Kortlægning af og virkemiddelkatalog for luftforurening fra trafik i Region Hovedstaden

Region Hovedstaden har en målsætning om at reducere støj og luftforurening fra vejtransport frem mod 2025. På den baggrund igangsatte Region Hovedstaden en kortlægning af støj og luftforurening fra trafik, og en undersøgelse af forskellige virkemidler til at reducere støj- og luftforurening. Projektet har været ledet af COWI, som står for støjdelen, mens DCE - Nationalt Center for Miljø og Energi står for luftdelen udført af Institut for Miljøvidenskab ved Aarhus Universitet. Kortlægning af luftforureningen i Region Hovedstaden er baseret på eksisterende luftkvalitetsmodeller og målinger fra det nationale måleprogram for luftkvalitet. Koncentrationsniveauer sammenlignes med EU’s grænseværdier for luftkvalitet og verdenssundhedsorganisationen WHO’s retningslinjer for luftkvalitet. Endvidere gennemføres en kildeopgørelse, som opsummerer, hvor meget de enkelte emissionssektorer herunder vejtransport bidrager til den samlede emission og til luftkvaliteten. Helbredseffekter og tilhørende samfundsmæssige omkostninger af luftforureningen beregnes også. Beregningerne er fortaget for 2014 og 2025. En lang række virkemidler for vejtransport er gennemgået med henblik på at kvantificere effekten i forhold til luftforurening. Virkemidler omfatter bl.a. skærpede miljøzoner i de større byer, øget andel af elektriske transportmidler, vej- og trængselsafgifter samt alternative drivmidler

Residential exposure to PM_2.5 components and risk of childhood non-hodgkin lymphoma in Denmark:A nationwide register-based case-control study

In a recent study, we observed an increased risk of childhood non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) associated with exposure to fine atmospheric particulate matter (PM2.5) and black carbon (BC). In this nationwide register-based case-control study, we focus on specific components of PM2.5 in relation to childhood NHL in Denmark (1981–2013) by identifying all incidents of childhood NHL cases in the Danish Cancer Registry (n = 170) and four (cancer-free) randomly selected controls matched by date of birth and sex. We applied PM2.5 concentrations and the following sub-components: secondary organic aerosols (SOA), secondary inorganic aerosols (SIA; i.e., NO3−, NH4+ and SO42−), BC, organic carbon (OC) and sea salt. We calculated a time-weighted exposure average from birth to index-date at all addresses. Odds ratios (ORs) were adjusted for register-based socio-demographic variables. We observed adjusted ORs and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) of 2.05 (1.10, 3.83) per interquartile range (IQR, 4.83 µg/m3) PM2.5 and 1.73 (0.68, 4.41) per IQR (3.71 µg/m3) SIA, 0.95 (0.71, 1.29) per IQR (0.05 µg/m3) SOA, 1.22 (1.02, 1.46) per IQR (0.39 µg/m3) BC, 1.02 (0.83, 1.26) per IQR (0.56 µg/m3) OC and 1.01 (0.79, 1.30) per IQR (0.87 µg/m3) sea salt, respectively. The estimates were attenuated after adjustment for PM2.5, whereas the OR for PM2.5 remained increased regardless of adjustment for specific components. The findings indicate that the previously observed relation between PM2.5 and childhood NHL may be related to BC (as reported in our previous study) but also partly to SIA, but the role of specific chemical components of PM2.5 remains ambiguous

Associations of Preconception Exposure to Air Pollution and Greenness with Offspring Asthma and Hay Fever

We investigated if greenness and air pollution exposure in parents' childhood affect offspring asthma and hay fever, and if effects were mediated through parental asthma, pregnancy greenness/pollution exposure, and offspring exposure. We analysed 1106 parents with 1949 offspring (mean age 35 and 6) from the Respiratory Health in Northern Europe, Spain and Australia (RHINESSA) generation study. Mean particulate matter (PM(2.5)and PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), black carbon (BC), ozone (O-3) (mu g/m(3)) and greenness (normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)) were calculated for parents 0-18 years old and offspring 0-10 years old, and were categorised in tertiles. We performed logistic regression and mediation analyses for two-pollutant models (clustered by family and centre, stratified by parental lines, and adjusted for grandparental asthma and education). Maternal medium PM(2.5)and PM(10)exposure was associated with higher offspring asthma risk (odds ratio (OR) 2.23, 95%CI 1.32-3.78, OR 2.27, 95%CI 1.36-3.80), and paternal high BC exposure with lower asthma risk (OR 0.31, 95%CI 0.11-0.87). Hay fever risk increased for offspring of fathers with medium O(3)exposure (OR 4.15, 95%CI 1.28-13.50) and mothers with high PM(10)exposure (OR 2.66, 95%CI 1.19-5.91). The effect of maternal PM(10)exposure on offspring asthma was direct, while for hay fever, it was mediated through exposures in pregnancy and offspring's own exposures. Paternal O(3)exposure had a direct effect on offspring hay fever. To conclude, parental exposure to air pollution appears to influence the risk of asthma and allergies in future offspring

