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Sources, Spatiotemporal Variation and Potential Health Risk of Hazardous Air...
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Sources, Spatiotemporal Variation and Potential Health Risk of Hazardous Air Pollutants

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Air Quality and Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2021) | Viewed by 12314

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Md. Aynul Bari

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Environmental and Sustainable Engineering, University at Albany, State University of New York (SUNY), Albany, NY 12222, USA
Interests: ambient air quality monitoring and characterization; indoor and outdoor behavior of air pollutants; particulate air pollution; source characterization and apportionment; sustainable air pollution management; atmospheric deposition of air pollutants; environmental impact assessment; influence of energy development on air quality; residential wood burning; low-cost air pollution sensors; air pollution exposure and public health risk assessment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear colleagues,

Exposure to hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), commonly known as toxic air pollutants or air toxics, is of growing concern both nationally and internationally because of the potential to cause cancer and other adverse health effects in humans. The amendment to the United States 1990 Clean Air Act identified 187 air toxics that warranted specific attention and long-term monitoring, and defined 30 HAPs as those posing the greatest potential threat to public health in urban areas. The current state of knowledge regarding the levels of air toxics worldwide is limited and there is a gap in the understanding of HAP sources, spatiotemporal variation and potential source-specific risks to public health. While government and regulatory agencies have emphasized tackling urban ambient air pollution and have made progress in reducing certain urban air toxics, less attention has been paid to assessing HAPs in indoor and outdoor residential settings—which are key microenvironments for human exposure. The concentrations of some HAPs tend to be higher indoors (up to ten times) than outdoors, regardless of whether the homes are located in urban, rural or highly industrial areas. This raises concerns about indoor air quality among the people living in both urban and rural communities. The purpose of this Special Issue is to present the current state of knowledge of air toxics levels, sources, temporal and spatial variation, and potential health risks from inhalation exposure in both ambient and indoor environments.

We invite authors to consider submitting original research papers and review articles that enhance our current understanding of air toxics issues. Manuscripts dealing with all aspects of monitoring, chemical characterization, long-term trends, emissions, source apportionment, exposure risk assessment, and health effects of air toxics (including trace metals, polycyclic aromatic compounds, and volatile organic compounds) and emerging contaminants such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are welcome in this Special Issue.

Dr. Md. Aynul Bari
Guest Editor

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Atmosphere is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • hazardous air pollutants (HAPs)
  • air toxics
  • ambient air quality
  • indoor air quality
  • household air pollution
  • spatiotemporal variation
  • public health risk
  • source and risk apportionment
  • emerging contaminants

