scholarly journals Ultrafine Particle Features Associated with Pro-Inflammatory and Oxidative Responses: Implications for Health Studies

Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 414
Author(s):  
Francesca Costabile ◽  
Maurizio Gualtieri ◽  
Carla Ancona ◽  
Silvia Canepari ◽  
Stefano Decesari
Keyword(s):  
Black Carbon ◽  
Health Effects ◽  
Ultrafine Particles ◽  
Carbonaceous Aerosol ◽  
In Vitro Tests ◽  
Future Health ◽  
Oxidative Potential ◽  
Major Purpose ◽  
Health Studies ◽  
Oxidative Responses

Suspected detrimental health effects associated with ultrafine particles (UFPs) are impressive. However, epidemiological evidence is still limited. This is potentially due to challenges related to UFP exposure assessment and the lack of consensus on a standard methodology for UFPs. It is imperative to focus future health studies on those UFP metrics more likely to represent health effects. This is the purpose of this paper, where we extend the results obtained during the CARE (“Carbonaceous Aerosol in Rome and Environs”) experiment started in 2017 in Rome. The major purpose is to investigate features of airborne UFPs associated with pro-inflammatory and oxidative responses. Aerosol chemical, microphysical, and optical properties were measured, together with the oxidative potential, at temporal scales relevant for UFPs (minutes to hours). The biological responses were obtained using both in-vivo and in-vitro tests carried out directly under environmental conditions. Findings indicate that caution should be taken when assessing health-relevant exposure to UFPs through the conventional metrics like total particle number concentration and PM2.5 and Black Carbon (BC) mass concentration. Conversely, we recommend adding to these, a UFP source apportionment analysis and indicators for both ultrafine black carbon and the size of particles providing most of the total surface area to available toxic molecules.

scholarly journals Health effects of ambient black carbon and ultrafine particles

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 347-348 ◽  
Author(s):  
Redaelli M ◽  
Sanchez M ◽  
Fuertes E ◽  
Blanchard M ◽  
Mullot J ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Black Carbon ◽  
Health Effects ◽  
Ultrafine Particles

scholarly journals Ensemble Predictions of Air Pollutants in China in 2013 for Health Effects Studies Using WRF/CMAQ Modeling System with Four Emission Inventories

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianlin Hu ◽  
Xun Li ◽  
Lin Huang ◽  
Qi Ying ◽  
Qiang Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Health Effects ◽  
Air Pollutants ◽  
Emission Inventory ◽  
Model Performance ◽  
Observation Data ◽  
Emission Inventories ◽  
Air Quality Model ◽  
Quality Model ◽  
Future Health

Abstract. Accurate exposure estimates are required for health effects analyses of severe air pollution in China. Chemical transport models (CTMs) are widely used tools to provide detailed information of spatial distribution, chemical composition, particle size fractions, and source origins of pollutants. The accuracy of CTMs' predictions in China is largely affected by the uncertainties of public available emission inventories. The Community Multi-scale Air Quality model (CMAQ) with meteorological inputs from the Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF) were used in this study to simulate air quality in China in 2013. Four sets of simulations were conducted with four different anthropogenic emission inventories, including the Multi-resolution Emission Inventory for China (MEIC), the Emission Inventory for China by School of Environment at Tsinghua University (SOE), the Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR), and the Regional Emission inventory in Asia version 2 (REAS2). Model performance was evaluated against available observation data from 422 sites in 60 cities across China. Model predictions of O3 and PM2.5 with the four inventories generally meet the criteria of model performance, but difference exists in different pollutants and different regions among the inventories. Ensemble predictions were calculated by linearly combining the results from different inventories under the constraint that sum of the squared errors between the ensemble results and the observations from all the cities was minimized. The ensemble annual concentrations show improved agreement with observations in most cities. The mean fractional bias (MFB) and mean fractional errors (MFE) of the ensemble predicted annual PM2.5 at the 60 cities are −0.11 and 0.24, respectively, which are better than the MFB (−0.25–−0.16) and MFE (0.26–0.31) of individual simulations. The ensemble annual 1-hour peak O3 (O3-1 h) concentrations are also improved, with mean normalized bias (MNB) of 0.03 and mean normalized errors (MNE) of 0.14, compared to MNB of 0.06–0.19 and MNE of 0.16–0.22 of the individual predictions. The ensemble predictions agree better with observations with daily, monthly, and annual averaging times in all regions of China for both PM2.5 and O3-1 h. The study demonstrates that ensemble predictions by combining predictions from individual emission inventories can improve the accuracy of predicted temporal and spatial distributions of air pollutants. This study is the first ensemble model study in China using multiple emission inventories and the results are publicly available for future health effects studies.

Land Use Regression Models for Ultrafine Particles and Black Carbon Based on Short-Term Monitoring Predict Past Spatial Variation

2015 ◽  
Vol 49 (14) ◽  
pp. 8712-8720 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denise R. Montagne ◽  
Gerard Hoek ◽  
Jochem O. Klompmaker ◽  
Meng Wang ◽  
Kees Meliefste ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Spatial Variation ◽  
Black Carbon ◽  
Ultrafine Particles ◽  
Regression Models ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Land Use Regression ◽  
Term Monitoring ◽  
Carbon Based

scholarly journals Aerosol characterisation including oxidative potential as a proxy of health impact

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Miroslav Josipovic ◽  
Catherine Leal-Liousse ◽  
Belinda Crobeddu ◽  
Armelle Baeza-Squiban ◽  
C. Keitumetse Segakweng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Black Carbon ◽  
Fine Fraction ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Coarse Fraction ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Oxidative Potential ◽  
Ionic Content ◽  
Vaal Triangle

This study aimed to characterise aerosols sampled in the vicinity of a major industrialised area, i.e. the Vaal Triangle. It included thedetermination of oxidative potential as a predictive indicator of particle toxicity. Aerosol samples were collated through the cascadefiltering during an eight-month period (12 h over three days in one week). Three size fractions were analysed for organic carbon(OC), black carbon (BC) and oxidative potential (OP), while ionic content was presented as monthly and seasonal concentrations. Thecontinuous measurement of black carbon by an optical attenuation instrument was collated concurrently with cascade filtering. Thecarbonaceous content was low compared to the ionic one. Within the carbonaceous concentrations, the organic carbon was higherthan concentrations of black carbon in both seasons in the ultra-fine fraction; the opposite was the case for the fine fraction, whilethe coarse fraction concentrations of organic carbon in the dry season had higher concentrations than black carbon in the wet seasonand organic carbon in the wet season. The OP tended to increase as the size was decreasing for wet season aerosols, whereas, forthe dry season, the highest OP was exerted by the fine fraction. The ultrafine fraction was the one showing the most contrasting OPbetween the two seasons. Continuous monitoring indicated that the higher BC concentrations were recorded in the dry/winter partof the year, with the daily pattern of concentrations being typically bimodal, having both the morning and evening peaks in bothseasons. Within the ionic content, the dominance of sulphate, nitrate and ammonium was evident. Multiple linear correlations wereperformed between all determined compounds. Strong correlations of carboxylic acids with other organic compounds were revealed.These acids point to emissions of VOC, both anthropogenic and biogenic. Since they were equally present in both seasons, a mixtureof sources was responsible, both present in the wider area and throughout the year.

scholarly journals Fog scavenging of organic and inorganic aerosol in the Po Valley

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 4787-4826 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Gilardoni ◽  
P. Massoli ◽  
L. Giulianelli ◽  
M. Rinaldi ◽  
M. Paglione ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Composition ◽  
Black Carbon ◽  
Functional Group ◽  
Group Composition ◽  
Organic Aerosol ◽  
Water Soluble ◽  
Carbonaceous Aerosol ◽  
Model Description ◽  
Po Valley ◽  
Scavenging Efficiency

Abstract. The interaction of aerosol with atmospheric water affects the processing and wet removal of atmospheric particles. Understanding such interaction is mandatory to improve model description of aerosol lifetime and ageing. We analyzed the aerosol-water interaction at high relative humidity during fog events in the Po Valley, in the framework of the ARPA-ER Supersite project. For the first time in this area, the changes in particle chemical composition caused by fog are discussed along with changes in particle microphysics. During the experiment, 14 fog events were observed. The average mass scavenging efficiency was 70% for nitrate, 68% for ammonium, 61% for sulfate, 50% for organics, and 39% for black carbon. After fog formation, the interstitial aerosol was dominated by particles smaller than 200 nm Dva (vacuum aerodynamic diameter) and enriched in carbonaceous aerosol, mainly black carbon and water insoluble organic aerosol (WIOA). For each fog event, the size segregated scavenging efficiency of nitrate and organic aerosol (OA) was calculated by comparing chemical species size distribution before and after fog formation. For both nitrate and OA, the size segregated scavenging efficiency followed a sigmoidal curve, with values close to zero below 100 nm Dva and close to 1 above 700 nm Dva. OA was able to affect scavenging efficiency of nitrate in particles smaller than 300 nm Dva. A linear correlation between nitrate scavenging and particle hygroscopicity (κ) was observed, indicating that 44–51% of the variability of nitrate scavenging in smaller particles (below 300 nm Dva) was explained by changes in particle chemical composition. The size segregated scavenging curves of OA followed those of nitrate, suggesting that organic scavenging was controlled by mixing with water-soluble species. In particular, functional group composition and OA elemental analysis indicated that more oxidized OA was scavenged more efficiently than less oxidized OA. Nevertheless, the small variability of organic functional group composition during the experiment did not allow us to discriminate the effect of different organic functionalities on OA scavenging.

scholarly journals Mobile-monitoring of Black Carbon and Ultrafine particles in Bangalore, India

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Kushwaha ◽  
A. Upadhya ◽  
P. Agrawal ◽  
E. Savio ◽  
J. Gingrich ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Black Carbon ◽  
Ultrafine Particles ◽  
Mobile Monitoring

scholarly journals Hazard and risk assessment strategies for nanoparticle exposures: how far have we come in the past 10 years?

