Do new health conditions support mortality–air pollution effects?

Epidemiological research underlying US air quality regulations documents significant associations between measures of fine particles and premature mortality. Recent studies examine potential mechanistic pathways, related to heart and lung functioning, that may contribute to the observed deaths. Our results support these pathophysiological analyses. We examine whether the onset of serious health conditions, consistent with disease pathways, is related to current and long-term exposure to particulate matter and ozone. Associations between air pollution and alternative indicators of health status are also evaluated. The 1996 wave of the Health and Retirement Study is used with a two-step estimator acknowledging limitations in our ability to measure individual exposures. The findings suggest significant current and long-term effects of particulates on new cases of heart attacks and angina, reinforcing the disease pathways identified in epidemiological studies. Long-term air pollution exposure is also a determinant of recently diagnosed chronic lung conditions and reports of shortness of breath.     

Voluntary information programs and environmental regulation: Evidence from ‘Spare the Air’

This paper assesses whether individuals change their transportation choices in response to ‘Spare the Air’ (STA) advisories, a public voluntary information program in the San Francisco Bay Area that elicits reductions in ozone-producing activities. Since STAs are issued when ozone levels are predicted to exceed a particular threshold, we use a regression discontinuity design to identify the effect of STAs. We also use traffic conditions in Southern California, an area without STAs, to estimate difference-in-differences models. The results suggest that STAs reduce traffic volume and slightly increase the use of public transit, supporting a potential role for voluntary information programs that directly target individuals as a means for improving local air quality.     

The promise of Beijing: Evaluating the impact of the 2008 Olympic Games on air quality

To prepare for the 2008 Olympic Games, China adopted a number of radical measures to improve air quality. Using the officially reported air pollution index (API) from 2000 to 2009, we show that these measures improved the API of Beijing during and a little after the Games, but a significant proportion of the effect faded away by October 2009. For comparison, we also analyze an objective and indirect measure of air quality at a high spatial resolution – aerosol optimal depth (AOD), derived using the data from NASA satellites. The AOD analysis confirms the real but temporary improvement in air quality, it also shows a significant correlation between air quality improvement and the timing and location of plant closure and traffic control. These results suggest that it is possible to achieve real environmental improvement via stringent policy interventions, but for how long the effects of these interventions will last will largely depend on the continuation of the interventions.     

多污染因子健康影响的区域性综合评价方法

本文介绍了一种多污染因子健康影响的区域性综合评价方法.运用该方法进行办北京市大气污染对居民健康影响的研究》不仅证明了大气污染对居民健康的影响,还将北京市城、近郊区划分为影响程度不等的四个区.四个区健康指标水平间的比较,证明划分结果是合理的.方法可用于区域性、多项观察指标的大气污染及其他经环境介质污染健康影响的评价.     

Distribution of mercury in the atmosphere over Idrija, Slovenia

Idrija mine, the second largest mercury mine in the world, was in use since 1490. More than 107 000 tons of Hg were produced in its five centuries of history until 1990 when production was reduced to a few hundred kilos per year. The average recovery rate of mercury has been estimated to 73%; much of the remaining 27% was dissipated into the environment. In spite of present minimal levels of production, and only a few days of smelter operation per year, a real time survey with a mercury Zeeman analyser in a car showed relatively high mercury concentrations in the air. Amounts of 300--4000 ng Hg ^m-3 have been found around both the major sources of mercury vapour, the smelter and mine ventilation shaft -- while the amounts at the Old Place, at the City Museum, and near the Nikova-Idrijca confluence are of the order of 50 ng m^-3. Polluted air will be transported from those sources to a degree which depends on the weather conditions, mainly the direction and intensity of the wind. The high mercury contents in the air are not only due to anthropogenic sources (smelter and the ventilation shaft, dumps and smelter slag used in construction), but may also partly be natural as in the Pront area, where the outcropping bedrock contains native mercury.     

Does subway expansion improve air quality?

Major cities in China and many other fast-growing economies are expanding their subway systems in order to address worsening air pollution and traffic congestion. This paper quantifies the impact of subway expansion on air quality by leveraging fine-scale air quality data and the rapid build-out of 14 new subway lines and 252 stations in Beijing from 2008 to 2016. Our main empirical framework examines how the density of the subway network affects air quality across different locations in the city during this period. To address the potential endogenous location of subway stations, we construct an instrument based on historical subway planning, long before air pollution and traffic congestion were of concern. Our analysis shows that an increase in subway density by one standard deviation improves air quality by two percent and the result is robust to a variety of alternative specifications including the distance-based difference-in-differences method. The total discounted health benefit during a 20-year period from reduced mortality and morbidity as a result of 14 new subway lines amounts to $1.0–3.1 billion, or only 1.4–4.4 percent of the total construction and operating cost.     

空气污染对城市太阳辐射影响的试验研究

对太阳辐射强度和空气污染浓度的观测分析表明:晴日太阳辐射的减弱与空气污染浓度密切相关。因此可以用太阳辐射强度的长期变化间接推断当地大气质量的长期变化。     

An assessment of air pollution episodes in the urban area of athensfor the period 1984–1994

Air pollution episodes in the greater Athens area for the period 1984–1994 were examined to assess the type, frequency and repetitivity of air pollution in the examined area. The assessment depends strongly on the definition of an air pollution episode (APE), namely if it is the narrow or broad one. Results from the statistical analysis of the data record‐on the basis of the broad definition of the APE‐show a declining trend in the number of APEs especially for non‐photochemical species, a sharp increase of APEs from 1987 to 1993 due to high ozone levels and a similarly sharp decrease thereafter, and a decreasing trend of nitrogen dioxide episodes from the year 1992 thereon. Interannual examination of APEs shows that they occur in higher numbers during the period November to January and in the period May to July. Finally an examination of the number of days for which urgent‐short term‐measures were taken to reduce high levels of atmospheric pollution, shows a decreasing trend from 1989, with the exception of 1994 where the sharp increase in the number of days is due to the application of the urgent measures at a precautionary mode, i.e. when pollution loads exceed the alert levels, air pollution increases in rapid rates and meteorological conditions are supportive for an enhanced APE.     

