Thin films of ammonium perchlorate (NH4ClO4) were exposed to energetic electrons at 5.5 K to explore the radiolytic decomposition mechanisms. The effects of radiolysis were monitored on line and in situ via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) in the condensed phase along with electron impact ionization quadrupole mass spectrometry (EI-QMS) and single-photon photoionization reflectron...

Air pollution isn’t just bad for those who breathe it; it also could potentially impact the future health of unborn babies. For instance, maternal exposures to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) have been associated with small but consistent decreases in birth weight. However, associations with preterm birth have been less consistent. A new study of more than 258,000 New...

The development of a new concurrent multiaxis (CMAX) sky viewing spectrometer to monitor rapidly changing urban concentrations of nitrogen dioxide is detailed. The CMAX differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS) technique involves simultaneous spectral imaging of the zenith and off-axis measurements of spatially resolved scattered sunlight. Trace-gas amounts are retrieved from the meas...

– A new type of NO2 gas sensor has been made using the Floating Gate Field Effect Transistor (FG-FET) sensor system. 200 nm ZnO films were deposited on Si/Ti/Pt electrodes, which are mounted on FG-FET chips. SEM and EDX characterization methods were employed to study the surface of these films. The change in the work function of the film due to their interaction with NO2 has been measured at va...

Our purpose was to determine whether exposure to a realistic concentration of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) could increase the bronchial sensitivity of asthmatic patients to bronchoconstrictor agents. We established dose-response curves for changes in specific airway resistance (SRaw) in response to aerosolized carbachol in 20 asthmatics after each had spent 1 h in an exposure chamber breathing on one...

In the past decades, continuous efforts have been made at a national level to reduce Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) emissions in the atmosphere over China. However, public concern and related research mostly deal with tropospheric NO2 columns rather than ground-level NO2 concentrations, but actually ground-level NO2 concentrations are more closely related to anthropogenic emissions, and directly affect...

Three chaotic indicators, namely the correlation dimension, the Lyapunov exponent, and the Kolmogorov entropy, are estimated for one-year long hourly average NO (nitrogen monoxide), CO (carbon monoxide), SO2 (sulfur dioxide), PM10 (particles with an aerodynamic diameter of approximately 10 m or less), and NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) concentration to examine the possible chaotic characteristics in th...

BACKGROUND Recent studies have suggested associations between air pollution and various birth outcomes, but the evidence for preterm birth is mixed. OBJECTIVE We aimed to assess the relationship between air pollution and preterm birth using 2008-2010 New York City (NYC) birth certificates linked to hospital records. METHODS We analyzed 258,294 singleton births with 22-42 completed weeks ges...

Nitrogen dioxide is known as a deep lung irritant. The aim of this study was to find out whether the relatively low ambient air NO2 concentrations in the northern city of Helsinki had an impact on the respiratory health of children. The association between personal exposure to ambient air NO2 and respiratory health was investigated in a 13-week follow-up study among 163 preschool children aged ...