BACKGROUND This study intended to investigate whether residence in areas polluted by heavy industry, waste incineration, a high density of traffic and housing or intensive use of pesticides, could contribute to the high incidence of cancer observed in Flanders. METHODS Subjects were 1583 residents aged 50-65 from 9 areas with different types of pollution. Cadmium, lead, p,p'-DDE, hexachlorobe...

A three-dimensional meteorological model and a Lagrangian particle dispersion model are used to study the e€ects of a uniform large-scale wind on the dispersion of a non-reactive pollutant in a coastal region with complex terrain. Simulations are carried out both with and without a background wind. A comparison between model results and measured data (wind and pollutant concentrations) indicate...

The recent developments in pollutant measurement methods and techniques necessitate improvements in modelling approaches. The models used so far have been based on seasonally averaged data, which is insufficient for making short-term predictions. We have improved the existing modelling tools for pollutant transport and dispersion on three levels. We significantly refined the numerical grid; we ...

Continuous measurements of the air pollutant concentrations at monitoring stations serve as a reliable basis for air quality regulations. Their availability is however limited only at locations of interest. In most situations, the spatial distribution beyond these locations still remains uncertain as it is highly influenced by other factors such as emission sources, meteorological effects, disp...

This paper reports on a study of indoor air quality in homes and child care facilities in non-metropolitan counties of New York State. Specific pollutants examined were lead, radon, carbon monoxide, asbestos, and mold. Some homes had high levels of pollutants, and certain pollutants were significantly and negatively correlated with household income. High levels of pollutants also were observed ...

Residential and occupational exposure to radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer after cigarette smoking. As many as eight million homes in the US have elevated radon levels according to Environmental Protection Agency estimates. High exposure levels in homes are largely a result of radon-contaminated gas rising from the soil. This makes it an unusual indoor air pollutant in that it ha...

Monitoring and forecasting of air quality parameters are popular and important topics of atmospheric and environmental research today due to the health impact caused by exposing to air pollutants existing in urban air. The accurate models for air pollutant prediction are needed because such models would allow forecasting and diagnosing potential compliance or non-compliance in both short- and l...

Traffic emissions contribute significantly to the build-up of diffuse pollution loads on urban surfaces with their subsequent mobilisation and direct discharge posing problems for receiving water quality. This review focuses on the impact and mitigation of solids, metals, nutrients and organic pollutants in the runoff deriving from car parks. Variabilities in the discharged pollutant levels and...

BACKGROUND The link between concentrations of particulate matter (PM) and respiratory morbidity has been investigated in numerous studies. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to analyze the role of different particle size fractions with respect to respiratory health in Beijing, China. METHODS Data on particle size distributions from 3 nm to 1 µm; PM10 (PM ≤ 10 µm), nitrogen dioxide (NO(2))...

BACKGROUND Given that fine particulate matter (≤ 2.5 μm; PM2.5) is a mixture of multiple components, it has been of high interest to identify its specific health-relevant physical and/or chemical features. OBJECTIVES We conducted a time-series study of PM2.5 and cardiorespiratory emergency department (ED) visits in the St. Louis, Missouri-Illinois metropolitan area, using 2 years of daily PM2...