Associations of preconception exposure to air pollution and greenness with offspring asthma and hay fever

We investigated if greenness and air pollution exposure in parents’ childhood affect offspring asthma and hay fever, and if effects were mediated through parental asthma, pregnancy greenness/pollution exposure, and offspring exposure. We analysed 1106 parents with 1949 offspring (mean age 35 and 6) from the Respiratory Health in Northern Europe, Spain and Australia (RHINESSA) generation study. Mean particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), black carbon (BC), ozone (O3) (µg/m3) and greenness (normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)) were calculated for parents 0-18 years old and offspring 0-10 years old, and were categorised in tertiles. We performed logistic regression and mediation analyses for two-pollutant models (clustered by family and centre, stratified by parental lines, and adjusted for grandparental asthma and education). Maternal medium PM2.5 and PM10 exposure was associated with higher offspring asthma risk (odds ratio (OR) 2.23, 95%CI 1.32-3.78, OR 2.27, 95%CI 1.36-3.80), and paternal high BC exposure with lower asthma risk (OR 0.31, 95%CI 0.11-0.87). Hay fever risk increased for offspring of fathers with medium O3 exposure (OR 4.15, 95%CI 1.28-13.50) and mothers with high PM10 exposure (OR 2.66, 95%CI 1.19-5.91). The effect of maternal PM10 exposure on offspring asthma was direct, while for hay fever, it was mediated through exposures in pregnancy and offspring’s own exposures. Paternal O3 exposure had a direct effect on offspring hay fever. To conclude, parental exposure to air pollution appears to influence the risk of asthma and allergies in future offspring

Long-term residential exposure to PM2.5 constituents and mortality in a Danish cohort

Studies on health effects of long-term exposure to specific PM2.5 constituents are few. Previous studies have reported an association between black carbon (BC) exposure and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and a few studies have found an association between sulfate exposure and mortality. These studies, however, relied mainly on exposure data from centrally located air-monitoring stations, which is a crude approximation of personal exposure. We focused on specific chemical constituents of PM2.5, i.e. elemental and primary organic carbonaceous particles (BC/OC), sea salt, secondary inorganic aerosols (SIA, i.e. NO3–, NH4+, and SO42-), and secondary organic aerosols (SOA), in relation to all-cause, CVD and respiratory disease mortality. We followed a Danish cohort of 49,564 individuals from enrollment in 1993–1997 through 2015. We combined residential address history from 1979 onwards with mean annual air pollution concentrations obtained by the AirGIS air pollution modelling system, lifestyle information from baseline questionnaires and socio-demography obtained by register linkage. During 895,897 person-years of follow-up, 10,193 deaths from all causes occurred – of which 2319 were CVD-related and 870 were related to respiratory disease. The 15-year time-weighted average concentrations of PM2.5, BC/OC, sea salt, SIA and SOA were 13.8, 2.8, 3.4, 4.9, and 0.3 µg/m3, respectively. For all-cause mortality, a higher risk was observed with higher exposure to PM2.5, BC/OC and SOA with adjusted hazard ratios of 1.03 (95% confidence intervals: 1.01, 1.05), 1.06 (1.03, 1.09), and 1.08 (1.03, 1.13) per interquartile range, respectively. The associations for BC/OC and SOA remained after adjustment for PM2.5 in two-pollutant models. For CVD mortality, we observed elevated risks with higher exposure to PM2.5, BC/OC and SIA. The results showed no clear relationship between sea salt and mortality. In this study, we observed a relationship between long-term exposure to PM2.5, BC/OC, and SOA and all-cause mortality and between PM2.5, BC/OC, and SIA and CVD mortality.</p

Variability in gaseous elemental mercury at Villum Research Station, Station Nord, in North Greenland from 1999 to 2017

