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Mosaic loss of chromosome Y (mLOY) is the most common somatic alteration as men aging and may reflect genome instability. PM exposure is a major health concern worldwide, but its effects with genetic factors on mLOY has never been investigated. Here we explored the associations of PM 2.5 and PM 10 exposure with mLOY of 10,158 males measured via signal intensity of 2186 probes in male-specific chromosome-Y region from Illumina array data. The interactive and joint effects of PM 2.5 and PM 10 with genetic factors and smoking on mLOY were further evaluated. Compared with the lowest tertiles of PM 2.5 levels in each exposure window, the highest tertiles in the same day, 7-, 14-, 21-, and 28-day showed a 0.005, 0.006, 0.007, 0.007, and 0.006 decrease in mLRR-Y, respectively (all P < 0.05), with adjustment for age, BMI, smoking pack-years, alcohol drinking status, physical activity, education levels, season of blood draw, and experimental batch. Such adverse effects were also observed in PM 10 -mLOY associations. Moreover, the unweighted and weighted PRS presented significant negative associations with mLRR-Y (both P < 0.001). Participants with high PRS and high PM 2.5 or PM 10 exposure in the 28-day separately showed a 0.018 or 0.019 lower mLRR-Y level [β (95 %CI) = -0.018 (-0.023, -0.012) and - 0.019 (-0.025, -0.014), respectively, both P < 0.001], when compared to those with low PRS and low PM 2.5 or PM 10 exposure. We also observed joint effects of PM with smoking on exacerbated mLOY. This large study is the first to elucidate the impacts of PM 2.5 exposure on mLOY, and provides key evidence regarding the interactive and joint effects of PM with genetic factors on mLOY, which may promote understanding of mLOY development, further modifying and increasing healthy aging in males., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare no competing financial interest. Environmental implication Generally, males had higher incidence and mortality in non-sex-specific diseases than females, while mosaic loss of Y chromosome (mLOY) is the most frequently detected structural mosaic event. It is critical to illustrate the effects of environment and genes on mLOY. Since PM2.5 and PM10 exposure have become a pervasive global health threat, we estimated the combined effects of individual PM levels and genetic variants on mLOY. Our findings shed light on the risk factors of mLOY, which may be delivering interventions to modify the susceptibility to diverse diseases among males., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: Studies related to air pollutants and spontaneous abortion in urban northwestern China are scarce, and the main exposure windows of pollutants acting on pregnant women are unclear., Study Design: Case-control study., Methods: Data were collected from pregnant women in Tongchuan City from 2018 to 2019. A total of 289 cases of spontaneous abortion and 1156 cases of full-term labor were included and analyzed using a case-control study. Logistic regression models were developed to explore the relationship between air pollutants and spontaneous abortion after Chi square analysis and Air pollutant description., Results: O 3 (odds ratio [OR] = 1.028) is a risk factor for spontaneous abortion throughout pregnancy. PM 2.5 (OR = 1.015), PM 10 (OR = 1.010), SO 2 (OR = 1.026), and NO 2 (OR = 1.028) are risk factors for spontaneous abortion in the 30 days before the last menstrual period. PM 2.5 (OR = 1.015), PM 10 (OR = 1.013), SO 2 (OR = 1.036), and NO 2 (OR = 1.033) are risk factors for spontaneous abortion in the 30-60 days before the last menstrual period. PM 2.5 (OR = 1.028), PM 10 (OR = 1.013), SO 2 (OR = 1.035), and NO 2 (OR = 1.059) are risk factors for spontaneous abortion in the 60-90 days before the last menstrual period., Conclusion: Exposure to high levels of air pollutants may be a cause of increased risk of spontaneous abortion, especially in the first trimester of the last menstrual period., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Municipal solid waste treatment (MSWT) system emits a cocktail of microorganisms that jeopardize environmental and public health. However, the dynamics and risks of airborne microbiota associated with MSWT are poorly understood. Here, we analyzed the bacterial community of inhalable air particulates (PM 10 , n = 71) and the potentially exposed on-site workers' throat swabs (n = 30) along with waste treatment chain in Shanghai, the largest city of China. Overall, the airborne bacteria varied largely in composition and abundance during the treatment (P < 0.05), especially in winter. Compared to the air conditions, MSWT-sources that contributed to 15 ∼ 70% of airborne bacteria more heavily influenced the PM 10 -laden bacterial communities (PLS-SEM, β = 0.40, P < 0.05). Moreover, our year-span analysis found PM 10 as an important media spreading pathogens (10 4 ∼ 10 8 copies/day) into on-site workers. The machine-learning identified Lactobacillus and Streptococcus as pharynx-niched featured biomarker in summer and Rhodococcus and Capnocytophaga in winter (RandomForest, ntree = 500, mtry = 10, cross = 10, OOB = 0%), which closely related to their airborne counterparts (Procrustes test, P < 0.05), suggesting that MSWT a dynamic hotspot of airborne bacteria with the pronounced inhalable risks to the neighboring communities., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In order to establish a regional database on natural radioactivity, a series of measurements of 713 atmospheric aerosol samples collected on filters over a two-year period (2018-2019) in center of Beijing, northeastern China have been performed to analyze 7 Be and 210 Pb activity concentrations. The mean activity concentrations of 7 Be and 210 Pb were found to be 7.10 ± 2.44 mBq m -3 and 2.93 ± 1.52 mBq m -3 , respectively. Both the radionuclides exhibited strong seasonal variations, with maximum concentration of 7 Be occurring in the spring and that of 210 Pb in the winter. The concentration of both the radionuclides was minimum in the rainy summer. Higher 7 Be concentration in the spring was mainly caused by the stratosphere to troposphere exchange. Higher 210 Pb concentration during winter was maybe attributed to the combustion processes in heating systems and the ingression of continental air masses resulted from winds originating from northwest. The dependence of the activity concentrations of 7 Be and 210 Pb with meteorological parameters such as rainfall, temperature, and humidity was studied through linear correlation analysis. Statistically significant negative correlations were observed between 7 Be and 210 Pb activity concentrations with rainfall, respectively, which suggested that the removal mechanisms of these two radionuclides were similar. Lead-210 showed statistically significant correlations with temperature, humidity and PM 10 . A comparison of the data obtained in the present study for Beijing with the northern hemisphere literature values of 7 Be and 210 Pb in the atmospheric aerosols showed that the values were smaller than the ones observed in the present study. Overall, the study provides an improved understanding of the temporal variability and correlation of 7 Be and 210 Pb concentrations in the atmosphere in center of Beijing, northeastern China., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Bai Bin reports financial support was provided by Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission, Administrative Commission of Zhongguancun