Short-Term Acute Exposure to Wildfire Smoke and Lung Function among Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Officers

The increasing incidence of extreme wildfire is becoming a concern for public health. Although long-term exposure to wildfire smoke is associated with respiratory illnesses, reports on the association between short-term occupational exposure to wildfire smoke and lung function remain scarce. In this cross-sectional study, we analyzed data from 218 Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers (mean age: 38 ± 9 years) deployed at the Fort McMurray wildfires in 2016. Individual exposure to air pollutants was calculated by integrating the duration of exposure with the air quality parameters obtained from the nearest air quality monitoring station during the phase of deployment. Lung function was measured using spirometry and body plethysmography. Association between exposure and lung function was examined using principal component linear regression analysis, adjusting for potential confounders. In our findings, the participants were predominantly male (71%). Mean forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), and residual volume (RV) were 76.5 ± 5.9 and 80.1 ± 19.5 (% predicted). A marginal association was observed between air pollution and higher RV [β: 1.55; 95% CI: −0.28 to 3.37 per interquartile change of air pollution index], but not with other lung function indices. The association between air pollution index and RV was significantly higher in participants who were screened within the first three months of deployment (2.80; 0.91 to 4.70) than those screened later (−0.28; −2.58 to 2.03), indicating a stronger effect of air pollution on peripheral airways. Acute short-term exposure to wildfire-associated air pollutants may impose subtle but clinically important deleterious respiratory effects, particularly in the peripheral airways.

ANALYSIS AND ASSESSMENT OF THE LEVEL OF ATMOSPHERIC AIR POLLUTION IN ZAPORIZHZHYA

One of the regions of Ukraine, which is subject to significant man-made impacts on the atmospheric air, is the city of Zaporizhzhya. The paper presents the results of assessing the quality of atmospheric air based on the calculation of the air pollution index and the integrated air pollution index of the city of Zaporizhzhya. For the assessment, the data of long-term observations at the stationary posts of the city for 2016—2020 were used for the main pollutants. A list of the main pollutants (formaldehyde, dust, carbon monoxide, phenol, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide) and the contribution of each of them to the general level of atmospheric pollution has been determined. The calculations of air pollution indices were carried out for the average daily concentrations of substances for each observation post in Zaporizhzhya for the study period 2016—2020. The calculation of the air pollution indices for the posts was carried out for all concentrations of the investigated substances, except for hydrogen sulfide due to the lack of data for it. The highest values of the indices are observed in 2017 and 2019, the lowest — in 2020. Over the past year, there has been a tendency towards a slight decrease in the level of air pollution by pollutants. The highest values of indices exceeding 1 are noted for substances such as dust, nitrogen dioxide, nitrogen oxide, phenol and formaldehyde. Calculations of the integrated index of atmospheric pollution at posts showed their heterogeneity, the list of measured substances is not unified for all posts. Formaldehyde, nitrogen oxides, phenol and dust make the largest contribution to the formation of the integrated air pollution index. Environmental monitoring in the city of Zaporizhzhya does not include measurements of hazardous toxicants, the presence of which is typical for large cities. The highest level of the integrated air pollution index is observed at the posts located in the zone of influence of the main industrial site, and reaches values of 5,4—9,8, which corresponds to a high level. In other areas of the city, where there is industrial potential, observations are not carried out; it is impossible to assess the level of air quality according to the data of the hydrometeorological service.

Principal Component Regression and Artificial Neural Network: The Prediction of Air Pollution Index (API)

The article’s abstract is not available.

The relationship between air pollutants and COVID-19 cases and its implications for air quality in Jakarta, Indonesia

World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that COVID-19 as a global pandemic and public health emergency. Previous studies have revealed that COVID-19 was an infectious disease and it could remain viable in ambient air for hours. Therefore, this study aims to examine the correlation between air pollutants (PM2.5, PM10, CO, SO2, NO2 and O3) and COVID-19 spread in Jakarta, Indonesia. Furthermore, this study also evaluates the impact of large-scale social restriction (LSSR) on air pollution index (API). Result of study found that air pollution index of PM2.5, PM10, CO, SO2 and NO2 decreased by 9.48%, 15.74%, 29.17%, 6.26% and 18.34% during LSSR period. While, for O3 showed an increase by 4.06%. Another result also found significantly positive correlations of SO2, CO and PM2.5 with COVID-19 cases. An exposure to SO2, CO and PM2.5 has driven the area become vulnerable for COVID-19 infection. Our findings indicated that the relationship between air pollutants and COVID-19 spread could provide a new notion for precaution and control method of COVID-19 outbreak.

Influence of Meteorological Variables on Ambient Air Pollutants of a Coastal District in Eastern India

The study of various air pollutants and meteorological parameters are very important for all the researchers. Baleswar was known to be a seaside Districts of Odisha which is the economic and cultural heart of Northern Odisha. The aim of this study is to measure the air pollutants, meteorological parameters and to enumerate the air pollution index at three specific sites (Sahadevkhunta, Mallikashpur, Rasalpur) according to CPCB procedures. The air pollutants analysed by supplying through specific absorbing reagents and the pollutants were analysed up to 3 year (2017, 2018 and 2019) with a regularity of thrice per week. Analyses of our data sets showing that SO2 and NO2 concentration during summer, rainy and winter season are within the prescribe standard of NAAQS by CPCB but PM10 and PM2.5 are above the prescribed standard except PM2.5 concentration of rainy season in year 2019. Air pollution index is remaining in the condition between clean air (CA) to moderate air pollution (MAP) and it shows that the pollution index in all the sites are reducing from the year 2017 to 2019 may be due to enhancing technologies to reduce the pollutant concentration in air.