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Reliance upon fossil fuels and limited greenspace contribute to poor indoor and outdoor air quality and adverse health outcomes, particularly in communities of color. This article describes justice-informed public health and legal interventions to increase access to greenspace and accelerate the transitions to renewable energy and away from gas appliances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air pollution levels in the United States have decreased dramatically over the past decades, yet national racial-ethnic exposure disparities persist. For ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5), we investigate three emission-reduction approaches and compare their optimal ability to address two goals: 1) reduce the overall population average exposure ("overall average") and 2) reduce the difference in the average exposure for the most exposed racial-ethnic group versus for the overall population ("national inequalities"). We show that national inequalities in exposure can be eliminated with minor emission reductions (optimal: ~1% of total emissions) if they target specific locations. In contrast, achieving that outcome using existing regulatory strategies would require eliminating essentially all emissions (if targeting specific economic sectors) or is not possible (if requiring urban regions to meet concentration standards). Lastly, we do not find a trade-off between the two goals (i.e., reducing overall average and reducing national inequalities); rather, the approach that does the best for reducing national inequalities (i.e., location-specific strategies) also does as well as or better than the other two approaches (i.e., sector-specific and meeting concentration standards) for reducing overall averages. Overall, our findings suggest that incorporating location-specific emissions reductions into the US air quality regulatory framework 1) is crucial for eliminating long-standing national average exposure disparities by race-ethnicity and 2) can benefit overall average exposures as much as or more than the sector-specific and concentration-standards approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents research that examines the discrimination in monitoring the ambient air pollution and its governing policies in the U.S. Topics discussed include an overview of ambient air pollution, its federal guidelines, the evidence indicating local regulators' use of demographic characteristics in ambient air pollution network design, and the significant role of race in decision-making.

The article addresses on the conservation of air, which is considered as an objective of public policy in the U.S. These include analyzing the data that define how these policies can be met, identifying the possibilities that are scientifically credible and discussing the appropriate roles of citizens in the enforcement and evolution. According to the author, simple regulation is not enough, and enforced planning is needed. In addition, the author speculates that the necessary policies can only be accomplished at the federal level, likewise the rapid evolution of government policy will occur from it. Details regarding the four basic assumptions, pollutants and the present techniques to control pollutants are presented.

Background: Policies to mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions can yield public health benefits by also reducing emissions of hazardous co-pollutants, such as air toxics and particulate matter. Socioeconomically disadvantaged communities are typically disproportionately exposed to air pollutants, and therefore climate policy could also potentially reduce these environmental inequities. We sought to explore potential social disparities in GHG and co-pollutant emissions under an existing carbon trading program-the dominant approach to GHG regulation in the US and globally.Methods and Findings: We examined the relationship between multiple measures of neighborhood disadvantage and the location of GHG and co-pollutant emissions from facilities regulated under California's cap-and-trade program-the world's fourth largest operational carbon trading program. We examined temporal patterns in annual average emissions of GHGs, particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, volatile organic compounds, and air toxics before (January 1, 2011-December 31, 2012) and after (January 1, 2013-December 31, 2015) the initiation of carbon trading. We found that facilities regulated under California's cap-and-trade program are disproportionately located in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods with higher proportions of residents of color, and that the quantities of co-pollutant emissions from these facilities were correlated with GHG emissions through time. Moreover, the majority (52%) of regulated facilities reported higher annual average local (in-state) GHG emissions since the initiation of trading. Neighborhoods that experienced increases in annual average GHG and co-pollutant emissions from regulated facilities nearby after trading began had higher proportions of people of color and poor, less educated, and linguistically isolated residents, compared to neighborhoods that experienced decreases in GHGs. These study results reflect preliminary emissions and social equity patterns of the first 3 years of California's cap-and-trade program for which data are available. Due to data limitations, this analysis did not assess the emissions and equity implications of GHG reductions from transportation-related emission sources. Future emission patterns may shift, due to changes in industrial production decisions and policy initiatives that further incentivize local GHG and co-pollutant reductions in disadvantaged communities.Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine social disparities in GHG and co-pollutant emissions under an existing carbon trading program. Our results indicate that, thus far, California's cap-and-trade program has not yielded improvements in environmental equity with respect to health-damaging co-pollutant emissions. This could change, however, as the cap on GHG emissions is gradually lowered in the future. The incorporation of additional policy and regulatory elements that incentivize more local emission reductions in disadvantaged communities could enhance the local air quality and environmental equity benefits of California's climate change mitigation efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Europe's regulation of passenger car emissions has been proven to have failed when it comes to nitrogen oxide emissions (NO x ) by diesel engines. Due to historical decisions favouring diesel technology, Europe has become a diesel island with no equal worldwide. As a result, virtually every European citizen breathes in air which is deemed harmful to human health. Real driving emissions (RDE) testing by means of portable emissions measurement systems (PEMS) can potentially eliminate the discrepancy between lab and road tests, and will complement the dynamometer type-approval procedure from September 2017 onwards. Despite the significant potential of PEMS testing, the emission assessment has been watered down through politics to provide the automotive manufacturers with additional lead-time. In this way, the lab to road gap is not eliminated but only decreased. This means that diesel cars will