6304). This special issue belongs to the section "Air Pollution and Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2023) | Viewed by 4678

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Chemical Engineering (ADEQ), Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa (ISEL), R. Conselheiro Emídio Navarro, 1959-007 Lisboa, Portugal
Interests: air pollution abatement; air pollution monitoring and control; particulate pollutants; indoor air pollution; combustion; clean fuels
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Co-Guest Editor
Department of Laboratory Techniques and Communitary Health, Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde de Lisboa (ESTESL), Av. D. João II, Lote 4.69.01, 1990-096 Lisboa, Portugal
Interests: nanoparticles; ultrafine particles; indoor air pollution; risk assessment; risk management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

There is a very close relationship between air pollution, namely the nature, concentration and dose of pollutants, and the resulting effects on human health. Human beings take oxygen from the air by breathing to activate several basic life support processes such as the re-oxygenation of blood and distribution of oxygen to the organs and tissues of the body, where several basic functions take place. The lungs are the organs where oxygen is extracted from air, possibly contaminated with air pollutants, thus forming an interface where noxious substances can enter the human body. Therefore, these basic phenomena result in a very delicate balance between air quality and the appearance of deficient health conditions. This Special Issue of Toxics is dedicated to papers describing the latest advances in Air Pollution and Human Health.

Prof. Dr. João Fernando Pereira Gomes
Prof. Dr. Paula Cristina da Silva Albuquerque
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • air pollution
  • human health
  • health determinants

