Submicron aerosol pollution in Greater Cairo (Egypt): A new type of urban haze?

Greater Cairo, the largest megacity of the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region, is currently suffering from major aerosol pollution, posing a significant threat to public health. However, the main sources of pollution remain insufficiently characterized due to limited atmospheric observations. To bridge this knowledge gap, we conducted a continuous 2-month field study during the winter of 2019-2020 at an urban background site, documenting for the first time the chemical and physical properties of submicron (PM) aerosols.

Emission of volatile organic compounds from residential biomass burning and their rapid chemical transformations.

Biomass combustion releases a complex array of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) that pose significant challenges to air quality and human health. Although biomass burning has been extensively studied at ecosystem levels, understanding the atmospheric transformation and impact on air quality of emissions in urban environments remains challenging due to complex sources and burning materials. In this study, we investigate the VOC emission rates and atmospheric chemical processing of predominantly wood burning emissions in a small urban centre in Greece.

Comprehensive chemical characterization of PM in the large East Mediterranean-Middle East city of Beirut, Lebanon.

The chemical composition of PM at two sites in Lebanon, a country in the East Mediterranean - Middle East region, is investigated in the spring and summer seasons. The average PM concentrations were of (29 ± 16) µg/m for Beirut urban site and (32 ± 14) µg/m for Beirut suburban site. This study showed that the geographic location of the East Mediterranean region, such as its proximity to the Mediterranean Sea and the dust storm intrusion are a significant contributor to the high PM levels from natural sources, which cannot be mitigated, rendering the PM WHO annual Air Quality guideline unattainable due to high natural background, which also applies to the entire Middle East region.

Fine aerosol sources at an urban background site in the Eastern Mediterranean (Nicosia; Cyprus): Insights from offline versus online source apportionment comparison for carbonaceous aerosols.

A total of 348 daily PM samples were collected at an urban background site of Nicosia, capital of Cyprus, for one-year period (October 2018-October 2019) to assess the origin and sources of fine PM at the Eastern Mediterranean, a poorly characterized area of the world. The samples were analysed for water soluble ionic species, elemental and organic carbon, carbohydrates and trace metals, the combination of which were utilized to identify pollution sources by applying Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF). Six PM sources, namely long-range transport (LRT; 38 %), traffic (20 %), biomass burning (16 %), dust (10 %), sea salt (9 %) and heavy oil combustion (7 %), were identified.

Exposure to airborne SARS-CoV-2 in four hospital wards and ICUs of Cyprus. A detailed study accounting for day-to-day operations and aerosol generating procedures.

In any infectious disease, understanding the modes of transmission is key to selecting effective public health measures. In the case of COVID-19 spread, the strictness of the imposed measures outlined the lack of understanding on how SARS-CoV-2 transmits, particularly via airborne pathways. With the aim to characterize the transmission dynamics of airborne SARS-CoV-2, 165 and 62 air and environmental samples, respectively, were collected in four COVID-19 wards and ICUs in Cyprus and analyzed by RT-PCR.