continue to over-emit NO x until the 2020s at earliest. This has consequences for effectively bringing down local air quality issues, especially in low emission zones (LEZ). This paper presents a review of the European emission regulation history up to date and makes a comparison with the approach in the other important car markets globally. One can conclude that a substantial update of the European regulatory framework concerning automotive emissions is required, while ambitious post-2021 targets should be set if Europe does not want its automotive industry to lose its competitive position in the global market. In addition, an equilibrium should be sought for between sustainable personal transport in the form of zero-emission vehicles (ZEV), and a sustainable economic climate for the automotive industry. The former is needed if LEZs are to effectively bring down pollutant levels in cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last 30 years, significant effort has been made to improve air quality through legislation for emissions reduction. Global three-dimensional chemistrytransport simulations of atmospheric composition over the past 3 decades have been performed to estimate what the air quality levels would have been under a scenario of stagnation of anthropogenic emissions per capita as in 1980, accounting for the population increase (BA1980) or using the standard practice of neglecting it (AE1980), and how they compare to the historical changes in air quality levels. The simulations are based on assimilated meteorology to account for the yearto- year observed climate variability and on different scenarios of anthropogenic emissions of pollutants. The ACCMIP historical emissions dataset is used as the starting point. Our sensitivity simulations provide clear indications that air quality legislation and technology developments have limited the rapid increase of air pollutants. The achieved reductions in concentrations of nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, black carbon, and sulfate aerosols are found to be significant when comparing to both BA1980 and AE1980 simulations that neglect any measures applied for the protection of the environment. We also show the potentially large tropospheric air quality benefit from the development of cleaner technology used by the growing global population. These 30-year hindcast sensitivity simulations demonstrate that the actual benefit in air quality due to air pollution legislation and technological advances is higher than the gain calculated by a simple comparison against a constant anthropogenic emissions simulation, as is usually done. Our results also indicate that over China and India the beneficial technological advances for the air quality may have been masked by the explosive increase in local population and the disproportional increase in energy demand partially due to the globalization of the economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using geographically disaggregated data and exploiting an instrumental variable strategy, we show that contrary to conventional wisdom, the benefits of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) were progressive. The CAAA created incentives for local regulators to target the initially dirtiest areas for cleanup, creating heterogeneity in the incidence of air quality improvements that favored lower-income households. Based on house price appreciation, households in the lowest quintile of the income distribution received annual benefits from the program equal to 0.3% of their income on average during the 1990s, over twice as much as those in the highest quintile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well established that exposure to high levels of air pollution in the short term leads to negative health outcomes; yet there exist very few policies intended to address short run spikes in air pollution. In this article we examine a policy implemented by the Government of Chile that uses temporary measures to reduce the severity and negative health impacts of poor air quality in the short run. This policy involves the announcement of "Environmental Episodes" on days forecast to have particularly poor air quality. Such Episode announcements trigger a number of government protocols and public notices intended to both improve regional air quality and encourage avoidance behaviors among the populace. By comparing days on which Episodes were announced to observationally similar days before the policy was fully implemented, we demonstrate that the announcement of an Environmental Episode reduces ambient concentrations of particulate matter in the Santiago Metropolitan Region by approximately 20% on the day of implementation, with effects persisting into subsequent days. We also find that the temporary restrictions, government actions, and informational campaigns that make up an Episode reduce mortality among the elderly on the day-of and days-after Episode implementation. Our findings suggest that the Environmental Episode program effectively addresses poor air quality in the short term and could serve as a valuable model for policymakers seeking to augment long-term air quality strategies with a means of addressing temporary spikes in local or regional air pollution levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using dendroisotopic techniques, we show the recovery of Juniperus virginiana L. (eastern red cedar) trees in the Central Appalachian Mountains from decades of acidic pollution. Acid deposition over much of the 20th century reduced stomatal conductance of leaves, thereby increasing intrinsic water-use efficiency of the Juniperus trees. These data indicate that the stomata of Juniperus may be more sensitive to acid deposition than to increasing atmospheric CO2. A breakpoint in the 100-y δ13C tree ring chronology occurred around 1980, as the legacy of sulfur dioxide emissions declined following the enactment of the Clean Air Act in 1970, indicating a gradual increase in stomatal conductance (despite rising levels of atmospheric CO2) and a concurrent increase in photosynthesis related to decreasing acid deposition and increasing atmospheric CO2. Tree ring δ34S shows a synchronous change in the sources of sulfur used at the whole-tree level that indicates a reduced anthropogenic influence. The increase in growth and the δ13C and δ34S trends in the tree ring chronology of these Juniperus trees provide evidence for a distinct physiological response to changes in atmospheric SO2 emissions since ∼1980 and signify the positive impacts of landmark environmental legislation to facilitate recovery of forest ecosystems from acid deposition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The US House of Representative has passed a bill called the “Farm Dust Regulation Prevention Act” (Dust Act) that would exempt most types of particulate matter (PM) in rural areas from the air quality controls of the US Clean Air Act. The Dust Act would markedly change the country's air quality standards. An examination of the proposed provisions shows that they would exempt non-combustion PM pollutants from mining, smelting, petroleum production, and power generation from existing air quality standards. Persons downwind from pollutants generated in rural areas could be exposed to concentrations of carcinogenic heavy metals, asbestos, and benzene known to adversely affect their health and ecological resources. Existing federal air quality standards based on science would be replaced by a flexible standard that rations health protection. