Scientific Committee on Air Pollution, Latin American Society of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.
Published: February 2021
AI Article Synopsis
Article Abstract
Evidence supports the link between air pollution and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Therefore, exposure to indoor pollution (IDP) is likely to be associated with the disease. The poor, refugees, and migrant workers who live in feeble conditions are the most vulnerable. The pandemic has caused many people to remain indoors, especially at-risk individuals (e.g., the elderly, diabetics, obese, cardiac, and chronic lung disease patients). Home isolation may be an underlying factor to other health problems among these populations if the place where they are socially isolating is not adequately ventilated. Therefore, understanding the consequences of the relationship between IDP and the COVID-19 pandemic is essential.
The impact of cooking with solid fuels on neighborhood-scale PM concentrations in rural towns and communities is poorly quantified due to the lack of credible ground-level monitoring sites and spatial heterogeneity at a scale that is below the resolution of remote sensing GEOS-Chem hybrid models. Emissions of PM from use of open fires for cooking in rural Mexico are known to cause poor indoor air quality. The effectiveness of different intervention strategies to reduce such pollution exposures also varies because of different local building densities and source intensities.
Department of Pediatric Cardiology, School of Medicine, Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, NO1665 Kongjiang Road, Shanghai, 200092, China.
Background: Congenital heart disease (CHD) is a common birth defect. Our previous studies suggest that indoor air pollution, especially total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs), may increase fetal CHD risk, whereas vitamin and folic acid (FA) supplements in early pregnancy might offer protection against CHD. However, limited research has explored whether FA or multivitamin supplementation can mitigate the effects of TVOCs exposure on CHD.
Environmental Risk Assessment Center, Gyeongnam Branch Institute, Korea Institute of Toxicology (KIT), Jinju 52834, Republic of Korea. Electronic address:
Microplastics (MPs) are one of the most widespread environmental pollutants, but their risk assessment to freshwater ecosystems has not been clearly investigated. Risk assessment has been constrained by the absence of MP concentration in some environment, the diverse types and shapes of MPs, and limitations of polystyrene (PS)-biased toxicity studies. This study examined exposure to MPs in rivers and lakes worldwide, including China (the Three Gorges Dam & Yangtze River (TGD & YR) and the lakes of Wuhan city (WL)), Vietnam (seven lakes of Da Nang city (7UL)), Europe (the Rhine River (RR)), Finland (Kallavesi Lake (KL)), Argentina (nine lakes in the Patagonia region (9LP)), Brazil (Guaiba Lake (GL)), and South Korea (Nakdong River (NR), Han River (HR), and Anyang Stream (AS)), and assessed the risks to aquatic ecosystems based on the toxicity information and morphology of MPs.
Coastal lagoons, acting as transitional zones, are increasingly threatened by microplastic (MP) pollution. This study investigates the spatio-seasonal distribution of MPs in Chilika Lagoon sediments to propose effective mitigation measures. MPs were extracted using density flotation and wet peroxide oxidation, followed by quantitative analysis with a stereomicroscope and qualitative analysis with micro-Fourier Transform Infrared (μ-FTIR) spectroscopy.
This study investigated the associations between residential environmental characteristics and the prevalence of cardiometabolic diseases in the five largest Bulgarian cities. Representative cross-sectional survey data (N = 4640 adults) was collected in Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, and Ruse. Participants self-reported diagnosis or medication intake for hypertension, ischemic heart disease (IHD), stroke, and diabetes mellitus, as well as domestic burning of solid fuel and having a domestic garden.