武汉城区NOx污染特征及其变化趋势

武汉城区大气中NOx的污染,一日中以早晨最重,下午最轻;一年中,冬季的浓度比夏季高出37.7%.交通稠密区和商业集中区大气中的NOx年日均浓度分别比郊区高5倍和4.3倍.统计研究的结果表明,九年间特别是近六年来,武汉城区大气中NOx年日均值呈上升趋势.从1984年～1989年,大气中的NOx日均浓度平均每年以7%的速度递增,其超标率平均每年以0.8%的速度递增.     

Trade-off between road avoidance and attraction by roadside salt pools in moose: An agent-based model to assess measures for reducing moose-vehicle collisions

Moose-vehicle collisions are a frequent traffic-safety issue, particularly in northern regions where moose are attracted to the near-road areas because they can consume sodium from de-icing salts that accumulate in pools at snowmelt. Moose that find salt pools near roads tend to remember their location and to re-visit them to get the sodium they need in their diet. This study investigated the trade-off between road avoidance and salt pool spatial memory in the movement behaviour of moose using an agent-based model to determine how the interplay of these two factors influences the frequency of road crossings in the Laurentides Wildlife Reserve (Québec, Canada). Mitigation measures studied were the removal of roadside salt pools and the construction of compensatory salt pools away from the road shoulder. A GPS telemetry program of moose in the study area was used to validate our model. The model moose with both road avoidance and salt pool spatial memory activated produced the best results when comparing to the real moose data. Results show that both road avoidance and salt pool spatial memory significantly affect moose road crossings, but that road avoidance explains most of the variance. Road avoidance tended to decrease the number of moose crossings, but this decrease was partly compensated by the spatial memory of salt pools which typically increased the likelihood that moose will cross the road. The trade-off between road avoidance and salt pool memory was largest when original salt pools were maintained. In simulations where road avoidance and salt pool memory were both turned off, the impact of mitigation measures on the number of road crossings was lowest. For the most realistic moose behavior, the management scenarios resulted in reductions in road crossings between 22% and 79%, and the best scenario is to completely remove roadside salt pools. If compensation salt pools are used, they should be located as far as possible from the roads (beyond 500 m) to have an impact on moose road crossings.     

Air pollution-oriented ecological risk assessment in Xiamen city,China

Urban energy consumption is one of the most important causes of air pollution. Air pollution-oriented ecological risk assessment is of great significance to the promotion of urban environmental protection. This paper focuses on ecological risk in Xiamen city caused by air pollutant discharge from urban energy consumption. The Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning model was used to establish two scenarios of energy consumption in Xiamen city, and based on different scenarios, we estimated urban energy consumption and discharge quantity of air pollutant (DQAP). A box model and an expert scoring method were used to calculate the air pollution burden (APB) of SO₂, NO₂, CO, PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 and to obtain the probabilities of different air pollution loads. An ecological risk assessment model was developed and utilized to predict Xiamen city’s ecological risks in 2020. The results showed that under an energy-saving scenario, the ecological risks for PM_2.5, SO₂ and NO₂ are high, whereas the ecological risks for CO and PM₁₀ are low. Under a baseline scenario, the ecological risks for PM_2.5, SO₂ and NO₂ are moderate, whereas the ecological risks for CO and PM₁₀ are low. In addition, the APB of SO₂, NO₂, CO, and PM_2.5, but not of PM₁₀, is predicted to rise. In the simulation, energy generation from coal is the main source of air pollution. Although the DQAP from automobiles is not high, it is predicted to rise year-on-year. In summary, the ecological risk due to pollution in Xiamen city is high, and the main pollutants are SO₂, NO₂ and PM_2.5.     

Growth and pollution convergence: Theory and evidence

Stabilizing pollution levels in the long run is a pre-requisite for sustainable growth. We develop a neoclassical growth model with endogenous emission reduction predicting that, along optimal sustainable paths, pollution growth rates are (i) positively related to output growth (scale effect) and (ii) negatively related to emission levels (defensive effect). This dynamic law reduces to a convergence equation that is empirically tested for two major and regulated air pollutants – sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides – with a panel of 25 European countries spanning the years 1980–2005. Traditional parametric models are rejected by the data. More flexible regression techniques confirm the existence of both the scale and the defensive effect, supporting the model predictions.     

Metals and organic pollutants in snow surrounding an iron factory

To estimate air pollution snow samples were collected in March 2001 at six sites in the vicinity of the Kostomuksha factory in Karelia. Seventy-two chemical elements and more than 200 individual organic compounds were identified by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). It was found that the levels of Li, B, Al, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Hg, Mn, Mo as well as hydrocarbons, phthalates and phenols exceeded the existing maximum allowable concentrations. A list of toxicants emitted with the factory exhausts and a list of priority pollutants for Kostomuksha were compiled. The impact of the exhausts of the Kostomuksha factory on the environment in Finland is relatively small. Electronic Publication     

Cross‐sectional epidemiological study on arsenic excretion in urine of children and workers in Greece

An investigation was undertaken to study the exposure of children in areas with different air pollution and of adults working in three different plants (lead processing, battery plant, oil refinery) using arsenic in urine as a biological parameter. The arsenic excretion of the children are in agreement with the air pollution in the investigated areas. The workers in the lead processing plant are found to have the highest urine excretion values of the three worker collectives. The mean excretion values is nearly ten times higher than that found in the normal population.