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The study, designed as a pilot, aimed to explore lay perceptions of air quality from participants who were selected to represent three different social categories: age; health status; and geographical location. We compared responses from younger with older participants who held memories of about air quality prior to the Clean Air Act (1956). We also explored possible differences in perception due to health status by including some participants who identified themselves as having asthma. Finally, we compared possible differences in perception between two economically and geographically distinct areas of Greater Nottingham in England. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 22 participants recruited through schools, church groups and residential homes. Our findings suggest that no air (apart from the seaside) is perceived as automatically safe and therefore healthy. We found that perceptions of 'good' air seem to vary with age and health whereas experiences of air quality are associated with socio-economic status. Perceptions of air are shown to be suffused with historical significance, as well as embodying projections embedded from within the local environment and material context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Federal and state law and courts play an important role in the development of air pollution and climate change polices. In 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency must regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act unless it determines that greenhouse gases do not contribute to climate change. In addition, the state of California successfully challenged the denial of a waiver permitting the state to enact stricter air quality standards. In the absence of federal legislation, more than half of the 50 states are contemplating, developing, or implementing climate policies. In 2006, California passed the Global Warming Solutions Act, which requires reduction of greenhouse gas emissions statewide to 1990 levels over the next decade. The fate of this law remains uncertain as a proper balance is sought between federal and state authority over these matters. This article looks at the intersection of federal and state air pollution and climate change policies, focusing on California and the evolution of environmental federalism [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Clean Air Act assigns the Environmental Protection Agency the responsibility of regulating air pollutants nationwide. In response to this mandate, the EPA has promulgated National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), which establish maximum permissible concentrations for certain pollutants. In addition to specific chemical pollutants, the NAAQS attempt to regulate coarse airborne particulate matter, or "PM10." This airborne dust varies widely in chemical composition and morphology, so experts cannot accurately predict health effects based on concentration alone. Consequently, the Environmental Protection Agency's current regulatory approach cannot produce a predictable or consistent public health outcome. An improved regulatory scheme is proposed, using newer technology to monitor particulate composition in detail and establish standards weighted by particulate pathogenic potential, to achieve a uniform public health outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Following the meteorological evaluation in Part I, this Part II paper presents the statistical evaluation of air quality predictions by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA)’s Community Multi-Scale Air Quality (Models-3/CMAQ) model for the four simulated months in the base year 2005. The surface predictions were evaluated using the Air Pollution Index (API) data published by the China Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) for 31 capital cities and daily fine particulate matter (PM2.5, particles with aerodiameter less than or equal to 2.5μm) observations of an individual site in Tsinghua University (THU). To overcome the shortage in surface observations, satellite data are used to assess the column predictions including tropospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO2) column abundance and aerosol optical depth (AOD). The result shows that CMAQ gives reasonably good predictions for the air quality. The air quality improvement that would result from the targeted sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) emission controls in China were assessed for the objective year 2010. The results show that the emission controls can lead to significant air quality benefits. SO2 concentrations in highly polluted areas of East China in 2010 are estimated to be decreased by 30–60% compared to the levels in the 2010 Business-As-Usual (BAU) case. The annual PM2.5 can also decline by 3–15μgm−3 (4–25%) due to the lower SO2 and sulfate concentrations. If similar controls are implemented for NOx emissions, NOx concentrations are estimated to decrease by 30–60% as compared with the 2010 BAU scenario. The annual mean PM2.5 concentrations will also decline by 2–14μgm−3 (3–12%). In addition, the number of ozone (O3) non-attainment areas in the northern China is projected to be much lower, with the maximum 1-h average O3 concentrations in the summer reduced by 8–30ppb. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Under the 11th Five Year Plan (FYP, 2006–2010) for national environmental protection by the Chinese government, the overarching goal for sulfur dioxide (SO2) controls is to achieve a total national emissions level of SO2 in 2010 10% lower than the level in 2005. A similar nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions control plan is currently under development and could be enforced during the 12th FYP (2011–2015). In this study, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S.EPA)’s Community Multi-Scale Air Quality (Models-3/CMAQ) modeling system was applied to assess the air quality improvement that would result from the targeted SO2 and NOx emission controls in China. Four emission scenarios — the base year 2005, the 2010 Business-As-Usual (BAU) scenario, the 2010 SO2 control scenario, and the 2010 NO x control scenario—were constructed and simulated to assess the air quality change from the national control plan. The Fifth-Generation NCAR/Penn State Mesoscale Model (MM5) was applied to generate the meteorological fields for the CMAQ simulations. In this Part I paper, the model performance for the simulated meteorology was evaluated against observations for the base case in terms of temperature, wind speed, wind direction, and precipitation. It is shown that MM5 model gives an overall good performance for these meteorological variables. The generated meteorological fields are acceptable for using in the CMAQ modeling. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article reports on the revisions to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for ground-level ozone proclaimed by the U.S. Environment Protection Agency. These revisions are not entirely consistent with the recommendations of the agency's own Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee. The final rule is a shift from the air quality goals of the Clean Air Act.