Special issue Research results from the 14th International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant (ICMGP 2019), MercOx project, and iGOSP and iCUPE projects of ERA-PLANET in support of the Minamata Convention on Mercury (ACP/AMT inter-journal SI).-- 13 pages, 9 figures, 1 tableMercury is ubiquitous in the atmosphere, and atmospheric transport is an important source for this element in the Arctic. Measurements of gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) have been carried out at Villum Research Station (Villum) at Station Nord, situated in northern Greenland. The measurements cover the period 1999–2017, with a gap in the data for the period 2003–2008 (for a total of 11 years). The measurements were compared with model results from the Danish Eulerian Hemispheric Model (DEHM) that describes the contribution from direct anthropogenic transport, marine emissions and general background concentration. The percentage of time spent over different surfaces was calculated by back-trajectory analysis, and the reaction kinetics were determined by a comparison with ozone. The GEM measurements were analysed for trends, both seasonal and annual. The only significant trends found were negative ones for the winter and autumn months. Comparison of the measurements to simulations using the Danish Eulerian Hemispheric Model (DEHM) indicated that direct transport of anthropogenic emissions of mercury accounts for between 14 % and 17 % of the measured mercury. Analysis of the kinetics of the observed atmospheric mercury depletion events (AMDEs) confirms the results of a previous study at Villum of the competing reactions of GEM and ozone with Br, which suggests that the lifetime of GEM is about a month. However, a GEM lifetime of 12 months gave the best agreement between the model and measurements. The chemical lifetime is shorter, and thus, the apparent lifetime appears to be the result of deposition followed by reduction and re-emission; for this reason, the term “relaxation time” is preferred to “lifetime” for GEM. The relaxation time for GEM causes a delay between emission reductions and the effect on actual concentrations. No significant annual trend was found for the measured concentrations of GEM over the measurement period, despite emission reductions. This is interesting, and together with low direct transport of GEM to Villum as found by the DEHM model, it shows that the dynamics of GEM are very complex. Therefore, in the coming years, intensive measurement networks are needed to describe the global distribution of mercury in the environment as the use of models to predict future levels will still be highly uncertain. The situation is increasingly complex due to global changes that most likely will change the transport patterns of mercury, not only in the atmosphere but also between matrixesThis research has been supported by the Danish Environmental Protection Agency (DANCEA funds for Environmental Support to the Arctic Region project; grant no. 2019-7975) and by the European ERA-PLANET projects of iGOSP and iCUPE (consortium agreement no. 689443 for both projects)With the funding support of the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S), of the Spanish Research Agency (AEI)Peer reviewe

Nitrogen Deposition on Danish Nature

Eutrophication events are frequent in Inner Danish waters and critical loads are exceeded for much of the Danish sensitive terrestrial ecosystems. The Danish air quality monitoring program combines measurements and model calculations to benefit from the complementarities in data from these two sources. Measurements describe actual status, seasonal variation, and temporal trends. Model calculations extrapolate the results to the entire country and determine depositions to specific ecosystems. Measurements in 2016 show annual depositions between 7.5 and 11 kg N/ha to terrestrial ecosystems, and a load to marine waters of 5.3 kg N/ha. The deposition on Danish marine waters in 2016 was calculated to be 73,000 tons N with an average deposition of 6.9 kg N/ha. For terrestrial areas, the deposition was calculated to be 57,000 tons N with an average deposition of 13 kg N/ha. This is above critical loads for sensitive ecosystems. Long-term trends show a 35% decrease since 1990 in measured annual nitrogen deposition. At two out of four stations in nature areas, measured ammonia levels exceeded critical levels for lichens and mosses. Conclusions: Nitrogen loads and levels to Danish nature is decreasing, but critical loads and levels are still exceeded for sensitive ecosystems. Combining measurements and model calculations is a strong tool in monitoring

Long-term residential exposure to air pollution and Hodgkin lymphoma risk among adults in Denmark:a population-based case–control study

PurposeThe etiology of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is obscure. Research on air pollution and risk of HL provides inconsistent results. We aimed to investigate the association between long-term residential exposure to air pollution and risk of adult Hodgkin lymphoma in Denmark.MethodsWe performed a nationwide register-based case–control study, including all (n = 2,681) Hodgkin lymphoma cases registered in the nationwide Danish Cancer Registry between 1989 and 2014. We randomly selected 8,853 age- and sex-matched controls from the entire Danish population using the Civil Registration System, and identified 20-year residential address history for all cases and controls. We modeled outdoor air pollution concentrations at all these addresses using the high-resolution multiscale air pollution model system DEHM/UBM/AirGIS. We used conditional logistic regression to estimate odds ratios adjusted for individual and neighborhood level sociodemographic variables.ResultsThere was no association between 1, 5, 10, and 20 years’ time-weighted average exposure to fine particles (PM2.5), O3, SO2, NO2, or the PM2.5 constituents OC, NH4, NO3, and SO4 and risk of Hodgkin lymphoma.ConclusionResidential exposure to ambient air pollution does not seem to increase the risk of developing Hodgkin lymphoma