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The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, marked by stringent lockdowns and reduced human activity, resulted in a significant decrease in air pollutant emissions. This study investigates the impact of these altered atmospheric conditions on human health by focusing on Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) such as benzene, toluene, and meta-xylene (BTX), comparing data from before, during, and after the pandemic lockdowns. The objectives were to assess changes in Total VOC (TVOC) concentrations and to evaluate the associated health risks, particularly Lifetime Cancer Risk (LCR) from benzene exposure. Analysis of the data revealed a notable reduction in TVOCs during the 2020 lockdown, with average concentrations of 12.15 ± 20.49 µg/m3 in 2019, 8.08 ± 5.50 µg/m3 in 2020, and 5.12 ± 7.56 µg/m3 in 2021. LCR values also fluctuated, with averages of 1.12 × 10−5, 1.23 × 10−5, and 6.91 × 10−6 or pre-pandemic, during-pandemic, and post-pandemic periods, respectively. The findings highlight the potential effectiveness of lockdowns in reducing air pollution and underscore the need for continued, targeted environmental policies to improve public health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: 'Teachable moments', such as inpatient treatment periods, can be turned into opportunities for smokers to acquire healthy living behaviors. This study was conducted to evaluate outcomes of smoking cessation interventions at an inpatient hospital setting. Methods: Data was collected for this single arm prospective intervention cohort study between October 2021 and March 2022 from hospitalized patients at Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University Training and Research Hospital in Türkiye. Smoker patients received smoking cessation counseling and brief smoking cessation interventions during their hospitalization and were informed about how to apply to our hospital's smoking cessation outpatient clinic after discharge. They were followed via phone at 3rd, 5th,7th days and 1st, 3rd, 6th, 12th months after their discharge regarding their quit status as well as admissions to smoking cessation clinics. Quitters were confirmed by exhaled air carbon monoxide testing. Logistic regression analysis was performad to evaluate the presence of admission to emergency department and family physicians at 1st year follow up, model was adjusted regarding age, sex, presence of malignancy and education level. Results: Totally data of 183 patients included to the study, there were 163 participants who completed periodic follow-ups during 1 year and among them the quit rate was 47.2%. Rate of anxiety was higher among non-quitters, compared to quitters (9.4% vs 1.2%) (p:0.024). Non-quittters were 19 times more likely to have emergency department admissions (aOR: 19.64, 95% CI: 8.08-47.68) and 8 times more likely have family doctor admissions (aOR: 8.43, 95% CI: 4.05-17.53) than quitters. Conclusions: This cessation program evaluated the quit rates of hospitalized patients at first year and revealed that rate of anxiety was higher in non-quitters compared to quitters. It would be an important approach to include psychiatric support in this practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air pollutants can have a substantial impact on health. Particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) can penetrate the respiratory system and produce inflammation; chronic exposure can damage lung tissue. Several environmental and daily habits have been reported to increase the risk of disease and adverse health conditions. We carried out a study to assess the importance and effect of these factors on human health. The objective was to measure exposure to environmental pollutants (PM2.5, PM10, nitrogen dioxide, and noise) by studying cyclists in Montevideo, Uruguay. We measured environmental pollutants on two urban routes with high and low values of the environmental variables and biometrics of participating cyclists. No significant differences were found between routes. Our results suggest that active transport benefits seem to outweigh health risks in Montevideo for the sampled cycling routes. Our study provides knowledge about characteristics of the environment, which is an important input when planning where to place bikeways in Montevideo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Evidence linking gaseous air pollution to late-life brain health is mixed. OBJECTIVE: We explored associations between exposure to gaseous pollutants and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) markers among Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study participants, with attention to the influence of exposure estimation method and confounding by site. METHODS: We considered data from 1,665 eligible ARIC participants recruited from four US sites in the period 1987–1989 with valid brain MRI data from Visit 5 (2011–2013). We estimated 10-y (2001–2010) mean carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and 8- and 24-h ozone (O3) concentrations at participant addresses, using multiple exposure estimation methods. We estimated site-specific associations between pollutant exposures and brain MRI outcomes (total and regional volumes; presence of microhemorrhages, infarcts, lacunes, and severe white matter hyperintensities), using adjusted linear and logistic regression models. We compared meta-analytically combined site-specific associations to analyses that did not account for site. RESULTS: Within-site exposure distributions varied across exposure estimation methods. Meta-analytic associations were generally not statistically significant regardless of exposure, outcome, or exposure estimation method; point estimates often suggested associations between higher NO2 and NOx and smaller temporal lobe, deep gray, hippocampal, frontal lobe, and Alzheimer disease signature region of interest volumes and between higher CO and smaller temporal and frontal lobe volumes. Analyses that did not account for study site more often yielded significant associations and sometimes different direction of associations. DISCUSSION: Patterns of local variation in estimated air pollution concentrations differ by estimation method. Although we did not find strong evidence supporting impact of gaseous pollutants on brain changes detectable by MRI, point estimates suggested associations between higher exposure to CO, NOx, and NO2 and smaller regional brain volumes. Analyses of air pollution and dementia-related outcomes that do not adjust for location likely underestimate uncertainty and may be susceptible to confounding bias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a leading cause of poisoning. CO detectors are a known-effective prevention strategy, however, little is known about use of detectors or knowledge of risk. This study assessed awareness of CO poisoning risk, detector laws, and detector use among a statewide sample. Data collected from the Survey of the Health of Wisconsin (SHOW) included a CO Monitoring module added to the in-home interview for 466 participants representing unique households across Wisconsin in 2018–2019. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression models examined associations between demographic characteristics, awareness of CO laws and detector use. Less than half of households had a verified CO detector. Under 46% were aware of the detector law. Those aware had 2.82 greater odds of having a detector in the home compared to those unaware of the law. Lack of CO law awareness may lead to less frequent detector use and result in higher risk of CO poisoning. This highlights the need for CO risk and detector education to decrease poisonings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although many pregnant women accept referrals to stop‐smoking support, the uptake of appointments often remains low. Aim: The aim was to review the success of interventions to increase the uptake of external stop‐smoking appointments following health professional referrals in pregnancy. Materials and Methods: Embase, PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Scopus and CINAHL were searched in February 2023 for studies with interventions to increase the uptake rates of external stop‐smoking appointments among pregnant women who smoke. Eligible studies included randomised, controlled, cluster‐randomised, quasi‐randomised, before‐and‐after, interrupted time series, case–control and cohort studies. Cochrane tools assessing for bias and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed. Results: Two before‐and‐after studies were included, including a combined total of 1996 women who smoked during pregnancy. Both studies had a serious risk of bias, and meta‐analysis was not possible due to heterogeneity. One study testing carbon monoxide monitors and opt‐out referrals showed increased uptake of external stop‐smoking appointments, health professional referrals and smoking cessation rates compared to self‐identified smoking status and opt‐in referrals. Results were limited in the second study, which used carbon monoxide monitors, urinary cotinine levels and self‐disclosed methods to identify the smoking status with opt‐out referrals. Only post‐intervention data were available on the uptake of appointments to external stop‐smoking services. The number of health professional referrals increased, but change in smoking cessation rates was less clear. Conclusions: There is insufficient evidence to inform practice regarding strategies to increase the uptake of external stop‐smoking appointments by women during pregnancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Patients can have features of both chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma. However, there is still no consensus how to precisely define this patient population. In addition, there are little data on the effectiveness of biologics in these patients. Method: Presence of COPD was defined by a smoking history of ≥10 pack years (PY), a postbronchodilator FEV1/FVC ratio < lower limit of normal (LLN) and FEV1 < 80% predicted, a carbon monoxide diffusion capacity (DLCO) < LLN, and dyspnoea on exertion as a leading symptom. Presence of asthma was defined by high type 2 biomarkers (blood eosinophils ≥300 cells/μL and/or FeNO ≥50 ppb), typical clinical features of asthma (including nocturnal respiratory symptoms), and a documented history of a clinical benefit from inhaled and/or oral glucocorticoid treatment. We analysed data from 20 patients fulfilling the criteria for both COPD and asthma who were newly treated with a biologic due to recurrent exacerbations despite high-dose inhaled triple therapy. Results: Median values before treatment with a biologic were as follows: 40 PY, FEV1 42% predicted, DLCO 