Benzene and 1,3-butadiene concentration profiles in the urban ambient air were generated to investigate their levels at two specified sampling locations, roadside and residential, in Tokyo, Japan. Air monitoring data for benzene and 1,3-butadiene were obtained from the Air Quality Monitoring Information of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Air samples were continuously obtained and analyzed every hour for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) using an automated GC–MS system. The diurnal variations in benzene and 1,3-butadiene concentrations showed bi-modal patterns, which were considered to be related to the increasing and decreasing trends of vehicle emissions and vertical mixing depths in a day. The frequencies of occurrence of various benzene and 1,3-butadiene concentrations were examined. The results of each concentration showed log-normal forms with almost straight lines. The frequency distributions of both pollutants were confirmed to have a log-normal, rather than a simple normal, form. The relationship between benzene and 1,3-butadiene concentrations at both the roadside and residential site were examined. Separate observations of day and night trends revealed that photochemical decomposition showed a greater influence on the data in the residential site than that in the roadside site. These results were considered as direct evidences of photochemical decomposition of 1,3-butadiene in the atmosphere. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article provides information on practical concepts about the use of landfill gas. It highlights the potential economic, financial and environmental benefits of implementing the landfill gas (LFG)-to-energy projects, and air quality regulations and other regulatory issues involved in its implementation. The value of partnerships and strategic alliances in implementing landfill waste-to-energy projects and opportunities for public participation are presented. Landfill gas generation, landfill gas collection and control systems, and calculation of landfill gas production rates are also discussed. In addition, it cites the environmental regulations at the federal level that cover landfills. It also provides suggestions in expediting the LFG-to-Energy implementation process.

The brick manufacturing industry in Vietnam is developing rapidly to meet rising demand from construction activities. Production is mainly small-scale and without emission control measures, and hence can bring about severe health and environmental impacts including effects on agricultural crops. In this paper, we analyse the current production situation of a brick-making commune in Vietnam and the effects on air quality. A combination of the 'command and control' (such as enforcement of control devices or fuel quality standards) and 'market-based instruments' (such as emission fees) would stimulate the industry to adopt cleaner production measures that would benefit both economy and the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The State of Kuwait oil fires and military operations associated with the 1991 Gulf War resulted in substantially increased levels of airborne particulate matter (PM) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) during 1991 and 1992. Using quantitative risk assessment methodology, this article estimates the increase in premature deaths in citizens of the KSA associated with the Gulf War-related increase in PM air pollution levels. Meta-analysis of daily time-series studies of non-accidental mortality associated with increased PM10 levels using two alternative methodologies yielded exposure-response relative risk functions of 2.7% and 3.5% per 50 μ g/m3 increase in PM10 concentration. Combining these exposure-response functions with estimates of the magnitude and duration of the increased PM10 exposure, the size of the exposed population and baseline mortality rates provided an estimate of approximately 1,080 to 1,370 excess non-accidental deaths of Saudi citizens during 1991-1992 associated with the Gulf War-related increase in PM levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'The global motor vehicle population has grown very rapidly in the past half century and is expected to continue to grow rapidly for the next several decades, especially in developing countries. As a result, vehicles are a major source of urban air pollution in many cities and are the fastest-growing source of greenhouse elilissions. Strategies exist to reduce both problems, but many communes emphasize one over the other rather than pursuing strategies that reduce both concerns. Using diesel as an example in this article illustrates that it is now possible not only to reduce carbon dioxide with the increased use of diesel vehicles but also to improve urban air pollution. Doing so requires both stringent emissions regulations and clean fuels. Several principles contained in the Bellagio Memorandum are highlighted as guides for policy makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land use regression (LUR) has been successfully used to assess the intraurban variability of air pollution. In the INMA (Environment and Childhood) Study, ambient nitrogen oxides (NOx and NO2) and aromatic hydrocarbons (BTEX) were measured at 57 sampling sites in Sabadell (northeast Spain). Multiple regression models were developed to predict residential outdoor concentrations in a cohort of pregnant women (n = 657), using geographic data as predictor variables. The models accounted for 68 and 69% of the variance in NOx and NO2 levels, respectively, with four predictor variables (altitude, land coverage, and two road length indicators). These percentages of explained variability could be further improved by replacing the two road length indicators with an ordinal indicator (road type). To our knowledge, this is the first study using LUR to assess the intraurban variability of BTEX in Europe, with a model including altitude and source-proximity variables that explained 74% of the variance in BTEX levels. These models will be used to study the association between prenatal exposure to air pollution and adverse pregnancy outcomes and early childhood effects in the cohort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Clean Air Act mandates that the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) develop National Ambient Air Quality Standards for criteria air pollutants and conduct periodic reviews of the standards based on new scientific evidence. In recent reviews, evidence from epidemiologic studies has played a key role. Epidemiologic studies often provide evidence for effects of several air pollutants. Determining whether there are independent effects of the separate pollutants is a challenge. Among the many issues confronting the interpretation of epidemiologic studies of multi-pollutant exposures and health effects are those specifically related to statistical modeling. The EPA convened a workshop on 13 and 14 December 2006 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA, to discuss these and other issues; Session Three of the workshop was devoted specifically to statistical modeling. Prominent statistical modeling issues in epidemiologic studies of air pollution include (1) measurement error across the co-pollutants; (2) correlation and multi-collinearity among the co-pollutants; (3) the timing of the concentration–response function; (4) confounding; and (5) spatial analyses.The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of policies of the US Environmental Protection Agency.Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology (2007) 17, S90–S96; doi:10.1038/sj.jes.7500631 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wind erosion of mine tailings is an air pollution concern that has not been investigated thoroughly. Indeed, there is no accurate method to predict fugitive dust emission strength of tailings dumps. This paper reports on the development of a wind erosion model based on the principles of physics. Unlike most wind erosion models developed for agricultural lands or sand dunes, this model takes into account the fluctuations in wind velocity. The model was designed to predict hourly dust emission rate of flat tailings dumps prone to wind erosion for air quality modelling purposes. The model was evaluated using wind tunnel data and field experiments which confirmed the validity of the model for crushed industrial materials. The model was further validated with field experiments undertaken by the authors at the Mantos Blancos mine in Chile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The World Health Organization has identified ambient air pollution as a high public health priority, based on estimates of air pollution related death and disability-adjusted life years derived in its Global Burden of Disease initiative. The NERAM Colloquium Series on Health and Air Quality was initiated to strengthen the linkage between scientists, policymakers, and other stakeholders by reviewing the current state of science, identifying policy-relevant gaps and uncertainties in the scientific evidence, and proposing a path forward for research and policy to improve air quality and public health. The objective of this paper is to review the current state of science addressing the impacts of air pollution on human health. The paper is one of four background papers prepared for the 2003 NERAM/AirNet Conference on Strategies for Clean Air and Health, the third meeting in the international Colloquium Series. The review is based on the framework and findings of the U.S. National Research Committee (NRC) on Research Priorities for Airborne Particulate Matter and addresses key questions underlying air quality risk management policy decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper investigates how air quality models applied at different scales (50 and 5km horizontal resolutions) can predict pollution levels in response to emission control strategies in various cities in Europe. This study, involving five modelling teams and focused on four European cities, has been conducted within the CityDelta project (http://aqm.jrc.it/citydelta). The CityDelta models generally agree, on the O3 changes expected from scenarios representative of the current legislation on air pollution in 2010, named CLE. They also agree about less scope for further improvements from emission controls beyond CLE. For PM10, more significant differences between the models are observed, especially between models with different spatial resolutions. However, these differences are city-dependent and are larger in complex geographical areas such as Milan in the Pô Valley than in the Paris area. Fine scale models generally capture important urban scale effects, which are not represented by regional scale models. For instance, they improve the simulation of potential O3 increase caused by NO x emissions reduction in NMVOC-limited regime situations. Large scale models generally underpredict PM mean concentrations in city areas. A series of emission scenarios to address the question of the efficiency of local emission controls designed independently from regional measures is analyzed. The analysis of the CityDelta results contributes to the quantification of the impact of grid resolution in air quality modelling, and its application to emission control scenarios. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Copyright of Environment Protection Engineering is the property of Oficyna Wydawnicza Politechniki Wroclawskiej and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract: The potential of passive air sampling devices (polyurethane foam disks) to assess the influence of local sources on the quality of the surrounding environment was investigated. DEZA Valasske Mezirici, a coal tar and mixed tar oils processing plant, and Spolana Neratovice, a chemical factory with the history of high production of organochlorinated pesticides (OCPs), were selected as the point sources of PAHs, and OCPs, respectively. Levels of PCBs, OCPs and PAHs were determined for all sampling sites and sampling periods. The study brought useful data about the air concentrations of POPs in the investigated regions. More important, it provided information on the transport and fate of POPs in the vicinity of local sources of contamination useful for the estimation of their influence. Very good capability of passive samplers to reflect temporal and spatial fluctuation in concentrations of persistent organic pollutants in the ambient air was confirmed which makes them applicable for monitoring on the local scale. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The “Cincinnati Childhood Allergy and Air Pollution Study (CCAAPS)” is underway to determine if infants who are exposed to diesel engine exhaust particles are at an increased risk for atopy and atopic respiratory disorders, and to determine if this effect is magnified in a genetically at risk population. In support of this study, a methodology has been developed to allocate local traffic source contributions to ambient PM2.5 in the Cincinnati airshed. As a first step towards this allocation, UNMIX was used to generate factors for ambient PM2.5 at two sites near at interstate highway. Procedures adopted to collect, analyze and prepare the data sets to run UNMIX are described. The factors attributed to traffic sources were similar for the two sites. These factors were also similar to locally measured truck engine-exhaust enriched ambient profiles. The temporal variation of the factors was analyzed with clear differences observed between factors attributed to traffic sources and combustion-related regional secondary sources. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A method for air pollution evaluation and control, based on one of the most popular neural networks — the backpropagation algorithm, is proposed. After the backpropagation training, the neural network, based on weather forecasting data, determines the future concentration of critical air pollution indicators. Depending on these concentrations, relevant episode warnings and actions are activated. A case study is carried out to illustrate and validate the method proposed, based on Istanbul air pollution data. Sulphur dioxide and inhalable particulate matter are selected as air pollution indicators (neural network outputs). Relevant episode measures are proposed. Among ten backpropagation algorithms, the BFGS algorithm (Quasi-Newton algorithms) is adopted since it showed the lowest training error. A comparison of NN-AirPol method against regression and perceptron models showed significantly better performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: To evaluate the Models-3/Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) modeling system in reproducing the spatial patterns of aerosol concentrations over the country on timescales of months and years, the spatial patterns of model output are compared with those derived from observational data. Simple spatial interpolation procedures were applied to data from the Clean Air Status and Trends Network (CASTNet) and Speciation Trends Network (STN) monitoring networks. Species included sulfate PM, total nitrate , and ammonium PM. Comparisons were made for the annual average concentrations for 2001, and for one lunar month (4 weeks), where the month chosen for each species represents the highest concentrations of the year. Comparisons between the modeled and interpolated spatial patterns show very good agreement in the location and magnitude of the maxima and minima, as well as the gradients between them. Some persistent biases are identified and noted. Limitations on our ability to describe the spatial pattern from sparse data as well as the limitations of the networks are briefly discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: It has been demonstrated that a group of workers (e.g. waste handlers) daily exposed to a traffic related air pollution present airway inflammation in term of an increase of neutrophilic inflammation. The aim of our study was to determine the presence of airways inflammation detected by induced sputum in a population of traffic policemen (TP) in the city of Bari, compared to a group of healthy subjects (HS) without any occupational exposure to inhalation of traffic-related air pollution. Twelve non smokers, non atopics, healthy traffic policemen with a history of exposure to airway pollution and 12 HS underwent sputum induction. TP show a statistically significant increase in the percentage neutrophil cell count (median and IQ range) compared to the HS (65 and 13.5 vs. 40.5 and 9.5; p <0.01). In conclusion we have found that policemen chronically exposed to air pollution presented airway neutrophilic inflammation and the results of this pilot study could be strictly considered for the long term effect of a traffic pollution in airway inflammation and the lung function. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The operational numerical weather prediction model Lokalmodell LM with 7 km horizontal resolution was evaluated for forecasting meteorological conditions during observed urban air pollution episodes. The resolution was increased to experimental 2.8 km and 1.1 km resolution by one-way interactive nesting without introducing urbanisation of physiographic parameters or parameterisations. The episodes examined are two severe winter inversion-induced episodes in Helsinki in December 1995 and Oslo in January 2003, three suspended dust episodes in spring and autumn in Helsinki and Oslo, and a late-summer photochemical episode in the Valencia area. The evaluation was basically performed against observations and radiosoundings and focused on the LM skill at forecasting the key meteorological parameters characteristic for the specific episodes. These included temperature inversions, atmospheric stability and low wind speeds for the Scandinavian episodes and the development of mesoscale recirculations in the Valencia area. LM forecasts often improved due to higher model resolution especially in mountainous areas like Oslo and Valencia where features depending on topography like temperature, wind fields and mesoscale valley circulations were better described. At coastal stations especially in Helsinki, forecast gains were due to the improved physiographic parameters (land fraction, soil type, or roughness length). The Helsinki and Oslo winter inversions with extreme nocturnal inversion strengths of 18°C were not sufficiently predicted with all LM resolutions. In Helsinki, overprediction of surface temperatures and low-level wind speeds basically led to underpredicted inversion strength. In the Oslo episode, the situation was more complex involving erroneous temperature advection and mountain-induced effects for the higher resolutions. Possible explanations include the influence of the LM treatment of snow cover, sea ice and stability-dependence of transfer and diffusion coefficients. The LM simulations distinctly improved for winter daytime and nocturnal spring and autumn inversions and showed good skill at forecasting further episode-relevant meteorological parameters. The evaluation of the photochemical Valencia episode concentrated on the dominating mesoscale circulation patterns and showed that the LM succeeds well in describing all the qualitative features observed in the region. LM performance in forecasting the examined episodes thus depends on the key episode characteristics and also the season of the year with a need to improve model performance in very stable inversion conditions not only for urban simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efforts to understand and mitigate the health effects of particulate matter (PM) air pollution have a rich and interesting history. This