Combined Effect of Ambient Temperature and Relative Humidity on Skin Aging Phenotypes in the Era of Climate Change: Results From an Indian Cohort Study.

There is no doubt that global warming, with its extreme heat events, is having an increasing impact on human health. Heat is not independent of ambient temperature but acts synergistically with relative humidity (RH) to increase the risk of several diseases, such as cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases. Although the skin is the organ in direct contact with the environment, it is currently unknown whether skin health is similarly affected.

A historical perspective of malaria policy and control in India.

Malaria is a major public health problem in India, with ∼0.18 million cases reported in 2022 and 1,309 million population living at risk of infection. The Indian government has introduced various intervention strategies to reduce and manage the number of outbreaks with proper mechanisms.

Variation in oxidative potential of fine particulate matter and its association with chemical constituents at a regional site in India.

Fine particulate matter (PM) constituents are greatly affected by site-specific emission sources and are one of the main reasons for oxidative stress that leads to cardiovascular ailments. This study investigated the temporal, seasonal, and episodic variations in the oxidative potential (OP) of PM and its association with chemical components. Additionally, we have also examined the effect of filter substrates on OP.

Characterization and apportionment of carbonaceous aerosol emission factors from light-duty and heavy-duty vehicle fleets in Maharashtra, India.

This study aims to investigate the characteristics of carbonaceous aerosols and estimate emission factor (EF) based on roadway tunnel measurements, from two distinct vehicular fleets: an all light-duty vehicle (LDV) fleet, and a mixed fleet of 80% LDV and 20% heavy-duty vehicle (HDV). Carbonaceous content (organic carbon: OC and elemental carbon: EC) in total fine particles (PM) accounted for 41% ± 6.8% in LDV fleet and 48% ± 7.

Chemical and oxidative properties of fine particulate matter from near-road traffic sources.

The toxicity associated with the fine particulate matter (PM) has not been well studied, particularly in relation to the emissions from on-road vehicles and other sources in low- and middle-income countries such as India. Thus, a study was conducted to examine the oxidative potential (OP) of PM at a roadside (RS) site with heavy vehicular traffic and an urban background (BG) site in Mumbai using the dithiothreitol (DTT) assay. Simultaneous gravimetric PM was measured at both sites and characterized for carbonaceous constituents and water-soluble trace elements and metals.

Reassessing the availability of crop residue as a bioenergy resource in India: A field-survey based study.

Second-generation bioenergy, a carbon neutral or negative renewable resource, is crucial to achieving India's net-zero emission targets. Crop residues are being targeted as a bioenergy resource as they are otherwise burned on-field, leading to significant pollutant emissions. But estimating their bioenergy potential is problematic because of broad assumptions about their surplus fractions.

On-road vehicular emission characterization from the road-tunnel measurements in India: Morphology, emission factors, and sources.

In India, there is very limited data on vehicular emission characterization in real-world driving conditions and the contribution of non-exhaust vehicular emissions to ambient particulate matter (PM) is still unanswered. Furthermore, there are no real-world emission factors (EFs) for the PM constituents. Thus, this study aims to characterize the trace elements and metals, and black carbon (BC) in PM and PM from the light-duty vehicles (LDVs) and mixed vehicular fleet with significant contribution of heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs) through road-tunnel measurements.

Chemical characteristics and oxidative potential of indoor and outdoor PM in densely populated urban slums.

A significant proportion of population in metropolitan cities in India live in slums which are highly dense and crowded informal housing settlements with poor environmental conditions including high exposure to air pollution. Recent studies report that toxicity is induced by oxidative processes, mediated by the water-soluble PM chemical components leading to reactive oxygen species production thereby causing inflammatory disorders. Hence, for the first time, this study assessed the chemical characteristics and oxidative potential (OP) of indoor and outdoor PM in two slums in Mumbai, India.

H NMR structural signatures of source and atmospheric organic aerosols in India.

Organic aerosols (OA) play significant roles in several atmospheric processes and adversely impact human health. This study examines the key structural units present in water- and methanol-soluble organic carbon (WSOC, MSOC) fraction of OA from emission sources (traffic and biomass cooking) and an urban background location in India. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance (H NMR) spectroscopy was employed to assess the distribution of non-exchangeable proton structural groups of the OAs.

