BACKGROUND Chronic particulate matter (PM) exposure is correlated to various health effects, even at low amounts. WHO has defined PM concentration limits as daily and annual mean values which were made legally binding in the European Union. While many studies have focused on PM concentrations in special environments, little is known about the average PM- exposure for both employees and passenge...

Studies of air pollution and human health have evolved from descriptive studies of the early phenomena of large increases in adverse health effects following extreme air pollution episodes to time-series analyses based on the use of sophisticated regression models. In fact, advanced statistical methods are necessary to address the challenges inherent in the detection of a relatively small pollu...

Numerous studies have reported weak but statistically significant acute health effects of particulate air pollution. The associations are observed at levels below the current U.S. standard of 150 micrograms/m3 (24 hr). Health effects include acute increased mortality from cardiopulmonary conditions and acute morbidity such as hospital admissions for related diseases. We reviewed recent epidemio...

New observational evidence of the trans-Pacific transport of Asian dust and its contribution to the ambient particulate matter (PM) levels in North America was revealed, based on the interannual variations between Asian dust storms and the ambient PM levels in western North America from year 2000 to 2006. A high correlation was found between them with an R2 value of 0.83. From analysis of the d...

• Diesel exhaust contains ozone precursors, benzene, arsenic, dioxins, formaldehyde and other toxic substances and is a significant contributor to airborne concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM). Significant health impacts including lung damage and premature death are associated with exposure to fine particulate matter. It can also aggravate conditions such as asthma and bronchitis. Die...

BACKGROUND Studies have suggested associations between elevated blood pressure and short-term air pollution exposures, but the evidence is mixed regarding long-term exposures on incidence of hypertension. OBJECTIVES We examined the association of hypertension incidence with long-term residential exposures to ambient particulate matter (PM) and residential distance to roadway. METHODS We est...

Quantifying spatial distribution patterns of air pollutants is imperative to understand environmental justice issues. Here we present a landscape-based hierarchical approach in which air pollution variables are regressed against population demographics on multiple spatiotemporal scales. Using this approach, we investigated the potential problem of distributive environmental justice in the Phoen...

OBJECTIVES This study intended to characterize work environment contamination by particles in 2 waste-sorting plants. MATERIAL AND METHODS Particles were measured by portable direct-reading equipment. Besides mass concentration in different sizes, data related with the number of particles concentration were also obtained. RESULTS Both sorting units showed the same distribution concerning th...

Measurements of carbonaceous aerosols in South American cities are limited, and most existing data are of short term and limited to only a few locations. For 6 years (2002-2007), concentrations of fine particulate matter and organic and elemental carbon were measured continuously in the capital of Chile. The contribution of carbonaceous aerosols to the primary and secondary fractions was estima...