Science Park. Ma Yongzhong reports financial support was provided by Beijing Municipal Health Commission., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The long retention of dust air masses in polluted areas, especially in winter, may efficiently change the physicochemical properties of aerosols, causing additional health and ecological effects. A large-scale haze-to-dust weather event occurred in the North China Plain (NCP) region during the autumn-to-winter transition period in 2018, affecting the coastal city Qingdao several times between Nov. 27th and Dec. 1st. To study the evolution of the pollution process, we analyzed the chemical characteristics of PM 2.5 and PM 10 - 2.5 and source apportionments of PM 2.5 and PM 10, The dust stagnated around NCP and moved out and back to the site, noted as dust swing process, promoting SO 4 2- formation in PM 2.5 and NO 3 - formation in PM 10 - 2.5 . Source apportionments were analyzed using the Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) receptor model and weighted potential source contribution function (WPSCF). Before the dust invasion, Qingdao was influenced by severe haze; waste incineration and coal burning were the major contributors (~80 %) to PM 2.5 , and the source region was in the southwest of Shandong Province. During the initial dust event, mineral dust and the mixed factor of dust and sea salt were the major contributors (46.0 % of PM 2.5 and 86.5 % of PM 10 ). During the polluted dust period, the contributions of regional transported biomass burning (22.3 %), vehicle emissions (20.8 %), and secondary aerosols (33.8 %) to PM 2.5 from the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region significantly increased. The secondary aerosols source was more regional than that of vehicle emissions and biomass burning and contributed considerably to PM 10 (30.8 %) during the dust swing process. Our findings demonstrate that environmental managers should consider the possible adverse effects of winter dust on regional and local pollution., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

This study investigated concentrations of PM 2.5 , PM 10 , SO 2 , NO 2 , CO and O 3 , and air quality index (AQI) values across 368 cities in mainland China during 2015-2018. The study further examined relationships of air pollution status with local industrial capacities and vehicle possessions. Strong correlations were found between industrial capacities (coal, pig iron, crude steel and rolled steel) and air pollution levels. Although statistical and significant reductions of PM 2.5 , PM 10 , SO 2 , NO 2 , CO and AQI values were observed in response to various laws and regulations in industrial sectors, both particle and gaseous pollutants still had annual average concentrations above recommended limits. In order to further reduce air pollution, more efforts can be done to control traffic emissions caused by minicars and heavy trucks, which was revealed after investigating 16 vehicle types. This was also consistent with the apparent air quality improvement during the COVID-19 lockdown period in China in 2020, despite industrial operations being still active at full capacities., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

A dust storm that formed in the north of China and the southeastern part of Mongolia in March 2021 significantly deteriorated air quality over a large area of East Asia. According to the synoptic pattern, the cause of the dust storm was a cyclone with a significant drop in pressure leading to high winds and dry components of the soil over parts of the Gobi Desert becoming airborne. Data obtained from ground-based air quality monitoring stations show that the observed hourly PM 10 concentration greatly exceeded the recommended maximum of 150 μg/m 3 with readings above 1500 μg/m 3 in the cities of Tianjin, Baoding, Zhengzhou, Luoyang, Zhoukou. In Shijiazhuang, Taiyuan, Jinnan, Xining, Baotou, and Jining. In Handan, it was over 2000 μg/m 3 . Cities where PM 10 concentration exceeded 3900 μg/m 3 included Lanzhou, Hohhot, Changzhou, Alashan, Yan'an, Yulin, Hami, Jiuquan, Heze, Hotan, and Baiyin. Concentrations exceeded 7000 μg/m 3 on March 15th over parts of the provinces of Inner Mongolia, Gansu and Ningxia, in the cities of Ordos, Jinchang, Wuwei and Zhongwei. According to satellite data, the area of dust covered approximately 450,000 km 2 . MODIS and TROPOMI data demonstrated high aerosol optical depth (AOD) (more than 1) with a high ultraviolet aerosol index (UVAI) (more than 2), confirming the predominance of dust particles during the storm. Data from CALIPSO show the presence of a dense layer of dust extending from the earth's surface to a height of about 8 km. The Dust Regional Atmospheric Model (BSC-DREAM8b) demonstrates high synchrony with the satellite's surface dust concentration data, ranging from 640 to 1280 μg/m 3 , and exceeding 2650 μg/m 3 in some areas. The purpose of this study is to analyze data from ground-based sensors, satellites, and atmospheric models to better understand the March 2021 dust storm event. The results may be useful for the implementation of protective and preventive measures for both the environment and human health, including air quality control., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Five-year (2013-2017) particulate matter (PM) data observed at an urban site, Srinagar, Kashmir Himalaya, India was used to examine the temporal variability, meteorological impacts and potential source regions of PM. The daily mean PM 10 and PM 2.5 concentration was 135 ± 112 μg/m 3 and 87 ± 93 μg/m 3 respectively with significant intra- and inter-daily variation. The annual PM 10 and PM 2.5 concentration was 2.0-3.2 and 1.7-2.8 times higher than the annual Indian National Ambient Air Quality Standards (PM 10 = 60 μg/m 3 and PM 2.5 = 40 μg/m 3 ). PM concentration shows a bimodal diurnal pattern with morning and evening peaks, which coincide with the increased anthropogenic activity and shallow planetary boundary layer (PBL). The combined effect of the low temperature, low wind speed, shallow and stable PBL and geomorphic setup of Kashmir valley leads to the accumulation of particulate pollution during autumn and winter and the converse meteorological conditions leads to dispersion, dilution and deposition during spring and summer. High precipitation rate (>15 mm/day) removes the coarse particles (PM 10 ) more efficiently than fine particles (PM 2.5 ), while as the moderate to high humid conditions (55-95%) leads to the accumulation and growth of more PM. It was observed that ~80% of the air masses arriving at the site during spring, autumn and winter are westerlies. Source contribution analysis revealed that highly potential source regions of PM at the site are neighboring Pakistan, Afghanistan, parts of Iran and Trans-Gangetic Plains, which could contribute high concentration of the PM 10 (>250 μg/m 3 ) and PM 2.5 (>150 μg/m 3 ) during autumn and winter. The high PM load observed at the site during autumn and winter, with major contribution from the anthropogenic source emissions like biomass and coal burning, fossil fuel combustion and suspension of road dust, is aggravated by the geomorphic and meteorological setup of the Kashmir valley., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Evidence on the relationship between particulate matter air pollution and urinary system disease (UD) is scarce. This study aims to evaluate the associations between short-term exposures to PM 2.5 and PM 10 and risk of daily UD