The Use of Public Data from Low-Cost Sensors for the Geospatial Analysis of Air Pollution from Solid Fuel Heating during the COVID-19 Pandemic Spring Period in Krakow, Poland.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Danek T
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8347555 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Air quality changes with human health risk assessment were investigated. The measurement results obtained by the Regional Environmental Protection Inspectorate (REPI) in Kraków and our deposited particulate-matter (PM) analysis, as well as United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) methodology of risk assessment were used in the study. Annual pollutant contents kept decreasing, with the exception of O3. However, the permissible annual levels were exceeded in the cases of PM10, PM2.5, and NO2. Increased contents of SO2, CO, C6H6, PM10, and PM2.5, as well as of As, Pb, Cd, Ni, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in PM particles during winter months indicated that house heating was the source of pollution. Due to no significant change in the monthly NO2 contents, this measurement was used as an indicator of traffic sources of pollution. In winter months, the allowable 24 h PM2.5 and PM10 contents were constantly exceeded. PM was identified as the most significant air pollutant. Enrichment factors revealed that deposited PM was enriched with heavy metals. The potential ecological risk (ERI) was determined to be very high for Cd, considerable for Zn, and low for As, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Tl. The total non-carcinogenic risk indices (HQ) for both adults (HQ = 15.0) and children (HQ = 26.4) exceeded the acceptable value of 1. The total carcinogenic risk indices (CR) for both adults (CR = 1.51 × 10-4) and children (CR = 1.77 × 10-4) exceeded the acceptable level of 1 × 10-4. In the years 2005-2020, a general decreasing tendency of annual pollutant contents was observed. However, the permissible contaminant contents were still exceeded. PM2.5, BaP, PM10, and NO2 were determined as the most dangerous pollutants in inhalational pathway.
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Project description:Conventional regulatory air quality monitoring sites tend to be sparsely located. The availability of lower-cost air pollution sensors, however, allows for their use in spatially dense community monitoring networks, which can be operated by various stakeholders, including concerned residents, organizations, academics, or government agencies. Networks of many community monitors have the potential to fill the spatial gaps between existing government-operated monitoring sites. One potential benefit of finer scale monitoring might be the ability to discern elevated air pollution episodes in locations that have not been identified by government-operated monitoring sites, which might improve public health warnings for populations sensitive to high levels of air pollution. In the Imperial Air study, a large network of low-cost particle monitors was deployed in the Imperial Valley in Southeastern California. Data from the new monitors is validated against regulatory air monitoring. Neighborhood-level air pollution episodes, which are defined as periods in which the PM2.5 (airborne particles with sizes less than 2.5 ?m in diameter) hourly average concentration is equal to or greater than 35 ?g m-3, are identified and corroborate with other sites in the network and against the small number of government monitors in the region. During the period from October 2016 to February 2017, a total of 116 episodes were identified among six government monitors in the study region; however, more than 10 times as many episodes are identified among the 38 community air monitors. Of the 1426 episodes identified by the community sensors, 723 (51%) were not observed by the government monitors. These findings suggest that the dense network of community air monitors could be useful for addressing current limitations in the spatial coverage of government air monitoring to provide real-time warnings of high pollution episodes to vulnerable populations.
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Project description:Efforts to reduce human-wildlife-conflict are integral to wildlife management and conservation in urban habitats. In our study, we identified the HWC situations in urban areas of Krakow city, based on animal-vehicle collisions, intrusion to property, and damages. Hot spot analysis and Moran's Index were used to identify the location of maximum potential conflict. We analysed 2512 incidents in which animals (of which 85% included mammals and 15% birds) were involved in conflict situations between 2007 and 2013. A significant seasonal variation was observed among the animals. We also identified roe deer (50.23%), red fox (22.80%) and wild boar (11.40%), as the three prominent conflicted animals. Getis-Ord Gi* analysis was used to identify spatial clusters of conflict. A significant spatial association was found in the location of clusters of hot spots in specific land-use based on Moran's Index. Hot spots of roe deer and wild boar were high in grasslands and in forest and for red fox in built-up area. The results underscore the notion that conservation and wildlife management efforts must take into account differences in the seasonality of HWC among species. This information can be used to inform mitigation strategies.