45% predicted, 475 eosinophils/μL blood, FeNO 48 ppb. Median duration of biologic treatment (mepolizumab, benralizumab, dupilumab, omalizumab, or tezepelumab) was 12 months. There were significant improvements in exacerbations (most prominent effect), asthma control, and lung function during biologic treatment. Conclusions: Various types of biologics approved for severe asthma treatment can be effective in patients with both COPD and asthma. We propose an easy-to-use definition of these patients for routine clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2019, a domestic raw coal ban (RCB) was introduced in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Coal-briquettes have since been promoted in Ger district households, however implications for carbon monoxide (CO) exposure remains uncertain. We obtained 48-hour indoor CO concentrations in 23 Ger district households and compared these to 10 raw-coal households. Information on household characteristics, fuel use behaviour and stove venting practices was collected by survey. Mean 48-hour CO concentrations in coal-briquette households was 6.1 ppm (range 1.5–35.8 ppm) with no signfiicant differences by household, stove or venting factors. Peak time-weighted average CO concentrations exceeded WHO Indoor Air Quality guidelines in 9 (39%) households; with all surpassing the 8-hour guideline (>8.6 ppm); 3(13%) the 24-hour guideline (>6 ppm) and 2(9%) the 1-hour guideline (>30 ppm). Median CO levels were significantly lower in coal-briquette compared to raw coal households (p = 0.049). Indoor CO reduction was associated with RCB implementation although hazardous levels persist in this setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To determine effects of concurrent smoking and nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) use on reported heaviness of smoking, nicotine (cotinine) body fluid and exhaled air carbon monoxide (CO) concentrations. Methods: Systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs, which test interventions permitting concurrent NRT use and smoking and comparing, within participants, outcomes when smoking with those when smoking and using NRT concurrently. Measurements included reported number of cigarettes smoked per day (CPD), body fluid cotinine and expired air CO concentrations. Results: Twenty-nine studies were included in the review. Meta-analysis of nine showed that, compared with when solely smoking, fewer cigarettes were smoked daily when NRT was used (mean difference during concurrent smoking and NRT use, -2.06 CPD [95% CI = -3.06 to -1.07, P < 0.0001]). Meta-analysis of seven studies revealed a non-significant reduction in exhaled CO during concurrent smoking and NRT use (mean difference, -0.58 ppm [95% CI = -2.18 to 1.03, P = 0.48]), but in the three studies that tested NRT used in the lead-up to quitting (i.e. as preloading), a similar reduction in exhaled CO was statistically significant (mean difference, -2.54 ppm CO [95% CI = -4.14 to -0.95, P = 0.002]). Eleven studies reported cotinine concentrations, but metaanalysis was not possible because of data reporting heterogeneity; of these, seven reported lower cotinine concentrations with concurrent NRT use and smoking, four reported no differences, and none reported higher concentrations. Conclusions: People who smoke and also use nicotine replacement therapy report smoking less heavily than people who solely smoke. When nicotine replacement therapy is used in the lead-up to quitting (preloading), this reported smoking reduction has been biochemically confirmed. There is no evidence that concurrent smoking and nicotine replacement therapy use result in greater nicotine exposure than solely smoking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: Optimising smoking cessation (SC) referral strategies within lung cancer screening (LCS) could significantly reduce lung cancer mortality. This study aimed to measure acceptance of referral to SC support by either practitioner‐referral or self‐referral among participants attending a hospital‐based lung health check appointment for LCS as part of the Lung Screen Uptake Trial. Design: Single‐blinded two‐arm randomised controlled trial. Setting: England. Participants: Six hundred forty‐two individuals ages 60 to 75 years, who self‐reported currently smoking or had a carbon monoxide reading over 10 ppm during the lung health check appointment. Intervention and comparator: Participants were randomised (1:1) to receive either a contact information card for self‐referral to a local stop smoking service (SSS) (self‐referral, n = 360) or a SSS referral made on their behalf by the nurse or trial practitioner (practitioner‐referral, n = 329). Measurements The primary outcome was acceptance of the practitioner‐referral (defined as participants giving permission for their details to be shared with the local SSS) compared with acceptance of the self‐referral (defined as participants taking the physical SSS contact information card to refer themselves to the local SSS). Findings Half (49.8%) accepted the practitioner‐made referral to a local SSS, whereas most (88.5%) accepted the self‐referral. The odds of accepting the practitioner‐referral were statistically significantly lower (adjusted odds ratio = 0.10; 95% confidence interval = 0.06–0.17) than the self‐ referral. In analyses stratified by group, greater quit confidence, quit attempts and Black ethnicity were associated with increased acceptance within the practitioner‐referral group. There were no statistically significant interactions between acceptance by referral group and any of the participants' demographic or smoking characteristics. Conclusions: Among participants in hospital‐based lung cancer screening in England who self‐reported smoking or met a carbon monoxide cut‐off, both practitioner‐referral and self‐referral smoking cessation strategies were highly accepted. Although self‐referral was more frequently accepted, prior evidence suggests practitioner‐referrals increase quit attempts, suggesting practitioner‐referrals should be the first‐line strategy within lung cancer screening, with self‐referral offered as an alternative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Mediastinal lymph node enlargement (MLNE) is a finding described in a subset of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and other interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) and is associated with accelerated disease progression and increased mortality. The cause of MLNE is still not known. Our hypothesis is that there is an association between MLNE and B-cell follicles in lung tissue, another aspect detectable in the lung tissue of patients with IPF and other ILDs. Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess if there is an association between MLNE and B-cell follicles in lung tissue in patients with IPF and other ILDs. Method: Patients having transbronchial cryobiopsies performed as part of an investigation for ILD were included in this prospective observational study. MLNE (smallest diameter ≥10 mm) were assessed in station 7, 4R, and 4L on high-resolution computed tomography scans. B-cell follicles were assessed on haematoxylin-eosin-stained specimens. Lung function, 6-minute walk test, acute exacerbation, and mortality were registered after 2 years. In addition, we investigated if the finding of B-cell follicles was consistent in patients who underwent both surgical lung biopsies (SLBs) and cryobiopsies. Results: In total, 93 patients were included for analysis (46% diagnosed with IPF, 54% diagnosed with other ILDs). MLNE was found in 26 (60%) of the IPF patients and in 23 (46%) of the non-IPF patients (p = 0.164). Diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide was significantly lower (p = 0.03) in patients with MLNE compared to patients without MLNE. B-cell follicles were found in 11 (26%) of the IPF patients and in 22 (44%) of the non-IPF patients (p = 0.064). Germinal centres were not seen in any of the patients. There was no association between MLNE and B-cell follicles (p = 0.057). No significant difference in change of pulmonary function test was seen at 2-year follow-up when comparing the patients with and without MLNE or B-cell follicles. In 13 patients, both SLBs and cryobiopsies were performed. The presence of B-cell follicles was not consistent when comparing the two different methods. Conclusion: MLNE is evident in a substantial part of patients with ILD and is associated with lower DLCO at inclusion. We could not demonstrate an association between histological B-cell follicles in biopsies and MLNE. A possible explanation for this is that the cryobiopsies might not have captured the changes we sought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background There is limited evidence on association between air pollutants and hospital admissions, hospital cost and length of stay (LOS) among patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) and comorbid respiratory diseases (RD), especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) with low levels of air pollution. Methods Daily data on RD-DM patients were collected in Panzhihua from 2016 to 2020. A generalised additive model (GAM) was used to explore the effect of air pollutants on daily hospital admissions, LOS and hospital cost. Attributable risk was employed to estimate RD-DM's burden due to exceeding air pollution exposure, using both 0 microgrammes per cubic metre (μg/m3) and WHO's 2021 air quality guidelines as reference. Results For each 10 ug/m3 increase of particles with an aerodynamic diameter <2.5 micron (≥m) (PM2.5), particles with an aerodynamic diameter <10 ≥m (PM10), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and ozone (O3), the admissions of RD-DM patients increased by 7.25% (95% CI = 4.26 to 10.33), 5.59% (95% CI = 3.79 to 7.42), 10.10% (95% CI = 7.29 to 12.98), 12.33% (95% CI = 8.82 to 15.95) and -2.99% (95% CI = -4.08 to -1.90); per 1 milligramme per cubic metre (mg/m3) increase of carbon monoxide (CO) corresponded to a 25.77% (95% CI = 17.88 to 34.19) increment for admissions of RD-DM patients. For LOS and hospital cost, the six air pollutants showed similar effect. Given 0 μg/m3 as the reference, NO2 showed the maximum attributable fraction of 32.68% (95% CI = 25.12 to 39.42%), corresponding to an avoidable burden of 5661 (95% CI = 3611 to 5860) patients with RD-DM. Conclusions There is an association between PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NO2, and CO with increased hospital admissions, LOS and hospital cost in patients with RD-DM. Disease burden of RD-DM may be improved by formulating policies related to air pollutants exposure reduction, especially in LMICs with low levels of air pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. A portable breath