Stone crushing unit workers suffer from particulate matters and respirable silica at work and in their residents nearby. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the area and personal exposure concentration of respirable particulate matters and silica in workplaces and in surrounding villages. PM10, PM4 and PM2.5 were considered for unit area measurement and PM4 and PM2.5 were considered fo...

In this review, atmospheric particulates as composite airborne earth materials often containing both natural and anthropogenic components were examined in the context of medical geology. Despite a vast number of both experimental and epidemiological studies confirming the direct and indirect links between atmospheric particulates and human health, the exact nature of mechanisms affecting the pa...

Introduction: The present study aimed to compare the performance of two widely-used models for spatial assessment of particulate matter less than 10 microns (PM10) in ambient air of Yazd city. Finally, effective factors on concentrations of pollutants and corresponding standards were investigated. Materials and Methods: A number of 13 sampling stations were employed in different areas of Yazd ...

Traffic-related air pollution is associated with adverse respiratory effects. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether exposure to air pollution in a road tunnel causes airway inflammatory and blood coagulation responses. A total of 16 healthy subjects underwent bronchoscopy with bronchial mucosal biopsies and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) on two occasions, in random order: once a...

Particulate matters (PM) at the pedestrian level significantly raises the health impacts in the compact urban environment of Hong Kong. A detailed investigation of the fine-scale spatial variation of pedestrian-level PM is necessary to assess the health risk to pedestrians in the outdoor environment. However, the collection of PM data is difficult in the compact urban environment of Hong Kong d...

Background: There is a growing body of literature linking GIS-based measures of traffic density to asthma and other respiratory outcomes. However, no consensus exists on which traffic indicators best capture variability in different pollutants or within different settings. As part of a study on childhood asthma etiology, we examined variability in outdoor concentrations of multiple traffic-rela...

Artificial neural network (ANN) is a commonly used approach to estimate or forecast air pollution levels, which are usually assessed by the concentrations of air contaminants such as nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, ozone, and suspended particulate matters (PMs) in the atmosphere of the concerned areas. Even through ANN can accurately estimate air pollution levels they are num...

Particulate matter accumulated on car engine air-filters (CAFs) was examined in order to investigate the potential use of these devices as efficient samplers for collecting street level air that people are exposed to. The morphology, microstructure, and chemical composition of a variety of particles were studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX). The par...

The road traffic impact on the concentrations of 13 fractions of particulate matter (PM) and their components was assessed. PM was sampled at two points in Katowice (southern Poland), a background point beyond the effects of road traffic, and a near-highway traffic point. The samples were analyzed for organic and elemental carbon, 8 water-soluble ions, 24 elements, and 16 polycyclic aromatic hy...