Inequalities in occupational exposures among people using popular commute modes.

Several recent studies have looked into the differences in air qualities inside popular commute modes. The impact of daily commuting patterns and work-related trips on inhalation doses, however, are not investigated. The purpose of this study is to quantify the variation in air pollutants within popular commute modes in Mumbai, India, and to estimate the variation in exposure as a result of occupational or work-related trips across different sub-groups.

Clinical, Epidemiological and Experimental Approaches to Assess Adverse Health Outcomes of Indoor Biomass Smoke Exposure: Conclusions from An Indo-Swedish Workshop in Mysuru, January 2020.

This report summarizes the outcome of a workshop held in Mysuru, India in January 2020 addressing the adverse health effects of exposure to biomass smoke (BMS). The aim of the workshop was to identify uncertainties and gaps in knowledge and possible methods to address them in the Mysuru study on Determinants of Health in Rural Adults (MUDHRA) cohort. Specific aims were to discuss the possibility to improve and introduce new screening methods for exposure and effect, logistic limitations and other potential obstacles, and plausible strategies to overcome these in future studies.

Spatial and seasonal variation of outdoor BC and PM in densely populated urban slums.

A large proportion of residents in urban centers of low- and middle-income countries live in low-socioeconomic neighborhoods called "slums" characterized by low-cost housings of high population density, poor ventilation, and likely poor air quality. This study provides the first quantitative assessment of spatial and seasonal variation of outdoor BC and PM concentrations in several densely populated slums of Mumbai, India. Mobile outdoor real-time BC and PM monitoring was conducted along pre-designed monitoring routes in seven slums in Mumbai during the summer (May-June 2015 and May 2016) and repeated in four of them during the winter (February 2016).

Origin and properties of soluble brown carbon in freshly emitted and aged ambient aerosols over an urban site in India.

This work investigates the absorption properties of soluble brown carbon (BrC), extracted in methanol and water, from ambient aerosol (PM) samples, collected over an urban background site in Mumbai, India. The diurnal variability was investigated in samples collected in the morning (7-11 a.m.

Development of land use regression models for nitrogen dioxide, ultrafine particles, lung deposited surface area, and four other markers of particulate matter pollution in the Swiss SAPALDIA regions.

Background: Land Use Regression (LUR) is a popular method to explain and predict spatial contrasts in air pollution concentrations, but LUR models for ultrafine particles, such as particle number concentration (PNC) are especially scarce. Moreover, no models have been previously presented for the lung deposited surface area (LDSA) of ultrafine particles. The additional value of ultrafine particle metrics has not been well investigated due to lack of exposure measurements and models.

Spatial variation of PM elemental composition between and within 20 European study areas--Results of the ESCAPE project.

An increasing number of epidemiological studies suggest that adverse health effects of air pollution may be related to particulate matter (PM) composition, particularly trace metals. However, we lack comprehensive data on the spatial distribution of these elements. We measured PM2.

Modeling indoor air pollution of outdoor origin in homes of SAPALDIA subjects in Switzerland.

Given the shrinking spatial contrasts in outdoor air pollution in Switzerland and the trends toward tightly insulated buildings, the Swiss Cohort Study on Air Pollution and Lung and Heart Diseases in Adults (SAPALDIA) needs to understand to what extent outdoor air pollution remains a determinant for residential indoor exposure. The objectives of this paper are to identify determining factors for indoor air pollution concentrations of particulate matter (PM), ultrafine particles in the size range from 15 to 300nm, black smoke measured as light absorbance of PM (PMabsorbance) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and to develop predictive indoor models for SAPALDIA. Multivariable regression models were developed based on indoor and outdoor measurements among homes of selected SAPALDIA participants in three urban (Basel, Geneva, Lugano) and one rural region (Wald ZH) in Switzerland, various home characteristics and reported indoor sources such as cooking.

Long-term effects of elemental composition of particulate matter on inflammatory blood markers in European cohorts.

Background: Epidemiological studies have associated long-term exposure to ambient particulate matter with increased mortality from cardiovascular and respiratory disorders. Systemic inflammation is a plausible biological mechanism behind this association. However, it is unclear how the chemical composition of PM affects inflammatory responses.

