Air Quality and Health
A section of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433).
Section Information
The association between air quality and health is one of the most controversial topics in current research. Air pollution is considered one of the leading environmental risk factors for human health globally, especially with regard to ambient fine particular matter (PM2.5), ozone, and some emerging pollutants that are considered to have the highest toxicity, such as metals, organics, ultrafine particles, and black carbon, in addition to their partitioning in both fine and ultrafine aerosol particles. The interplay between these variables and human health is a popular choice of study. Indirect health impacts also exist, for example, due to changes in vector-borne disease risk, food availability, and agricultural production. An emerging consensus suggests that the time has come for science to establish novel transdisciplinary research partnerships based on cross-sectoral collaborations between different expertises, such as climate, air quality, biodiversity, meteorology, climatology, toxicology, epidemiology, governance, and risk management. Both epidemiology and toxicity mechanism studies are needed to understand the role of air quality in specific health outcomes, including inflammation, DNA changes, cancer, respiratory and neurological diseases, severe cognitive deficit, and brain structural change. Notably, scientifically sound metrics with which to quantitatively measure atmosphere effects on human health, potentially causing several million deaths per year, are still missing. Therefore, it is necessary to develop significant scientific evidence to guide the development of new recommendations, policies, and legislation.
Articles that consider all associations between atmospheric composition and health impacts, especially with regard to air pollution and aerosols, aerobiology, toxicology, and epidemiology in all regions of the world, are welcome. We also welcome multidisciplinary studies that attempt to use the contextualization of science to solve this broad societal challenge.
Keywords
- Air pollution;
- Fine and ultrafine atmospheric particles;
- Epidemiology and toxicology;
- Indoor and outdoor exposure and exposome;
- Atmospheric pollutants of emerging concern;
- Size distributions of particles and their chemical compositions;
- New air quality and toxicity metrics and indicators, such as oxidative potential (OP), particles bound, and reactive oxygen species (ROS).
Editorial Board
Topical Advisory Panel
Special Issues
Following special issues within this section are currently open for submissions:
- Environmental and Occupational Exposures to Airborne Substances and Their Related Health Effects (Deadline: 30 November 2024)
- Toxicology and Health Effects of Air Pollution (Deadline: 27 December 2024)
- Health Inequity of Climate Change and Air Quality (Deadline: 30 December 2024)
- Urban Air Pollution Exposure and Health Vulnerability (Deadline: 30 December 2024)
- Research on Air Pollution and Human Exposures (Deadline: 31 December 2024)
- New Insights into Ambient Air Pollution and Human Health (Deadline: 31 December 2024)
- New Insights into Exposure and Health Impacts of Air Pollution (Deadline: 22 January 2025)
- Climate Change, Air Pollution and Human Health: Past, Present and Future (Deadline: 14 February 2025)
- Toxicity of Persistent Organic Pollutants and Microplastics in Air (Deadline: 20 February 2025)
- Composition Analysis and Health Effects of Atmospheric Particulate Matter (2nd Edition) (Deadline: 26 February 2025)
- Indoor Air Pollution: A Silent Threat to Human Health and the Atmosphere (Deadline: 28 February 2025)
- Sources, Composition, and Health Effects of Indoor Air Pollution (Deadline: 28 February 2025)
- Air Pollution: Health Risks and Mitigation Strategies (Deadline: 31 March 2025)
- Ultrafine Particulate Matter in the Atmosphere and Indoor Environment (Deadline: 30 April 2025)
- From Traditional to Emerging Air Pollutants: Tools and Health Risk Assessment (Deadline: 30 April 2025)
- Linking Indoor Air Quality to Occupational and Environmental Exposure (Deadline: 30 April 2025)
- Climate Change and Health: Enhancing Coherence of the Knowledge Base, Policies and Strategies into a Healthy, Sustainable and Resilient Future (2nd Edition) (Deadline: 28 May 2025)
- Sources, Spatio-Temporal Distribution and Health Effects of Atmospheric Compositions (2nd Edition) (Deadline: 30 May 2025)
- Climate Changes, Air Quality and Human Health in South America (Deadline: 30 May 2025)
- Multidisciplinary Research and Data Science for Advancing Air Quality and Environmental Health (Deadline: 15 June 2025)
- Cutting-Edge Developments in Air Quality and Health (Deadline: 30 June 2025)
- Characterization and Toxicity of Atmospheric Pollutants (Deadline: 30 June 2025)
- Indoor Air Quality and Human Health: Insights from Recent Research (Deadline: 30 June 2025)
- Urban Air Pollution, Meteorological Conditions and Human Health (Deadline: 30 June 2025)
Topical Collection
Following topical collection within this section is currently open for submissions: