Asthma is a multifactorial airway disease that arises from a relatively common genetic background interphased with exposures to allergens and airborne irritants. The rapid rise in asthma over the past three decades in Western societies has been attributed to numerous diverse factors, including increased awareness of the disease, altered lifestyle and activity patterns, and ill-defined changes i...

BACKGROUND The influence of occupation and ex/passive smoking on inflammatory phenotype is not well understood. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between occupation, past smoking and current passive smoking and airway inflammation in a population of adults with refractory asthma. METHODS Sixty-six participants with refractory asthma were characterised. Occupational exposur...

Chronic exposure to particulate air pollution is associated with lung function impairment. To determine the molecular mechanism(s) of this phenomenon, we investigated, in an alveolar human epithelial cell line (A549), whether diesel exhaust particles (DEPs), a main component of particulate air pollution, modulates the expression and activity of the matrix metalloprotease (MMP)-1, a collagenase ...

Background: There is little published evidence on environmental triggers of COPD exacerbation, despite anecdotal reports from patients and clinicians. This study gathered data on reported triggers of COPD exacerbation among a well-characterized cohort of COPD patients. We hypothesized that patient reports of irritating chemical exposures would differ depending on disease characteristics includi...

The present study focuses simply on propellants which are environment friendly i.e. Green propellants. In Propulsion Systems, there are two ingredients burned together which are fuel & oxidizer and the resultant energy is used to propel the system. In composite solid rocket propellants, Ammonium perchlorate (AP) is being used extensively which has its own disadvantages i.e. HCl release during i...

Data from EPA's TEAM Study allow us to identify the major sources of exposure to benzene for much of the U.S. population. These sources turn out to be quite different from what had previously been considered the important sources. The most important source of exposure for 50 million smokers is the mainstream smoke from their cigarettes, which accounts for about half of the total population burd...

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in 2012 upgraded its hazard characterization of diesel engine exhaust (DEE) to "carcinogenic to humans." The Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study (DEMS) cohort and nested case-control studies of lung cancer mortality in eight U.S. nonmetal mines were influential in IARC's determination. We conducted a reanalysis of the DEMS case-control data to e...

Soot particulate collected from a Euro III heavy duty diesel engine run under black smoke conditions was investigated using thermogravimetry, transmission electron microscopy, electron energy loss spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The characterization results are compared with those of commercial carbon black. The onset temperature toward oxidation of the diesel engine soot in...

The proposed changes to the legislation on diesel cars require intensification of work possibilities reducing emissions harmful substances into atmosphere by these vehicles. subject experimental research included in manuscript was Skoda Octavia with a 1.9 TDI (turbocharged direct injection) compression ignition engine (type 1Z). Light absorption measurements smokiness exhaust gases emitted afte...