Predicting health impacts of wildfire smoke in Amazonas basin, Brazil.

Worldwide, smoke from forest fires has deleterious health effects. Even so, because of the complexity of fire mechanics, public health authorities face challenges in forecasting and thus mitigating population exposure to smoke. The population in the Amazon basin regularly suffers from fire smoke tied to agriculture and land-use change.

Pollutant-meteorological factors and cardio-respiratory mortality in Portugal: Seasonal variability and associations.

Seasonal variations in cardiorespiratory diseases may be influenced by air pollution and meteorological factors. This work aims to highlight the relevance of a complete seasonal characterization of the pollutant-meteorological factors and cardio-respiratory mortality in Portugal and the relationships between health outcomes and environmental risk factors. To this end, air pollution and meteorological variables along with health outcomes were analyzed at national level and on a monthly basis for the period of 2011-2020.

Aerosol properties in the atmosphere of Natal/Brazil measured by an AERONET Sun-photometer.

We analyzed data measured by a Sun-photometer of the RIMA-AERONET network with the purpose to characterize the aerosol properties in the atmosphere over Natal, state capital of Rio Grande do Norte, at the coast of Northeast Brazil. Aerosol Optical Depth, Ångström Exponent, Volume Size Distribution, Single Scattering Albedo, Complex Refractive Index, Asymmetry Factor, and Precipitable Water were analyzed from August 2017 to March 2018. In addition, MODIS and CALIOP observations, local Lidar measurements, and modeled backward trajectories were analyzed in a case study on February 9, 2018, that consistently confirmed the identification of a persistent aerosol layer below 4 km agl.

Characterization of the particulate matter and relationship between buccal micronucleus and urinary 1-hydroxypyrene levels among cashew nut roasting workers.

The present study is the first assessment of occupational risk associated with artisanal cashew nut roasting using exposure and effect biomarkers, as well as a characterization and dispersion analysis of the released particulate matter (PM). A real-time particle monitor was used to quantify PM, PM and PM. Furthermore, the PM was sampled using a Handi-vol sampler, and the physicochemical characteristics were determined by SEM-EDS analysis.