Deliberating performance targets workshop: Potential paths for emerging PM2.5 and O3 air sensor progress.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Williams R
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8314253 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:The use of air sensor technology is increasing worldwide for a variety of applications, however, with significant variability in data quality. The United States Environmental Protection Agency held a workshop in July 2019 to deliberate possible performance targets for air sensors measuring particles with aerodynamic diameters of 10 μm or less (PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), and sulfur dioxide (SO2). These performance targets were discussed from the perspective of non-regulatory applications and with the sensors operating primarily in a stationary mode in outdoor environments. Attendees included representatives from multiple levels of government organizations, sensor developers, environmental nonprofits, international organizations, and academia. The workshop addressed the current lack of sensor technology requirements, discussed fit-for-purpose data quality needs, and debated transparency issues. This paper highlights the purpose and key outcomes of the workshop. While more information on performance and applications of sensors is available than in past years, the performance metrics, or parameters used to describe data quality, vary among the studies reports and there is a need for more clear and consistent approaches for evaluating sensor performance. Organizations worldwide are increasingly considering, or are in the process of developing, sensor performance targets and testing protocols. Workshop participants suggested that these new guidelines are highly desirable, would help improve data quality, and would give users more confidence in their data. Given the wide variety of uses for sensors and user backgrounds, as well as varied sensor design features (e.g., communication approaches, data tools, processing/adjustment algorithms and calibration procedures), the need for transparency was a key workshop theme. Suggestions for increasing transparency included documenting and sharing testing and performance data, detailing best practices, and sharing data processing and correction approaches.
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Project description:Long-term air pollution exposure, notably fine particulate matter, is a global contributor to morbidity and mortality and a known risk factor for coronary artery disease (CAD) and myocardial infarctions (MI). Knowledge of impacts related to source-apportioned PM2.5 is limited. New modeling methods allow researchers to estimate source-specific long-term impacts on the prevalence of CAD and MI. The Catheterization Genetics (CATHGEN) cohort consists of patients who underwent a cardiac catheterization at Duke University Medical Center between 2002 and 2010. Severity of coronary blockage was determined by coronary angiography and converted into a binary indicator of clinical CAD. History of MI was extracted from medical records. Annual averages of source specific PM2.5 were estimated using an improved gas-constrained source apportionment model for North Carolina from 2002 to 2010. We tested six sources of PM2.5 mass for associations with CAD and MI using mixed effects multivariable logistic regression with a random intercept for county and multiple adjustments. PM2.5 fractions of ammonium bisulfate and ammonium nitrate were associated with increased prevalence of CAD (odds ratio [OR] 1.20; 95% CI = 1.11, 1.22 and OR 1.18; 95% CI = 1.05, 1.32, respectively). PM2.5 from ammonium bisulfate and ammonium nitrate were also associated with increased prevalence of MI (OR 1.20; 95% CI = 1.10, 1.29 and OR 1.35; 95% CI = 1.20, 1.53, respectively). Greater PM2.5 concentrations of ammonium bisulfate and ammonium nitrate are associated with greater MI and CAD prevalence. The association with bisulfate suggests aerosol acidity may play a role. Our findings suggest analyses of source specific PM2.5 mass can reveal novel associations.
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Project description:Frailty is common among older people and results in adverse health outcomes. We investigated whether exposure to PM2.5 is associated with frailty. This cross-sectional study involved 20,606 community-dwelling participants aged ≥ 65 years, residing in New Taipei City, Taiwan. Analytic data included phenotypic frailty, disease burden by Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), urban or rural residence, and household income. PM2.5 exposure was calculated from air quality monitoring records, with low exposure defined as the lowest quartile of the study population. 1,080 frail participants (5.2%) were older, predominantly female, had more comorbidities, lived rurally, and had low PM2.5 exposure (all p < 0.001). In multinomial logistic regression analyses, the likelihood of high PM2.5 exposure was higher in prefrail (OR 1.4, 95% CI 1.3-1.5) and frail adults (OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.2-1.9) than in robust individuals, with stronger associations in those who were male (frail: OR 2.1, 95% CI 1.5-3.1; prefrail: OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.9-2.6), ≥ 75 years old (frail: OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.3-2.4; prefrail: OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.3-1.8), non-smokers (frail: OR 1.6, 95% CI 1.3-2.0; prefrail: OR 1.4, 95% CI 1.2-1.5), had CCI ≥ 2 (frail: OR 5.1, 95% CI 2.1-12.6; prefrail: OR 2.1, 95% CI 1.2-3.8), and with low household income (frail: OR 4.0, 95% CI 2.8-5.8; prefrail: OR 2.7, 95% CI 2.2-3.3). This study revealed a significant association between PM2.5 exposure and frailty, with a stronger effect in vulnerable groups.
