scholarly journals Ambient Air Quality and Human Health: Current Concepts, Part 2

1996 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
TEE L Guidotti
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Health Effects ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Quality Standards ◽  
Ambient Air ◽  
Epidemiological Methods ◽  
Air Quality Standards ◽  
Prevalence Studies

This second of two parts continues with the development of a framework for understanding air quality issues and their relationship to human health. Recognized health effects associated with air pollution are described and current controversies regarding ozone and PM10are briefly outlined. Epidemiological methods of investigating air quality effects are discussed, comparing recent landmark studies in Canada. Comparative prevalence studies do not reflect the state of the art in air pollution epidemiology but are frequently cited and conducted in Canada as if they were definitive. The implications of setting air quality standards and objectives on this basis or to meet arbitrary levels of risk of health effects are examined. The current state of the art does not support risk-based air quality standards. A policy of continuous improvement is most protective of both human health and the environment.

scholarly journals Ambient Air Quality and Human Health: Current Concepts—Part 1

1995 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 211-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tee L Guidotti
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Human Health ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Respiratory Health ◽  
Quality Standards ◽  
Ambient Air ◽  
Ambient Air Quality ◽  
Air Quality Standards ◽  
Current State ◽  
Recent Developments

There is a fundamental reevaluation of the association between air quality and human health taking place. This reevaluation is motivated by several recent developments: increasing interest in air quality as an environmental issue; interest in the unanswered questions regarding the epidemiology of asthma; and the reduced prevalence of the principal hazard to respiratory health, cigarette smoking, the control of which invites interest in second-order determinants of health. This article attempts to provide a framework for understanding air quality issues that pertain to human health. The objective is to provide the specialist in respiratory medicine with an overview that will assist in educating patients and in responding to their inquiries, and to equip the physician to respond to requests for assistance or interpretation when called upon to comment on public policy issues involving air pollution. The implications of setting air quality standards or objectives to meet arbitrary levels of risk of health effects are examined. The current state of the art does not support risk-based air quality standards. A policy of continuous improvement is most protective of both human health and the environment.

scholarly journals Urban Population Exposure to Air Pollution in Europe Over the Last Decades

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Sicard ◽  
Evgenios Agathokleous ◽  
Alessandra De Marco ◽  
Elena Paoletti ◽  
Vicent Calatayud
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Urban Population ◽  
Quality Standards ◽  
Ambient Air ◽  
World Health ◽  
Population Exposure ◽  
Ambient Air Quality ◽  
Air Quality Standards ◽  
The Eu

Abstract Background - The paper presents an overview of air quality in the 27 member countries of the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (previous EU-28), from 2000 to 2017. We reviewed the progress made towards meeting the air quality standards established by the EU Ambient Air Quality Directives (Directive 2008/50/EC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) Air Quality Guidelines by estimating the trends (Mann-Kendal test) in national emissions of main air pollutants, urban population exposure to air pollution, and in mortality related to exposure to ambient fine particles (PM2.5) and tropospheric ozone (O3). Results - Despite significant reductions of emissions (e.g. sulfur oxides: ~80%, nitrogen oxides: ~46%, non-methane volatile organic compounds: ~44%, particulate matters with a diameter lower than 2.5µm and 10µm: ~30%), the EU-28 urban population was exposed to PM2.5 and O3 levels widely exceeding the WHO limit values for the protection of human health. Between 2000 and 2017, the annual PM2.5-related number of deaths decreased (- 4.85 per 106 inhabitants) in line with a reduction of PM2.5 levels observed at urban air quality monitoring stations. The rising O3 levels became a major public health issue in the EU-28 cities where the annual O3-related number of premature deaths increased (+ 0.55 deaths per 106 inhabitants). Conclusions - To achieve the objectives of the Ambient Air Quality Directives and mitigate air pollution impacts, actions need to be urgently taken at all governance levels. In this context, greening and re‐naturing cities can help meet air quality standards, but also answer to social needs, as recently highlighted by the COVID-19 lockdowns.

scholarly journals Long-term air pollution exposure and diabetes risk in the elderly population.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maayan Yitshak Sade ◽  
Liuhua Shi ◽  
Elena Colicino ◽  
Heresh Amini ◽  
Joel Schwartz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Quality Standards ◽  
Ambient Air ◽  
Diabetes Risk ◽  
Diabetes Incidence ◽  
Ambient Air Quality ◽  
Air Quality Standards ◽  
Pollution Levels ◽  
Ambient Air Quality Standards

