scholarly journals Urban Air Pollution and Human Health: A Review

2021 ◽  
Vol Special Issue (1) ◽  
pp. 01-16
Author(s):  
Jaspreet Kaur ◽  
Charu Jhamaria
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Air Pollutants ◽  
Urban Air Pollution ◽  
Endocrine System ◽  
Strong Relationship ◽  
The Body ◽  
Chronic Obstructive ◽  
Urban Air ◽  
Upper Respiratory Tract

Rapid and unplanned industrialization and urbanization have led to an increase in air pollutants in the urban areas are not new phenomena. Findings of several pieces of research have shown that at every stage of life beginning from the effect on developing embryo till an older age. A strong relationship has been reported between urban air pollutants with a wide variety of diseases like respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, adverse effects on the nervous system, endocrine system, prevalence of diseases like diabetes, premature births, etc. Highly susceptible groups are the children and elderly, making this problem a serious concern worldwide. Inhalation of an increasing amount of particulate matter with a variety of toxic chemicals adhered to its surface and gaseous pollutants emitted from various sources initiate complex chemical reactions in the body giving rise to several diseases. The particles move through the upper respiratory tract showing its effect in the form of pulmonary inflammation, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), moving further affects the heart rate variability (HRV), Ischemic heart disease, crosses the Blood-brain barrier (BBB) leading to mental and behavior disorder as well as insulin resistance leading to diabetes. The health impacts of poor air quality are serious which require urgent attention. This comprehensive review article aims to provide comprehensive information that can be useful for environmentalists, researchers, engineers, and policymakers for incorporating the data for implementing robust action to combat the problem of increasing urban air pollution.

scholarly journals Urban Air Pollution and Human Health: A Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 362-377
Author(s):  
Jaspreet Kaur ◽  
Charu Jhamaria
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Air Pollutants ◽  
Urban Air Pollution ◽  
Endocrine System ◽  
Strong Relationship ◽  
The Body ◽  
Chronic Obstructive ◽  
Urban Air ◽  
Upper Respiratory Tract

Rapid and unplanned industrialization and urbanization have led to an increase in air pollutants in the urban areas are not new phenomena. Findings of several pieces of research have shown that at every stage of life beginning from the effect on developing embryo till an older age. A strong relationship has been reported between urban air pollutants with a wide variety of diseases like respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, adverse effects on the nervous system, endocrine system, prevalence of diseases like diabetes, premature births, etc. Highly susceptible groups are the children and elderly, making this problem a serious concern worldwide. Inhalation of an increasing amount of particulate matter with a variety of toxic chemicals adhered to its surface and gaseous pollutants emitted from various sources initiate complex chemical reactions in the body giving rise to several diseases. The particles move through the upper respiratory tract showing its effect in the form of pulmonary inflammation, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), moving further affects the heart rate variability (HRV), Ischemic heart disease, crosses the Blood-brain barrier (BBB) leading to mental and behavior disorder as well as insulin resistance leading to diabetes. The health impacts of poor air quality are serious which require urgent attention. This comprehensive review article aims to provide comprehensive information that can be useful for environmentalists, researchers, engineers, and policymakers for incorporating the data for implementing robust action to combat the problem of increasing urban air pollution.

An Urban Air Pollution Early Warning System Based on PM2.5 Prediction Applied in Ploiesti City

2017 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 858-863
Author(s):  
Mihaela Oprea ◽  
Marius Olteanu ◽  
Radu Teodor Ianache
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Early Warning ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Early Warning System ◽  
Urban Air Pollution ◽  
Warning System ◽  
Air Pollutant ◽  
Pollution Level ◽  
Urban Air ◽  
Prediction Approach

Fine particulate matter with a diameter less than 2.5 �m (i.e. PM2.5) is an air pollutant of special concern for urban areas due to its potential significant negative effects on human health, especially on children and elderly people. In order to reduce these effects, new tools based on PM2.5 monitoring infrastructures tailored to specific urban regions are needed by the local and regional environmental management systems for the provision of an expert support to decision makers in air quality planning for cities and also, to inform in real time the vulnerable population when PM2.5 related air pollution episodes occur. The paper focuses on urban air pollution early warning based on PM2.5 prediction. It describes the methodology used, the prediction approach, and the experimental system developed under the ROKIDAIR project for the analysis of PM2.5 air pollution level, health impact assessment and early warning of sensitive people in the Ploiesti city. The PM2.5 concentration evolution prediction is correlated with PM2.5 air pollution and health effects analysis, and the final result is processed by the ROKIDAIR Early Warning System (EWS) and sent as a message to the affected population via email or SMS. ROKIDAIR EWS is included in the ROKIDAIR decision support system.

scholarly journals The Relationship between Urban Air Pollution and Urban Planning Decisions