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Project description:Fabrication of air filtration materials (AFM) that allow air to easily flow through while retaining particles is a significant and urgent need due to the harmful airborne particulate matter pollution; however, this is still a challenging research area. Herein, we report novel slip-effect functional nanofibrous membranes with decreased air resistance (reduction rate of 40%) due to the slip flow of air molecules on the periphery of nanofibers. This was achieved through careful control over the diameters of electrospun polyacrylonitrile fibers and aperture size of fiber assembly. Fiber assembly with 86% of fiber diameters between 60-100?nm was found to be most effective for slip flow, as these diameters are close to the mean free path of air molecules (65.3?nm). Significantly, an equilibrium factor ??=?df/d2 has been introduced to elucidate the effect of distance of adjacent fibers on the drag force of airflow. Furthermore, the most effective aperture size (>3.5??m) for slip-effect has been determined. Ultimately, the new material displayed low air resistance of 29.5?Pa, high purification efficiency of 99.09%, good transmittance of 77%, and long service life. The successful fabrication of such materials can facilitate the development of high-performance AFMs for various applications.
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Project description:Nowadays in many countries, air pollution is one of the major issues affecting human health. Among the various air pollutants particulate matters are mainly present in ambient air pollution. The purpose of this study was to measure the concentration of particulate matter (PM) (namely PM2.5 and PM10) and to conduct zoning via GIS software in Khorramabad city (Summer - 2017). According to the findings, the average concentrations of PM2.5 in July, August and September were 100.1, 116.3, and 199.8 μg/m3, respectively. Furthermore, the average concentrations of PM10 in July, August and September were 199.8, 215.7, and 190.8 μg/m3, respectively. The findings of this study also indicated that due to continuous dust storms,particularly in recent years, the air pollution status in Khorramabad was not suitable that can adversely affect public health.
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Project description:China's efforts to curb air pollution have drastically reduced its concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) from 2013 to 2018 nationwide. However, few studies examined the most recent changes in PM2.5 concentrations and questioned if the previous PM2.5 declining trend was sustained or not. This study took a deep dive into the PM2.5 trend for 136 northern cities of China from 2015 to early 2020 before the coronavirus disease 2019 (the COVID-19 hereafter) crisis, using ground-based PM2.5 data notably adjusted for a key measurement method change. We find that mean PM2.5 concentrations in northern China increased by 5.16 µg/m3 in 2019, offsetting 80% of the large reduction achieved in 2018. The rebound was more significant during the heating seasons (HS; Nov to next Mar) over the 2 years: 10.49 µg/m3 from the 2017 HS to the 2019 HS. A multiple linear regression analysis further revealed that anthropogenic factors contributed to around 50% of the PM2.5 rebound in northern cities of China. Such a significant role of anthropogenic factors in driving the rebound was tightly linked to deep cuts in PM2.5 concentrations in the previous year, systemic adjustment of policy targets and mitigation measures by the government, and the rising marginal cost of these measures. These findings suggest the need to chart a more sustainable path for future PM2.5 emission reductions, with an emphasis on key regions during key pollution periods.
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Project description:Rapid urbanization and consuming lifestyles have intensified air pollution in urban areas. Air pollution in megacities has imposed severe environmental damages to human health. Proper management of the issue necessitates identification of the share of emission sources. Therefore, numerous research works have studied the apportionment of the total emissions and observed concentrations among different emissions sources. In this research, a comprehensive review is conducted to compare the source apportioning results for ambient air PM2.5 in the megacity of Tehran, the capital of Iran. One hundred seventy-seven pieces of scientific literatures, published between 2005 and 2021, were reviewed. The reviewed research are categorized according to the source apportioning methods: emission inventory (EI), source apportionment (SA), and sensitivity analysis of the concentration to the emission sources (SNA). The possible reasons for inconsistency among the results are discussed according to the scope of the studies and the implemented methods. Although 85% of the reviewed original estimates identify that mobile sources contribute to more thant 60% of Tehran air pollution, the distribution of vehicle types and modes are clearly inconsistent among the EI studies. Our review suggests that consistent results in the SA studies in different locations in central Tehran may indicate the reliability of this method for the identification of the type and share of the emission sources. In contrast, differences among the geographical and sectoral coverage of the EI studies and the disparities among the emission factors and activity data have caused significant deviations among the reviewed EI studies. Also, it is shown that the results of the SNA studies are highly dependent on the categorization type, model capabilities and EI presumptions and data input to the pollutant dispersion modelings. As a result, integrated source apportioning in which the three methods complement each other's results is necessary for consistent air pollution management in megacities.Supplementary informationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40201-023-00855-0.