review focuses on six substantial lines of research that have been pursued since 1997 that have helped elucidate our understanding about the effects of PM on human health. There has been substantial progress in the evaluation of PM health effects at different time-scales of exposure and in the exploration of the shape of the concentration-response function. There has also been emerging evidence of PM-related cardiovascular health effects and growing knowledge regarding interconnected general pathophysiological pathways that link PM exposure with cardiopulmonary morbidity and mortality. Despite important gaps in scientific knowledge and continued reasons for some skepticism, a comprehensive evaluation of the research findings provides persuasive evidence that exposure to fine particulate air pollution has adverse effects on cardiopulmonary health. Although much of this research has been motivated by environmental public health policy, these results have important scientific, medical, and public health implications that are broader than debates over legally mandated air quality standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This study aimed to evaluate long term air pollution trends in Brisbane, Australia, between 1980 and 2003. We obtained air pollution data recorded at the two monitoring sites (Eagle Farm and Rocklea) from the Queensland Environmental Protection Agency. Graphical and polynomial regression analyses were carried out on daily maximum 1-hour average or daily 24-hour average concentrations of NO2, O3, and PM10. The results show that there were significant up-and-down features for NO2 and O3 concentrations in both sites during 1980–1993 whereas a similar trend was observed with PM10 concentrations in Rocklea during 1985–1993. However, NO2 concentrations were stable for both sites in recent years and a similar trend was observed with O3 and PM10 concentrations for both sites during 1994–2003. Annual average of daily 24-hour PM10, NO2 and O3 concentrations fluctuated from 15.6 to 38.7pg m-3, 6.0 to 16.1ppb and 7.9 to 16.3ppb for Rocklea; from 17.5 to 29.7pg m-3, 8.9 to 14.9ppb and 11.8 to 18.2ppb for Eagle Farm during the study period, respectively. Annual average daily maximum 1-hour NO2 and O3 fluctuated from 15.5 to 31.8ppb and 18.3 to 37.0ppb for Rocklea; from 20.0 to 31.8ppb and 23.4 to 35.1ppb for Eagle Farm during the study period, respectively. For all the target compounds, Rocklea recorded a substantially higher number of days with concentrations above the relevant daily maximum 1-hour or 24-hour standards than that in Eagle Farm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article assesses air pollution hearing board of California. The most important characteristics of this board is that it's members are not air pollution experts. Regulation of air pollution in California is the responsibility of local and regional air pollution control districts (APCDs). There are thirty five APCDs in the state and each have one or more hearing boards. The aim of the board is to reduce air pollution as quickly, greatly and fairly as possible. It is the responsibility of hearing boards to apply air pollution laws fairly.

This study compared three forecasting methods based on their accuracy or absolute errors in forecasting air pollution in a traffic tunnel: the Grey model (GM), the Crank-Nicholson implicit scheme model, and the forecasting combination model (FCM). Three criteria, root mean square error (RMSE), the mean absolute error (MAE) and mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), were applied to the models and the FCM model displayed all of the characteristics of a good forecasting model. The correlation coefficient ( r) for the FCM model equaled 0.94 (Upwind), 0.98 (Middle) and 0.98 (Downwind). This study indicated that FCM can be used to accurately forecast CO pollution in the Kaohsiung Cross Harbor Tunnel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I study the advantages of pollution permit markets over uniform emission (or technology) standards when the regulator has incomplete information on firms' emissions and costs of production and abatement (e.g., air pollution in large cities). Because the regulator observes only each firm's abatement technology but neither its emissions nor its output, there are cases in which standards can lead to lower emissions and, hence, welfare dominate permits. If permits are optimally combined with standards, in many cases this hybrid policy converges to the permits-alone policy but (almost) never to the standards-alone policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the transposition of the first Daughter Directive on air quality into Dutch national law, various plans for spatial developments in the Netherlands were rejected because of possible violation of air quality limit values. These plans were rejected by court after appeal by stake holders. In this paper we investigate whether these issues also occur in other EU countries. We have found that only very few court cases of this type have occurred in other EU countries, because of differences in the implementation of the first Daughter Directive. One of the most striking differences is that in some countries (the Netherlands, Germany), limit values are understood as absolute limit values, whereas in other countries (Belgium, France, UK), the need to meet a limit value is weighted with other interests when deciding on granting permits. It is clear that, while most countries have exceedances of limit values, and all countries base their policy on the same EU air quality Directives, still large differences exist between member states with respect to the role limit values play in granting permits for new spatial developments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes the air pollutant concentrations in the Oporto Metropolitan Area, Portugal, comparing them with the limits fixed by the previous legislation currently in force, as well as by European Union (EU) Directives. The impacts were estimated using the prevalence of asthmatic symptoms and asthma in children as indicators. The objectives were: (i) to evaluate the impact on air quality associated with the reduction of sulphur content in fuels, (ii) to compare health impacts associated with SO 2 and particles with the limits fixed by both legislations, and (iii) to assess whether the delayed application of the EU Directives can be associated with health risks. It was concluded that: (i) after the reduction of sulphur content in fuels, a reduction of 60% of the annual averages of SO 2 concentration was observed, as