inpatient hospital admissions through the emergency room (ER-admissions) in Beijing. We obtained 41,203 weekday UD ER-admissions for secondary and tertiary hospitals in all 16 districts in Beijing during 2013-2018 from the Beijing Municipal Health Commission Information Center and obtained district-level air pollution concentrations based on 35 fixed monitoring stations in Beijing. We conducted a two-stage time-series analysis, with district-specific generalized linear models for each of Beijing's 16 districts, followed by random effects meta-analysis to obtain pooled risk estimates. We evaluated lagged and cumulative associations up to 30 days. In single-pollutant models, for both PM 2.5 and PM 10 , cumulative exposure averaged over the day of admission and the previous 10 days (lag 0-10 days) showed the strongest association, with per interquartile range increases of PM 2.5 or PM 10 concentrations associated with a 7.5 % (95 % confidence interval [CI]: 3.0 %-12.2 %) or 6.0 % (95 % CI: 1.1 %-11.2 %) increased risk of daily UD hospital admissions, respectively. The risk estimates were robust to adjustment for co-pollutants and to a variety of sensitivity analyses. However, due to the strong correlation between PM 2.5 and PM 10 concentrations, we were unable to disentangle the respective relationships between these two exposures and UD risk. In this study, we found that short-term exposures to PM 2.5 and PM 10 are risk factors for UD morbidity and that cumulative exposure to PM pollution over a period of one to two weeks (i.e., 11 days) could be more important for UD risk than transient exposure during each of the respective single days., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

We investigated associations between prenatal and postnatal environmental factors and onset and remission of preschool childhood eczema across China. The study population was preschoolers in randomized day care centers in seven cities (N = 39,782). Data on eczema and prenatal and postnatal indoor and outdoor environment were obtained from a cross-sectional questionnaire sent to parents or other guardians. Reports on eczema in the first 2 years and in the past year was used to retrospectively calculate onset and remission (changes of reported eczema). Prenatal and postnatal outdoor temperature, NO 2 and PM 10 were modelled from official air pollution data. Associations were estimated by two-level logistic regression. Calculated onset rate was 3.2%/y and remission rate 29.2%/y. Exposure to NO 2 during pregnancy was associated with onset of eczema, similarly for all trimesters. Postnatal PM 10 and NO 2 were related to decreased remission. Postnatal outdoor temperature was associated with onset of eczema. Pre-natal and current redecoration or buying new furniture, and perinatal as well as current dampness and indoor mould, were associated with increased onset and decreased remission. Cockroaches in current home was another indoor risk factors. Prenatal exposure to farm environment and large family size were all negatively associated with eczema. In conclusion, a warmer climate and prenatal NO 2 can be associated with increased onset of eczema in Chinese preschoolers. Postnatal PM 10 and NO 2 can be associated with reduced remission. Perinatal and current dampness, indoor mould and cockroaches may increase onset and decrease remission. Exposure to chemical emissions from indoor materials after first year of life may increase onset. Prenatal exposure to farm environment and large family size could be protective., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Respirable particles with aerodynamic diameters ≤ 10 µm (PM 10 ) have important impacts on the atmospheric environment and human health. Available PM 10 datasets have coarse spatial resolutions, limiting their applications, especially at the city level. A tree-based ensemble learning model, which accounts for spatiotemporal information (i.e., space-time extremely randomized trees, denoted as the STET model), is designed to estimate near-surface PM 10 concentrations. The 1-km resolution Multi-Angle Implementation of Atmospheric Correction (MAIAC) aerosol product and auxiliary factors, including meteorology, land-use cover, surface elevation, population distribution, and pollutant emissions, are used in the STET model to generate the high-resolution (1 km) and high-quality PM 10 dataset for China (i.e., ChinaHighPM 10 ) from 2015 to 2019. The product has an out-of-sample (out-of-station) cross-validation coefficient of determination (CV-R 2 ) of 0.86 (0.82) and a root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 24.28 (27.07) μg/m 3 , outperforming most widely used models from previous related studies. High levels of PM 10 concentration occurred in northwest China (e.g., the Tarim Basin) and the Northern China Plain. Overall, PM 10 concentrations had a significant declining trend of 5.81 μg/m 3 per year (p < 0.001) over the past five years in China, especially in three key urban agglomerations. The ChinaHighPM 10 dataset is potentially useful for future small- and medium-scale air pollution studies by virtue of its higher spatial resolution and overall accuracy., (Copyright © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

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 PM 2.5 was a major contributor to COVID-19 cases in England, as an increase of 1 m 3 in the long-term average of PM 2.5 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., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

A systematic yearlong study was carried out in Dhauladhar region of the North-Western Himalayas to investigate dynamics in the composition and concentration of particulate bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their source(s) activity. PM 10 samples were collected for 24 h, once every week during January 2015-January 2016, at an urban mid-altitude site (Dharamshala) and a rural low-altitude site (Pohara). PAHs were identified and quantified using high performance liquid chromatography coupled with UV-detector. Seasonal average concentration of total PAHs followed a pattern: Summer > Winter > Autumn > Spring in the region. Seasonal average values of molecular diagnostic ratios indicated significant contribution from non-traffic (biomass burning and coal combustion) sources also during winter and spring season, whereas, traffic emissions (gasoline and diesel) were the dominant source at both the locations throughout the year in the region. The Principal Component Analysis deciphered a) emissions from gasoline driven vehicles b) diesel engine exhaust emissions c) biomass/wood burning source d) coal combustion and e) waste incineration and burning of oil/tar as major sources of PAHs in the region. Annual mean values of total Benzo(a)Pyrene Equivalent were much higher than 1 ng.m-3 over both the locations indicating higher lung cancer risk to the people living in this part of the Himalayas., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Emission from burning coals is one of the major sources of the airborne particles in China. We carried out a study on the rare earth elements (REEs) in the inhalable particulate matter (PM 10 ) emitted from burning coals and soil-coal honeycomb briquettes with different volatile contents and ash yields in a combustion-dilution system. Gravimetric analysis indicates that the equivalent mass concentration of the PM 10 emitted from burning the coals is higher than that emitted from burning the briquettes. The ICP-MS analysis indicates that the contents