China's economy has developed rapidly in the recent two decades. Economic development is usually linked with increase in energy consumption and consumption emissions, which in turn leads to worsening of air quality. Due to the adoption of various control measures, the ambient air quality in a number of large cities in China has actually improved. The ambient air TSP and SO(2) levels in China ha...

Escalating air pollution is contributing to increased cardiovascular health problems currently witnessed in the world. Cardiac diseases such as ischaemic heart disease and strokes account for 80% of ambient air pollution-related early deaths [1]. Additionally, it is estimated that about 3 million deaths and 85 million disability adjusted live years (DALYs) resulted from particulate matter of am...

Present study deals with the relationship between ambient air sulphurdioxide and sulphate content in leaf of selected tropical plant species, Ficus religiosa. The study reveals a positive correlation between ambient air sulphur dioxide and sulphate in the leaves. Two way ANOVA finds the obtained values to be highly significant (p < 0.001). Amount of sulphate in leaves shows positive correlation...

The adverse health effects of air pollution became widely acknowledged after severe pollution episodes occurred in Europe and North America before the 1960s. In these areas, pollutant levels have decreased. During the last 15 years, however, consistent results, mainly from epidemiological studies, have provided evidence that current air pollutant levels have been associated with adverse long- a...

Short-term effects of ozone (O(3)) on phyllosphere fungi were studied by examining fungal populations from leaves of giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum (Lindl.) Buchholz) and California black oak (Quercus kelloggii Newb.). Chronic effects of both O(3) and sulfur dioxide (SO(2)) were studied by isolating fungi from leaves of mature Valencia orange (Citrus sinensis L.) trees. In this chronic...

Nickel is released to the atmosphere by windblown dust, volcanoes, combustion of fuel oil, municipal incineration, and industries involved in nickel refining, steel production, and other nickel alloy production. The form of nickel emitted to the atmosphere is dependent upon the source. Complex nickel oxides, nickel sulfate, and metallic nickel are associated with combustion, incineration, and s...

Asthma is a respiratory disease whose prevalence has been increasing since the mid 1970s and that affects more than 14.6 million residents of the United States. Environmental triggers of asthma include air pollutants that are respiratory irritants. Air toxics emitted into the ambient air are listed in the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments as hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) if they can adversely aff...

The Ames assays strains TA98 and TA100 have been useful in characterizing complex mixtures from organic solvent extracts of particles from diesel-powered vehicles, ambient air, and other sources. In this paper we report preliminary experiments using TA102, a bacterial strain that detects compounds that can oxidize DNA, to characterize the mutagenicity of an ambient air sample collected in Ann A...

The microbiological control efficiency of two class 100 laminar down-flow hoods was determined by using aerosols of Bacillus subtilis var. niger spores. The first unit challenged utilized a slanted eyelid to partially enclose the front work opening. This hood showed nearly perfect control of ambient organisms in the work area. It also gave a 10(6) or greater drop in the number of organisms pass...