Traffic-Related Air Pollution: Legislation Versus Health and Environmental Effects

Ambient air quality is a very topical issue as it has an important influence on human health.Exposure to atmospheric pollutants may result in various adverse health effects. Theimpacts of air pollution are not confined only to human health but also to the environmentas a whole. In that regard, vehicular traffic emissions are especially important, because itsvolume is increasing every year. Consequently pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides (NOx),carbon monoxide (CO), particulate matter (PM), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs) are emitted into the atmosphere causing a significant decline of air quality acrossEurope, which results in hundreds of thousands of premature deaths every year. In order toimprove the situation, the European Union has been defining legislation on ambient airquality with limits of the respective pollutants and aiming to increase the levels of publichealth protection. Despite reductions in emissions, concentrations of these pollutants remainhigh often above existing targets exposing populations to levels that reduce lifeexpectancy, cause premature death and widespread aggravation to health.In this chapter, various aspects of air pollution are discussed with specific emphasis onvehicular road traffic. An overview of the current legislation related to air quality is given.The work then focuses on the health impacts of important traffic related pollutants, withparticular focus on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The general description ofPAHs is presented with further discussion on their health and environmental impacts

The health of welders in Her Majesty's Dockyards at Devonport, Portsmouth, Rosyth and Chatham : a review of the literature relating to the sources, nature, control, actual and potential biological effects of particulate and gaseous pollutants arising from welding processes used in HM Dockyards

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Environmental Health

Environmental health practitioners worldwide are frequently presented with issues that require further investigating and acting upon so that exposed populations can be protected from ill-health consequences. These environmental factors can be broadly classified according to their relation to air, water or food contamination. However, there are also work-related, occupational health exposures that need to be considered as a subset of this dynamic academic field. This book presents a review of the current practice and emerging research in the three broadly defined domains, but also provides reference for new emerging technologies, health effects associated with particular exposures and environmental justice issues. The contributing authors themselves display a range of backgrounds and they present a developing as well as a developed world perspective. This book will assist environmental health professionals to develop best practice protocols for monitoring a range of environmental exposure scenarios

Causal relationship between air pollution and infections: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study

BackgroundTraditional observational studies exploring the association between air pollution and infections have been limited by small sample sizes and potential confounding factors. To address these limitations, we applied Mendelian randomization (MR) to investigate the potential causal relationships between particulate matter (PM2.5, PM2.5–10, and PM10), nitrogen dioxide, and nitrogen oxide and the risks of infections.MethodsSingle nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) related to air pollution were selected from the genome-wide association study (GWAS) of the UK Biobank. Publicly available summary data for infections were obtained from the FinnGen Biobank and the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative. The inverse variance weighted (IVW) meta-analysis was used as the primary method for obtaining the Mendelian randomization (MR) estimates. Complementary analyses were performed using the weighted median method, MR-Egger method, and MR Pleiotropy Residual Sum and Outlier (MR-PRESSO) test.ResultsThe fixed-effect IVW estimate showed that PM2.5, PM2.5–10 and Nitrogen oxides were suggestively associated with COVID-19 [for PM2.5: IVW (fe): OR 3.573(1.218,5.288), PIVW(fe) = 0.021; for PM2.5–10: IVW (fe): OR 2.940(1.385,6.239), PIVW(fe) = 0.005; for Nitrogen oxides, IVW (fe): OR 1.898(1.318,2.472), PIVW(fe) = 0.010]. PM2.5, PM2.5–10, PM10, and Nitrogen oxides were suggestively associated with bacterial pneumonia [for PM2.5: IVW(fe): OR 1.720 (1.007, 2.937), PIVW(fe) = 0.047; for PM2.5–10: IVW(fe): OR 1.752 (1.111, 2.767), P IVW(fe) = 0.016; for PM10: IVW(fe): OR 2.097 (1.045, 4.208), PIVW(fe) = 0.037; for Nitrogen oxides, IVW(fe): OR 3.907 (1.209, 5.987), PIVW(fe) = 0.023]. Furthermore, Nitrogen dioxide was suggestively associated with the risk of acute upper respiratory infections, while all air pollution were not associated with intestinal infections.ConclusionsOur results support a role of related air pollution in the Corona Virus Disease 2019, bacterial pneumonia and acute upper respiratory infections. More work is need for policy formulation to reduce the air pollution and the emission of toxic and of harmful gas