of total REEs in the coal-burning PM 10 are lower than those in the briquette-burning PM 10 . In addition, the contents of the light rare earth elements (LREEs) are higher than those of the heavy rare earth elements (HREEs) in the PM 10 emitted from burning the coals and briquettes, demonstrating that the REEs in both the coal-burning and briquette-burning PM 10 are dominated by LREEs. The higher contents of total REEs and LREEs in the coal-burning PM 10 are associated with the higher ash yields and lower volatile contents in the raw coals. A comparative analysis indicates that the La/Sm ratios in the PM 10 emitted from burning the coals and briquettes, being lower than 2, are lower than those in the particles from gasoline-powered vehicle emission., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Objectives: We aimed to assess the association between long-term exposure to ambient PM 10 and risk of diabetes incidence, based on the "Jinchang Cohort" platform in the Northwest of China., Methods: We selected 19884 subjects who had not yet developed diabetes in the baseline and had completed survey information from "Jinchang Cohort". The residential address was used to match the nearest pollution monitoring station for each subject, and the average concentration of PM 10 from baseline to follow-up were used as an estimate of individual exposure level. Cox regression model and restricted cubic splines functions were used to evaluate the effects of PM 10 on the incidence of diabetes and the dose-response relationship after adjusting for confounding covariates., Results: We observed 791 new-onset diabetics with a total follow-up of 45254.16 person-years (incidence rate of 17.48 per 1000 person-years). The risk of diabetes incidence increased by 17% (HR = 1.17, 95%CI: 1.08-1.26) per 10μg/m 3 increase in environmental PM 10 , and the risk rises gradually with the rise of PM 10 concentration. Comparing with the first quartile of PM 10 , the fully adjusted HRs (95%CI) for incident diabetes from the second to the fourth quartile of PM 10 were 1.15 (95%CI: 0.93-1.43), 1.50 (95%CI: 1.22-1.84) and 1.44 (95%CI: 1.15-1.79), respectively (P for trend<0.001). Stratified analyses suggested that the risk of diabetes incidence associated with ambient PM 10 was higher in female, young to middle-aged people, overweight and obese subjects, and subjects with FPG level at baseline lower than 5.6 mmol/L., Conclusions: Long-term exposure to ambient PM 10 significantly associated with a higher risk of diabetes development. Some urgent strategies may be advocated to reduce air pollution that can aid in preventing the prevalence of diabetes in the population., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The number of studies on air pollution with birth defects as the primary outcome has increased dramatically over the past two decades, but the potential role of specific air pollutants in congenital limb anomalies remains unclear., Objectives: To evaluate associations between preconception and first-trimester PM 10 exposure and polydactyly and syndactyly in a population-based case-control study., Methods: Polydactyly cases (n = 2605), syndactyly cases (n = 595), and controls without any birth defects (n = 7950) born between 2010 and 2015 were selected from the Maternal and Child Health Certificate Registry of Liaoning Province. The monthly mean PM 10 concentrations were obtained from 75 air monitoring stations, and the exposure assessment was based on the mean concentration of all stations in mother's residential city. A multivariable logistic regression model was constructed to calculate adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs)., Results: PM 10 exposure was positively associated with the risks of polydactyly (preconception: aOR T3 vs. T1  = 1.95, 95% CI 1.56-2.45, aOR = 1.06, 95% CI 1.01-1.10 [per 10-μg/m 3 increment]; first-trimester: aOR T3 vs. T1  = 2.51, 95% CI 2.00-3.15) and syndactyly (preconception: aOR T3 vs. T1  = 2.86, 95% CI 1.98-4.13, aOR = 1.11, 95% CI 1.03-1.20 [per 10-μg/m 3 increment]; first-trimester: aOR T3 vs. T1  = 3.10, 95% CI 2.11-4.56). Analyses based on single month exposure windows basically showed similar positive associations. Additionally, these findings were robust in sensitivity analyses and broadly consistent across subgroups., Conclusion: Our study suggest that preconception and first-trimester PM 10 exposures are related to increased risks of polydactyly and syndactyly., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Clinical or pathological evidence demonstrated that air pollution could undermine other organ systems of human body besides respiratory and circulation systems. Investigations that directly relate hospital outpatient visits for endocrine (ENDO), digestive (DIGE), urological (UROL), and dermatological (DERM) diseases categories with ambient particulate matter (PM) are still lacking, particularly in heavily polluted cities. Here, we conducted a time-series analysis using 812,624, 1,111,342, 539,803, and 741,662 hospital visits for ENDO, DIGE, UROL, and DERM, respectively, in Nanjing, China from 2013 to 2019. A generalized additive model was applied to estimate the exposure-response associations. Results showed that a 10 μg/m 3 increase in PM 2.5 concentration on lag 0 day was significantly associated with 0.59% (95% CI: 0.30%, 0.88%), 0.43% (0.15%, 0.70%), 0.36% (0.06%, 0.66%), and 0.65% (0.42%, 0.87%) increase for ENDO, DIGE, UROL, and DERM hospital visits, respectively. The estimated effects of PM 10 were slightly smaller but still statistically significant. The magnitude and significance of the associations between PM and four health outcomes were sensitive to additional adjustment for co-pollutants. Exposure-response relationships were linear for PM concentrations lower than 100 μg/m 3 but the curves became nonlinear across the full range of exposures due to a flatten slope at higher concentrations. We also explored the effect modifications by season (cold or warm), age (5-18, 18-64, 65-74, or 75+ years), and sex (male or female). Results showed that the DERM-related population aged 65 years or older was more vulnerable to PM exposure, compared with the 5 to 17-year age group; the DERM-related population aged 75 years or older and 65 years or older was more vulnerable to PM 2.5 and PM 10 exposure, respectively, compared with the 18 to 64-year age group. Our study provided suggestive evidence that ambient PM pollution was associated with ENDO, DIGE, UROL, and DERM outpatient hospital visits in Nanjing, China., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest All authors declare that they have no actual or potential competing financial interests., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: The emerging cases of childhood scarlet fever (SF) and worsening air pollution problems in Chinese cities suggests a potential linkage between them. However, few studies had explored this association in a large childhood population., Methods: We conducted a time-series analysis using the daily count of SF and the daily concentrations of particulate matters with an aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 (PM 2.5 ) and 10 (PM 10 ), as well as nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) in Hangzhou, China from 2014 to 2018. Distributed lag nonlinear models were used to estimate the lag effects of PM 2.5 , PM 10 and NO 2 for a maximum lag of 10 days, which were quantified using relative risk (RR) comparing the adjusted risks at the 2.5th (extremely low effect) and 97.5th (extremely high effect) percentiles of concentration of the three air pollutants to that at the median. Stratified RRs by sex were also reported., Results: Using the median concentration as reference, for extremely high effect, the RR was the highest on lag days 5, 6, and 3 for PM 2.5 , PM 10 , and NO 2 respectively. While on lag day 0, the RR of PM 2.5 , PM 10 , and NO 2 were 1.04 (95%CI: 0.90-1.20), 1.07 (95%CI: 0.92-1.24), and 1.08 (95%CI: 0.92-1.26) respectively, the RRs increased constantly and cumulatively to the maximum values of 1.88 (95%CI: 1.33-2.66), 1.82 (95%CI: 1.29-2.55), and 2.19 (95%CI: 1.47-3.27) for PM 2.5 , PM 10 , and NO 2 respectively on lag day 10. Subgroup analyses showed that females appeared to be more vulnerable to the three pollutants than males., Conclusion: Our study provides evidence that PM 2.5 , PM 10 , and NO 2 exert delayed effects on SF infection., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

