Industrial air pollution: British progress—a review

Recent Annual Reports on industrial air pollution issued by the U.K. Health and Safety Executive show that considerable progress has been made. Further “Presumptive Limits of Emission” and “Notes on Best Practicable Means” have been published by H.M. Alkali and Clean Air Inspectorate. The lists given in this journal [9, 709 (1975)] are extended in the Appendices. An abstract is given of BPM for oil refineries.Heavy smoke from blue brick manufacture and from shaft lime kilns has been eliminated by gas firing. Steps have been taken to reduce emissions of vinyl chloride, PCBs, compounds of fluorine and of toxic metals, As, Sb, Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, Sn, Zn and radioactives. Reduction of low-level emissions is a continuing problem in improving local amenity. Considerable attention has been paid to continuous monitoring of massive emissions and of concentrations of pollutants outside factories, including odours. Arrestment equipment supplied to small firms has given trouble through poor design of components and monitors, inadequate help by suppliers during commissioning, and by lack of training and correct maintenance by management; tight specifications requiring quality engineering should be prepared by purchasers.Lectures to workers, backed by booklets, are assisting in making difficult works better neighbours.The Inspectorate has six sampling teams, mainly for dust, and nine task groups for special programmes. A computer programme for calculation of ground concentrations from multiple sources is assisting inspectors to assess complex situations.It is the author's opinion that research workers on environmental problems should examine these Reports to find more industrial subjects for study.     

Prevalence of coal worker’s pneumoconiosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Global prevalence trend and regional differences of coal worker’s pneumoconiosis (CWP) remain unclear. This study aimed to provide systematic...     

The state of indoor air quality in Pakistan—a review

Background and purpose  

In Pakistan, almost 70% of the population lives in rural areas. Ninety-four percent of households in rural areas and 58% in urban areas depend on biomass fuels (wood, dung, and agricultural waste). These solid fuels have poor combustion efficiency. Due to incomplete combustion of the biomass fuels, the resulting smoke contains a range of health-deteriorating substances that, at varying concentrations, can pose a serious threat to human health. Indoor air pollution accounts for 28,000 deaths a year and 40 million cases of acute respiratory illness. It places a significant economic burden on Pakistan with an annual cost of 1% of GDP. Despite the mounting evidence of an association between indoor air pollution and ill health, policy makers have paid little attention to it. This review analyzes the existing information on levels of indoor air pollution in Pakistan and suggests suitable intervention methods.     

The effect of air pollution and emotional and behavioral problems on preschoolers’ overweight and obesity

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Childhood overweight and obesity (OWO) has risen dramatically in both developed and developing countries over the past few decades, creating a huge...     

The effect of air pollution on drivers’ safety performance

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Numerous studies have determined the adverse effects of air pollution on the health, welfare, and comfort of humans. More recently, the effects of air...     

Characteristics and treatment of greywater—a review

Safe and sufficient quantity of water is necessary for a healthy growth of human beings. The gap between water demand and available water supply is increasing day by day. Proper sanitation, especially decentralized approach, can solve the problem of water supply and wastewater management and that can be done by reuse of greywater. Typically, from a household, greywater (GW) flow is around 65 % of the total wastewater flow. Further light greywater is around 50 % of the total GW. Hence, GW has a high potential for recycle and reuse. The aim of this article is to reveal the present state of art in GW treatment and to identify the further scope for research. Present article contains a review on per capita GW generation, GW characteristics, and its treatment. Around 22 treatment systems comprising different treatment processes are discussed in detail for removal efficiency of pollutants, effluent concentrations and their compliance with wastewater reuse guidelines and standards. Constructed wetland and filtration were found efficient in the removal of most of the reuse parameters compared to other technologies. Anaerobic followed by aerobic system with post-disinfection unit may be a sustainable option for GW treatment for reuse. There is a need to develop the technologies for GW treatment at household level to increase the reuse practises at grass root level. Further, there is need of development of flow diagram with different technologies by targeting the type of reuse (flushing, gardening, agriculture, etc.).     

Role of biochar on composting of organic wastes and remediation of contaminated soils—a review

Biochar is produced by pyrolysis of biomass residues under limited oxygen conditions. In recent years, biochar as an amendment has received increasing attention on composting and soil remediation, due to its unique properties such as chemical recalcitrance, high porosity and sorption capacity, and large surface area. This paper provides an overview on the impact of biochar on the chemical characteristics (greenhouse gas emissions, nitrogen loss, decomposition and humification of organic matter) and microbial community structure during composting of organic wastes. This review also discusses the use of biochar for remediation of soils contaminated with organic pollutants and heavy metals as well as related mechanisms. Besides its aging, the effects of biochar on the environment fate and efficacy of pesticides deserve special attention. Moreover, the combined application of biochar and compost affects synergistically on soil remediation and plant growth. Future research needs are identified to ensure a wide application of biochar in composting and soil remediation.