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (11) ◽  
pp. 181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nur Sinem Ozcan ◽  
K. Mert Cubukcu
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Publishing House ◽  
Urban Air Pollution ◽  
Urban Air ◽  
Pollution Levels ◽  
Planning Decisions ◽  
Diffusion Tubes ◽  
Pollution Problem

The air pollution problem remains, although significant improvements have been seen in urban air quality over the last years. This study aims to show that the spatial statistic techniques can well be used to examine and explain the air pollution levels in urban areas. The data for SO2 and NO2 concentrations are measures using passive diffusion tubes at the 67 monitoring sites in the district of Çiğli (Izmir). The tubes were exposed for a 2-week period in August 2015. For the determination of the level of clustering for high values and low values of pollutants, Getis-Ord G* local statistics are calculated. There are five points with high values of SO2 surrounded by low values, three points of NO2, where the results are statistically significant at the 0.10 level. The presence of the industrial zone, the form of fossil fuels used in heating, and topography are strong determinants urban air pollution.Keywords: Urban air pollution, planning decisions, spatial autocorrelation, air pollutants eISSN 2398-4279 © 2018. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. https://doi.org/10.21834/ajqol.v3i11.134

scholarly journals THE PREDICTIVE EFFECTS OF PROTECTION MOTIVATION THEORY ON ADAPTIVE BEHAVIOUR TOWARDS URBAN AIR QUALITY

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-74
Author(s):  
Syazwani Sahrir
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Urban Air Pollution ◽  
Road Transport ◽  
Protection Motivation Theory ◽  
Adaptive Behaviour ◽  
Urban Air ◽  
Protection Motivation ◽  
Motivation Theory ◽  
Behavioural Responses

In urban areas, the rigid division of residential, commercial, employment and recreational areas forms a reliance on road transport, which leads to high levels of emission that gradually affects the quality of the urban environment. We establish the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) as a framework for explaining adaptive behavioural responses among urban communities in Malaysia. Participants (N = 450) answered to face-to-face questionnaire survey, and the results specify establishment for the proposed model, with perceived vulnerability (H1) (ß = 0.246, t = 4.534, P=0.000) and and self-efficacy (H3) (ß = 0.510, t = 9.653, P=0.000) positively predicting adaptive behaviour on  urban air pollution. The results presented that these structures were able to predict 47% of the variance of adaptive behaviour. The study establishes a significant contribution to the literature by contributing an indication of PMT as an ideal framework for adaptive behavioural responses on urban air pollution.

scholarly journals Examination of the Relationship between Urban Air Pollution and Urban Planning Decisions in Cigli Case, Izmir (Turkey)

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nur Sinem Ozcan ◽  
K. Mert Cubukcu
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Publishing House ◽  
Urban Air Pollution ◽  
Systematic Sampling ◽  
Urban Air ◽  
Pollution Levels ◽  
Planning Decisions ◽  
Diffusion Tubes

The air pollution problem remains, although significant improvements have been seen in urban air quality over the last years. Despite the size and variety of studies on urban air pollution, the usage of spatial statistics has been extremely limited. This study aims to show that the spatial statistic techniques can well be used to examine and explain the air pollution levels in urban areas. The data for the sulphur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations are measures using passive diffusion tubes at the 67 monitoring sites in the district of Çiğli (Izmir), which are selected through a spatial systematic sampling process. The tubes were exposed for a 2-week period in August 2015. For the determination of the level of clustering for high values and low values of SO2 and NO2 concentrations, Getis-Ord G* local statistics are calculated. There are five points with high values of SO2 surrounded by low values, three points of NO2, where the results are statistically significant at the 0.10 level. The findings indicate that the presence of the industrial zone, the form of fossil fuels (coal or natural gas) used in heating, and topography are the strong determinants urban air pollution.© 2016. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.Keywords: Urban air pollution; planning decisions; spatial autocorrelation; air pollutants

Air Pollution

2002 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Air Pollutants ◽  
Stratospheric Ozone ◽  
Urban Air Pollution ◽  
Waste Incineration ◽  
Transportation Industry ◽  
Volatile Chemicals ◽  
Water And Soil Pollution ◽  
Chlorinated Dioxins