Toxicological profile for titanium tetrachloride

Public health statement -- Health effects -- Chemical and physical information -- Production, import/export, use, and disposal -- Potential for human exposure -- Analytical methods -- Regulations and advisories.Chemical managers/authors: Edward Murray, ATSDR, Division of Toxicology, Atlanta, GA; Fernando Llados, Research Triangle Institute, Research Triangle Park, NC.Prepared by: Research Triangle Institute under contract no.205-93-0606.Prepared for: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry."September 1997.""Contract no. 205-93-0606.""This edition supersides any previously released draft or final profile"--p. iii.Also available via the World Wide Web.Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-105)

Red- and Near-Infrared-Excited Autofluorescence as a Marker for Acute Oxidative Stress in Skin Exposed to Cigarette Smoke Ex Vivo and In Vivo

Air pollution is increasing worldwide and skin is exposed to high levels of pollution daily, causing oxidative stress and other negative consequences. The methods used to determine oxidative stress in the skin are invasive and non-invasive label-free in vivo methods, which are severely limited. Here, a non-invasive and label-free method to determine the effect of cigarette smoke (CS) exposure on skin ex vivo (porcine) and in vivo (human) was established. The method is based on the measurement of significant CS-exposure-induced enhancement in red- and near-infrared (NIR)-excited autofluorescence (AF) intensities in the skin. To understand the origin of red- and NIR-excited skin AF, the skin was exposed to several doses of CS in a smoking chamber. UVA irradiation was used as a positive control of oxidative stress in the skin. The skin was measured with confocal Raman microspectroscopy before CS exposure, immediately after CS exposure, and after skin cleaning. CS exposure significantly increased the intensity of red- and NIR-excited skin AF in a dose-dependent manner in the epidermis, as confirmed by laser scanning microscopy AF imaging and fluorescence spectroscopy measurements. UVA irradiation enhanced the intensity of AF, but to a lower extent than CS exposure. We concluded that the increase in red- and NIR-excited AF intensities of the skin after CS exposure could clearly be related to the induction of oxidative stress in skin, where skin surface lipids are mainly oxidized

Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-84-426-1963: Ormet Corporation; Hannibal, Ohio

In response to a request from Local 5724, United Steelworkers of America, an evaluation was made of possible long-term exposure to potroom gases, fumes, and dusts at Ormet Corporation (SIC-3334), Hannibal, Ohio. The facility was a producer of primary aluminum, had six potrooms, each composed of two buildings housing 86 pots, for a total of 1032 pots. Excessive exposures to fluorides were determined among crane operators, particularly among cranemen involved with the placement of new carbon anodes in the pots. Personal samples for fluoride obtained from these men ranged from 0.95 to 3.61mg/m3. Sixteen percent of workers completing a medical questionnaire reported symptoms suggestive of asthma; in 13 of these cases the asthma was temporally related to work and symptoms worsened in or near the potroom. Neurologic effects including memory impairment, cognitive dysfunction, anxiety, and neurasthenic symptoms were no more prevalent among current potroom workers than among other participants in the medical review. However, each was more prevalent among workers who had ever worked in the potroom. The authors conclude that there was a potential for excess exposures to fluorides among potroom crane operators. There was no convincing evidence of an association between exposure to aluminum (7429905) and neurologic effects. The authors recommend upgrading engineering controls to reduce the exposure of the crane operator to fluorides, exhausting the crucible to the outside, establishing good worker hygiene and work practices, maintaining pot access floors and shields, monitoring of airborne gases, and using respirators