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Development of a second-generation mathematical model for Urban air pollution—I. Model formulation

A new comprehensive modeling system for urban air pollution, including three-dimensional, grid-based as well as Lagrangian trajectory, vertically integrated and single cell formulations, is described. Recent developments in photochemistry, turbulent diffusion, surface removal processes, objective analysis procedures and numerical solution techniques are incorporated and described.     

Feasibility of biochar application on a landfill final cover—a review on balancing ecology and shallow slope stability

Due to the increasing concerns on global warming, scarce land for agriculture, and contamination impacts on human health, biochar application is being considered as one of the possible measures for carbon sequestration, promoting higher crop yield and contamination remediation. Significant amount of researches focusing on these three aspects have been conducted during recent years. Biochar as a soil amendment is effective in promoting plant performance and sustainability, by enhancing nutrient bioavailability, contaminants immobilization, and microbial activities. The features of biochar in changing soil physical and biochemical properties are essential in affecting the sustainability of an ecosystem. Most studies showed positive results and considered biochar application as an effective and promising measure for above-mentioned interests. Bio-engineered man-made filled slope and landfill slope increasingly draw the attention of geologists and geotechnical engineers. With increasing number of filled slopes, sustainability, low maintenance, and stability are the major concerns. Biochar as a soil amendment changes the key factors and parameters in ecology (plant development, soil microbial community, nutrient/contaminant cycling, etc.) and slope engineering (soil weight, internal friction angle and cohesion, etc.). This paper reviews the studies on the production, physical and biochemical properties of biochar and suggests the potential areas requiring study in balancing ecology and man-made filled slope and landfill cover engineering. Biochar-amended soil should be considered as a new type of soil in terms of soil mechanics. Biochar performance depends on soil and biochar type which imposes challenges to generalize the research outcomes. Aging process and ecotoxicity studies of biochar are strongly required.     

Mixing height—an inconsistent indicator of potential air pollution concentrations

The correlation between mixing height and air pollution levels was found to be inconsistent. Mixing height had a lower correlation to the maximum oxidant concentration than other parameters such as temperatures at different heights, the previous day's oxidant concentration, height and temperature of the inversion base and top, geopotential heights and pressure gradient. Mixing height also had a lower correlation with the maximum CO concentration than other parameters, including the inversion base height, the previous day's CO concentration, temperatures at different heights, pressure gradients and geopotential heights. Low correlations between mixing height and air pollution levels may be because:

• 1.(1) there is a greater variation in mixing height in time and space than is generally thought;
• 2.(2) the standard calculation of mixing height does not give an accurate estimation of the height to which pollutants are dispersed or
• 3.(3) air pollutants may have had insufficient time to disperse to the mixing height. When empirically derived statistical models are used to predict air pollution levels, failure to include mixing height as a potential predictor will probably not degrade the quality of the model.

     

Solution by dilution?—A review on the pollution status of the Yangtze River

The Yangtze River has been a source of life and prosperity for the Chinese people for centuries and is a habitat for a remarkable variety of aquatic species. But the river suffers from huge amounts of urban sewage, agricultural effluents, and industrial wastewater as well as ship navigation wastes along its course. With respect to the vast amounts of water and sediments discharged by the Yangtze River, it is reasonable to ask whether the pollution problem may be solved by simple dilution. This article reviews the past two decades of published research on organic pollutants in the Yangtze River and several adjacent water bodies connected to the main stream, according to a holistic approach. Organic pollutant levels and potential effects of water and sediments on wildlife and humans, measured in vitro, in vivo, and in situ, were critically reviewed. The contamination with organic pollutants, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/polychlorinated dibenzofurans, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), and others, of water and sediment along the river was described. Especially Wuhan section and the Yangtze Estuary exhibited stronger pollution than other sections. Bioassays, displaying predominantly the endpoints mutagenicity and endocrine disruption, applied at sediments, drinking water, and surface water indicated a potential health risk in several areas. Aquatic organisms exhibited detectable concentrations of toxic compounds like PCBs, OCPs, PBDEs, and PFCs. Genotoxic effects could also be assessed in situ in fish. To summarize, it can be stated that dilution reduces the ecotoxicological risk in the Yangtze River, but does not eliminate it. Keeping in mind an approximately 14 times greater water discharge compared to the major European river Rhine, the absolute pollution mass transfer of the Yangtze River is of severe concern for the environmental quality of its estuary and the East China Sea. Based on the review, further research needs have been identified.     

