Continuous measurements of meteorological parameters, gaseous pollutants, particulate matters, and the major chemical species in PM2.5 were conducted in urban Hangzhou from 1 September to 30 November 2013 to study the potential sources and formations of PM2.5 pollution. The average PM2.5 concentration was 69 μg ̈m ́3, ~97% higher than the annual concentration limit in the national ambient air qua...

A brief history of air pollution Accounts of air pollution in the UK date back to the 13 century. Early occurrences resulted from rapid population growth, urbanisation and changes in fuel use – in particular the medieval switch from wood to coal, especially in brick kilns and domestic fireplaces. Coal combustion in industrial furnaces, boilers and, above all, in domestic fireplaces, was the mai...

BACKGROUND With the rapid development of China's economy, air pollution has attracted public concern because of its harmful effects on health. METHODS The source apportioning of air pollution, the spatial distribution characteristics, and the relationship between atmospheric contamination, and the risk of exposure were explored. The in situ daily concentrations of the principal air pollutants...

In East Germany ambient air pollution is characterized by high concentrations of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and suspended particulates (SP). Since acidity and sulfate are surprisingly low, oxidation of SO2 seems to be incomplete and neutralization seems to play an important role. Few studies on health effects of air pollution in the former German Democratic Republic have been performed. They showed a...

A large number of studies have indicated associations between particulate air pollution and adverse health outcomes. Wintertime air pollution in particular has been associated with increased mortality. Identification of causal constituents of inhalable particulate matter has been elusive, although one candidate has been the acidity of the aerosol. Here we report measurements of acidic aerosol s...

A modeling study using hourly meteorological and pollution concentration data from across the coterminous United States demonstrates that urban trees remove large amounts of air pollution that consequently improve urban air quality. Pollution removal (O3, PM10, NO2, SO2, CO) varied among cities with total annual air pollution removal by US urban trees estimated at 711,000 metric tons ($3.8 bill...

Hebei is one of the most air polluted provinces in China. According to the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) for the severe fog-haze month of Jan. 2013, seven of the top ten most polluted cities in China are located in Hebei Province. In this study, the air pollution history and status of the Hebei Province are reviewed and discussed, using the governmental published Air Pollution Inde...

Few studies have investigated the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) mortality fraction attributable to air pollution and modification by individual characteristics of air pollution effects. We applied distributed lag non-linear models to assess the associations between air pollution and COPD mortality in 2007-2011 in Guangzhou, China, and the total COPD mortality fraction attributabl...