carbon monoxide (CO) monitor has a high cross-sensitivity to hydrogen (H2). This study examined the influences of H2 after consuming milk on the detected CO values using three types of portable CO monitors. Materials and Methods. Exhaled breath from seven participants (four healthy nonsmokers and three smokers with otherwise unknown comorbidities) was collected in sampling bags. The participants then consumed 200 mL of milk, and the exhaled breath of each was collected in separate bags every 30 minutes until 9 hours later. CO and H2 in the bag were measured using a gas chromatograph as a reference analyzer, and CO was also measured using three types of portable CO monitors. Results. After consuming milk, H2 levels were significantly higher, and CO levels were not significantly elevated as measured by the reference analyzer. However, CO levels in monitors A and B were significantly elevated, even though participants did not smoke. The H2 levels in the reference analyzer significantly increased and reached a maximum 4.5 hours after consuming milk. The difference in CO levels between the reference analyzer and each monitor increased significantly after 5 or 5.5 hours. Conclusions. This study suggested that the breath CO monitors with a cross-sensitivity to H2 responded to H2 as CO in the exhaled gas and measured higher than actual values after milk consumption. The extent of the influence of H2 differed depending on the type of CO monitor. It is necessary to consider milk consumption when assessing the smoking status of people using portable CO monitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale: The associations between ambient coarse particulate matter (PM2.5-10) and daily mortality are not fully understood on a global scale. Objectives: To evaluate the short-term associations between PM2.5-10 and total, cardiovascular, and respiratory mortality across multiple countries/regions worldwide. Methods: We collected daily mortality (total, cardiovascular, and respiratory) and air pollution data from 205 cities in 20 countries/regions. Concentrations of PM2.5-10 were computed as the difference between inhalable and fine PM. A two-stage time-series analytic approach was applied, with overdispersed generalized linear models and multilevel meta-analysis. We fitted two-pollutant models to test the independent effect of PM2.5-10 from copollutants (fine PM, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, ozone, and carbon monoxide). Exposure-response relationship curves were pooled, and regional analyses were conducted. Measurements and Main Results: A 10 μg/m3 increase in PM2.5-10 concentration on lag 0-1 day was associated with increments of 0.51% (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.18%-0.84%), 0.43% (95% CI, 0.15%-0.71%), and 0.41% (95% CI, 0.06%-0.77%) in total, cardiovascular, and respiratory mortality, respectively. The associations varied by country and region. These associations were robust to adjustment by all copollutants in two-pollutant models, especially for PM2.5. The exposure-response curves for total, cardiovascular, and respiratory mortality were positive, with steeper slopes at lower exposure ranges and without discernible thresholds. Conclusions: This study provides novel global evidence on the robust and independent associations between short-term exposure to ambient PM2.5-10 and total, cardiovascular, and respiratory mortality, suggesting the need to establish a unique guideline or regulatory limit for daily concentrations of PM2.5-10. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wildland firefighters (WLFFs) are exposed to a mixture of chemicals found in wildland fire smoke and emissions from nonwildland-fuel smoke sources such as diesel. We investigated compositional differences in exposure to particulate matter and explored differences in ventilation rate and potential inhaled dose relative to the work tasks of WLFFs. Repeated measures on ten professional and two volunteer firefighters were collected on prescribed burn and nonburn days. Personal monitoring consisted of real-time and gravimetric fine particulate matter (PM2.5), carbon monoxide (CO), and accelerometer measurements to estimate ventilation rate and potential dose of PM2.5. The fine particulate matter was analyzed for levoglucosan (LG) and light absorbing carbon as a surrogate for black carbon (BC). Breathing zone personal exposure concentrations of PM2.5, LG, BC, and CO were higher on burn days (P < 0.05). Differences in exposure concentrations were observed between burn day tasks (P < 0.05) with firefighters managing fire boundaries (holders) being exposed to higher CO and LG concentrations and less BC concentrations than those conducting lighting (lighters). While no statistical difference in PM2.5 exposure measures was observed between the two tasks, holders in the study tended to be exposed to higher PM2.5 concentrations (~1.4×), while lighters tended to have more inhaled amounts of PM2.5 (~1.3×). Our findings demonstrate possible diversity in the sources of particulate matter exposure at the fireline and suggest the potential importance of using dose as a metric of inhalation exposure in occupational or other settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a model of a solid fuel boiler with the improvement of the locking mechanism to increase its efficiency, which in turn will increase the savings and ecological safety of such a boiler. The given calculation of the volume of dry gases, theoretical volume of nitrogen and the volume of water vapor, which makes it possible to determine the content of oxygen in the air and other elements in the fuel. Given a 3-D model of solid fuel boiler by means of FlowSimulation software. Based on the test results, the amount of combustion products leaving the chamber was shown. The research results show that, depending on the size of the boiler elements, there is no ventilation in the room where the boiler is located, and after an hour of operation, a long stay of a person may cause health problems. t has been shown that the excess air factor depends on the type of combustible fuel, the method of its combustion and the structure of the boiler combustion chamber. A construction of the closing mechanism of the combustion chamber of a solid fuel boiler is proposed. Based on experimental and computational research, a model of the boiler door handle was constructed, when automatic opening would be impossible. Such a design of the mechanism closing the combustion chamber of a solid fuel boiler allows to increase its efficiency as a result of the stability of the gas mixture composition and to reduce the risk of carbon monoxide falling into the room. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epidemiological studies on health effects of air pollution usually estimate exposure at the residential address. However, ignoring daily mobility patterns may lead to biased exposure estimates, as documented in previous exposure studies. To improve the reliable integration of exposure related to mobility patterns into epidemiological studies, we conducted a systematic review of studies across all continents that measured air pollution concentrations in various modes of transport using portable sensors. To compare personal exposure across different transport modes, specifically active versus motorized modes, we estimated pairwise exposure ratios using a Bayesian random-effects meta-analysis. Overall, we included measurements of six air pollutants (black carbon (BC), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), particulate matter (PM 10 , PM 2.5 ) and ultrafine particles (UFP)) for seven modes of transport (i.e., walking, cycling, bus, car, motorcycle, overground, underground) from 52 published studies. Compared to active modes, users of motorized modes were consistently the most exposed to gaseous pollutants (CO and NO 2 ). Cycling and walking were the most exposed to UFP compared to other modes. Active vs passive mode contrasts were mostly inconsistent for other particle metrics. Compared to active modes, bus users were consistently more exposed to PM 10 and PM 2.5 , while car users, on average, were less exposed than pedestrians. Rail modes experienced both some lower exposures (compared to cyclists for PM 10 and pedestrians for UFP) and higher exposures (compared to cyclist for PM 2.5 and BC). Ratios calculated for motorcycles should be considered carefully due to the small number of studies, mostly conducted in Asia. Computing exposure ratios overcomes the heterogeneity in pollutant levels that may exist between continents and countries. However, formulating ratios on a global scale remains challenging owing to the disparities in available data between countries., 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 © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is a major hepatic dysfunction commonly caused by hepatotoxic drug overdose, resulting in a considerable number of fatalities worldwide. Recent studies have highlighted the regulatory and hepatoprotective effects of carbon monoxide (CO) during the liver injury process. However, precisely tracking the dynamic changes in the composition of CO in DILI is still a great challenge. In this work, leveraging the innovative "quencher-insertion" strategy, a unique endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-targetable lanthanide complex-based luminescence probe, ER-ANBTTA-Eu 3+ /Tb 3+ , has been developed for the selective and accurate monitoring of CO fluxes in live cells and laboratory animals. The new probe is composed of three covalently linked functional moieties: the terpyridine polyacid-Eu 3+ /Tb 3+ -mixed chelates as the long-lived luminophore, a p -toluenesulfonamide moiety as the ER-anchoring motif, and an allyloxy-nitrobenzyl ether moiety as the CO-specific recognition unit. Upon reaction with CO in the presence of Pd 2+ ions, the Tsuji-Trost reaction leads to the cleavage of the allyloxy-nitrobenzyl group from the Eu 3+ /Tb 3+ -mixed chelates, which results in the restoration of Tb 3+ emission at 538 nm and the attenuation of Eu 3+ emission at 688 nm, leading to a dramatic increase of the I 538 / I 688 ratio. In addition to the exceptional response sensitivity and selectivity toward CO, ER-ANBTTA-Eu 3+ /Tb 3+ also exhibits the outstanding ER-locating capability, which allows the probe to be used for imaging of CO in the ER of live cells. Using this probe, combined with the time-gated luminescence imaging mode, the exogenous and endogenous CO in ER of live cells were monitored without the interference of background autofluorescence. Moreover, the upregulation of hepatic CO in DILI mice was successfully visualized. The results suggested the potential of ER-ANBTTA-Eu 3+ /Tb 3+ for deeply exploring the functions of CO in DILI pathogenesis.