It is somewhat artificial to consider air, water, and soil pollution separately because their effects are interchangeable. Chemicals emitted into the air eventually combine with rain or snow and settle down to become water and land pollutants. On the other hand, volatile chemicals from soil or those that enter lakes and rivers evaporate to become air pollutants. Pesticides sprayed on land are carried by the wind to become transient air pollutants that eventually settle somewhere on land or water. For discussion purposes, however, some systematic division appears to be advisable. Although the problems of air pollution have been recognized for many decades, they were once considered to be only of local significance, restricted to industrial urban areas. With the current recognition of the destruction of stratospheric ozone, the greenhouse effect, worldwide forest destruction, and the acidification of lakes and coastal waters, air pollution assumes global significance. The sources of urban air pollution are . power generation . transportation . industry, manufacturing, and processing . residential heating . waste incineration Except for waste incineration, all of these pollution sources depend on fossil fuel and, to a lesser degree, on fuel from renewable resources such as plant material. Therefore, all of them produce essentially the same pollutants, although the quantity of each substance may vary from source to source. The principal incineration-generated pollutants are carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO2), a mixture of nitrogen oxides (NOx), a mixture of hydrocarbons, referred to as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), suspended particulate matter (SPM) of varying sizes, and metals, mostly bound to particles. Waste incineration, in addition, produces some chlorinated dioxins and furans that are formed on combustion of chlorine-containing organic substances Most of these air pollutants originate from geophysical, biological, and atmospheric sources. Their contribution to total air pollution is globally significant. This fact should not lead us into complacency about anthropogenic air pollution. In nature, a steady state has been established between emission and disposition of biogenic pollutants. Life on earth developed in harmony with these external influences.

URBAN AIR ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH INDICATORS: A PRELIMINARY SET FOR CITY OF KUALA LUMPUR

2011 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver Ling Hoon Leh ◽  
Shaharuddin Ahmad ◽  
Kadaruddin Aiyub ◽  
Yaakob Mohd Jani
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Health ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Air Pollutants ◽  
Urban Air Pollution ◽  
Health Indicators ◽  
Ambient Air ◽  
Health Conditions ◽  
Urban Air ◽  
Kuala Lumpur

Environmental health as an aspect of concern on healthy environment, involves relationship between environment and human health. It comprises the aspects of human health and diseases that are determined by factors in the environment, as well as the characteristics of environmental conditions which affect the quality of health. Generally, urban ambient air is more polluted than overall atmosphere. It is due to higher concentration of human activities and more rapid urban development in urban areas. Urban areas produced air pollutants with higher rate as compared to less developed areas and natural environment. Furthermore, the atmosphere has always been one of the most convenient places to dispose of unwanted materials, which includes burning activities. It changes the natural combination of gases in the air and causes higher rateof urban air pollution. Besides, the air pollutants are likely to circulate and remain in the urban environment due to the "dust dome" phenomenon. Air pollutants are potentially affecting human health. Epidemiologic and laboratory studies demonstrate that ambient air pollutants contribute to various negative health problems, especially on the respiratory and cardiovascular systems, skin, and eyes. Research was carried out in developing a set of environmental health indicators for urban air. The determination of environmental health for urban air involves the identification of air-related health conditions and air quality. The preliminary indicators were formulated to examine the air environmental health conditions and issues in city of Kuala Lumpur. Environmental health indicators are providing useful information for decision-makers, and helping in generating discussion among people of different backgrounds.

scholarly journals Clinical Manifestations and Changes of Haematological Markers among Active People Living in Polluted City: The Case of Douala, Cameroon

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 665
Author(s):  
Tiekwe Joseph Eloge ◽  
Ongbayokolak Nadine ◽  
Dabou Solange ◽  
Phélix Bruno Telefo ◽  
Isabella Annesi-Maesano
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Pollutants ◽  
Urban Air Pollution ◽  
Clinical Manifestations ◽  
Biological Data ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Urban Air ◽  
Control Groups ◽  
Systemic Symptoms

Urban air pollution, despite its dangerous health impact, is poorly studied in sub-Saharan Africa (sSA). Epidemiological data on this silent killer are almost non-existent for cities of Cameroon, which seems to be one of the sSA countries where populations are highly exposed to air pollutants. Objective: The present study was conducted in Douala city, and aimed at determining the association of urban air quality degradation with respiratory and systemic health in active populations exposed to air pollutants on a daily basis. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from 2017 to 2019 in 1182 active people consisting of motorbikes drivers (MD), outdoor urban workers (UW), and fuel station sellers (FSS). A standardized questionnaire was used to document participants’ data. One hundred and twenty-six (126) motorbike drivers were selected to evaluate the relationship between haematological (white blood cells, platelets) and inflammatory (C-reactive protein—CRP) biomarkers, and air pollution; compared with those of a sixty-five (65) motorbike drivers’ control group enrolled in Dschang, another town situated at about 216.3 km from Douala. Results: Among those recruited in urban Douala, some respiratory disorders such as running nostrils, colds, common fever, sore throats, dry cough, wheezing, chest pain, shortness of breath and systemic symptoms such as headaches, eye irritation, conjunctivitis, watery eyes and general tiredness were very common among MD, UW, and FSS. Regarding biological data, blood monocytes, lymphocytes and CRP were found to be significantly increased among selected MD in Douala, compared to control groups in Dschang. Conversely, a more significant decrease in blood neutrophil level was observed among MD in Douala than control groups in Dschang. These changes of haematological markers were significantly associated with place of residence, site of activity, and daily duration. Conclusion: Our results suggest the risk of suffering from respiratory impairments and systemic symptoms with exposure to urban air pollution among active people working near highways in Douala.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document