Toxicological effects of fresh and aged gasoline exhaust particles in Hong Kong.

Exhaust emissions from gasoline vehicles are one of the major contributors to aerosol particles observed in urban areas. It is well-known that these tiny particles are associated with air pollution, climate forcing, and adverse health effects. However, their toxicity and bioreactivity after atmospheric ageing are less constrained.

Chemical and toxicological characterization of particulate emissions from diesel vehicles.

This paper presents a detailed chemical and toxicological characterization of the diesel particulate matter (PM) emitted from diesel vehicles running on a chassis dynamometer under different driving conditions. Chemical analyses were performed to characterize the contents of organic carbon (OC), elemental carbon (EC), and 31 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the collected PM samples. The OC-EC analysis results revealed that PM emissions from diesel vehicles in this study were dominated by OC and that the emission of vehicles equipped with diesel particulate filters had high OC/EC ratios.

Potential Releases of I, U, and Pu Isotopes from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plants to the Ocean from 2013 to 2015.

After the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear accident, many efforts were put into the determination of the presence of Cs, Cs, I, and other gamma-emitting radionuclides in the ocean, but minor work was done regarding the monitoring of less volatile radionuclides, pure beta-ray emitters or simply radionuclides with very long half-lives. In this study we document the temporal evolution of I, U, and Pu isotopes (Pu and Pu) in seawater sampled during four different cruises performed 2, 3, and 4 years after the accident, and we compare the results to Cs collected at the same stations and depths. Our results show that concentrations of I are systematically above the nuclear weapon test levels at stations located close to the FDNPP, with a maximum value of 790 × 10 at·kg, that exceeds all previously reported I concentrations in the Pacific Ocean.