Exposure to household air pollutants has become a significant environmental health concern in developing nations. This study aimed to understand the growing energy consumption within households, particularly for cooking, and its impact on women's health in rural areas. We conducted real-time monitoring of ambient particulate matter (PM2.5) and carbon monoxide (CO) levels in 61 rural kitchens in the Medinipur and Jhargram districts of West Bengal, India. Additionally, we calculated the Standard Living Index (SLI) based on socio-demographic factors from 540 households. Our analyses using ANOVA and chi-square methods revealed significant effects of cooking fuel types and locations on various health indicators among women. Eye irritation was prevalent across all fuel types, followed by shortness of breath (33%), coughing (22%), and dizziness (21%). Alarmingly, nearly half (48%) of children under five consistently accompanied their mothers during cooking, exposing them to health risks. Indoor air pollution, particularly from traditional fuels like fuelwood, cow dung cakes, and leaves, poses a grave threat to families. These fuels emit considerable amounts of PM2.5 and CO, with levels reaching as high as 565 µg/m 3 and 12.5 ppm, respectively, leading to respiratory and cardiovascular complications. Clean cooking fuel users, such as those using LPG, reported improved quality of life scores across physical, psychological, social, and environmental categories. This study highlights the urgent need to transition to cleaner cooking fuels to mitigate adverse health effects on women and children in rural households., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

In recent years, the use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigs) has increased. However, their long-term effects on oral health and saliva remain poorly understood. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the saliva of e-cig users and investigate possible biomarkers. Participants were divided into two groups: the Electronic Cigarette Group (EG)-25 regular and exclusive e-cig users-and Control Group (CG)-25 non-smokers and non-e-cig users, matched in sex and age to the EG. The clinical analysis included the following parameters: age, sex, heart rate, oximetry, capillary blood glucose, carbon monoxide (CO) concentration in exhaled air, and alcohol use disorder identification test (AUDIT). Qualitative and quantitative analyses of saliva included sialometry, viscosity, pH, and cotinine concentrations. Furthermore, the EG and CG salivary metabolomes were compared using gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney test. The MetaboAnalyst 6.0 software was used for statistical analysis and biomarker evaluation. The EG showed high means for exhaled CO concentration and AUDIT but lower means for oximetry and salivary viscosity. Furthermore, 10 metabolites (isoleucine, 2-hydroxyglutaric acid, 3-phenyl-lactic acid, linoleic acid, 3-hydroxybutyric acid, 1,6-anhydroglucose, glucuronic acid, valine, stearic acid, and elaidic acid) were abundant in EG but absent in CG. It was concluded that e-cig users had high rates of alcohol consumption and experienced significant impacts on their general health, including increased cotinine and CO concentration in exhaled air, decreased oximetry, and low salivary viscosity. Furthermore, they showed a notable increase in salivary metabolites, especially those related to inflammation, xenobiotic metabolism, and biomass-burning pathways.

To investigate the evolution of CO and NOx pollution in the exhaust gas from diesel-powered shuttles under the double lane ventilation system of short-walled continuous mining face, this article uses a combination of numerical simulation and field tests to numerically simulate and analyze the pollution transport law of CO and NOx emitted from the shuttles at three locations: heading tunnel, contact alley and supporting tunnel. The results show that when the shuttle car in heading tunnel, the CO and NOx discharged from the shuttle discharge port move toward the exit of the tunnel at an average speed of 1.25 m/s. The high CO and NOx concentration area appears at the discharge port, with the highest CO volume fraction of 82.5 ppm and the highest NOx volume fraction of 28.25 ppm. When the shuttle car at the contact alley, by the two walls of the alleyway on the gas diffusion space extrusion effect, CO and NOx in X = 37.5 m ~ 42.5 m range gathered, appear high CO and NOx concentration band. When the shuttle car in supporting tunnel, it is hindered by the belt conveyor within the range of X = 63 m ~ 64.5 m, so CO and NOx fail to spread to the outlet of the roadway in time and pile up at the bottom of the roadway. The highest CO volume fraction is 76.25 ppm and the highest NOx volume fraction is 28.28 ppm.According to the different positions of the car, the pollution areas of CO and NOx exceeding the specified threshold (24 ppm, 2.5 ppm) were divided, and the distribution characteristics of CO and NOx pollution were obtained by quantitative analysis through curve fitting, which provided a theoretical basis for the prevention and control of harmful substances emitted by fuel power equipment in underground environment., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The short-term risks associated with atmospheric trace gases, particularly carbon monoxide (CO), are critical for ecological security and human health. Traditional statistical methods, which still dominate the assessment of these risks, limit the potential for enhanced accuracy and reliability. This study evaluates the performance of traditional models (ARIMA), machine learning models (LightGBM, ConvLSTM2D), and optimized machine learning solutions (Bayes residual optimization ConvLSTM2D LightGBM, Bayes&#95;CL) in predicting Sentinel 5P columnar CO levels. This study findings demonstrate that machine learning models and their optimized versions significantly outperform traditional ARIMA models in cross-validation (CV), visualization, and overall prediction performance. Notably, machine learning model based on Bayes and residual optimization (Bayes&#95;CL) achieved the highest CV score (Bayes&#95;CL R 2  = 0.8, LightGBM R 2  = 0.79, ConvLSTM2D R 2  = 0.75, ARIMA R 2  = 0.61), along with superior visualization and other metrics. Using Bayes&#95;CL, we effectively quantified a 2.4% increase in columnar CO levels in mainland China in the second half of 2023, following the complete lifting of COVID-19 lockdowns. This study confirms that machine learning models can effectively replace traditional methods for short-term risk assessment of Sentinel 5P columnar CO. This transition holds significant implications for policy formulation, greenhouse effect assessment, and population health risk evaluation, especially in uncertain situations where human activities are severely disrupted, thereby affecting environmental safety., 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 © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

To evaluate the measurement accuracy of horizontal and vertical remote emission sensing (RES) equipment, a real-world dynamic test was carried out in Chengdu by using electric vehicles equipped with various concentrations of standard gases. In addition, a new Image-based Spectral Processing Algorithm (ISPA) for vertical remote sensing spectral data was developed to improve the measurement capability. The results showed that the ISPA provided a greater percentage of valid data and lower relative errors; thus, our new algorithm could more effectively analyze the spectral data to measure vehicle emission levels. The percentages of valid horizontal and vertical RES data were 71% and 84%, respectively. The mean relative errors of CO 2 , CO, HC and NO measured by the vertical RES were about 5%, 20%, 20% and 40%, respectively, and those of CO 2 , CO and NO measured by the horizontal RES were 3%, 13% and 15%, respectively. For the common vehicle emission concentration, the percentage of valid data for the two RES types increased with increasing gas concentration. As the vehicle speed increased, the relative errors of the horizontal RES equipment showed an increasing trend for the same concentration of gas. Furthermore, for the same speed segment, the relative errors of the horizontal RES equipment increased as the simulated emission concentration decreased. The vertical RES equipment did not exhibit a consistent trend in terms of changes. This study provides a data quality reference for further RES applications., 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 © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: Understanding the relationship between ambient carbon monoxide (CO) exposure and hypertension is crucial for advancing public health research. We investigated the association between air pollution CO exposure and hypertension and determined whether various health indicators played a mediating role., Study Design: Cross-sectional population-based study., Methods: Our study examined the data of 13,240 participants in the China Health and Aging Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) conducted in 2015. A logistic regression approach was used to investigate the association between CO concentration and hypertension. The mediating effects (MEs) of health indicators on the association between carbon monoxide and hypertension prevalence were explored using mediation models., Results: Hypertension was diagnosed in 2953 of the participants. A significantly increased prevalence of hypertension was associated with higher concentrations of air pollutant CO after adjusting for all covariates (OR: 1.19, 95% CI: 1.04-1.37) in the matched group (OR: 1.21, 95% CI: 1.03-1.42). The study also showed that proportional mediation was 3.7% by TG, -5.3% by TC, -2.9% by LDL-C and 19.0% by HDL-C for blood lipid; 4.6% by FPG and 12.2% by HbA1c for blood glucose; -2.0% by grip strength and 16.2% by chair rising time for muscle strength; 59.6% by WC and 1.8% by BMI for obesity indicator and -2.3% by nighttime sleep and 7.8% by daytime nap for sleep duration., Conclusions: A significant positive association has been found between environmental CO exposure and hypertension, and obesity, muscle strength, sleep duration, and metabolic factors may play a significant role in mediating this association., (Copyright © 2024 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The high concentrations of air pollutants in Peru remain a persistent problem, significantly impacting public health. Understanding the extent to which the COVID-19 lockdown affected these contaminants is crucial. To determine variations in NO 2 , O 3 , CO, and SO 2 concentrations in 10 Peruvian cities before, during, and after lockdown. A comparative ecological study was conducted in urban areas of 10 major Peruvian cities using the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform. Data on atmospheric pollutant concentrations were extracted from the Sentinel-5P/TROPOMI satellite images for the period between March 16 and June 30, across the years 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022, for comparative analysis. The Wilcoxon test was used to evaluate changes between the study periods. We included 10 urban cities located across three geographic regions of Peru. Most urban cities experienced a decrease in NO 2 concentrations and an increase in O 3 and CO levels during the lockdown, while SO 2 concentrations remained relatively constant. The lockdown has caused variations in NO 2 , O 3 and CO concentrations. Future studies with accurate data on air pollutant concentrations are needed to ensure targeted and effective interventions., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Fuel-burning small engines have the potential to emit dangerous and potentially lethal concentrations of carbon monoxide when used in poorly ventilated environments. The North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner investigated seven cases from 2013 to 2020 involving lethal carbon monoxide from small internal combustion engines. Evaluation of percent carboxyhemoglobin saturation was determined in these case studies as ratios of carboxyhemoglobin to reduced hemoglobin, using HP 8453 and Agilent 8454 UV-Visible Spectrophotometers (Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, CA, USA). Sources of carbon monoxide included a pressure washer, a propane-powered forklift, an inboard engine boat, a motorcycle, propane and kerosene heaters, and home-use generators. It was demonstrated during a death investigation that the Dräger X-am 2000 electrochemical gas monitor often used by first responders, falsely reacted to acetylene gas, initially misleading investigators to the source of the carbon monoxide. Educating first responders about not only the hazards of these unexpected carbon monoxide sources, but the limitations of their equipment, is a valuable goal of disseminating complete medical examiner case information. The details of these cases will educate first responders, the forensic science community, and public health leaders on potential small engine sources of carbon monoxide in death investigations, responder safety, and the limitations of portable air quality monitoring equipment during death investigation., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site–for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.)