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Project description:In addition to many recent actions taken to reduce emissions from energy production, industry, and transportation, a new campaign substituting residential solid fuels with electricity or natural gas has been launched in Beijing, Tianjin, and 26 other municipalities in northern China, aiming at solving severe ambient air pollution in the region. Quantitative analysis shows that the campaign can accelerate residential energy transition significantly, and if the planned target can be achieved, more than 60% of households are projected to remove solid fuels by 2021, compared with fewer than 20% without the campaign. Emissions of major air pollutants will be reduced substantially. With 60% substitution realized, emission of primary PM2.5 and contribution to ambient PM2.5 concentration in 2021 are projected to be 30% and 41% of those without the campaign. With 60% substitution, average indoor PM2.5 concentrations in living rooms in winter are projected to be reduced from 209 (190 to 230) μg/m3 to 125 (99 to 150) μg/m3 The population-weighted PM2.5 concentrations can be reduced from 140 μg/m3 in 2014 to 78 μg/m3 or 61 μg/m3 in 2021 given that 60% or 100% substitution can be accomplished. Although the original focus of the campaign was to address ambient air quality, exposure reduction comes more from improved indoor air quality because ∼90% of daily exposure of the rural population is attributable to indoor air pollution. Women benefit more than men.
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Project description:Background: Women bear a large share of disease burden caused by household air pollution due to their great involvement in domestic activities. Pollutant emissions are believed to vary by exposure patterns such as cooking and space heating. Little is known about the independent effect of solid cooking fuel combustion on breast cancer risk. We aimed to examine the association of indoor coal and wood combustion for cooking with breast cancer risk. Methods: During June 2004-July 2008, participants aged 30-79 from 10 diverse regions across China were enrolled in the China Kadoorie Biobank. Primary cooking fuel use information in up to three residences was self-reported at baseline. Multivariable logistic regression models yielded adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: A total of 290,396 female participants aged 30-79 were included in the main analysis. Compared with long-term clean fuel users, the fully adjusted ORs were 2.07 (95%CI: 1.37-3.13) for long-term coal users, 1.12 (95% CI: 0.72-1.76) for long-term wood users, and 0.98 (95% CI: 0.55-1.74) for those who used mixed solid fuels to cook. Those who had switched from solid to clean fuels did not have an excess risk of breast cancer (OR: 0.88, 95%CI 0.71-1.10). Conclusion: Long-term solid fuel combustion for cooking may increase the risk of breast cancer. The strength of association is stronger among coal users than wood users. Targeted interventions are needed to accelerate the access to clean and affordable energy.
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Project description:The consequences of air pollution pose one of the most serious threats to human health, and especially impact children from large agglomerations. The measurement of nitric oxide concentration in exhaled air (FeNO) is a valuable biomarker in detecting and monitoring airway inflammation. However, only a few studies have assessed the relationship between FeNO and the level of air pollution. The study aims to estimate the concentration of FeNO in the population of children aged 8-9 attending the third grade of public primary schools in Krakow, as well as to determine the relationship between FeNO concentration and dust and gaseous air pollutants. The research included 4580 children aged 8-9 years who had two FeNO measurements in the winter-autumn and spring-summer periods. The degree of air pollution was obtained from the Regional Inspectorate of Environmental Protection in Krakow. The concentration of pollutants was obtained from three measurement stations located in different parts of the city. The FeNO results were related to air pollution parameters. The study showed weak but significant relationships between FeNO and air pollution parameters. The most significant positive correlations were found for CO8h (r = 0.1491, p < 0.001), C6H6 (r = 0.1420, p < 0.001), PM10 (r = 0.1054, p < 0.001) and PM2.5 (r = 0.1112, p < 0.001). We suggest that particulate and gaseous air pollutants impact FeNO concentration in children aged 8-9 years. More research is needed to assess the impact of air pollution on FeNO concentration in children. The results of such studies could help to explain the increase in the number of allergic and respiratory diseases seen in children in recent decades.