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 8851 KiB  
Article
Real-Time Exposure to 3D-Printing Emissions Elicits Metabolic and Pro-Inflammatory Responses in Human Airway Epithelial Cells
by Xiaojia He, Lillie Marie Barnett, Jennifer Jeon, Qian Zhang, Saeed Alqahtani, Marilyn Black, Jonathan Shannahan and Christa Wright
Toxics 2024, 12(1), 67; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics12010067 - 13 Jan 2024
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Abstract
Three-dimensional (3D) printer usage in household and school settings has raised health concerns regarding chemical and particle emission exposures during operation. Although the composition of 3D printer emissions varies depending on printer settings and materials, little is known about the impact that emissions [...] Read more.
Three-dimensional (3D) printer usage in household and school settings has raised health concerns regarding chemical and particle emission exposures during operation. Although the composition of 3D printer emissions varies depending on printer settings and materials, little is known about the impact that emissions from different filament types may have on respiratory health and underlying cellular mechanisms. In this study, we used an in vitro exposure chamber system to deliver emissions from two popular 3D-printing filament types, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and polylactic acid (PLA), directly to human small airway epithelial cells (SAEC) cultured in an air–liquid interface during 3D printer operation. Using a scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS) and an optical particle sizer (OPS), we monitored 3D printer particulate matter (PM) emissions in terms of their particle size distribution, concentrations, and calculated deposited doses. Elemental composition of ABS and PLA emissions was assessed using scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX). Finally, we compared the effects of emission exposure on cell viability, inflammation, and metabolism in SAEC. Our results reveal that, although ABS filaments emitted a higher total concentration of particles and PLA filaments emitted a higher concentration of smaller particles, SAEC were exposed to similar deposited doses of particles for each filament type. Conversely, ABS and PLA emissions had distinct elemental compositions, which were likely responsible for differential effects on SAEC viability, oxidative stress, release of inflammatory mediators, and changes in cellular metabolism. Specifically, while ABS- and PLA-emitted particles both reduced cellular viability and total glutathione levels in SAEC, ABS emissions had a significantly greater effect on glutathione relative to PLA emissions. Additionally, pro-inflammatory cytokines including IL-1β, MMP-9, and RANTES were significantly increased due to ABS emissions exposure. While IL-6 and IL-8 were stimulated in both exposure scenarios, VEGF was exclusively increased due to PLA emissions exposures. Notably, ABS emissions induced metabolic perturbation on amino acids and energy metabolism, as well as redox-regulated pathways including arginine, methionine, cysteine, and vitamin B3 metabolism, whereas PLA emissions exposures caused fatty acid and carnitine dysregulation. Taken together, these results advance our mechanistic understanding of 3D-printer-emissions-induced respiratory toxicity and highlight the role that filament emission properties may play in mediating different respiratory outcomes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Latest Advances in Air Pollution and Human Health)
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12 pages, 1871 KiB  
Article
Exposure and Risk Assessment to Airborne dl-PCBs and Dioxins in the Population Living in the Neighborhood of a Cement Plant: A Pilot Study in the Valencian Region of Spain
by Pablo Ruiz, Iñaki Lacomba, Antonio López, Vicent Yusà and Clara Coscollà
Toxics 2023, 11(4), 389; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics11040389 - 20 Apr 2023
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Abstract
Emissions from cement manufacturing facilities may increase health risks in nearby populations. For this reason, dioxin-like PCB (dl-PCB), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin (PCDD), and polychlorinated dibenzofuran (PCDF) concentrations in PM10 samples were assessed in the vicinity of a cement manufacturing plant located in the [...] Read more.
Emissions from cement manufacturing facilities may increase health risks in nearby populations. For this reason, dioxin-like PCB (dl-PCB), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin (PCDD), and polychlorinated dibenzofuran (PCDF) concentrations in PM10 samples were assessed in the vicinity of a cement manufacturing plant located in the Valencian Region (eastern Spain). The total concentrations of the sum of dl-PCBs, PCDDs, and PCDFs ranged between 1.85 and 42.53 fg TEQ/m3 at the assessed stations. The average daily inhalation dose (DID) for the sum in adults ranged from 8.93 · 10−4 to 3.75 · 10−3 pg WHO TEQ kg−1 b.w. d−1, and, for children, the DID ranged from 2.01 · 10−3 to 8.44 · 10−3 pg WHO TEQ kg−1 b.w. d−1. Risk assessment for adults and children was performed using both daily and chronic exposure. The hazard quotient (HQ) was calculated considering 0.025 pg WHO TEQ kg−1 b.w. d−1 to be the acceptable maximum permitted inhalation exposure. The HQ obtained was slightly higher than 1 for PCDD/Fs at one of the stations (Chiva), indicating a possible health risk for the population under study due to inhalation exposure. In the case of chronic exposure, cancer risk (>10−6) was observed for some samples in one of the assessed sampling sites (Chiva). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Latest Advances in Air Pollution and Human Health)
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16 pages, 1871 KiB  
Article
NO2, BC and PM Exposure of Participants in the Polluscope Autumn 2019 Campaign in the Paris Region
by Laura Bouillon, Valérie Gros, Mohammad Abboud, Hafsa El Hafyani, Karine Zeitouni, Stéphanie Alage, Baptiste Languille, Nicolas Bonnaire, Jean-Marc Naude, Salim Srairi, Arthur Campos Y Sansano and Anne Kauffmann
Toxics 2023, 11(3), 206; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics11030206 - 23 Feb 2023
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Abstract
The Polluscope project aims to better understand the personal exposure to air pollutants in the Paris region. This article is based on one campaign from the project, which was conducted in the autumn of 2019 and involved 63 participants equipped with portable sensors [...] Read more.
The Polluscope project aims to better understand the personal exposure to air pollutants in the Paris region. This article is based on one campaign from the project, which was conducted in the autumn of 2019 and involved 63 participants equipped with portable sensors (i.e., NO2, BC and PM) for one week. After a phase of data curation, analyses were performed on the results from all participants, as well as on individual participants’ data for case studies. A machine learning algorithm was used to allocate the data to different environments (e.g., transportation, indoor, home, office, and outdoor). The results of the campaign showed that the participants’ exposure to air pollutants depended very much on their lifestyle and the sources of pollution that may be present in the vicinity. Individuals’ use of transportation was found to be associated with higher levels of pollutants, even when the time spent on transport was relatively short. In contrast, homes and offices were environments with the lowest concentrations of pollutants. However, some activities performed in indoor air (e.g., cooking) also showed a high levels of pollution over a relatively short period. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Latest Advances in Air Pollution and Human Health)
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