OBJECTIVES We set out to examine associations between ambient air pollution concentrations and emergency department (ED) visits for migraine/headache in a multi-city study. MATERIALS AND METHODS We designed a time-series study of 64 839 ED visits for migraine (ICD-9: 346) and of 68 495 ED visits for headache (ICD-9: 784) recorded at hospitals in five different cities in Canada. The data (days...

To investigate the association of air pollution with maternal stress during pregnancy, we enrolled 1,931 women during mid-to-late pregnancy in Shanghai in 2010. The "Life-Event Scale for Pregnant Women" and "Symptom-Checklist-90-Revised Scale" (SCL-90-R) were used to evaluate life event stress and emotional stress, respectively. Air pollution data were collected for each district where pregnant...

Air pollution is one of the most important environmental problems in the town of Bor, situated in the eastern of Serbia. The main source of air pollution with sulphur dioxide, heavy metals and other toxic and carcinogenic elements present in particulate matter (PM) and aero sediments is the Copper Mining and Smelting Complex Bor. The distribution of air pollutants is mainly determined by the co...

Traffic congestion is one of the foremost problems confronted by the urban and suburban tenants of today. Traffic congestion increases vehicle emissions and degrades air quality. Urban planners and policy makers have consequently been always investigating choices to alleviate traffic congestion and to enhance air quality. Teleworking is one option that has received significant consideration and...

Ambient sulphur dioxide (SO2) measurements have been performed at a high altitude site in the semi arid region of western India, Gurushikhar, Mt. Abu (24.6 ̊N, 72.7 ̊E, 1680 m ASL), during different sampling periods span over Sep-Dec 2009 and Feb-Mar 2010. A global three dimensional chemical transport Model, GEOS-Chem, (v8-03-01) is employed to generate the SO2 profile for the entire region for t...

The lungs are one of the most important organs exposed to environmental agents. The lungs have the ability to protect themselves by both immunological and nonimmunological mechanisms. An individual’s susceptibility to the impact of environmental agents will determine their adverse effects. This article focuses on air pollution, in particular ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), particulate matte...

Sulfur dioxide (SO2) is a gaseous environmental pollutant which is routinely used in industry as a preservative and antimicrobial. Recent data suggests that SO2 may have value as a therapeutic agent. However, due to its gaseous nature, localizing SO2 generation is challenging. Herein, various 1,3-dihydrobenzo[c]thiophene 2,2-dioxides (benzosulfones) were prepared as candidates for photochemical...

BACKGROUND A study was performed to determine whether daily and weekly variations in the levels of smoke and sulphur dioxide (SO2) in Birmingham are related to hospital admissions for asthma and acute respiratory diseases. METHODS Daily numbers of hospital admissions for asthma (ICD code 493) and acute respiratory conditions (ICD 466, 480-486, 490-496) for residents of Birmingham between 1988...

The sulphur chemistry in nine regions in the earliest stages of high-mass star formation is studied through single-dish submillimeter spectroscopy. The line profiles indicate that 10–50% of the SO and SO2 emission arises in high-velocity gas, either infalling or outflowing. For the low-velocity gas, excitation temperatures are 25 K for H2S, 50 K for SO, H2CS, NS and HCS , and 100 K for OCS and ...

OBJECTIVE To examine associations between ambient air pollutants and respiratory outcomes among schoolchildren in Durban, South Africa. METHODS Primary schools from within each of seven communities in two regions of Durban (the highly industrialised south compared with the non-industrial north) were selected. Children from randomly selected grade 4 classrooms were invited to participate. Stan...