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Project description:The World Health Organization has estimated that air pollution is a major threat to health, causing approximately nine million premature deaths every year. Each individual has, over their lifetime, a unique exposure to air pollution through their habits, working and living conditions. Medical research requires dedicated tools to assess and understand individual exposure to air pollution in view of investigating its health effects. This paper presents portable sensors produced by the Canarin Project that provides accessible, real time personal exposure data to particulate matter. Our primary results demonstrate the use of portable sensors for the assessment of personal exposure to the different micro-environments attended by individuals, and for inspecting the short-term effects of air pollution through the example of sleep apnea. These findings underscore the necessity of obtaining contextual data in determining environmental exposure and give perspectives for the future of air pollution sensors dedicated to medical research.
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Project description:Air pollutant concentration, air quality index (AQI), and Excess risk (ER%) is assessed during January 2020 to June 2021 and in three scenarios including pre-lockdown, lockdown and post-lockdown based on 47 ground station data (during January 2020 to June 2020) distributed over northern part of India (including Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, part of Uttar Pradesh, and part of Rajasthan) using statistics and geographic information system (GIS) techniques. Daily and monthly variations of air pollutants (During January 2020 to June 2021) over the region showed a systematic pattern with high pollutant level during October and November while low during March, April (in dry period) and July–September (in wet period). In three scenarios viz. pre, during and post-lockdown the average concentration for PM2.5 was 71.1 ± 45 µg/m3, 39 ± 20 µg/m3 and 40 + 17 µg/m3, for PM10 was 139 ± 72 µg/m3, 96 ± 55 µg/m3 and 105 ± 57 µg/m3, for NO2 was 28 ± 21 µg/m3, 17 ± 13 µg/m3 and 18 ± 12 µg/m3, for NH3 was 33 ± 24 µg/m3, 25 ± 18 µg/m3 and 29 ± 22 µg/m3, for CO was 1 ± 0.65 mg/m3, 0.7 ± 0.5 mg/m3, and 0.7 ± 0.5 mg/m3, for O3 was 29 ± 20 µg/m3, 39 ± 23 µg/m3 and 39 ± 22 µg/m3 and for SO2 was 14 ± 11 µg/m3, 14 ± 12 µg/m3 and 12.5 ± 8.9 µg/m3. Significant decrease in mean pollutants concentration, AQI and ER % was observed in lockdown period amid COVID-19. PM2.5, PM10, NO2, NH3 and CO decreased by 46%, 31%, 39%, 24% and 34%, respectively, in lockdown scenario as compared to the pre-lockdown scenario while the O3 get increased. A decrease of 39% in AQI was observed as compared to pre-lockdown scenario; however, the difference was less when compared with post-lockdown scenario. The decrease in total ER% was 60.36% over the study area due to improvement in air quality over the region amid COVID-19 lockdown. The meteorological conditions in 2020 were found consistent with respect to 2019 and very less influence was observed on the concentration of air pollutants (less r2 among the pollutants and meteorological parameters). Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12524-022-01520-z.
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Project description:This article presents the capabilities and selected measurement results from the newly developed low-cost air pollution measurement system mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The system is designed and manufactured by the authors and is intended to facilitate, accelerate, and ensure the safety of operators when measuring air pollutants. It allows the creation of three-dimensional models and measurement visualizations, thanks to which it is possible to observe the location of leakage of substances and the direction of air pollution spread by various types of substances. Based on these models, it is possible to create area audits and strategies for the elimination of pollution sources. Thanks to the usage of a multi-socket microprocessor system, the combination of nine different air quality sensors can be installed in a very small device. The possibility of simultaneously measuring several different substances has been achieved at a very low cost for building the sensor unit: 70 EUR. The very small size of this device makes it easy and safe to mount it on a small drone (UAV). Because of this device, many harmful chemical compounds such as ammonia, hexane, benzene, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide, as well as flammable substances such as hydrogen and methane, can be detected. Additionally, a very important function is the ability to perform measurements of PM2.5 and PM10 suspended particulates. Thanks to the use of UAV, the measurement is carried out remotely by the operator, which allows us to avoid the direct exposure of humans to harmful factors. A big advantage is the quick measurement of large spaces, at different heights above the ground, in different weather conditions. Because of the three-dimensional positioning from GPS receiver, users can plot points and use colors reflecting a concentration of measured features to better visualize the air pollution. A human-friendly data output can be used to determine the mostly hazardous regions of the sampled area.
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