Operation of EMEP ‘supersites’ in the United Kingdom. Annual report for 2008.

As part of its commitment to the UN-ECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution the United Kingdom operates two ‘supersites’ reporting data to the Co-operative Programme for Monitoring and Evaluation of the Long-range Transmission of Air Pollutants in Europe (EMEP). This report provides the annual summary for 2008, the second full calendar year of operation of the first EMEP ‘supersite’ to be established in the United Kingdom. Detailed operational reports have been submitted to Defra every 3 months, with unratified data. This annual report contains a summary of the ratified data for 2008. The EMEP ‘supersite’ is located in central southern Scotland at Auchencorth (3.2oW, 55.8oN), a remote rural moorland site ~20 km south-west of Edinburgh. Monitoring operations started formally on 1 June 2006. In addition to measurements made specifically under this contract, the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology also acts as local site operator for measurements made under other UK monitoring networks: the Automated Urban and Rural Network (AURN), the UK Eutrophication and Acidification Network (UKEAP), the UK Hydrocarbons Network, and the UK Heavy Metals Rural Network. Some measurements were also made under the auspices of the ‘Air Pollution Deposition Processes’ contract. All these associated networks are funded by Defra. This report summarises the measurements made between January and December 2008, and presents summary statistics on average concentrations. The site is dominated by winds from the south-west, but wind direction data highlight potential sources of airborne pollutants (power stations, conurbations). The average diurnal patterns of gases and particles are consistent with those expected for a remote rural site. The frequency distributions are presented for data where there was good data capture throughout the whole period. Some components (e.g. black carbon) show log-normal frequency distributions, while other components (e.g. ozone) have more nearly normal frequency distributions. A case study is presented for a period in June 2008, showing the influence of regional air pollutants at this remote rural site. All the data reported under the contract are shown graphically in the Appendix

Syndromic surveillance to assess the potential public health impact of the Icelandic volcanic ash plume across the United Kingdom, April 2010

The Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland erupted on 14 April 2010 emitting a volcanic ash plume that spread across the United Kingdom and mainland Europe. The Health Protection Agency and Health Protection Scotland used existing syndromic surveillance systems to monitor community health during the incident: there were no particularly unusual increases in any of the monitored conditions. This incident has again demonstrated the use of syndromic surveillance systems for monitoring community health in real time

URBAN AIR QUALITY. A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MAJOR EUROPEAN CAPITALS

In this article, the authors made a comparative analysis of air quality in several European capitals, with the goal to identify the place occupied by Bucharest among the most polluted cities in the European Union. For this analysis we used data reported by various member states, as well as data provided by the Romanian National Network of Air Quality. The comparative analysis presents the last years evolution for the concentration of the most important substances involved in the atmospheric pollution process, emphasizing the place occupied by Bucharest city according to the quality index value of the cities.air quality, European capitals, comparative analysis, pollution, urban environment.

Glossary of International Climate Policy Terms

Environmental Economics and Policy,

Twelve Hour Longevity of the Oral Malodor-Neutralizing Capacity of an Oral Rinse Product Containing the Chlorine Dioxide Precursor Sodium Chlorite

open access articleObjectives: The objectives of this investigation were to investigate the effectiveness and longevity of an oral rinse product containing 0.10% (w/v) of the chlorine dioxide precursor sodium chlorite (1) on oral malodor in participants throughout a 12 h daylight diurnal cycle. Materials and methods: Thirty healthy participants (17 male, 13 female) were recruited to the study. Volatile sulfur compound levels (VSCs: H2S, CH3SH and (CH3)2S) were simultaneously monitored in their oral cavity air samples both before (0 h) and at 0.33, 4, 8 and 12 h after using the above oral rinse, or water as a negative control (participants refrained from oral hygiene measures during this 12 h period). The experimental design for this cross-over investigation was a mixed model ANOVA-based system incorporating treatments, sampling time-points and participants, together with their first-order interactions, as components of variance. Results: Results acquired demonstrated that the oral rinse formulation effectively suppressed VSC production in the oral environment for 12 h periods (p<0.0001, 0.0001 and 0.002 for H2S, CH3SH and (CH3)2S respectively). Mean 0 vs 12 h reductions in oral cavity H2S and CH3SH concentrations were much greater than those observed for the H2O negative control (p<10-8), but not so for (CH3)2S. Principal component analysis (PCA) a H2S/CH3SH linear combination and (CH3)2S alone significantly loaded on the first and second separate orthogonal components respectively, an observation confirming differing sources for these variable sets. Conclusions: The oral rinse explored effectively blocked VSC production in the oral cavity for a period of 12 h. This extended efficacy duration is likely to be ascribable to the ability of its active ClO2- ingredient to exert a combination of biochemical (direct VSC- and amino acid VSC precursor-consuming) and microbicidal actions in vivo. Clinical relevance: The 12 h longevity of product’s# oral malodor-neutralizing actions is of much clinical significance in view of the involvements of VSCs, particularly CH3SH, in the pathogenesis of gingivitis and periodontiti

Comparison and Assessment of Two Emission inventories for the Madrid Region

Emission inventories are databases that aim to describe the polluting activities that occur across a certain geographic domain. According to the spatial scale, the availability of information will vary as well as the applied assumptions, which will strongly influence its quality, accuracy and representativeness. This study compared and contrasted two emission inventories describing the Greater Madrid Region (GMR) under an air quality simulation approach. The chosen inventories were the National Emissions Inventory (NEI) and the Regional Emissions Inventory of the Greater Madrid Region (REI). Both of them were used to feed air quality simulations with the CMAQ modelling system, and the results were compared with observations from the air quality monitoring network in the modelled domain. Through the application of statistical tools, the analysis of emissions at cell level and cell – expansion procedures, it was observed that the National Inventory showed better results for describing on – road traffic activities and agriculture, SNAP07 and SNAP10. The accurate description of activities, the good characterization of the vehicle fleet and the correct use of traffic emission factors were the main causes of such a good correlation. On the other hand, the Regional Inventory showed better descriptions for non – industrial combustion (SNAP02) and industrial activities (SNAP03). It incorporated realistic emission factors, a reasonable fuel mix and it drew upon local information sources to describe these activities, while NEI relied on surrogation and national datasets which leaded to a poorer representation. Off – road transportation (SNAP08) was similarly described by both inventories, while the rest of the SNAP activities showed a marginal contribution to the overall emissions

Non-specific abdominal pain and air pollution: a novel association.