To confirm our hypothesis that inhalation might be the primary exposure route of heavy metals for children living in proximity to a municipal waste incinerator (MWI), we conducted a one-year follow up study to characterize the distributions of heavy metals featured in different types of ambient air particles, including PM 1 , PM 2.5 and PM 10 , at two exposure sites near the MWI (E1 and E2) and one control site (C) in Zhejiang, China. Particle samples were collected by a mid-volume sampler and heavy metals were determined by the inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry method. The mass concentrations of PM 1 , PM 2.5 and PM 10 were 52.0, 85.8 and 100.3 μg/m 3 at E1 site, while the concentrations were 40.2, 92.1 and 106.6 μg/m 3 at E2 site and 33.4, 55.6 and 66.1 μg/m 3 at C site, respectively. Both E1 and E2 had higher PM 1 , PM 2.5 and PM 10 levels than C site. The levels of pollution were season dependent, with autumn having the highest levels of PM 1 , PM 2.5 and PM 10 across all three sampling sites. Regarding the distributions of heavy metals, Pb accounted for the majority of the seven metals in all groups, ranging from 43.2% to 51.3%, followed by Mn that ranged from 22.0% to 32.0%. The Pb levels of PM 1 , PM 2.5 and PM 10 in the MWI area were 22.6, 34.2 and 36.2 ng/m 3 , respectively, while Mn levels were 10.1, 20.0 and 23.5 ng/m 3 , respectively. The health risk assessment results suggested that residents were suffering high non-carcinogenic risk posed by MWI-emitted particle-bound toxic metals, as well as the high lifetime carcinogenic risk. This study revealed that ambient air, no matter whether near or far away from an MWI, bore more PM 1 , PM 2.5 and PM 10 particles than general, non-polluted ambient air, especially in autumn., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This study aims to examine the association between short-term exposures to PM 1 , PM 2.5 and PM 10 (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters ≤1 μm, ≤2.5 μm and ≤10 μm, respectively) and hospital admission for ischemic stroke in China. Daily counts of hospital admission for ischemic stroke were collected in 5 hospitals in China during November 2013 to October 2015. Daily concentrations of PM 1 , PM 2.5 and PM 10 were collected in 5 cities where the hospitals were located. A time-stratified case-crossover design was used to examine the hospital-specific PM-ischemic stroke association after controlling for potential confounders. Then the effect estimates were pooled using a random-effect meta-analysis. A total of 68,122 hospital admissions for ischemic stroke were identified from 5 hospitals during the study period. The pooled results showed that exposures to PM 1 , PM 2.5 and PM 10 were significantly associated with increased hospital admission for ischemic stroke on the current day and previous 1 day. The RRs (relative risk associated with per 10 μg/m 3 increase in each pollutant) and 95%CIs (confidence intervals) for the cumulative effects of PM 1 , PM 2.5 and PM 10 on ischemic stroke during lag 0-1 days were 1.014 (1.005, 1.0023), 1.007 (1.000, 1.014) and 1.005 (1.001, 1.009), respectively. In total, 3.5%, 3.6% and 4.1% of hospital admissions for ischemic stroke could be attributable to PM 1 , PM 2.5 and PM 10 , respectively. Exposures to ambient PM 1 , PM 2.5 and PM 10 pollution showed acute adverse effects on hospital admission for ischemic stroke. The health effects of PM 1 should be considered by policy-makers., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: We investigated whether long-term ambient air pollutants (AAP) exposure was associated with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) among hospitalized patients living in urban areas of Shanghai, China., Study Design: This was a cross-sectional observational study., Methods: A total of 3622 newly hospitalized inpatients were investigated from October 2014 to May 2015. The prior year's average exposure to particulate matter (PM) of each participant was estimated using the Kriging interpolation method of ArcGIS. The estimated eGFR was calculated according to the chronic kidney disease epidemiology collaboration (CKD-EPI) equation. Both generalized linear and logistic regression models were applied to assess the associations between AAP and renal function., Results: One-year PM 10 exposure was associated with lower eGFR; each standard deviation (SD) increase in PM 10 was significantly associated with the increased prevalence of CKD [adjusted odds ratio (OR) 1.11; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.02, 1.21], and lower eGFR by -0.40 (95%CI: -0.80, -0.01) ml/min/1.73 m 2 . Moreover, the effect of PM 10 was significantly greater in people over 65 years old., Conclusion: Our results supported that exposure to ambient PM 10 increased the risk of CKD and negatively affected renal function among Chinese adults., (Copyright © 2020 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: The potential association between maternal exposure to ambient PM 10 and offspring neural tube defects (NTDs) is a contentious issue. This study aims to evaluate the aforementioned association at a provincial level in China., Methods: A total of 2736 cases and 7950 randomly selected healthy infants included in the Maternal and Child Health Certificate Registry of Liaoning Province and delivered between 2010 and 2015 were recruited. Daily PM 10 concentrations were obtained from all available monitoring stations located within the study area. A multivariable logistic regression model was established to calculate the adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs)., Results: PM 10 exposure was significantly associated with the risk of NTDs during the three months preconception (per 10 μg/m 3 increment: OR = 1.10, 95% CI 1.07-1.14; per standard deviation [27 μg/m 3 ] increment: OR = 1.29, 95% CI 1.18-1.41; highest tertile: OR = 1.61, 95% CI 1.37-1.91) and the first trimester (highest tertile: OR = 1.57, 95% CI: 1.31-1.87). When focusing on shorter exposure windows, similar associations were observed for PM 10 exposure from the third month before pregnancy to the third month after pregnancy. Sensitivity analyses using propensity score matching yielded consistent findings., Conclusions: Maternal exposure to PM 10 is positively associated with NTDs during the critical period of fetal neural tube development. However, due to the limitation of the exposure assessment as well as potential residual confounding, further research is warranted to confirm our findings., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.)

