Association between long term exposure to particulate matter and incident hypertension in Spain

AbstractExposure to air particulate matter has been linked with hypertension and blood pressure levels. The metabolic risks of air pollution could vary according to the specific characteristics of each area, and has not been sufficiently evaluated in Spain. We analyzed 1103 individuals, participants in a Spanish nationwide population based cohort study ([email protected]), who were free of hypertension at baseline (2008–2010) and completed a follow-up exam of the cohort (2016–2017). Cohort participants were assigned air pollution concentrations for particulate matter < 10 μm (PM10) and < 2.5 μm (PM2.5) during follow-up (2008–2016) obtained through modeling combined with measurements taken at air quality stations (CHIMERE chemistry-transport model). Mean and SD concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5 were 20.17 ± 3.91 μg/m3 and 10.83 ± 2.08 μg/m3 respectively. During follow-up 282 cases of incident hypertension were recorded. In the fully adjusted model, compared with the lowest quartile of PM10, the multivariate weighted ORs (95% CIs) for developing hypertension with increasing PM10 exposures were 0.82 (0.59–1.14), 1.28 (0.93–1.78) and 1.45 (1.05–2.01) in quartile 2, 3 and 4 respectively (p for a trend of 0.003). The corresponding weighted ORs according to PM2.5 exposures were 0.80 (0.57–1.13), 1.11 (0.80–1.53) and 1.48 (1.09–2.00) (p for trend 0.004). For each 5-μg/m3 increment in PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations, the odds for incident hypertension increased 1.22 (1.06–1.41) p = 0.007 and 1.39 (1.07–1.81) p = 0.02 respectively. In conclusion, our study contributes to assessing the impact of particulate pollution on the incidence of hypertension in Spain, reinforcing the need for improving air quality as much as possible in order to decrease the risk of cardiometabolic disease in the population.

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Effect of the uncertainty in meteorology on air quality model predictions

Időjárás ◽

10.28974/idojaras.2021.4.5 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 125 (4) ◽

pp. 625-646

Author(s):

Zita Ferenczi ◽

Emese Homolya ◽

Krisztina Lázár ◽

Anita Tóth

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Particulate Matter ◽

Air Quality ◽

Weather Prediction ◽

Horizontal Resolution ◽

Model System ◽

Air Quality Model ◽

Quality Model ◽

Near Surface ◽

The Impact

An operational air quality forecasting model system has been developed and provides daily forecasts of ozone, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter for the area of Hungary and three big cites of the country (Budapest, Miskolc, and Pécs). The core of the model system is the CHIMERE off-line chemical transport model. The AROME numerical weather prediction model provides the gridded meteorological inputs for the chemical model calculations. The horizontal resolution of the AROME meteorological fields is consistent with the CHIMERE horizontal resolution. The individual forecasted concentrations for the following 2 days are displayed on a public website of the Hungarian Meteorological Service. It is essential to have a quantitative understanding of the uncertainty in model output arising from uncertainties in the input meteorological fields. The main aim of this research is to probe the response of an air quality model to its uncertain meteorological inputs. Ensembles are one method to explore how uncertainty in meteorology affects air pollution concentrations. During the past decades, meteorological ensemble modeling has received extensive research and operational interest because of its ability to better characterize forecast uncertainty. One such ensemble forecast system is the one of the AROME model, which has an 11-member ensemble where each member is perturbed by initial and lateral boundary conditions. In this work we focus on wintertime particulate matter concentrations, since this pollutant is extremely sensitive to near-surface mixing processes. Selecting a number of extreme air pollution situations we will show what the impact of the meteorological uncertainty is on the simulated concentration fields using AROME ensemble members.