This research study investigates hourly data on concentrations of five major air pollutants such as particulate matter (PM 10 , PM 2.5 ) and gaseous pollutants (SO 2 , NO 2 , CO) measured during 2022 at four hotspot sites (industrial site, traffic site, commercial site, harbour, and one residential site) in Chennai, India. The analysis encompasses temporal variations spanning annual, seasonal, and diurnal variations in the pollutants. Notably, PM 10 and CO emerge as the predominant pollutants, with the highest concentrations at industrial and traffic sites (PM 10 : 67.64 ± 40.77 µg/m 3 , CO: 1.41 ± 0.84 mg/m 3 ; traffic site: PM 10 : 58.67 ± 20.05 µg/m 3 , CO: 0.99 ± 0.57 mg/m 3 ). Seasonal dynamics reveal prominent winter spikes in particulate matter (PM 10 , PM 2.5 ) and carbon monoxide (CO) concentrations, while nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) and sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ) levels peak during the summer season, particularly in the harbour area. The proximity to roadways exerts a discernible influence on diurnal patterns, with traffic sites showcasing broader rush hour peaks compared to sharper spikes observed at other sites. Furthermore, distinct bimodal patterns are evident for PM 10 and PM 2.5 concentrations in residential and harbour areas. A common lognormal distribution pattern is identified across the studied sites, suggesting consistent air quality trends despite contrasting locations. The conditional probability function (CPF) is used in conjunction with local meteorological conditions for identifying key pollution sources in each location. The implementation of polar plots emphasizes industries as principal local sources of pollution, at industrial sites significantly contributing to PM 10 , SO 2 , and NO 2 concentrations under specific wind conditions. The main objective of the present study is to facilitate a good understanding of pollutant dynamics, pollution sources, and their intricate interplay with meteorological factors, thereby contributing to the formulation and implementation of effective air pollution control and mitigation strategies., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Hydrogen (H 2 ) is a promising alternative energy source for Net-zero, but the risk of explosion requires accurate and rapid detection systems. As the use of H 2 energy expands, sensors require high performance in a variety of properties. Palladium (Pd) is an attractive material for H 2 detection due to its high H 2 affinity and catalytic properties. However, poor stability caused by volume changes and reliability due to environmental sensitivity remain obstacles. This study proposes a micropatterned thin film of PdAu with optimized composition (Pd 0.62 Au 0.38 ) as a chemoresistive sensor to overcome these issues. At room temperature, the sensor has a wide detection range of 0.0002% to 5% and a fast response time of 9.5 s. Significantly, the sensor exhibits excellent durability for repeated operation (>35 h) in 5% H 2 and resistance to humidity and carbon monoxide. We also report a negative resistivity change in PdAu, which is opposite to that of Pd. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were performed to investigate the resistance change. DFT analysis revealed that H 2 penetrates specific interstitial sites, causing partial lattice compression. The lattice compression causes a decrease in electrical resistance. This work is expected to contribute to the development of high-performance H 2 sensors using Pd-based alloys.

Background: Epidemiological evidence regarding the association between air pollution and resting heart rate (RHR), a predictor of cardiovascular disease and mortality, is limited and inconsistent., Objectives: We used wearable devices and time-series analysis to assess the exposure-response relationship over an extended lag period., Methods: Ninety-seven elderly individuals (>65 years) from the Taipei Basin participated from May to November 2020 and wore Garmin® smartwatches continuously until the end of 2021 for heart rate monitoring. RHR was defined as the daily average of the lowest 30-min heart rate. Air pollution exposure data, covering lag periods from 0 to 60 days, were obtained from nearby monitoring stations. We used distributed lag non-linear models and linear mixed-effect models to assess cumulative effects of air pollution. Principal component analysis was utilized to explore underlying patterns in air pollution exposure, and subgroup analyses with interaction terms were conducted to explore the modification effects of individual factors., Results: After adjusting for co-pollutants in the models, an interquartile range increase of 0.18 ppm in carbon monoxide (CO) was consistently associated with increased RHR across lag periods of 0-1 day (0.31, 95 % confidence interval [CI]: 0.24-0.38), 0-7 days (0.68, 95 % CI: 0.57-0.79), and 0-50 days (1.02, 95 % CI: 0.82-1.21). Principal component analysis identified two factors, one primarily influenced by CO and nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), indicative of traffic sources. Increases in the varimax-rotated traffic-related score were correlated with higher RHR over 0-1 day (0.36, 95 % CI: 0.25-0.47), 0-7 days (0.62, 95 % CI: 0.46-0.77), and 0-50 days (1.27, 95 % CI: 0.87-1.67) lag periods. Over a 0-7 day lag, RHR responses to traffic pollution were intensified by higher temperatures (β = 0.80 vs. 0.29; interaction p-value [P&#95;int] = 0.011). Males (β = 0.66 vs. 0.60; P&#95;int < 0.0001), hypertensive individuals (β = 0.85 vs. 0.45; P&#95;int = 0.028), diabetics (β = 0.96 vs. 0.52; P&#95;int = 0.042), and those with lower physical activity (β = 0.70 vs. 0.54; P&#95;int < 0.0001) also exhibited stronger responses. Over a 0-50 day lag, males (β = 0.99 vs. 0.96; P&#95;int < 0.0001), diabetics (β = 1.66 vs. 0.69; P&#95;int < 0.0001), individuals with lower physical activity (β = 1.49 vs. 0.47; P&#95;int = 0.0006), and those with fewer steps on lag day 1 (β = 1.17 vs. 0.71; P&#95;int = 0.029) showed amplified responses., Conclusions: Prolonged exposure to traffic-related air pollution results in cumulative cardiovascular risks, persisting for up to 50 days. These effects are more pronounced on warmer days and in individuals with chronic conditions or inactive lifestyles., 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 © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Today, air pollution remains a significant issue, particularly in high-altitude areas where its impact on respiratory disease remains incompletely explored. This study aims to investigate the association between various air pollutants and outpatient visits for respiratory disease in such regions, specifically focussing on Xining from 2016 to 2021. By analysing over 570,000 outpatient visits using a time-stratified case-crossover design and conditional logistic regression, we assessed the independent effects of pollutants like PM 2.5 , PM 10 , SO 2 , NO 2 , and CO, as well as their interactions. The evaluation of interactions employed measures such as relative excess odds due to interaction (REOI), attributable proportion due to interaction (AP), and synergy index (S). We also conducted a stratified analysis to identify potentially vulnerable populations. Our findings indicated that exposure to PM 2.5 , PM 10 , SO 2 , NO 2 , and CO significantly increased outpatient visits for respiratory disease, with odds ratios (ORs) of 2.40 % (95 % CI: 2.05 %, 2.74 %), 1.07 % (0.98 %, 1.16 %), 3.86 % (3.23 %, 4.49 %), 4.45 % (4.14 %, 4.77 %), and 6.37 % (5.70 %, 7.04 %), respectively. However, exposure to O 3 did not show a significant association. We found significant interactions among PM 2.5 , SO 2 , NO 2 , and CO, where combined exposure further exacerbated the risk of respiratory diseases. For example, in the combination of PM 2.5 and SO 2 , the REOI, AP, and S were 0.07 (95 % CI: 0.06, 0.09), 0.07 (0.06, 0.07), and 1.07 (1.05, 1.09), respectively. Additionally, elderly individuals and females were more sensitive to these pollutants, but no statistically significant interaction effects were observed between different age and gender groups. In conclusion, our study highlights the strong link between air pollution and respiratory disease in high-altitude areas, with combined pollutant exposure posing an even greater risk. It underscores the need for enhanced air quality monitoring and public awareness campaigns, particularly to protect vulnerable populations like the elderly and females., 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 © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