well as a decrease in the rates of asthmatic symptoms and asthma in children, (ii) the limits fixed by the previous legislation do not protect against health impacts of SO 2 and particles, but the new EU Directives are protective; the EU limits for PM 10 are very difficult to attain, being probably unnecessarily low concerning the impact on asthmatic symptoms and asthma in children, and (iii) the delayed application of the EU Directives can be associated with unnecessary health risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Philippines enacted the Clean Air Act 1999 (CAA) to provide a comprehensive air pollution control policy in the country, adopting an ambient air quality and emission-based monitoring and regulatory framework. Other major policy features of the CAA include introduction of market-based approaches, a ban on incineration, and the conversion of the Environmental Management Bureau from a staff to a line bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. With such key policy shifts, there has been an expectation that the CAA would improve air quality, particularly in urban centres where health-related costs of air pollution have been estimated to be around US$430 million per annum. However, the CAA has suffered implementation difficulties. This article analyses the institutional, regulatory and policy approaches adopted by the CAA and identifies the various issues besetting its implementation, from unfunded mandates to lack of institutional capacity. The paper concludes that the lack of political and financial support has resulted in a series of telling implementation gaps. Additionally, the legislation of stringent uniform ambient quality and emission standards and the imposition of compliance deadlines have only aggravated the implementation deficit. The policy and regulatory strategies need to be redefined to fit the political, socio-cultural and economic realities of the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thought that environmental concern is rooted in religious beliefs and values has been raised by many writers. Different claims have been made about whether the nature of this relationship is positive or negative, and empirical evidence is mixed. In line with research on attitudes and values, this study examines the hypothesis that unless religious values are mentally accessible, they will not affect judgments of environmental issues.Two environmental issues, genetically modified crops and more traditional environmental issues, for example, air pollution from traffic, are chosen to represent accessibility and nonaccessibility, respectively. A two-wave data set from a national survey is analyzed.The findings support the suggestion that religious values will affect the judgment of environmental threats of the first, but not the second, issue.These findings suggest that situational cues partly determine which values embodied in religion will influence environmental attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: An air pollution index (API) reporting system is introduced to selected cities of China for public communication on air quality data. Shanghai is the first city in China providing daily average API reports and forecasts. This paper describes the development of an artificial neural network (ANN) model for the API forecasting in Shanghai. It is a multiple layer perceptron (MLP) network, with meteorological forecasting data as the main input, to output the next day average API values. However, the initial version of the MLP model did not work well. To improve the model, a series of tests were conducted with respect to the training method and structure optimization. Based on the test results, the training algorithm was modified and a new model was built. The new model is now being used in Shanghai for API forecasting. Its performance is shown reasonably well in comparison with observation. The application of the old model was only weakly correlated with observation. In 1-year application, the correlation coefficients were 0.2314, 0.1022 and 0.1710 for TSP, and , respectively. But for the new model, for over 8 months application, the correlation coefficients are raised to 0.6056, 0.6993 and 0.6300 for , , and . Further, the new algorithm does not rely on manpower intervention so that it is now being applied in several other Chinese cities with quite different meteorological conditions. The structure of the model and the application results are presented in this paper and also the problems to be further studied. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The goals that the Spanish central government intends to achieve in emissions trading of greenhouse gases. The goals of the Royal Decree Law include: requirement for all facilities emitting greenhouses gases to have a permit in place, importance of the spread of information to companies, adjustment of the local regulations to the European legal framework and the establishment of an operating framework for the allocation of emission rights. The granting of the permit within boundaries are subject to confirmation.

Electron beam flue gas treatment technology is one of the most advanced technologies among new generation processes for air pollution control. The process, which has been developed in Japan, the United States, Germany and Poland allows simultaneous removal of SO2 and NOx with high efficiency and by-product generated can be applied as fertilizer. Two industrial installations using this technology have been constructed in the world, one in China and the second in Poland. Other plants are constructed in Japan and China. Chinese installation is mostly SO2 removal oriented (since the NOx emission limits in China are not imposed up to now), so Polish plant one is as a matter of fact the first installation for simultaneous desulfurization and denitrification of flue gases. The plant located in EPS Pomorzany in Szczecin treats the flue gases emitted from two Benson boilers of 65 MWe and 100 MWth each. The flue gases of maximum flow of 270 000 N m3/h are irradiated by four accelerators of 700 keV electron energy and 260 kW beam power each. Description of the plant and the results obtained have been presented in this paper. The plant has been in operation for more than 2500 h (5500 h including one accelerator set operation). Removal efficiencies up to 95% for SO2 and up to 70% for NOx were achieved. Several thousand tons of the by-product was sold in the form of NPK fertilizer. Economically, the technology is competitive with the conventional ones. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]