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The Impact of “Coal to Gas” Policy on Air Quality: Evidence from Beijing, China

Energies ◽

10.3390/en13153876 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (15) ◽

pp. 3876 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Zhe Liu ◽

Xueli Chen ◽

Jinyang Cai ◽

Tomas Baležentis ◽

Yue Li

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Particulate Matter ◽

Air Quality ◽

Energy Use ◽

Northern China ◽

Heating System ◽

Use Efficiency ◽

The Government ◽

The Impact ◽

Beijing China

Air pollution has become an increasingly serious environmental problem in China. Especially in winter, the air pollution in northern China becomes even worse due to winter heating. The “coal to gas” policy, which uses natural gas to replace coal in the heating system in winter, was implemented in Beijing in the year 2013. However, the effects of this policy reform have not been examined. Using a panel dataset of 16 districts in Beijing, this paper employs a first difference model to examine the impact of the “coal to gas” policy on air quality. Strong evidence shows that the “coal to gas” policy has significantly improved the air quality in Beijing. On average, the “coal to gas” policy reduced sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), particulate matter smaller than 10 µm (PM10), particulate matter smaller than 2.5 µm (PM2.5) and carbon monoxide (CO) by 12.08%, 4.89%, 13.07%, 11.94% and 11.10% per year, respectively. We find that the “coal to gas” policy is more effective in areas with less energy use efficiency. The finding of this paper suggests that the government should continue to implement the “coal to gas” policy, so as to alleviate the air pollution in Beijing, China.

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Evidence on the Impact of Winter Heating Policy on Air Pollution and Its Dynamic Changes in North China

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11102728 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (10) ◽

pp. 2728 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Shulin Wang ◽

Yongtao Li ◽

Mahfuzul Haque

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Particulate Matter ◽

Air Quality ◽

Central Government ◽

Northern China ◽

Policy Changes ◽

Dynamic Changes ◽

The Public ◽

Local Residents ◽

The Impact

Environmental pollution, especially air pollution, is an alarming issue for the public, which is extensively debated among academic scholars. During the winter heating season, “smog” has become somewhat a normal phenomenon to local residents’ livelihood in northern China. Based on the daily air pollution data of regional cities in China from 2014 to 2016, and using a regression discontinuity design (RDD), the study finds that winter heating makes the air quality worse in the northern part of China. With the start of the winter heating, it increases the Air Quality Index (AQI) by 10.4%, particulate matter smaller than 10 μm (PM10) by 9.77%, particulate matter smaller than 2.5 μm (PM2.5) by 17.25%, CO by 9.84%, NO2 by 5.23%, and SO2 by 17.1%. Furthermore, dynamic changes demonstrate that air quality has gradually improved due to a series of heating policy changes implemented by the central government in recent years. Specifically, from 2014 to 2016, major indicators measuring the air pollution decrease dramatically, such as AQI by 92.36%, PM10 by 91.24%, PM2.5 by 84.06%, CO by 70.97%, NO2 by 52.76%, and SO2 by 17.15%.

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Measured and modelled air quality trends in Italy over the period 2003–2010

10.5194/acp-2020-1058 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ilaria D'Elia ◽

Gino Briganti ◽

Lina Vitali ◽

Antonio Piersanti ◽

Gaia Righini ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Air Quality ◽

Air Pollutants ◽

Transport Model ◽

Statistical Significance ◽

Average Concentration ◽

Chemical Transport Model ◽

Spatial Coverage ◽

Significant Downward Trend ◽

The Impact

Abstract. Air pollution harms human health and the environment. Several regulatory efforts and different actions have been taken in the last decades by authorities. Air quality trend analysis represents a valid tool in assessing the impact of these actions taken both at national and local levels. This paper presents for the first time the capability of the Italian national chemical transport model, AMS-MINNI, in capturing the observed concentration trends of three air pollutants, NO2, inhalable particles having diameter less than 10 micrometres (PM10) and O3, in Italy over the period 2003–2010. We firstly analyse the model performance finding it in line with the state of the art of regional models applications. The modelled trends result in a general significant downward trend for the three pollutants and, in comparison with observations, the values of the simulated slopes show the same magnitude for NO2 (in the range −3.0 ÷ −0.5 ug m−3 yr−1), while a smaller variability is detected for PM10 (−1.5 ÷ −0.5 ug m−3 yr−1) and O3-maximum daily 8-hour average concentration (−2.0 ÷ −0.5 ug m−3 yr−1). As a general result, we find a good agreement between modelled and observed trends; moreover, the model allowed to extend both the spatial coverage and the statistical significance of pollutants' concentrations trends with respect to observations, in particular for NO2. We also conduct a qualitative attempt to correlate the temporal concentration trends to meteorological and emission variability. Since no clear tendency in yearly meteorological anomalies (temperature, precipitation, geopotential height) was observed for the period investigated, we focus the discussion of concentrations trends on emissions variations. We point out that, due to the complex links between precursors emissions and air pollutants concentrations, emission reductions do not always result in a corresponding decrease in atmospheric concentrations, especially for those pollutants that are formed in the atmosphere such as O3 and the major fraction of PM10. These complex phenomena are still uncertain and their understanding is of the utmost importance in planning future policies for reducing air pollution and its impacts on health and ecosystems.