National Capital Territory of Delhi and its satellite cities suffer from poor air quality during the post-monsoon months of October-November. In this study, a novel attempt is made to estimate the contribution of different emission sources (industrial, residential, power generation, transportation, biomass burning, photochemical production, lateral transport, etc.) towards the criteria air pollutant carbon monoxide (CO) concentration over North India. Multiple simulations of the WRF-Chem model with a tagged tracer approach with different inputs (6 anthropogenic emission inventories and 3 biomass burning emission inventories) were used. The model performance was evaluated against the MOPITT retrieved CO surface concentration. Analysis of model simulated CO over North India suggests that anthropogenic emissions contribute around 32-49% to surface CO concentration while crop residue burning contributes 27-44% of which 80% originates from Punjab. For Delhi, the contribution from anthropogenic sources is dominant (53-77%) of which 10-28% is from the domestic sector and 14-55% is from the transport sector. Agricultural waste burning contributes about 15-30% to Delhi's surface CO concentration (of which 75% originates from Punjab). Crop residue burning emission is a chief source of CO over Punjab with a contribution of about 56-76%. The results suggest that industrial, transport, and domestic sector activities are more responsible for increased CO levels over New Delhi and surrounding regions than crop residue burning over Punjab. Furthermore, critical meteorological parameters like 10 m wind speed, boundary layer height, 2 m temperature, total precipitation, and relative humidity were evaluated against CO concentration to understand their impact on CO distribution. Results conclude that deteriorating air quality over the North Indian region is caused by a combination of prevailing meteorological factors (such as slow winds, shallow mixing layer, and cold temperatures) and man-made emissions., 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 © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate pulmonary diffusing capacity for nitric oxide (DLNO) and pulmonary diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO) in Mexican Hispanics born and raised at 2240 m altitude (midlanders) compared with those born and raised at sea level (lowlanders). It also aimed to assess the effectiveness of race-specific reference equations for pulmonary diffusing capacity (white people vs Mexican Hispanics) in minimising root mean square errors (RMSE) compared with race-neutral equations., Methods: DLNO, DLCO, alveolar volume (VA) and gas transfer coefficients (KNO and KCO) were measured in 392 Mexican Hispanics (5 to 78 years) and compared with 1056 white subjects (5 to 95 years). Reference equations were developed using segmented linear regression (DLNO, DLCO and VA) and multiple linear regression (KNO and KCO) and validated with Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator. RMSE comparisons between race-specific and race-neutral models were conducted using repeated k-fold cross-validation and random forests., Results: Midlanders exhibited higher DLCO (mean difference: +4 mL/min/mm Hg), DLNO (mean difference: +7 mL/min/mm Hg) and VA (mean difference: +0.17 L) compared with lowlanders. The Bayesian information criterion favoured race-specific models and excluding race as a covariate increased RMSE by 61% (DLNO), 18% (DLCO) and 4% (KNO). RMSE values for VA and KCO were comparable between race-specific and race-neutral models. For DLCO and DLNO, race-neutral equations resulted in 3% to 6% false positive rates (FPRs) in Mexican Hispanics and 20% to 49% false negative rates (FNRs) in white subjects compared with race-specific equations., Conclusions: Mexican Hispanics born and raised at 2240 m exhibit higher DLCO and DLNO compared with lowlanders. Including race as a covariate in reference equations lowers the RMSE for DLNO, DLCO and KNO and reduces FPR and FNR compared with race-neutral models. This study highlights the need for altitude-specific and race-specific reference equations to improve pulmonary function assessments across diverse populations., Competing Interests: Competing interests: GSZ is a Global Lung Function Initiative (GLI) Network member. The GLI Network has published reference equations for spirometry, DLCO and static lung volumes using GAMLSS models. GSZ is the current cochair of the European Respiratory Society Task Force on interpreting pulmonary diffusing capacity for nitric oxide. LG-R is an executive member of the GLI Network and has coauthored the 2023 publication involving race-neutral spirometry equations developed using GAMLSS models., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

The association of short-term ambient air pollution exposure with osteoarthritis (OA) outpatient visits has been unclear and no study has assessed the modifying roles of district-level characteristics in the association between ambient air pollution exposure and OA outpatient visits. We investigated the cumulative associations of ambient air pollution exposure with daily OA outpatient visits and vulnerable factors influencing the associations using data from 16 districts of Beijing, China during 2013-2019. A total of 18,351,795 OA outpatient visits were included in the analyses. An increase of 10 μg/m 3 in fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ), inhalable particulate matter (PM 10 ), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), maximum 8-hour moving-average ozone (8 h-O 3 ), and 0.1 mg/m 3 in carbon monoxide (CO) at representative lag days were associated with significant increases of 0.31 %, 0.06 %, 0.77 %, 0.87 %, 0.30 %, and 0.48 % in daily OA outpatient visits, respectively. Considerable OA outpatient visits were attributable to short-term ambient air pollution exposure. In addition, low temperature and high humidity aggravated ambient air pollution associated OA outpatient visits. District-level characteristics, such as population density, green coverage rate, and urbanization rate modified the risk of OA outpatient visits associated with air pollution exposure. These findings highlight the significance of controlling ambient air pollution during the urbanization process, which is useful in policy formation and implementation., 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 © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Air pollution has become a major global threat to human health. Urbanization and industrialization over the past few decades have increased the air pollution. Plausible connections have been made between air pollutants and dementia. This study used machine learning algorithms (k-nearest neighbors, random forest, gradient-boosted decision trees, eXtreme gradient boosting, and CatBoost) to investigate the association between cognitive impairment and air pollution. Data from the Taiwan Biobank and 75 air-pollution-monitoring stations in Taiwan were analyzed to determine individual levels of exposure to air pollutants. The pollutants examined were particulate matter with a diameter of ≤ 2.5 μm (PM 2.5 ), nitrogen dioxide, nitric oxide, carbon monoxide, and ozone. The results revealed that the most strongly correlated with cognitive impairment were ozone, PM 2.5 , and carbon monoxide levels with adjustment of educational level, age, and household income. The model based on these factors achieved accuracy as high as 0.97 for detecting cognitive impairment, indicating a positive association between air pollutions and cognitive impairment., 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 © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

As the negative repercussions of environmental devastation, such as air quality decline and air pollution, become more apparent, environmental consciousness is growing across the world, forcing nations to take steps to mitigate the damage. China pledged to achieve air quality improvement goal to combat global environment issue, yet the spatial-temporal differentiation and its driving factors of environment-meteorology-economic index for air quality are not fully analysed. To promote regional collaborative control of air pollution and achieve sustainable urban development, spatial and temporal different and its driving factors of air quality in Shandong Province during 2013-2020. Results revealed that concentrations of sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), particulate matter 2.5 (PM 2.5 ), particulate matter 10 (PM 10 ), and carbon monoxide (CO-95per) exhibited decreasing trend (SO 2 concentrations decreasing 84 % and CO-95per concentrations decreasing 90 %). Air quality was improved from inland areas to coastal areas. Pollutant indicators of SO 2 , NO 2 , PM 10 , PM 2.5 , and CO-95per demonstrated significant positive correlation (P < 0.05). Air temperature and precipitation are significantly negatively correlated with concentrations of SO 2 , NO 2 , PM 10 , PM 2.5 , and CO-95per but significantly positively correlated with ozone (O 3 -8 h). SO 2 , NO 2 , PM 2.5 , PM 10 , CO-95per, and proportion of days with heavy pollution are strongly positively correlated with proportion of secondary industry but strongly negatively correlated with proportion of tertiary industry and volume of household waste. Except for O 3 -8 h, pollutant index of Provincial Capital Economic Circle (PCEC) and Southern Shandong Economic Circle (SSEC) has significant negative correlation (P < 0.05) with regional gross domestic product and investment in environmental protection; however, investment in environmental protection of Eastern Shandong Economic Circle (ESEC) has no significant correlation with air pollution index. There was significant negative correlation between vegetable sowing area and SSEC pollutant index. The relationship between pollution emission and investment in environmental protection has shifted from high pollution-low investment to low pollution-low investment in PCEC, ESEC and SSEC, and the inflection point was in 2020 for PCEC, 2019 for ESEC, and 2020 for SSEC. Those results provide empirical evidence and theoretical support for the improvement of regional air quality, aiming to achieve high-quality development. According to these findings, it has been found that meteorological elements, pollutant emission, socio-economic factors and agricultural data affect air quality. Those results could provide meaningful and significant supporting for synergistic regulation of diverse pollutants., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: We aimed to assess the effect of air pollution on incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM)., Methods: We tracked 486 T2DM patients from 2012 to 2021. Cox regression models were applied to assess the hazard of exposure to particulate matter, carbon monoxide (CO), ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) on incident CVD, revealing hazard ratios (HRs)., Results: CVD incidents occurred in 73 individuals. Among men, each 1-ppm increase in CO levels raised the risk of CVD (HR: 2.66, 95% CI: 1.30-5.44). For women, a 5-ppb rise in SO 2 increased CVD risk (HR: 1.60, 95% CI: 1.11-2.30). No notable impact of particulate pollutants was found., Conclusions: Persistent exposure to gaseous air pollutants, specifically CO and SO 2 , is linked to the development of CVD in men and women with T2DM., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: None declared., (Copyright © 2024 American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.)

