Background: With much of the world's population residing in urban areas, an understanding of air pollution exposures at the city level can inform mitigation approaches. Previous studies of global urban air pollution have not considered trends in air pollutant concentrations nor corresponding attributable mortality burdens. We aimed to estimate trends in fine particulate matter (PM2·5) concentrations and associated mortality for cities globally.
Background: Long-term exposure to ambient air pollution has been associated with premature mortality, but associations at concentrations lower than current annual limit values are uncertain. We analysed associations between low-level air pollution and mortality within the multicentre study Effects of Low-Level Air Pollution: A Study in Europe (ELAPSE).
Background: Combustion-related nitrogen dioxide (NO2) air pollution is associated with paediatric asthma incidence. We aimed to estimate global surface NO2 concentrations consistent with the Global Burden of Disease study for 1990–2019 at a 1 km resolution, and the concentrations and attributable paediatric asthma incidence trends in 13 189 cities from 2000 to 2019.
Background: Because of the limited epidemiological evidence on the association between acute air pollutants and allergy, there is a need to investigate this association, especially between the short-term exposure to air pollution and the serum Immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated allergy. Methods: A total of 39,569 IgE test results and demographic characteristics were obtained in the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University between August 2012 and September 2019. Ninety-nine specific allergens were tested according to clinical diagnosis.
Agricultural pesticides represent a significant class of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) to which non-target organisms around the world are constantly exposed. Laboratory studies have found strong evidence showing the endocrine-disruptive potential of these pesticides at environmentally relevant exposure levels. Since the field of endocrine disruption continues to grow in richness and complexity, this review aims to provide an update on the effects of two agricultural pesticides that act as EDCs: atrazine and endosulfan.
Background: Approximately 2·8 billion people are exposed to household air pollution from cooking with polluting fuels. Few monitoring studies have systematically measured health-damaging air pollutant (ie, fine particulate matter [PM2·5] and black carbon) concentrations from a wide range of cooking fuels across diverse populations. This multinational study aimed to assess the magnitude of kitchen concentrations and personal exposures to PM2·5 and black carbon in rural communities with a wide range of cooking environments.
In the last decade, the consumption trend of organic food has increased dramatically worldwide. Since only a few pesticides are authorized in organic crops, concentrations are expected to range at zero or ultra-trace levels. In this context, the aim of the present study was to investigate the need for an improvement in the residue controls at very low concentrations (
An Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography combined with Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (UHPLC–ToF-MS) method has been developed for determination of nine mycotoxins, namely aflatoxins (AFB1, AFB2, AFG1 and AFG2), ochratoxin A (OTA), zearalenone (ZEA), toxin T2 (T2) and fumonisins (FB1 and FB2) in maize. The method included a two-step extraction with acetonitrile 80% (v/v). After optimization, the analytical method was validated. The different concentrations tested take in account the Maximum Levels (ML) for maize (Commission Regulation EC no.
Microplastic (MP) studies in freshwater environments are gaining attention due to the huge quantities of plastic particles reported from lakes and rivers and the potential for negative impacts in these environments. Different units have been used to report MP densities, which makes it difficult to compare data and can result in reports of extremely high concentrations that do not reflect the original sample size. We recommended that the density of MPs from bulk samples be reported as number L −1 , while density from net samples should be reported as number m −3 .
Nanoplastic is an emerging topic of relevance in environmental science. The analytical methods for microplastic have a particle size limit of a few micrometers so that new methods have to be developed to cover the nanometer range. This contribution reviews the progress in environmental nanoplastic analysis and critically evaluates which techniques from nanomaterial analysis may potentially be adapted to close the methodological gap. A roadmap is brought forward for the whole analytical process from sample treatment to particle characterization.