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The 10-year incidence of hypertension across blood pressure categories in a population-based cohort in southwestern Sweden

BMC Cardiovascular Disorders ◽

10.1186/s12872-021-02334-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Ulf Lindblad ◽

Klara Lundholm ◽

Jenny Eckner ◽

Ying Li ◽

Lennart Råstam ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Blood Pressure ◽

Lifestyle Modification ◽

Population Based ◽

Baseline Blood Pressure ◽

Swedish Population ◽

Incident Hypertension ◽

Pressure Lowering ◽

Optimal Blood Pressure ◽

The Impact

Abstract Background To explore the determinants of incident hypertension, and especially the impact of baseline blood pressure categories, in a representative Swedish population. Methods A 10-year longitudinal study of residents aged 30–74. Blood pressures were measured and categorized according to ESH guidelines with optimal blood pressure < 120/80 mmHg, normal 120–129/80–84 mmHg, and high normal 130–139/85–89 mmHg. Incident hypertension was defined as ongoing treatment or three consecutive blood pressure readings ≥ 140/ ≥ 90 mmHg (one or both) at follow-up, while those with ≥ 140 and/or ≥ 90 mmHg at only one or two visits were labelled as unstable. After excluding subjects with hypertension, ongoing blood pressure lowering medication or a previous CVD event at baseline, 1099 remained for further analyses. Results Sixteen (2.6%) subjects with optimal baseline blood pressure had hypertension at follow up. Corresponding numbers for subjects with normal, high normal and unstable blood pressure were 55 (19.4%), 50 (39.1%) and 46 (74.2%), respectively. Compared with subjects in optimal group those in normal, high normal and unstable blood pressure categories had significantly higher risk to develop manifest hypertension with odds ratios OR and (95% CI) of 7.04 (3.89–12.7), 17.1 (8.88–33.0) and 84.2 (37.4–190), respectively, with adjustment for age, BMI and family history for hypertension. The progression to hypertension was also independently predicted by BMI (p < 0.001), however, not by age. Conclusions Subjects with high normal or unstable blood pressure should be identified in clinical practice, evaluated for global hypertension risk and offered personalized advice on lifestyle modification for early prevention of manifest hypertension and cardiovascular disease.

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Assessment of the Effects of the Spanish National Air Pollution Control Programme on Air Quality

Atmosphere ◽

10.3390/atmos12020158 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (2) ◽

pp. 158 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Marta G. Vivanco ◽

Juan Luis Garrido ◽

Fernando Martín ◽

Mark R. Theobald ◽

Victoria Gil ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Air Quality ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Transport Model ◽

Ambient Air ◽

Control Programme ◽

Mitigation Measures ◽

Nox Emissions ◽

Air Pollution Control ◽

The Impact

During the last few decades, European legislation has driven progress in reducing air pollution in Europe through emission mitigation measures. In this paper, we use a chemistry transport model to assess the impact on ambient air quality of the measures considered for 2030 in the for the scenarios with existing (WEM2030) and additional measures (WAM2030). The study estimates a general improvement of air quality for the WAM2030 scenario, with no non-compliant air quality zones for NO2, SO2, and PM indicators. Despite an improvement for O3, the model still estimates non-compliant areas. For this pollutant, the WAM2030 scenario leads to different impacts depending on the indicator considered. Although the model estimates a reduction in maximum hourly O3 concentrations, small increases in O3 concentrations in winter and nighttime in the summer lead to increases in the annual mean in some areas and increases in other indicators (SOMO35 for health impacts and AOT40 for impacts on vegetation) in some urban areas. The results suggest that the lower NOx emissions in the WEM and WAM scenarios lead to less removal of O3 by NO titration, especially background ozone in winter and both background and locally produced ozone in summer, in areas with high NOx emissions.

