Over the past 10 years, the Chinese State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) has actively investigated the potent to use emission trading to reduce sulphur dioxide (SO2 ) emissions from electricity generators and industrial sources. In 1999, SEPA partnered with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) to cooperate on a study to assess the feasibility of implementing SO2 e...

BACKGROUND: There is growing concern that moderate levels of outdoor air pollution may be associated with infant mortality, representing substantial loss of life-years. To date, there has been no investigation of the effects of outdoor pollution on infant mortality in the UK. METHODS: Daily time-series data of air pollution and all infant deaths between 1990 and 2000 in 10 major cities of Engla...

We report on the development of a low-cost spectrometer, based on off-the-shelf optical components, a 3D printed housing, and a modified Raspberry Pi camera module. With a bandwidth and spectral resolution of ≈60  nm and 1 nm, respectively, this device was designed for ultraviolet (UV) remote sensing of atmospheric sulphur dioxide (SO2), ≈310  nm. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first...

There are fewer longitudinal studies from China on symptoms as described for the sick building syndrome (SBS). Here, we performed a two-year prospective study and investigated associations between environmental parameters such as room temperature, relative air humidity (RH), carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulphur dioxide (SO2), ozone (O3), particulate matter (PM10), and health ou...

The absolute refractive index of liquid sulphur dioxide (SO2) was determined with an uncertainty of ±0.0007 with the help of a Michelson interferometer and a computer-controlled rotatory stage supporting a rectangular fused silica cell, containing the liquid. The measurements were performed at temperatures around 20 ◦C for the laser line wavelengths 632.8, 514.5 and 488.0 nm. The experimental d...

BACKGROUND In asthmatic subjects bronchoconstriction is induced by inhalation of the common food preservatives sulphur dioxide (SO2) and metabisulphite (MBS). SO2 and MBS challenges share many similarities, but it is not known whether they are equivalent. In this study of subjects with mild clinical asthma equivalence was assessed by comparing SO2 and MBS reactivity by estimating the total dose...

In urban areas, emissions of air pollutants by anthropogenic processes such as traffic, industry, power plants and domestic heating systems are the main sources of pollution (Fenger, 1999). The massive growth in road traffic and in the use of fossil fuels during the last decades has changed the composition of urban air, increasing the frequency of pollution episodes and the number of cities exp...

Sulphur dioxide (SO2) has been used for centuries to minimize color in food processing and fruit and vegetable storage. In the sugar industry, it is used routinely by sugar beet processors to reduce and prevent color formation in white refined sugar. Sugarcane processors throughout the world use SO2 to produce plantation white sugars. This study was undertaken to determine the effect of SO2 on ...

Improving the constraints on the atmospheric fate and depletion rates of acidic compounds persistently emitted by non-erupting (quiescent) volcanoes is important for quantitatively predicting the environmental impact of volcanic gas plumes. Here, we present new experimental data coupled with modelling studies to investigate the chemical processing of acidic volcanogenic species during troposphe...

BACKGROUND East-West comparison studies in Europe find higher prevalences of infectious airway diseases and lower prevalences of allergies in eastern areas. Pollution from sulphur dioxide (SO2) or total suspended particles (TSP) are discussed as causes of this difference. METHODS In four differently polluted areas of East Germany where pollution decreased dramatically between 1989 and 1995 cr...