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Air pollution is one of the most important problems the world is facing nowadays, adversely affecting public health and causing millions of deaths every year. Particulate matter is a criteria pollutant that has been linked to increased morbidity, as well as all-cause and cause-specific mortality. However, this association remains under-investigated in smaller-size cities in the Eastern Mediterranean, which are also frequently affected by heat waves and dust storms. This study explores the impact of particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ≤ 10 μm (PM10) and ≤ 2.5 μm (PM2.5) on mortality (all-cause, cardiovascular, respiratory) in two coastal cities in the Eastern Mediterranean; Thessaloniki, Greece and Limassol, Cyprus. Generalized additive Poisson models were used to explore overall and gender-specific associations, controlling for long- and short-term patterns, day of week and the effect of weather variables. Moreover, the effect of different lags, season, co-pollutants and dust storms on primary associations was investigated. A 10 μg/m3 increase in PM2.5 resulted in 1.10 % (95 % CI: -0.13, 2.34) increase in cardiovascular mortality in Thessaloniki, and in 3.07 % (95 % CI: -0.90, 7.20) increase in all-cause mortality in Limassol on the same day. Additionally, significant positive associations were observed between PM2.5 as well as PM10 and mortality at different lags up to seven days. Interestingly, an association with dust storms was observed only in Thessaloniki, having a protective effect, while the gender-specific analysis revealed significant associations only for the males in both cities. The outcome of this study highlights the need of city- or county-specific public health interventions to address the impact of climate, population lifestyle behaviour and other socioeconomic factors that affect the exposure to air pollution and other synergistic effects that alter the effect of PM on population health.

In December 2019, a novel disease, coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19), emerged in Wuhan, People’s Republic of China. COVID-19 is caused by a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) presumed to have jumped species from another mammal to humans. This virus has caused a rapidly spreading global pandemic. To date, over 300,000 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in England and over 40,000 patients have died. While progress has been achieved in managing this disease, the factors in addition to age that affect the severity and mortality of COVID-19 have not been clearly identified. Recent studies of COVID-19 in several countries identified links between air pollution and death rates. Here, we explored potential links between major fossil fuel-related air pollutants and SARS-CoV-2 mortality in England. We compared current SARS-CoV-2 cases and deaths from public databases to both regional and subregional air pollution data monitored at multiple sites across England. After controlling for population density, age and median income, we show positive relationships between air pollutant concentrations, particularly nitrogen oxides, and COVID-19 mortality and infectivity. Using detailed UK Biobank data, we further show that PM2.5 was a major contributor to COVID-19 cases in England, as an increase of 1 m3 in the long-term average of PM2.5 was associated with a 12% increase in COVID-19 cases. The relationship between air pollution and COVID-19 withstands variations in the temporal scale of assessments (single-year vs 5-year average) and remains significant after adjusting for socioeconomic, demographic and health-related variables. We conclude that a small increase in air pollution leads to a large increase in the COVID-19 infectivity and mortality rate in England. This study provides a framework to guide both health and emissions policies in countries affected by this pandemic., Graphical abstract Image 1, Highlights • Regional levels of NO2, NO and O3 correlate with number of COVID-19 deaths. • Sub-regional NOx levels are associated with increased COVID-19 deaths and cases. • Levels of PM and NOx map increased number of COVID-19 infections in the UK Biobank.

There is evidence of adverse health impacts from human exposure to particulate air pollution, including increased rates of respiratory and cardiovascular illness, hospitalizations, and pre-mature mortality. Most recent hypotheses assign an important role to ultrafine particles (UFP) ( We performed experimental measurements during both morning and evening traffic peak hours throughout the winter season (December 2013–March 2014), for a total of 98 trips. Our results suggest that the lowest UFP exposures are experienced by underground train commuters, with an average number concentration of 14 134 cm −3 , and are largely a reflection of the routes being at greater distance from vehicular traffic. Motorcyclists experienced significantly higher average concentrations (73 168 cm −3 ) than all other exposure classes, and this is most likely a result of the presence of high-concentration and short-duration peaks which do not occur when the same routes are traveled by car. UFP concentrations in subway train environments were found to be comparable to urban background levels. Still, in underground trains we found the highest values of PM 10 mass concentration with a maximum value of 422 μg/m 3 . PM 10 concentration in trains was found to be four and two times higher than what was measured in car and motorbike trips, respectively. Transport mode contribution to total integrated UFP daily exposure was found to be 16.3%–20.9% while travelling by car, 28.7% for motorbike trips, and 8.7% for subway trips. Due to lower exposure times, commuting by car and motorbike is comparable to other daily activities in terms of exposure. Our data can provide relevant information for transport decision-making and increase environmental awareness in the hope that the information about inhaled pollutants can translate into a more rational approach to urban travelling.

Aims Urbanisation has been linked with an increased risk of developing diabetes mellitus, dramatically worsening the healthcare system's financial burden. Environmental influences are emerging among the causing factors of the urban diabetes epidemic. We evaluated the relationship between air pollution and the prevalence of diabetes in the Municipalities of the Metropolitan City of Milan, comprising more than 3,4 million citizens. Methods The prevalence of diabetes in the resident population and the mean annual air concentrations of PM10 and NO2 were retrieved from the municipal Agency for Health Protection and the regional Agency for Ambient Protection datasets. Two linear regression models were estimated to inspect the relationships between the (logit-based transformed) diabetes prevalence and air pollution concentrations, namely: (i) PM10, and (ii) NO2. Both models were adjusted for five control variables, including the qualitative variable year (2011–2018). Results Both models highlight a statistically significant positive relationship between air pollutants and diabetes prevalence. An increase of one PM10 or NO2 concentrations' unit translates into a rise of 0.81% or 0.41% in diabetes prevalence, respectively. Conclusion Our results contribute to the ongoing research regarding health outcomes of urbanisation dynamics and should be considered in city planning policies.