Land use regression models for crustal and traffic-related PM2.5 constituents in four areas of the SAPALDIA study.

Many studies have documented adverse health effects of long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5), but there is still limited knowledge regarding the causal relationship between specific sources of PM2.5 and such health effects.

Differences in indoor versus outdoor concentrations of ultrafine particles, PM2.5, PMabsorbance and NO2 in Swiss homes.

Indoor air quality is a growing concern as we spend the majority of time indoors and as new buildings are increasingly airtight for energy saving purposes. For a better understanding of residential indoor air pollution in Switzerland we conducted repeated 1-2-week-long indoor and outdoor measurements of particle number concentrations (PNC), particulate matter (PM), light absorbance of PM2.5 (PMabsorbance) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2).

Ambient ultrafine particle levels at residential and reference sites in urban and rural Switzerland.

Although there is evidence that ultrafine particles (UFP) do affect human health there are currently no legal ambient standards. The main reasons are the absence of spatially resolved exposure data to investigate long-term health effects and the challenge of defining representative reference sites for monitoring given the high dependence of UFP on proximity to sources. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the spatial distribution of UFP in four areas of the Swiss Study on Air Pollution and Lung and Heart Diseases in Adults (SAPALDIA) and to investigate the representativeness of routine air monitoring stations for residential sites in these areas.

The relevance of commuter and work/school exposure in an epidemiological study on traffic-related air pollution.

Exposure during transport and at non-residential locations is ignored in most epidemiological studies of traffic-related air pollution. We investigated the impact of separately estimating NO2 long-term outdoor exposures at home, work/school, and while commuting on the association between this marker of exposure and potential health outcomes. We used spatially and temporally resolved commuter route data and model-based NO2 estimates of a population sample in Basel, Switzerland, to assign individual NO2-exposure estimates of increasing complexity, namely (1) home outdoor concentration; (2) time-weighted home and work/school concentrations; and (3) time-weighted concentration incorporating home, work/school and commute.

Application of land use regression modelling to assess the spatial distribution of road traffic noise in three European cities.

Noise prediction models and noise maps are used to estimate the exposure to road traffic noise, but their availability and the quality of the noise estimates is sometimes limited. This paper explores the application of land use regression (LUR) modelling to assess the long-term intraurban spatial variability of road traffic noise in three European cities. Short-term measurements of road traffic noise taken in Basel, Switzerland (n=60), Girona, Spain (n=40), and Grenoble, France (n=41), were used to develop two LUR models: (a) a "GIS-only" model, which considered only predictor variables derived with Geographic Information Systems; and (b) a "Best" model, which in addition considered the variables collected while visiting the measurement sites.

Adult lung function and long-term air pollution exposure. ESCAPE: a multicentre cohort study and meta-analysis.

The chronic impact of ambient air pollutants on lung function in adults is not fully understood. The objective of this study was to investigate the association of long-term exposure to ambient air pollution with lung function in adult participants from five cohorts in the European Study of Cohorts for Air Pollution Effects (ESCAPE). Residential exposure to nitrogen oxides (NO₂, NOx) and particulate matter (PM) was modelled and traffic indicators were assessed in a standardised manner.

Modifying effect of a common polymorphism in the interleukin-6 promoter on the relationship between long-term exposure to traffic-related particulate matter and heart rate variability.

Background: Exposure to particulate matter (PM) has been associated with an increase in many inflammatory markers, including interleukin 6 (IL6). Air pollution exposure has also been suggested to induce an imbalance in the autonomic nervous system (ANS), such as a decrease in heart rate variability (HRV). In this study we aimed to investigate the modifying effect of polymorphisms in a major proinflammatory marker gene, interleukin 6 (IL6), on the relationship between long-term exposure to traffic-related PM10 (TPM10) and HRV.

Arterial blood pressure and long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution: an analysis in the European Study of Cohorts for Air Pollution Effects (ESCAPE).

Background: Long-term exposure to air pollution has been hypothesized to elevate arterial blood pressure (BP). The existing evidence is scarce and country specific.

Objectives: We investigated the cross-sectional association of long-term traffic-related air pollution with BP and prevalent hypertension in European populations.