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Five-Year Analysis of Air Pollution in Istanbul Including Also the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Journal of İzmir Chest Hospital ◽

10.5222/igh.2021.78941 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Nilüfer Aykaç ◽

Pınar Pazarlı Bostan ◽

Sabri Serhan Olcay ◽

Berker Öztürk

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Particulate Matter ◽

Air Quality ◽

Nitrogen Oxide ◽

Air Pollutants ◽

World Health ◽

Limit Values ◽

Public Data ◽

Health Organization ◽

The Impact

INTRODUCTION: Particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, ozone, and nitrogen oxide compounds are the main air pollutants. The purpose of this research is to analyze the five-year air quality of Istanbul and examine the effect of movement restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic on pollutants. METHODS: The public data of the National Air Quality Observation Network has been utilized. The research has been conducted based on the five-year daily averages of PM10, NO2, and NOx pollutants for Istanbul between 2016 - 2020. The data of stations which measured for 75% and more throughout the year has been used. The effect of lockdowns enforced due to COVID-19 was revealed by comparing data of pollutants from April and May of 2020 to the same period in 2019. RESULTS: There were 12 stations between 2016 – 2018, and 39 stations in 2019 and 2020 which measured particulate matter and nitrogen oxide compounds. Only 9 stations reached the standard of measuring pollution for 75% and more throughout the year. The PM10, NO2, and NOx levels measured by all the 9 stations between 2016 - 2020 are above the limit values set by the World Health Organization (WHO). The lockdowns in 2020 have not been helping improvements in air pollution issue. However, there have been regressions of 33.4%, 59.6%, and 52.6% in the overall average particulate matter, nitrogen oxide, and nitrogen dioxide concentrations during the lockdowns between 23-26 of April, 1-3 of May, and 23-26 of May, respectively. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The air pollution issue in Istanbul has not improved in a meaningful and significant manner for the last five years. There is a significant deficiency in measuring traffic pollution. It has been found that two days long lockdowns and physical movement restrictions due to COVID-19 have significantly contributed to a significant regression in the overall concentration of air pollutants.

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Measured and modelled air quality trends in Italy over the period 2003–2010

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ◽

10.5194/acp-21-10825-2021 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (13) ◽

pp. 10825-10849

Author(s):