To comparatively analyze source-specific risks of atmospheric particulate matter (PM), PM 10 -bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heavy metals (HMs) were synchronously detected in a megacity (Chengdu, China) from 2009 to 2016. Non-cancer risk (assessed by hazard quotient, HQ) of PAHs and HMs was within the acceptable level, while cancer risk (assessed by incremental life cancer risk (ILCR), R) of PAHs and HMs were 1.01 × 10 -4 and 9.40 × 10 -5 in DP and WP, which showed low risk. HMs dominated cancer (92.12%) and non-cancer (99.99%) risks. An advanced method named as joint source-specific risk assessment of HMs and PAHs (HP-SRA model) was developed to assess comprehensive source-specific risks. Gasoline combustion (contributed 9.6% of PM 10 , 0.3% of HQ and 10.0% of R), diesel combustion (6.2% of PM 10 , 0.2% of HQ and 10.7% of R), coal combustion (17.5% of PM 10 , 1.8% of HQ and 13.4% of R), industrial source (9.1% of PM 10 , 80.7% of HQ and 35.0% of R), crustal dust (28.1% of PM 10 , 9.0% of HQ and 1.6% of R), nitrate (7.5% of PM 10 , 1.1% of HQ and 6.2% of R) and sulphate & secondary organic carbon & adsorption (SSA, 19.6% of PM 10 , 6.9% of HQ and 23.1% of R) were identified as main sources. For cancer risk, industrial sources and SSA posed the highest proportion. Higher levels of Co and Ni generated from industrial sources and Cr (Ⅵ), Cd and Ni absorbed in the SSA can result in high-risk contributions. Thus, controlling HMs levels in industrial emissions is essential to protecting human health., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Conjunctivitis has hazardous effects on patients' quality of life through influencing school performance, work productivity, and daily activities such as driving. However, limited evidence is available on the contributory role of air pollution on conjunctivitis, particularly in China., Methods: We obtained data of 81,351 conjunctivitis outpatients from the largest comprehensive hospitals of four cities, China, between Jan 1, 2013 and Dec 31, 2014. Data on air pollutants, including particulate matter ≤2.5 μm in diameter (PM 2.5 ), particulate matter ≤10 μm in diameter (PM 10 ), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), ozone (O 3 ) and sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ) were collected from China National Environmental Monitoring Centre. Conjunctivitis outpatient visits were linked with air pollution concentrations by the visiting dates. A time-stratified case-crossover design with conditional logistic regression model was used to examine the effect of short-term exposure to air pollution on conjunctivitis outpatient visits., Results: We found that the associations between air pollutants (per 10 μg/m 3 increase) and hospital outpatient visits for asthma were [odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals]: 1.004(1.002-1.007) for PM 2.5 , 1.004 (1.002-1.005) for PM 10 , 1.012(1.005-1.020) for NO 2 , 1.006 (1.001-1.011) for SO 2 , and 1.007 (1.003-1.010) for O 3 , respectively at lag0 day. Outpatients aged 35-64 years showed significant associations with exposure to PM 2.5 (1.005, 1.001-1.010), PM 10 (1.005, 1.002-1.008), NO 2 (1.014, 1.003-1.026), and O 3 (1.005, 1.000-1.011), while those aged 15-34 years showed significant associations with exposure to O 3 (1.010, 1.004-1.017)., Conclusions: Short-term exposure to air pollution has impacts on outpatient visits for conjunctivitis in China. This study suggests that improving air quality could protect eye health., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Most published studies on particulate matter (PM) concerning PM 2.5 and PM 10 have focused on PM-induced effects on the respiratory system (particularly lung) and cardiovascular system effects. However, epidemiological and mechanistic studies suggest that PM 2.5 and PM 10 also affects the skin, which is a key health issue. In this study, we first reviewed the current status of PM 2.5 and PM 10 in China, including relevant regulations, concentration levels, chemical components, and emission sources. Next, we summarized the association between PM 2.5 and PM 10 or its representative components, in relation to skin inflammation as well as inflammatory skin diseases, such as atopic dermatitis, acne, eczema, and skin aging. Finally, we determined the mechanism of oxidative stress or programmed cell death induced through PM, which can provide useful information for future research on PM-induced skin inflammation., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Bacteria are ubiquitous throughout the earth's lower atmosphere. Bacteria, especially pathogenic bacteria, play an important role in human health. The diversity, composition, and dynamics of airborne bacteria has been widely studied; however, the characteristics of pathogenic bacteria remain poorly understood. In this study, a high throughput sequencing method was used to explore the airborne opportunistic pathogenic bacteria during autumn and winter in Xi'an, China. An aggregated boosted tree (ABT) was developed to determine the relative influence of environmental factors on the proportions of opportunistic pathogenic bacteria. Results showed that significantly more opportunistic pathogenic bacteria were found in winter than in autumn, and more opportunistic pathogenic bacteria were found in fine particulate matters (<2.5 μm) than in PM 10 (<10 μm). However, the composition of opportunistic pathogenic bacteria varied in autumn and winter. PM was the main factor affecting the proportions of opportunistic pathogenic bacteria, and air contaminants (PM, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, and ozone) influenced the proportion of opportunistic pathogenic bacteria more than meteorological factors (relative humidity, temperature, and wind speed). Different factors may be responsible for the variances in opportunistic pathogenic bacterial communities in different seasons. This study may provide a reference to support the control of pathogenic bacteria in urban environments during haze events., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

There are limited evidence on the association between short-term exposure to ambient particulate matter (PM) and overall hospital outpatient visits for respiratory system disease (RESD) and cardio-cerebrovascular system disease (CCD) in high-polluted countries like China. Though previous epidemiological studies of RESD and CCD generally applied a linear relationship of the acute PM effects, it is unclear whether this linear exposure-response relationship holds in high pollution area. In this study, a time-series study during 2013 through 2016 was conducted to investigate 245,442 and 430,486 hospital visits for RESD and CCD respectively from Nanjing city, China. A combination of logistic generalized additive model (GAM) was used to evaluate the exposure-response associations. The results disclosed that a 10 μg/m 3 increase in PM 2.5 and PM 10 concentration on the current day of exposure (lag 0) was associated with 0.36% (95% CI: -0.02%-0.73%) and 0.33% (0.07%-0.60%) increase in RESD; and 0.42% (0.00%-0.85%) and 0.37% (0.08%-0.67%) increase in CCD. The exposure-response association was approximately linear within 0-150 μg/m 3 of PM concentration and non-linear across the full range of exposures. The effects of PM on RESD and CCD were sensitive to additional adjustment for co-pollutants, indicating the health effects of air pollution mixture in Nanjing city. There was no evidence of potential effect modification of RESD and CCD by season (cold and warm), age (5-64, 65-74, ≧75 years) and sex (male and female) groups. Though not statistically significant, the estimated risks in warm season were higher than those in cold season, suggesting potential synergistic effects of ambient PM pollution and temperature on triggering RESD and CCD., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Atmospheric particulates were sampled in