Objectives: To explore the associations of air pollutants and Air Quality Index (AQI) with risk of sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) DESIGN: Cross-sectional study SETTING: Medical record data and local population data collected between 2014 and 2022 in Changshu, China were retrospectively reviewed., Participants: Adults aged 18 years and above who were diagnosed with SSNHL in Changshu No. 1 People's Hospital or Changshu No. 2 People's Hospital from the spring of 2014 to the fall of 2022 were included in the study., Outcome Measure: SSNHL was diagnosed by clinicians using the Chinese diagnostic criteria for SSNHL., Results: Compared with those exposed to the lowest tertile of carbon monoxide (CO), the prevalence ratio for those exposed to middle and high tertiles of CO were 1.113 (95% CI 1.022 to 1.213) and 1.230 (95% CI 1.105 to 1.369), respectively. The risk of SSNHL was increased by 30.6% (95% CI 9.9% to 55.4%) per doubling increment of CO. No categorical association was found between ozone (O 3 ) exposure and risk of SSNHL, however, an increased risk of 22.2% (0.8%-48.2%) was identified for each doubling of O 3 . No association was identified between other pollutants and AQI and risk of SSNHL., Conclusions: In this study, CO and O 3 were associated with an increased risk of SSNHL in Changshu, China. Further studies are warranted to confirm our findings., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Background: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a respiratory condition characterized by heterogeneous abnormalities of the airways and lung parenchyma that cause different clinical presentations. The assessment of the prevailing pathogenetic components underlying COPD is not usually pursued in daily practice, also due to technological limitations and cost., Aim: To assess non-invasively the lung emphysema component of COPD by the simultaneous measurement of DL NO and DL CO via a single-breath (sDL NO and sDL CO )., Methods: COPD patients aged ≥40 years of both genders were recruited consecutively and labelled by computed tomography as "with significant" emphysema (>10% of CT lung volume) or "with negligible" emphysema otherwise. Current lung function tests such as sDL NO , sDL CO and Vc (the lung capillary blood volume) were measured. All possible subsets of independent spirometric and diffusive parameters were tested as predictors of emphysema, and their predicted power compared to each parameter alone by ROC analysis and area under the curve (AUC)., Results: Thirty-one patients with "significant emphysema" were compared to thirty-one with "negligible emphysema". FEV 1 and FEV1/FVC seemed to be the best spirometric predictors (AUC 0.80 and 0.81, respectively), while sDL CO and Vc had the highest predicted power among diffusive parameters (AUC 0.92 and 0.94, respectively). sDL CO and Vc values were the parameters most correlated to the extent of CT emphysema. Six subsets of independent predictors were identified and included at least one spirometric and one diffusive parameter. According to goodness-to-fit scores (AIC, BIC, log-likelihood and pseudo R 2 ), RV coupled with sDL CO or Vc proved the best predictors of emphysema., Conclusion: When investigating the parenchymal destructive component due to emphysema occurring in COPD, sDL NO , sDL CO and Vc do enhance the predictive power of current spirometric measures substantially. sDL NO , sDL CO and Vc contribute to phenotype of the main pathogenetic components of COPD easily and with high sensitivity. Organizational problems, radiation exposure, time and costs could be reduced, while personalized and precision medicine could be noticeably implemented., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work., (© 2024 Dal Negro et al.)

As an important signaling molecule, carbon monoxide (CO) plays an important role in plant growth and development including affecting stomatal movement, stress response and root development. Thus, it is necessary to develop fluorescent probes that can be used to detect CO in live plant tissues and further enable a deep-understanding of its biological function, mechanism and metabolism. In this paper, a novel and sensitive fluorescent probe based on Cu 2+ modulated polydihydroxyphenylalanine nanoparticles (PDOAs) has been developed for the detection of CO. The fluorescence of PDOAs can be effectively quenched by Cu 2+ through the multi-coordination interaction. In the presence of CO, Cu 2+ can be effectively reduced to Cu + , which resulted in the release of free PDOAs and the Cu 2+ -quenched bright green fluorescence was restored obviously. Through this ingenious strategy, the abiotic CO can be accurately detected and identified with high selectivity, rapid response time within 5 min and an ultralow detection limit of 72.4 nM. Due to the admirable biocompatibility, the nano-material based probe has been successfully applied for in vivo imaging CO in the root tip and leave tissues of lettuce. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first example of a fluorescent probe-based methodology for the sensitive tracking of CO in plant tissues.

In India, the spatial coverage of air pollution data is not homogeneous due to the regionally restricted number of monitoring stations. In a such situation, utilising satellite data might greatly influence choices aimed at enhancing the environment. It is essential to estimate significant air contaminants, comprehend their health impacts, and anticipate air quality to safeguard public health from dangerous pollutants. The current study intends to investigate the spatial and temporal heterogeneity of important air pollutants, such as sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and ozone, utilising Sentinel-5P TROPOMI satellite images. A comprehensive spatiotemporal analysis of air quality was conducted for the entire country with a special focus on five metro cities from 2019 to 2022, encompassing the pre-COVID-19, during-COVID-19, and current scenarios. Seasonal research revealed that air pollutant concentrations are highest in the winter, followed by the summer and monsoon, with the exception of ozone. Ozone had the greatest concentrations throughout the summer season. The analysis has revealed that NO 2 hotspots are predominantly located in megacities, while SO 2 hotspots are associated with industrial clusters. Delhi exhibits high levels of NO 2 pollution, while Kolkata is highly affected by SO 2 pollution compared to other major cities. Notably, there was an 11% increase in SO 2 concentrations in Kolkata and a 20% increase in NO 2 concentrations in Delhi from 2019 to 2022. The COVID-19 lockdown saw significant drops in NO 2 concentrations in 2020; specifically, - 20% in Mumbai, - 18% in Delhi, - 14% in Kolkata, - 12% in Chennai, and - 15% in Hyderabad. This study provides valuable insights into the seasonal, monthly, and yearly behaviour of pollutants and offers a novel approach for hotspot analysis, aiding in the identification of major air pollution sources. The results offer valuable insights for developing effective strategies to tackle air pollution, safeguard public health, and improve the overall environmental quality in India. The study underscores the importance of satellite data analysis and presents a comprehensive assessment of the impact of the shutdown on air quality, laying the groundwork for evidence-based decision-making and long-term pollution mitigation efforts., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Seasonal variations in black carbon (BC) pollution characteristics during haze episodes in Benxi city, Liaoning province, were analyzed using year-long measurements of BC, carbon monoxide (CO), and PM 2.5. Haze frequencies were recorded to be 0.07, 0.03 and 0.14 in spring, autumn, and winter respectively. Solid fuel contributions increased notably by 7%-8% during haze events compared to clean periods in all seasons. Transitioning from clean to haze periods led to ΔBC/ΔCO increases of 16% in spring and autumn, and 6.8% in winter, while BC/PM 2.5 ratios decreased by approximately 33%, 50%, and 24% for spring, autumn, and winter respectively, likely indicating enhanced residential and industrial contributions. These further led to an increase in BC absorption capacities by factors of around 2.2 in spring and autumn, and up to 2.6 in winter during haze periods. Despite liquid fuel sources dominating BC emissions, certain haze episodes (frequency <10%) showed solid fuel contributions of up to 65%, highlighting BC pollution complexity in the region during haze. Backward trajectories analysis revealed local air masses from Liaoning province arrived consistently with the most occurrence of haze events across all seasons, while long-range air masses from Mongolian regions, though with less frequent occurrence during haze periods, significantly elevated BC loadings from solid fuel sources, particularly in spring and autumn due to biomass burning. Despite higher BC wet scavenging rates (WSR) in long-range air masses (0.072 ng m -3  ppbv -1 mm -1 ) compared to local air masses (0.039 ng m -3  ppbv -1 mm -1 ), significant BC transport persisted due to limited precipitation along transport pathways, especially during haze periods. These findings provide crucial insights for policymakers, highlighting the need for targeted haze prevention and control strategies focusing on mitigating BC emissions in Northeast China., 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 © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Pakistan is among the South Asian countries mostly vulnerable to the negative health impacts of air pollution. In this context, the study aimed to analyze the spatiotemporal patterns of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) incidence and its relationship with air pollutants including aerosol absorbing index (AAI), carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide (SO2), and nitrogen dioxide. Spatial scan statistics were employed to identify temporal, spatial, and spatiotemporal clusters of COPD. Generalized linear regression (GLR) and random forest (RF) models were utilized to evaluate the linear and non-linear relationships between COPD and air pollutants for the years 2019 and 2020. The findings revealed three spatial clusters of COPD in the eastern and central regions, with a high-risk spatiotemporal cluster in the east. The GLR identified a weak linear relationship between the COPD and air pollutants with R 2 = 0.1 and weak autocorrelation with Moran's index = -0.09. The spatial outcome of RF model provided more accurate COPD predictions with improved R 2 of 0.8 and 0.9 in the respective years and a very low Moran's I = -0.02 showing a random residual distribution. The RF findings also suggested AAI and SO2 to be the most