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Project description:From 2013 to 2017, with the implementation of the toughest-ever clean air policy in China, significant declines in fine particle (PM2.5) concentrations occurred nationwide. Here we estimate the drivers of the improved PM2.5 air quality and the associated health benefits in China from 2013 to 2017 based on a measure-specific integrated evaluation approach, which combines a bottom-up emission inventory, a chemical transport model, and epidemiological exposure-response functions. The estimated national population-weighted annual mean PM2.5 concentrations decreased from 61.8 (95%CI: 53.3-70.0) to 42.0 µg/m3 (95% CI: 35.7-48.6) in 5 y, with dominant contributions from anthropogenic emission abatements. Although interannual meteorological variations could significantly alter PM2.5 concentrations, the corresponding effects on the 5-y trends were relatively small. The measure-by-measure evaluation indicated that strengthening industrial emission standards (power plants and emission-intensive industrial sectors), upgrades on industrial boilers, phasing out outdated industrial capacities, and promoting clean fuels in the residential sector were major effective measures in reducing PM2.5 pollution and health burdens. These measures were estimated to contribute to 6.6- (95% CI: 5.9-7.1), 4.4- (95% CI: 3.8-4.9), 2.8- (95% CI: 2.5-3.0), and 2.2- (95% CI: 2.0-2.5) µg/m3 declines in the national PM2.5 concentration in 2017, respectively, and further reduced PM2.5-attributable excess deaths by 0.37 million (95% CI: 0.35-0.39), or 92% of the total avoided deaths. Our study confirms the effectiveness of China's recent clean air actions, and the measure-by-measure evaluation provides insights into future clean air policy making in China and in other developing and polluting countries.
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Project description:Epidemiologic observations suggest that exposure to ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is associated with increased risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and diabetes, a causal driver of CKD. We evaluated whether diabetes mediates the association between PM2.5 and CKD. A cohort of 2,444,157 United States veterans were followed over a median 8.5 years. Environmental Protection Agency data provided PM2.5 exposure levels. Regression models assessed associations and their proportion mediated. A 10 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5 was associated with increased odds of having a diabetes diagnosis (odds ratio: 1.18, 95% CI: 1.06-1.32), use of diabetes medication (1.22, 1.07-1.39), and increased risk of incident eGFR <60 ml/min/1.73 m2 (hazard ratio:1.20, 95% CI: 1.13-1.29), incident CKD (1.28, 1.18-1.39), ≥30% decline in eGFR (1.23, 1.15-1.33), and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) or ≥50% decline in eGFR (1.17, 1.05-1.30). Diabetes mediated 4.7% (4.3-5.7%) of the association of PM2.5 with incident eGFR <60 ml/min/1.73 m2, 4.8% (4.2-5.8%) with incident CKD, 5.8% (5.0-7.0%) with ≥30% decline in eGFR, and 17.0% (13.1-20.4%) with ESRD or ≥50% decline in eGFR. Diabetes minimally mediated the association between PM2.5 and kidney outcomes. The findings will help inform more accurate estimates of the burden of diabetes and burden of kidney disease attributable to PM2.5 pollution.
| S-EPMC7067761 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Particulate matters with a diameter of less than 10 µm (PM10) or less than 2.5 µm (PM2.5) are major air pollutants. Their relationship to psychiatric disorders has not yet been extensively studied. We aimed to explore the relationship between PM10 and PM2.5 air pollution peaks and the daily number of emergency visits for psychotic and mood disorders. Clinical data were collected from the Emergency Department of a Paris suburb (Créteil, France) from 2008 to 2018. Air pollution data were measured by the Paris region air quality network (Airparif) and collected from public databases. Pollution peak periods were defined as days for which the daily mean level of PM was above nationally predefined warning thresholds (20 µg/m3 for PM2.5, and 50 µg/m3 for PM10), and the 6 following days. Multivariable analyses compared the number of daily visits for psychotic and mood (unipolar and bipolar) disorders according to pollution peak, using negative binomial regression. After adjustment on meteorological variables (temperature, humidity, amount of sunshine in minutes), the daily number of emergency visits for psychotic disorders was significantly higher during PM2.5 and PM10 air pollution peak periods; while the number of visits for unipolar depressive disorders was higher only during PM10 peak periods (β = 0.059, p-value = 0.034). There were no significant differences between peak and non-peak periods for bipolar disorders. Differences in the effects of PM air pollution on psychotic and mood disorders should be analyzed in further studies.
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