Hefei City, China from October 2016 to January 2017 to compare chemical compositions and sources of PM 2.5 (particle size smaller than 2.5 μm) and PM 10 (particle size smaller than 10 μm). The mean levels of PM 2.5 and PM 10 were 81 and 109 μg/m 3 , which are higher than the health threshold levels regulated by national and international standards. During the sampling period, AQI (Air Quality Index) was strongly correlated with PM 2.5 (Pearson's coefficient r = 0.94) rather than PM 10 concentrations. The PM 2.5 /PM 10 ratios were approximately 0.7, revealing the characteristics of fine particle pollution. Pollution elements (S, Zn, Cu and Pb) took up a large proportion of the composition and had high enrichment factors of 437, 385, 20 and 53, respectively, in PM 10 . Coal combustion and high-tech manufacture industry discharges were suggested to be the main pollution sources of both PM 2.5 and PM 10 . The PM 2.5 /PM 10 ratios of anthropogenic element concentrations were much higher than ratios of earth crust element. As compared to PM 10 , S and Pb in PM 2.5 had larger EFs, indicating that pollution elements were predominantly enriched in PM 2.5 . Furthermore, a paired sample t-test confirmed similar sources of PM 2.5 and PM 10 . Our study provides basic database to evaluate the heavy metal pollution status of atmospheric particulates in Chinese cities., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

As the second largest economy in the world, China experiences severe particulate matter (PM) pollution in many of its cities. Meteorological factors are critical in determining both areal and temporal variations in PM pollution levels; understanding these factors and their interactions is critical for accurate forecasting, comprehensive analysis, and effective reduction of this pollution. This study analyzed areal and temporal variations in concentrations of PM 2.5 , PM 10 , and PM coarse (PM 10 - PM 2.5 ) and PM 2.5 to PM 10 ratios (PM 2.5 /PM 10 ) and their relationships with meteorological conditions in 366 Chinese cities from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2017. On the national scale, PM 2.5 and PM 10 decreased from 48 to 42 μg m - ³ and from 88 to 84 μg m - ³, respectively, and the annual mean concentrations were 45 μg m - ³ (PM 2.5 ) and 84 μg m - ³ (PM 10 ) during the time period (2015-2017). In most regions, largest PM concentrations occurred in winter. However, in northern China, in spring PM coarse concentrations were highest due to dust. The PM 2.5 /PM 10 ratio was higher in southern than in northern China. There were large regional disparities in PM diurnal variations. Generally, PM concentrations were negatively correlated with precipitation, relative humidity, air temperature, and wind speed, but were positively correlated with surface pressure. The sunshine duration showed negative and positive impacts on PM in northern and southern cities, respectively. Meteorological factors impacted particulates of different size differently in different regions and over different periods of time., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Concentrations, composition and seasonal variations of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in the atmosphere (particulate phase and gaseous phase) at coastal cities in northern China were determined. OCP transport from emission source areas and lifetime excess cancer risks by inhalation exposure to specific OCPs were also investigated. The annual average concentration of total OCPs in gaseous phase ranged from 1.0ng/m 3 to 6.3ng/m 3 , with the peak observed in summer at most sites. Particulate phase concentrations ranged from 29.9pg/m 3 to 103.3pg/m 3 , with the maximum found in the local heating period at most locations. The detection rates of gaseous samples were considerably higher than those of particulate ones. The dominant components included endosulfan (I and II), (α- and γ-) chlordane, pentachlorobiphenyl (PeCB), hexachlorobenzene (HCB), heptachlor, (α-, β- and γ-) hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH), dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT) and their metabolic products. The specific ratios indicated different applications of DDT, technical HCH and endosulfan at most sites. Large differences in compositional profiles occurred in January (typical heating period) and July (representative non-heating period), and diurnal changes in component concentrations may have been influenced by local emission pattern. The potential source contribution function (PSCF) manifested seasonal concentrations of airborne OCPs affected by the input of potential sources in different regions. The emission sources with higher contribution probabilities to the sites were primarily distributed in the surrounding areas. The lifetime excess cancer risks for the local residents by inhalation exposure to specific components were not high, though the potential threat of α-HCH and HCB should be concerned. CAPSULE: Gaseous OCPs reached peak values in summer and dominated relative to particulate (PM 10 ) values; meanwhile, surrounding sources affected air OCP concentrations, and cancer risks of OCPs by inhalation exposure were not high., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

The concentration distributions, compositional profiles and seasonal variations of 17 perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) in PM 10 (particles with aerodynamic diameters < 10 μm) were determined in seven coastal cities of the Bohai and Yellow Seas. The detection rates of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and short-chain components (perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs) with ≤7 carbon atoms and perfluoroalkane sulfonic acids (PFSAs) with ≤5 carbon atoms) were much higher than those of other long-chain PFAA species. The annual average concentration of total PFAAs in PM 10 ranged from 23.6 pg/m 3 to 94.5 pg/m 3 for the sampling cities. The monthly mean concentrations of PFAAs in PM 10 in some sampling cities reached a peak value in winter, while no significant seasonal differences presented in other cities. High concentrations of PFAAs in the northern cities generally occurred during the local heating period (from November to March). Generally, the dominant components of PFAAs were PFOA and perfluorobutyric acid (PFBA). Some significantly positive correlations (p < 0.01) between the 10 dominant components were revealed in the sampling cities, which implied similar sources and fate behaviors. Based on the simulated 72-hr backward trajectory tracking of air masses, the clustering results demonstrated the sampling cities were affected mainly by the atmospheric transport in sequence from the northwest, the southwest and the open seas, and many transport trajectories of air masses passed by the local fluorine chemical manufacturers in Liaoning, Shandong, Jiangsu, and Hubei Provinces. The estimated average daily intake (ADI) corresponding to the residents in different age groups indicated insignificant contributions to PFOA and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) exposures by inhalation of PM 10 compared to ingestion by daily diet, while the higher ADI of PFOA than the reported levels for adults should be a concern. The calculated hazard ratios (HR) exhibited low noncancer risks by inhalation exposure to PFOA and PFOS in PM 10 ., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: The evidence for adverse effects of ambient particulate matter (PM) pollution on mental health is limited. Studies in Western countries suggested higher risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) associated with PM air pollution, but no such study has been done in developing countries., Methods: A case-control study was performed in Shanghai with a multi-stage random sampling design. Children's exposures to PM 1 , PM 2.5 and PM 10 (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter < 1 μm, < 2.5 μm