contributing predictors for the year 2019 and 2020. Hence, the strong association of COPD clusters with some air pollutants highlight the urgency of comprehensive measures to combat air pollution in the region to avoid future health risks., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Mobile monitoring provides high-resolution observation on temporal and spatial scales compared to traditional fixed-site measurement. This study demonstrates the use of high spatio-temporal resolution of air pollution data collected by Google Air View vehicles to identify hotspots and assess compliance with WHO Air Quality Guidelines (AQGs) in Dublin City. The mobile monitoring was conducted during weekdays, typically from 7:00 to 19:00, between 6 May 2021 and 6 May 2022. One-second data were aggregated to 377,113 8 s road segments, and 8 s rolling medians were aggregated to hourly and daily levels for further analysis. We assessed the temporal variability of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ), nitrogen monoxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), ozone (O 3 ), carbon monoxide (CO), and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) concentrations at hyperlocal levels. The average daytime median concentrations of NO 2 (28.4 ± 15.7 µg/m 3 ) and PM 2.5 (7.6 ± 4.7 µg/m 3 ) exceeded the WHO twenty-four hours (24 h) Air Quality Guidelines in 49.4% and 9% of the 1-year sampling time, respectively. For the diurnal variation of measured pollutants, the morning (8:00) and early evening (18:00) showed higher concentrations for NO 2 and PM 2.5 , mostly happening in the winter season, while the afternoon is the least polluted time except for O 3 . The low-percentile approach along with 1-h and daytime minima method allowed for decomposing pollutant time series into the background and local contributions. Background contributions for NO 2 and PM 2.5 changed along with the seasonal variation. Local contributions for PM 2.5 changed slightly; however, NO 2 showed significant diurnal and seasonal variability related to traffic emissions. Short-lived event enhancement (1 min to 1 h) accounts for 36.0-40.6% and 20.8-42.2% of the total concentration for NO 2 and PM 2.5 . The highly polluted days account for 56.3% of total NO 2 , highlighting local traffic is the dominant contributor to short-term NO 2 concentrations. The longer-lived events (> 8 h) enhancement accounts for 25% of the monitored concentrations. Additionally, conducting optimal hotspot analysis enables mapping the spatial distribution of "hot" spots for PM 2.5 and NO 2 on highly polluted days. Overall, this investigation suggests both background and local emissions contribute to PM 2.5 and NO 2 pollution in urban areas and emphasize the urgent need for mitigating NO 2 from traffic pollution in Dublin., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

CO is a hazardous and pollutant gas that can be produced in many scenarios of coal-related operations. The study mainly investigated CO production process and mechanism when coal is subject to external forces. The effects of coal type, particle size, temperature, and inlet atmosphere on CO production from coal body fragmentation were investigated through coal loading experiments. Materials Studio software was used to carry out coal macromolecular mechanics simulation and molecular dynamics simulation, and the gas production mechanism of coal under loading was explored at the molecular level. It was found that under air atmosphere, the low degree of deterioration, small particle size, and elevated temperature are all more likely to cause coal samples to fragment and decompose to produce CO. The carbonyl group in the molecular structure of coal is shed or broken free radical fragments react with oxygen which may lead to CO formation., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The 2023 Canadian forest fires have been extreme in scale and intensity with more than seven times the average annual area burned compared to the previous four decades 1 . Here, we quantify the carbon emissions from these fires from May to September 2023 on the basis of inverse modelling of satellite carbon monoxide observations. We find that the magnitude of the carbon emissions is 647 TgC (570-727 TgC), comparable to the annual fossil fuel emissions of large nations, with only India, China and the USA releasing more carbon per year 2 . We find that widespread hot-dry weather was a principal driver of fire spread, with 2023 being the warmest and driest year since at least 1980 3 . Although temperatures were extreme relative to the historical record, climate projections indicate that these temperatures are likely to be typical during the 2050s, even under a moderate climate mitigation scenario (shared socioeconomic pathway, SSP 2-4.5) 4 . Such conditions are likely to drive increased fire activity and suppress carbon uptake by Canadian forests, adding to concerns about the long-term durability of these forests as a carbon sink 5-8 ., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Evidence of the acute effects of high-level air pollution on small airway function and systemic inflammation in adults is scarce., Objective: To examined the associations of short-term (i.e., daily) exposure to multiple air pollutants with lung function and inflammatory markers., Methods: We assessed short-term (daily) effects of air pollutants, including particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 μm (PM 2.5 ) and 10 μm (PM 10 ), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) and carbon monoxide (CO), on lung function and peripheral immune cell counts over various lag times using generalized linear regression models., Results: A total of 4764 adults were included from the general community-dwelling population in Shanghai, China. Exposure to air pollutants and lung function were negatively correlated. Decline in FEF between 25% and 75% of vital capacity (FEF 25-75% ) were found associated with PM 2.5 , SO 2 , and CO, and decline in forced expiratory volume in 3 s (FEV 3 ) to forced vital capacity (FVC) ratio were associated with all examined pollutants, indicating obstruction in small airways. Obstructed airflow in large and middle airways as indicated by decline in FEV 1 /FVC were also associated with all pollutants. In subgroup analysis, significant negative associations between the five pollutants and SAD parameters were found only in males but not in females. The difference in the associations of SO 2 with FEF 75% between males and females achieved statistical significance. Additionally, all examined pollutants were significantly associated with lower peripheral neutrophil count., Impact Statement: Acute exposure to air pollutants were associated with airflow-limitation. Both small airways and proximal airways were affected. Acute exposure to air pollutants were accompanied with a lower neutrophil count., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature America, Inc.)

u Smoking has been reported to increase systemic inflammation. The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) are used as markers for systemic inflammation. In this study, the primary aim was to determine the NLR and PLR ratios in smokers. Secondly, we aimed to evaluate the relationship between the level of addiction and carbon monoxide (CO) level in the expiratory air, with these ratios. METHODS This study was designed as a single-center, cross-sectional study. It was conducted with chronic smokers aged 18-40 years, without known health problems, visiting the smoking cessation outpatient clinic of a tertiary hospital. Sociodemographic data and smoking characteristics were collected, and exhaled CO levels were measured. Complete blood count (CBC) RESULTS were recorded, including NLR and PLR. results The mean age of 247 patients was 31.2±6.1 years, with the majority of patients (68.4%) being male. While the mean value of CO was 11.6±5.6 ppm, 42.1% of cases had a high level of addiction. A statistically significant relationship was found between NLR and addiction levels, the CO level, and the amount of smoking in cigarettes/day and packs/year (all p=0.000). A statistically significant relationship was also found between PLR and addiction levels, CO level, cigarettes/ day and packs/year (p=0.000, p=0.03, p=0.000, p=0.003, respectively). CONCLUSIONS We found that as the level of addiction, cigarette use, and exhaled CO levels increased in smokers, NLR and PLR increased. Our data revealed that NLR and PLR may be a simple and easily assessable proxy of systemic inflammation in smokers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Occupational exposure assessments are dominated by small sample sizes and low spatial and temporal resolution with a focus on conducting Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulatory compliance sampling. However, this style of exposure assessment is likely to underestimate true exposures and their variability in sampled areas, and entirely fail to characterize exposures in unsampled areas. The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) has developed a more realistic system of exposure ratings based on estimating the 95th percentiles of the exposures that can be used to better represent exposure uncertainty and exposure variability for decision-making; however, the ratings can still fail to capture realistic exposure with small sample sizes. Therefore, low-cost sensor networks consisting of numerous lower-quality sensors have been used to measure occupational exposures at a high spatiotemporal scale. However, the sensors must be calibrated in the laboratory or field to a reference standard. Using data from carbon monoxide (CO) sensors deployed in a heavy equipment manufacturing facility for eight months from August 2017 to March 2018, we demonstrate that machine learning with probabilistic gradient boosted decision trees (GBDT) can model raw sensor readings to reference data highly accurately, entirely removing the need for laboratory calibration. Further, we indicate how the machine learning models can produce probabilistic hazard maps of the manufacturing floor, creating a visual tool for assessing facility-wide exposures. Additionally, the ability to have a fully modeled prediction distribution for each measurement enables the use of the AIHA exposure ratings, which provide an enhanced industrial decision-making framework as opposed to simply determining if a small number of measurements were above or below a pertinent occupational exposure limit. Lastly, we show how a probabilistic modeling exposure assessment with high spatiotemporal resolution data can prevent exposure misclassifications associated with traditional models that rely exclusively on mean or point predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]