BACKGROUND Sweepers are chronically exposed to dust raised during sweeping. Dust is regarded as the most influential agent and it is perceived as a frequent cause of respiratory system illness and may cause acute and chronic lung function impairment. AIMS The aim of this study was to determine the acute lung function changes in sweepers exposed to dust generated from street sweeping. MATERI...

Data assimilation of dust aerosol observations for CUACE/Dust forecasting system T. Niu, S. L. Gong, G. F. Zhu, H. L. Liu, X. Q. Hu, C. H. Zhou, and Y. Q. Wang Center for Atmosphere Watch & Services (CAWAS), Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, China Meteorological Administration (CMA), Beijing 100081, China Air Quality Research Division, Science & Technology Branch, Environment Canada, ...

Fifty-five urban street dust samples were collected from Zhuzhou, an industrial city in central China and analyzed for a range of toxic elements. Potential carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health effects on children and adults due to exposure to street dust were assessed. Concerning the two subgroups, the child cohort is confronted with considerably greater health risks than adults. According ...

Carbonate carbon (CC) represents an important fraction of atmospheric PM10 along with organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC), if specific sources (e.g. street abrasion, construction sites, desert dust) contribute to its composition. However, analytical methods for an easy and unambiguous determination of CC in atmospheric aerosols collected on filter matrices are scarce. We propose here ...

In order to assess the grain-size distribution and chemical speciation of heavy metals, 34 dust samples were collected in the city of Wuhu. Heavy metals concentrations in street dust of different districts varied greatly. Zn concentration in the traffic district, for example, is more than two times that of other districts, and Cu concentration in the industrial district is more than three times...

The U. C. Berkeley Infrared Spatial Interferometer has measured the mid-infrared visibilities of the carbon star IRC +10216 and the red supergiant VY CMa. The dust shells around these sources have been previously shown to be time-variable, and these new data are used to probe the evolution of the dust shells on a decade time-scale, complementing contemporaneous studies at other wavelengths. Sel...