The use of vegetation,bees, and snails as important tools for the biomonitoring of atmospheric pollution—a review

The continuous discharge of diverse chemical products in the environment is nowadays of great concern to the whole world as some of them persist in the environment leading to serious diseases. Several sampling techniques have been used for the characterization of this chemical pollution, although biomonitoring using natural samplers has recently become the technique of choice in this field due to its efficiency, specificity, and low cost. In fact, several living organisms known as biomonitors could accumulate the well-known persistent environmental pollutants allowing their monitoring in the environment. In this work, a review on environmental biomonitoring is presented. The main sampling techniques used for monitoring environmental pollutants are first reported, followed by an overview on well-known natural species used as passive samplers and known as biomonitors. These species include conifer needles, lichen, mosses, bees and their byproducts, and snails, and were widely used in recent research as reliable monitors for environmental pollution.

     

The influence of antibiotics on the anammox process — a review

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) is one of the most promising processes for the treatment of ammonium-rich wastewater. It is more effective,...     

SIMAIR—Evaluation tool for meeting the EU directive on air pollution limits

Almost all Swedish cities need to determine air pollution levels—especially PM10—close to major streets. SIMAIR is an internet tool that can be used by all Swedish municipalities to assess PM10, NO₂, CO and benzene levels and how they compare to the EU directive. SIMAIR is delivered to the municipalities with all required input data pre-loaded and is meant to be used prior to decisions if and where, monitoring campaigns are required. The system includes a road and vehicle database with emission factors and a model to calculate non-tailpipe PM10 emissions. Regional and urban background contributions are pre-calculated and stored as hourly values on a 1×1 km² grid. The local contribution is calculated by the user, selecting either an open road or a street canyon environment.A comparison between measured and simulated concentrations in four street locations shows that SIMAIR is able to calculate statistics of yearly mean values, 90-percentile and 98-percentile daily mean values and the number of days exceeding the limit value that are well within ±50% that EU requires for model estimates of yearly mean values. In comparison, all values except one are within ±25% which is the quality objective for fixed measurements according to the EU directive.The SIMAIR model system is also able to separate the percentual contribution of the long-range transport from outside the city, the city contribution and the local contribution from the traffic of an individual street.     

The relationship between ambient carbon monoxide and heart rate variability—a systematic world review—2015

The objective of this report is to systematically review the literature pertaining to the evidence of the relationship between environmental carbon monoxide (CO) and heart rate variability (HRV). For this purpose, reports published in English scientific journals were critically reviewed by the authors employing PRISMA guidelines. Fifteen studies performed in China, Finland, Israel, Mexico, Taiwan, and the USA were identified as eligible to be included in the review. Out of these, 10 studies found a significant relationship between CO and HRV. However, while a proportion of these studies found an increase in parasympathetic tone, other studies found an increase in sympathetic tone. Methodological differences across these studies, including population understudy, sample size, measurement techniques, and accounting for intervening variables do not pave the way for a consensual conclusion. In conclusion, the lack of consistent results on the relationship between CO and HRV as reflected by the present review calls for more research employing appropriate indoor and outdoor ecological designs that account for possible interaction effects and individual differences. Involvement of olfactory receptors is suggested as a possible underlying mechanism for both short response latencies as well as for the diversity between individuals and samples investigated.     

Impact of reaction products from building materials and furnishings on indoor air quality—A review of recent advances in indoor chemistry

The variety of chemical substances present in modern building products, household products and furnishings provides potential for chemical reactions in the material (case 1), on the material surface (case 2) and in the gas phase (case 3). Such “indoor chemistry” is known as one of the main reasons for primary and secondary emissions. The conditions of production often cause unwanted side reactions and a number of new compounds can be found in finished products. Elevated temperatures are responsible for the degradation of cellulose, decomposition of non-heat-resistant additives and other thermally induced reactions like Diels–Alder synthesis. Heterogeneous chemistry takes place on the surface of materials. Well-known examples are the formation of aliphatic aldehydes from the oxidation of unsaturated fatty acids or the cleavage of photoinitiators under the influence of light. In case of composite flooring structures hydrolysis is one of the major pathways for the appearance of alcohols from esters. If different kinds of material are fixed together, emissions of new VOCs formed by inter-species reactions are possible. Other indoor air pollutants are formed by rearrangement of cleavage products or by metabolism. Compounds with –CC– bonds like terpenes, styrene, 4-phenylcyclohexene, etc. undergo gas phase reactions with O₃, NO_x, OH and other reactive gases. It has been shown that such products derived from indoor-related reactions may have a negative impact on indoor air quality due to their low odor threshold or health-related properties. Therefore, the understanding of primary and secondary emissions and the chemical processes behind is essential for the evaluation of indoor air quality. This publication gives an overview on the current state of research and new findings regarding primary and secondary emissions from building products and furnishings.     

Trends of ischemic heart disease mortality attributable to household air pollution during 1990–2019 in China and India: an age-period-cohort analysis

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) caused by household air pollution (HAP) have sparked widespread concern globally in the recent decade. Meanwhile,...