We studied whether short-term exposure to air pollution was associated with non-specific abdominal pain in epidemiologic and animal studies. Patients visiting the emergency department with non-specific abdominal pain were identified in Edmonton (1992 to 2002, n = 95,173) and Montreal (1997 to 2002, n = 25,852). We calculated the daily concentrations for ozone (O(3)), nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)), sulfur dioxide (SO(2)), carbon monoxide (CO), and particles <10 (PM(10)) or <2.5 (PM(2.5)) µm. A case crossover study design was used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) associated with an increase in the interquartile range of the air pollutants. We investigated differential effects by age and sex. Mice were gavaged with urban particle extracts. In animal models, colonic motility was tested, and visceral abdominal pain was measured using a writhing test, and behavioral response to oil of mustard and neostigmine. Motility and pain was measured acutely (1.5 hours after gavage) and chronically (7-days and 21-days after gavage). Emergency department visits for non-specific abdominal pain were primarily by women between the ages of 15-24 years. Individuals aged 15 to 24 years were at increased risk of non-specific abdominal pain in Edmonton (same day CO: OR = 1.04, 95% CI = 1.02-1.06; and NO(2): OR = 1.06, 95% CI = 1.03-1.09). The risk of air pollution among 15-24 year olds in Montreal was significantly positive (same day CO: OR = 1.11, 95% CI = 1.05-1.17; NO(2): OR = 1.09, 95% CI = 1.01-1.16; SO(2): OR = 1.17, 95% CI = 1.10-1.25; PM(2.5): OR = 1.09, 95% CI = 1.04-1.15). Abdominal pain was increased by an acute gavage of pollution extract but not to chronic exposure to pollutants. Colonic transit was delayed following chronic but not acute exposure with the pollutants. Epidemiological and animal data suggest that short-term exposure to air pollution may trigger non-specific abdominal pain in young individuals

Towards improved bioaerosol model validation and verification

Bioaerosols, comprised of bacteria, fungi and viruses are ubiquitous in ambient air. Known to adversely affect human health, the impact of bioaerosols on a population often manifests as outbreaks of illnesses such as Legionnaires Disease and Q fever, although the concentrations and environmental conditions in which these impacts occur are not well understood. Bioaerosol concentrations vary from source to source, but specific industrialised human activities such as water treatment, intensive agriculture and open windrow composting facilitate the generation of bioaerosol concentrations many times higher than natural background levels. Bioaerosol sampling is currently undertaken according to the requirements of the Environment Agency’s regulatory framework, in which the collection of bioaerosols and not its long-term measurement is of most importance. As a consequence, sampling devices are often moved around site according to changing wind direction and sampling intervals are invariably short-term. The dispersion modelling of bioaerosols from composting facilities typically relies on proxy pollutant parameters. In addition, the use of short term emission data gathering strategies in which monitors are moved frequently with wind direction, do not provide a robust reliable and repeatable dataset by which to validate any modelling or to verify its performance. New sampling methods such as the Spectral Intensity Bioaerosol Sensor (SIBS) provide an opportunity to address several gaps in bioaerosol model validation and verification. In the context of model validation, this paper sets out the current weaknesses in bioaerosol monitoring from the perspective of robust modelling requirements

The influence of long term trends in pollutant emissions on deposition of sulphur and nitrogen and exceedance of critical loads in the United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, as with other European countries, land-based emissions of NOX and SO2 have fallen significantly over the last few decades. SO2 emissions fell from a peak of 3185 Gg S in 1970 to 344 Gg S in 2005 and are forecast by business-as-usual emissions scenarios to fall to 172 Gg by 2020. NOX emissions were at a maximum of 951 Gg N in 1970 and fell to 378 by 2005 with a further decrease to 243 Gg N forecast by 2020. These large changes in emissions have not been matched by emissions changes for NH3 which decreased from 315 Gg N in 1990 to 259 in 2005 and are forecast to fall to 222 by 2020. The Fine Resolution Atmospheric Multi-pollutant Exchange model (FRAME) has been applied to model the spatial distribution of sulphur and nitrogen deposition over the United Kingdom during a 15 year time period (1990-2005) and compared with measured deposition of sulphate, nitrate and ammonium from the national monitoring network. Wet deposition of nitrogen and sulphur was found to decrease more slowly than the emissions reductions rate. This is attributed to a number of factors including increases in emissions from international shipping and changing rates of atmospheric oxidation. The modelled time series was extended to a 50 year period from 1970 to 2020. The modelled deposition of SOx, NOy and NHx to the UK was found to fall by 87%, 52% and 25% during this period. The percentage of the United Kingdom surface area for which critical loads are exceeded is estimated to fall from 85% in 1970 to 37% in 2020 for acidic deposition and from 73% to 49% for nutrient nitrogen deposition. The significant reduction in land emissions of SO2 and NOX focuses further attention in controlling emissions from international shipping. Future policies to control emissions of ammonia from agriculture will be required to effect further significant reductions in nitrogen deposition