F1000Research ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 376 ◽  
Author(s):  
David B Warheit
Keyword(s):  
Health Effects ◽  
Ultrafine Particles ◽  
Time Course ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Particle Size Range ◽  
Potential Health ◽  
The Past ◽  
Safety Research ◽  
Made In

Nanotechnology is an emerging, cross-disciplinary technology designed to create and synthesize new materials at the nanoscale (generally defined as a particle size range of ≤10-9 meters) to generate innovative or altered material properties. The particle properties can be modified to promote different and more flexible applications, resulting in consumer benefits, particularly in medical, cosmetic, and industrial applications. As this applied science matures and flourishes, concerns have arisen regarding potential health effects of exposures to untested materials, as many newly developed products have not been adequately evaluated. Indeed, it is necessary to ensure that societal and commercial advantages are not outweighed by potential human health or environmental disadvantages. Therefore, a variety of international planning activities or research efforts have been proposed or implemented, particularly in the European Union and United States, with the expectation that significant advances will be made in understanding potential hazards related to exposures in the occupational and/or consumer environments. One of the first conclusions reached regarding hazardous effects of nanoparticles stemmed from the findings of early pulmonary toxicology studies, suggesting that lung exposures to ultrafine particles were more toxic than those to larger, fine-sized particles of similar chemistry. This review documents some of the conceptual planning efforts, implementation strategies/activities, and research accomplishments over the past 10 years or so. It also highlights (in this author’s opinion) some shortcomings in the research efforts and accomplishments over the same duration. In general, much progress has been made in developing and implementing environmental, health, and safety research-based protocols for addressing nanosafety issues. However, challenges remain in adequately investigating health effects given 1) many different nanomaterial types, 2) various potential routes of exposure, 3) nanomaterial characterization issues, 4) limitations in research methodologies, such as time-course and dose-response issues, and 5) inadequate in vitro methodologies for in vivo standardized, guideline toxicity testing.

scholarly journals Associations between social vulnerabilities and dietary patterns in European children: the Identification and prevention of Dietary- and lifestyle-induced health EFfects In Children and infantS (IDEFICS) study

2016 ◽  
Vol 116 (7) ◽  
pp. 1288-1297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabel Iguacel ◽  
Juan M. Fernández-Alvira ◽  
Karin Bammann ◽  
Bart De Clercq ◽  
Gabriele Eiben ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Health Effects ◽  
Dietary Patterns ◽  
Fast Food ◽  
Fruits And Vegetables ◽  
Clustering Algorithm ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Future Health ◽  
Social Vulnerabilities

AbstractSocio-economic inequalities in childhood can determine dietary patterns, and therefore future health. This study aimed to explore associations between social vulnerabilities and dietary patterns assessed at two time points, and to investigate the association between accumulation of vulnerabilities and dietary patterns. A total of 9301 children aged 2–9 years participated at baseline and 2-year follow-up examinations of the Identification and prevention of Dietary- and lifestyle-induced health EFfects In Children and infantS study. In all, three dietary patterns were identified at baseline and follow-up by applying the K-means clustering algorithm based on a higher frequency of consumption of snacks and fast food (processed), sweet foods and drinks (sweet), and fruits and vegetables (healthy). Vulnerable groups were defined at baseline as follows: children whose parents lacked a social network, children from single-parent families, children of migrant origin and children with unemployed parents. Multinomial mixed models were used to assess the associations between social vulnerabilities and children’s dietary patterns at baseline and follow-up. Children whose parents lacked a social network (OR 1·31; 99 % CI 1·01, 1·70) and migrants (OR 1·45; 99 % CI 1·15, 1·83) were more likely to be in the processed cluster at baseline and follow-up. Children whose parents were homemakers (OR 0·74; 99 % CI 0·60, 0·92) were less likely to be in the processed cluster at baseline. A higher number of vulnerabilities was associated with a higher probability of children being in the processed cluster (OR 1·78; 99 % CI 1·21, 2·62). Therefore, special attention should be paid to children of vulnerable groups as they present unhealthier dietary patterns.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document