Ilaria D'Elia ◽

Gino Briganti ◽

Lina Vitali ◽

Antonio Piersanti ◽

Gaia Righini ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Air Quality ◽

Transport Model ◽

Statistical Significance ◽

Average Concentration ◽

Air Pollutant ◽

Chemical Transport Model ◽

Spatial Coverage ◽

Significant Downward Trend ◽

The Impact

Abstract. Air pollution harms human health and the environment. Several regulatory efforts and different actions have been taken in the last decades by authorities. Air quality trend analysis represents a valid tool in assessing the impact of these actions taken both at national and local levels. This paper presents for the first time the capability of the Italian national chemical transport model, AMS-MINNI, in capturing the observed concentration trends of three air pollutants – NO2, inhalable particles having diameter less than 10 µm (PM10), and O3 – in Italy over the period 2003–2010. We firstly analyse the model performance finding it in line with the state of the art of regional air quality modelling. The modelled trends result in a general significant downward trend for the three pollutants and, in comparison with observations, the values of the simulated trends were of a similar magnitude for NO2 (in the range −3.0 to −0.5 µg m−3 yr−1), while a smaller range of trends was found than those observed for PM10 (−1.5 to −0.5 µg m−3 yr−1) and O3 maximum daily 8 h average concentration (−2.0 to −0.5 µg m−3 yr−1). As a general result, we find good agreement between modelled and observed trends; moreover, the model provides a greater spatial coverage and statistical significance of pollutant concentration trends with respect to observations, in particular for NO2. We also conduct a qualitative attempt to correlate the temporal concentration trends to meteorological and emission variability. Since no clear tendency in yearly meteorological anomalies (temperature, precipitation, geopotential height) was observed for the period investigated, we focus the discussion of concentration trends on emission variations. We point out that, due to the complex links between precursor emissions and air pollutant concentrations, emission reductions do not always result in a corresponding decrease in atmospheric concentrations, especially for those pollutants that are formed in the atmosphere such as O3 and the major fraction of PM10. These complex phenomena are still uncertain and their understanding is of the utmost importance in planning future policies for reducing air pollution and its impacts on health and ecosystems.

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Greenery Planning for Improvement of Urban Air Quality—A Review

Proceedings ◽

10.3390/proceedings2019016013 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

pp. 13 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Kamil Leszek Rawski

Keyword(s):

Air Pollution ◽

Particulate Matter ◽

Air Quality ◽

Urban Air Quality ◽

Urban Air ◽

Foreign Literature ◽

Urban Greenery ◽

The Subject ◽

The Impact ◽

Effective Planning

On the basis of Polish and foreign literature on the subject, the impact of vegetation on air pollution (e.g., particulate matter) was described, as well as what significance its proper arrangement has. Reviewing findings carried out by various researchers, the criteria of selecting plants were collected and specified. Only those criteria that contribute to obtaining optimal results in the fight against air pollution were taken into consideration. Also, based on the collected data, a set of guidelines was developed that could eventually serve as a tool for more effective planning of urban greenery.

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The impact of measures to reduce ambient air PM<sub>10</sub> concentrations originating from road dust, evaluated for a street canyon in Helsinki

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ◽

10.5194/acp-19-11199-2019 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 19 (17) ◽

pp. 11199-11212 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ana Stojiljkovic ◽

Mari Kauhaniemi ◽

Jaakko Kukkonen ◽

Kaarle Kupiainen ◽

Ari Karppinen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Particulate Matter ◽

Air Quality ◽

Street Canyon ◽

Dust Emission ◽

Road Dust ◽

Ambient Air ◽

Air Quality Measurements ◽

Emission Models ◽

The Impact ◽

Quality Measurements

Abstract. We have numerically evaluated how effective selected potential measures would be for reducing the impact of road dust on ambient air particulate matter (PM10). The selected measures included a reduction of the use of studded tyres on light-duty vehicles and a reduction of the use of salt or sand for traction control. We have evaluated these measures for a street canyon located in central Helsinki for four years (2007–2009 and 2014). Air quality measurements were conducted in the street canyon for two years, 2009 and 2014. Two road dust emission models, NORTRIP (NOn-exhaust Road TRaffic Induced Particle emissions) and FORE (Forecasting Of Road dust Emissions), were applied in combination with the Operational Street Pollution Model (OSPM), a street canyon dispersion model, to compute the street increments of PM10 (i.e. the fraction of PM10 concentration originating from traffic emissions at the street level) within the street canyon. The predicted concentrations were compared with the air quality measurements. Both road dust emission models reproduced the seasonal variability of the PM10 concentrations fairly well but under-predicted the annual mean values. It was found that the largest reductions of concentrations could potentially be achieved by reducing the fraction of vehicles that use studded tyres. For instance, a 30 % decrease in the number of vehicles using studded tyres would result in an average decrease in the non-exhaust street increment of PM10 from 10 % to 22 %, depending on the model used and the year considered. Modelled contributions of traction sand and salt to the annual mean non-exhaust street increment of PM10 ranged from 4 % to 20 % for the traction sand and from 0.1 % to 4 % for the traction salt. The results presented here can be used to support the development of optimal strategies for reducing high springtime particulate matter concentrations originating from road dust.

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