Objective: Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a major public health concern. We assessed the association between air pollution and first documented diabetes occurrence in a national U.S. cohort of Medicare enrollees to estimate incidence risk. Research design and methods: We included all Medicare enrollees 65 years and older in the fee-for-service program, part A and part B, in the contiguous United States (2000-2016). Participants were followed annually until the first recorded diabetes diagnosis, end of enrollment, or death. We obtained air pollution annual estimates of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and ozone (O3) exposures from highly spatiotemporally resolved prediction models. We assessed the simultaneous effect of the pollutants on diabetes incidence using Poisson survival analysis with adjustment for temporal and spatial confounders. We repeated the models in data restricted to ZIP codes with air pollution levels not exceeding the ambient air quality standards during the study period. Results: We have included 264,869,458 person-years of 41,780,637 people. We observed nonlinear associations between the three pollutants and diabetes, with larger risks at lower levels for PM2.5 and O3. When restricting the data to lower air pollution levels, an increased risk for diabetes (Incidence Rate Ratio [95% Confidence Interval] was associated with interquartile range (IQR) increases in PM2.5 (1.048 [1.045;1.051]), O3 (1.016 [1.014;1.18]), and NO2 (1.040 [1.037; 1.043]). Conclusion: We found increased diabetes risk associated with air pollution exposures. The observed effects remained in exposure levels below the national ambient air quality standards in the U.S.

Air Quality Standards Have Room to Improve

Pained ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 193-196
Author(s):  
Michael D. Stein ◽  
Sandro Galea
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Health Effects ◽  
Fine Particle ◽  
Quality Standards ◽  
The United States ◽  
Medicare Beneficiaries ◽  
Air Quality Standards

This chapter focuses on the improvement of air quality in the United States. Laws such as the Clean Air Act (CAA), signed in 1970, resulted in a drastic reduction in air pollution. Since then, emissions have decreased by 50%. Despite these advances, adverse health effects associated with long-term exposure to air pollution continue. Researchers examined the health effects of pollution in a nationwide cohort of 61 million Medicare beneficiaries from 2000 to 2012. They created maps by linking Medicare mortality data, zip codes, and previously published estimates of ozone and fine particle pollutants (PM2.5). The study’s authors found that long-term exposures to fine particle pollutants and ozone, even at levels below current nationally “acceptable” standards, were associated with an increased risk of death. Persons with low incomes showed the highest risks associated with exposures. Vast improvements in air quality have been made in the past decades in the United States, but this study shows that air quality adhering to National Ambient Air Quality Standards still exposes Americans to levels of pollution that can be lethal over many years of exposure. Thus, air quality standards must be revisited in order to alleviate the burden on the most vulnerable populations.

Nitrogen dioxide inside and outside 137 homes and implications for ambient air quality standards and health effects research

1983 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 164-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
John D. Spengler ◽  
Colin P. Duffy ◽  
Richard. Letz ◽  
Theodore W. Tibbitts ◽  
Benjamin G. Ferris
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Nitrogen Dioxide ◽  
Health Effects ◽  
Quality Standards ◽  
Ambient Air ◽  
Ambient Air Quality ◽  
Air Quality Standards ◽  
Ambient Air Quality Standards

Comments on China's New Ambient Air Quality Standards

2013 ◽  
Vol 361-363 ◽  
pp. 850-853 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming Qing You
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Quality Standards ◽  
Ambient Air ◽  
Ambient Air Quality ◽  
Air Quality Standards ◽  
Fine Particulate ◽  
Fine Particulate Matters ◽  
Ambient Air Quality Standards

This article compares the new ambient quality standards adopted by China on 29 February 2012 with the previous ambient air quality standards and reveals the significance of and reasons for this revision. It points out that the new ambient air quality standards added fine particulate matters into the items to be monitored, reclassified monitored items into the group of basic items to be mandatorily monitored nationwide and the group of other pollutants to be monitored discretionally, and set the maximum concentration for each of the two categories of areas. This revision was in response to the demand of the general public for less pollution and better information on the air quality. This revision is important for the human health because it imposes a new task on local governments. The new standard shall be implemented gradually, beginning with most seriously polluted areas, and finally to be implemented nation-wide. This revision is expected to contribute to better protection of human health.

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