and < 10 μm, respectively) during the first three years after birth were estimated with satellite remote sensing data. Conditional logistic regression was used to examine the PM-ASD association., Results: In total, 124 ASD cases and 1240 healthy controls were included in this study. The median levels of PM 1 , PM 2.5 and PM 10 exposures during the first three years of life were 48.8 μg/m 3 , 66.2 μg/m 3 and 95.4 μg/m 3 , respectively, and the interquartile range (IQR) for these three pollutants were 4.8 μg/m 3 , 3.4 μg/m 3 and 4.9 μg/m 3 , respectively. The adjusted odds ratios (and 95% confidence intervals) of ASD associated with an IQR increase for PM 1 , PM 2.5 and PM 10 were 1.86 (1.09, 3.17), 1.78 (1.14, 2.76) and 1.68 (1.09, 2.59), respectively. Higher ORs of ASD associated with PM pollution were observed in the second and the third year after birth., Conclusions: Exposures to PM 1 , PM 2.5 and PM 10 during the first three years of life were associated with the increased risk of ASD and there appeared to be stronger effects of ambient PM pollution on ASD in the second and the third years after birth., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This study presents the observations of PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations at an agricultural site from April to October 2012 in Dehui city, China. Ambient air was sampled by filter-based samplers and online PM monitors. The filter samples were analyzed to determine the abundance of ionic/inorganic elements, organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC). The daily PM10 concentrations varied significantly over the monitoring period, with an average of 168±63 (in the range of 52-277)μg/m(3) during the land preparation/planting period (26 April-15 June), 85±65 (36-228)μg/m(3) during the growing season (16 June-25 September), and 207±88 (103-310)μg/m(3) during the harvest period (26 September-31 October). PM2.5 accounted for 44%, 56% and 66% of atmospheric PM10 during these periods, respectively. The PM10 diurnal variation showed a distinct peak from 16:00 to 21:00 (LST) during the growing and harvesting seasons, while a gradual increase throughout the daytime until 17:00 was observed during tilling season. Mineral dust elements (Al, Ca, Fe, and Mg) dominated the PM10 chemical composition during the tilling season; OC, NO3(-), SO4(2-) and NH4(+) during the growing season; and carbonaceous species (i.e., OC and EC) during the harvesting season. Our results indicate that the soil particles emitted by farm tillage and organic matter released from straw burning are the two most significant sources of PM10 emissions contributing to the recurring high pollution events in this region. Therefore, development of agricultural PM inventories from soil tillage and straw burning is prioritized to support air quality modeling., (Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Samples of PM₁₀ and PM₂.₅ were synchronously collected from a megacity in China (Chengdu) during the 2011 sampling campaign and then analyzed by an improved three-way factor analysis method based on ME2 (multilinear engine 2), to investigate the contributions and size distributions of the source categories for size segregated particulate matter (PM). Firstly, the synthetic test was performed to evaluate the accuracy of the improved three-way model. The same five source categories with slightly different source profiles were caught. The low AAE (average absolute error) values between the estimated and the synthetic source contributions (<15%) and the approachable estimated PM₂.₅/PM₁₀ ratios with the simulated ratios might indicate that the results of the improved three-way factor analysis might be satisfactory. Then, for the ambient PM samples, the mean levels were 206.65 ± 69.90 μg/m(3) (PM₁₀) and 130.47 ± 43.67 μg/m(3) (PM₂.₅). The average ratio of PM₂.₅/PM₁₀ was 0.63. PM₁₀ and PM₂.₅ in Chengdu were influenced by the same source categories and their percentage contributions were in the same order: crustal dust & coal combustion presented the highest percentage contributions, accounting for 58.20% (PM₁₀) and 53.73% (PM2.5); followed by vehicle exhaust & secondary organic carbon (18.45% for PM₁₀ and 21.63% for PM₂.₅), secondary sulfate and nitrate (17.06% for PM₁₀ and 20.91% for PM₂.₅) and cement dust (6.30% for PM₁₀ and 3.73% for PM₂.₅). The source profiles and contributions presented slightly different distributions for PM₁₀ and PM₂.₅, which could better reflect the actual situation. The findings based on the improved three-way factor analysis method may provide clear and deep insights into the sources of synchronously size-resolved PM., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Concentrations of nine phthalate diesters in 24-h airborne PM2.5 and PM10 were determined from October 2011 to August 2012 in a suburban area in Shanghai, China. Dimethyl phthalate (DMP), diethyl phthalate (DEP), di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP), di-iso-butyl phthalate (DIBP), benzyl butyl phthalate (BzBP), and di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) were frequently detected in airborne particulate matter at sum concentrations of these six compounds ranging from 13.3 to 186 ng/m(3), with an average value of 59.8 ng/m(3) in PM2.5, and from 10.1 to 445 ng/m(3), with an average value of 132 ng/m(3) in PM10. DEHP, DBP, and DIBP were the major phthalate diesters found in PM samples. DEHP was found predominantly in coarse (size fraction of between PM2.5 and PM10) particles, whereas DMP, DEP, DBP, DIBP, and BzBP were found predominantly in fine (PM2.5) particles. The concentrations of phthalates in PM during warm months (207 ng/m(3) for PM10 and 71.9 ng/m(3) for PM2.5, on average) were significantly higher than those during cold months (76.9 ng/m(3) for PM10 and 50.4 ng/m(3) for PM2.5). Significant positive correlations were found between concentrations of total phthalates, DEHP, and BzBP, with the total mass and organic carbon content of PM. Based on the concentrations of DEHP, incremental lifetime cancer risks (ILCR) from inhalation exposure were estimated using a Monte Carlo simulation. Although the 95% probabilities for the ILCR values for the general population were below the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) threshold of 10(-6), our result is an underestimate of the actual health risk because we only considered the outdoor inhalation exposure to DEHP in this study., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The Bayan Obo mine, located in Inner Mongolia, China, is the largest light rare earth body ever found in the world. The research for rare earth elements (REEs) enrichment in atmospheric particulates caused by mining and ore processing is fairly limited so far. In this paper, atmospheric particulates including total suspended particulate (TSP) matter and particles with an equivalent aerodynamic diameter less than 10 μm (PM10) were collected around the Bayan Obo mine region, in August 2012 and March 2013, to analyze the levels and distributions of REEs in particles. The total concentrations of REEs for TSP were 149.8 and 239.6 ng/m(3), and those for PM10 were 42.8 and 68.9 ng/m(3), in August 2012 and March 2013, respectively. Enrichment factor was calculated for all 14 REEs in the TSP and PM10 and the results indicated that REEs enrichment in atmosphere particulates was caused by anthropogenic sources and influenced by the strong wind in springtime. The spatial distribution of REEs in TSP showed a strong gradient concentration in the prevailing wind direction. REE chondrite normalized patterns of TSP and PM10 were similar and the normalized curves inclined to the right side, showing the conspicuous fractionation between the light REEs and heavy REE, which supported by the chondrite normalized concentration ratios calculated for selected elements (La(N)/Yb(N), La(N)/Sm(N), Gd(N)/Yb(N))., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)