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 3667 KiB  
Article
Ambient Levels, Emission Sources and Health Effect of PM2.5-Bound Carbonaceous Particles and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in the City of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
by Hamidah Suradi, Md Firoz Khan, Nor Asrina Sairi, Haasyimah Ab Rahim, Sumiani Yusoff, Yusuke Fujii, Kai Qin, Md. Aynul Bari, Murnira Othman and Mohd Talib Latif
Atmosphere 2021, 12(5), 549; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12050549 - 24 Apr 2021
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 5212
Abstract
With increasing interest in understanding the contribution of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) to particulate air pollution in urban areas, an exploratory study was carried out to determine levels of carbonaceous aerosols and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the city of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. [...] Read more.
With increasing interest in understanding the contribution of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) to particulate air pollution in urban areas, an exploratory study was carried out to determine levels of carbonaceous aerosols and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the city of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. PM2.5 samples were collected using a high-volume sampler for 24 h in several areas in Kuala Lumpur during the north-easterly monsoon from January to March 2019. Samples were analyzed for water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC), organic carbon (OC), and elemental carbon (EC). Secondary organic carbon (SOC) in PM2.5 was estimated. Particle-bound PAHs were analyzed using gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC-FID). Average concentrations of WSOC, OC, and EC were 2.73 ± 2.17 (range of 0.63–9.12) µg/m3, 6.88 ± 4.94 (3.12–24.1) µg/m3, and 3.68 ± 1.58 (1.33–6.82) µg/m3, respectively, with estimated average SOC of 2.33 µg/m3, contributing 34% to total OC. The dominance of char-EC over soot-EC suggests that PM2.5 is influenced by biomass and coal combustion sources. The average of total PAHs was 1.74 ± 2.68 ng/m3. Source identification methods revealed natural gas and biomass burning, and urban traffic combustion as dominant sources of PAHs in Kuala Lumpur. A deterministic health risk assessment of PAHs was conducted for several age groups, including infant, toddler, children, adolescent, and adult. Carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risk of PAH species were well below the acceptable levels recommended by the USEPA. Backward trajectory analysis revealed north-east air mass brought pollutants to the studied areas, suggesting the north-easterly monsoon as a major contributor to increased air pollution in Kuala Lumpur. Further work is needed using long-term monitoring data to understand the origin of PAHs contributing to SOA formation and to apply source-risk apportionment to better elucidate the potential risk factors posed by the various sources in urban areas in Kuala Lumpur. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sources, Spatiotemporal Variation and Potential Health Risk of Hazardous Air Pollutants)
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21 pages, 4799 KiB  
Article
Environmental Partitioning, Spatial Distribution, and Transport of Atmospheric Mercury (Hg) Originating from a Site of Former Chlor-Alkali Plant
by Mert Guney, Aiganym Kumisbek, Zhanel Akimzhanova, Symbat Kismelyeva, Kamila Beisova, Almagul Zhakiyenova, Vassilis Inglezakis and Ferhat Karaca
Atmosphere 2021, 12(2), 275; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12020275 - 18 Feb 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2954
Abstract
Mercury (Hg) is one of the trace toxic and bioaccumulative global pollutants, and due to its long atmospheric lifetime, it presents a significant global challenge. The present study (1) utilizes total gaseous mercury (TGM) measurements made around a former Hg-cell chlor-alkali plant (CAP) [...] Read more.
Mercury (Hg) is one of the trace toxic and bioaccumulative global pollutants, and due to its long atmospheric lifetime, it presents a significant global challenge. The present study (1) utilizes total gaseous mercury (TGM) measurements made around a former Hg-cell chlor-alkali plant (CAP) located in Pavlodar, Kazakhstan, and predicts the spatial distribution of Hg over its premises and the nearby city. It then (2) estimates the environmental repartition of Hg deposited by the CAP using three fugacity models of varying complexity: Level I, QWASI, and HERMES. Finally, it (3) predicts long-range Hg transport via forward trajectory-based cluster analysis. The atmospheric Hg levels measured in Pavlodar and around Lake Balkyldak were elevated: in the range of 1–37 ng/m3 with an urban background level at 4.9 ng/m3. Specifically, concentrations up to 37 ng/m3 close to Lake Balkyldak and up to 22 ng/m3 nearby the city’s industrial zone (where the CAP was located) had been observed. Interpolation maps created using kriging also suggest these locations as the primary sources of atmospheric Hg in the city. The Level I fugacity model indicated that almost all of Hg is expected to end up in the atmosphere. The modeling results obtained using more complex QWASI and HERMES models showed that some significant quantity of Hg would still be associated with the sediments of Lake Balkyldak (a large wastewater discharge pond nearby the CAP). The forward trajectory-based cluster analysis method revealed the long-range atmospheric transportation routes and local, regional, and global impact zones. Furthermore, a source-receptor relationship using air transportation pathways to identify “areas of impact” was addressed. During both heating and non-heating seasons, the frequency-based analysis identified the distribution of Hg reaching the territories of Mongolia, northwest China, southwest Kazakhstan. The Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT-4) model forward trajectory analysis has confirmed similar patterns during heating and non-heating seasons, except with shorter impact distances during the non-heating period. Even though the CAP was closed more than 30 years ago and those past remediation efforts cleaned up the site, the residual Hg pollution seems significant and should be further investigated in different environmental media. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sources, Spatiotemporal Variation and Potential Health Risk of Hazardous Air Pollutants)
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19 pages, 2921 KiB  
Article
Long-Term Air Quality Study in Fairbanks, Alaska: Air Pollutant Temporal Variations, Correlations, and PM2.5 Source Apportionment
by Lexuan Ye and Yungang Wang
Atmosphere 2020, 11(11), 1203; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos11111203 - 6 Nov 2020
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3453
Abstract
As one of the most polluted U.S. cities, Fairbanks was reclassified as a “serious” nonattainment area by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2017 for its fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution. In this study, November 2013–May 2019 observations of criteria air [...] Read more.
As one of the most polluted U.S. cities, Fairbanks was reclassified as a “serious” nonattainment area by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2017 for its fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution. In this study, November 2013–May 2019 observations of criteria air pollutants (NO2, SO2, CO, O3, PM2.5, and inhalable particulate matter (PM10)) and meteorological parameters (temperature, wind speed, and relative humidity) in Fairbanks were used for temporal variation and correlation analysis, with positive matrix factorization (EPA PMF 5.0) adopted for further PM2.5 source identification. All pollutants exhibited obvious seasonal trends under the influence of climatology, topography, and human activity, while abnormal patterns likely resulted from occasional emission events such as wildfires. Primary and secondary pollutants performed distinctively under similar meteorological conditions due to different decisive factors. Identified PM2.5 sources included sulfate (32.7%), wood smoke (19.3%), gasoline (18.3%), nitrate (15.7%), diesel (9.2%), soil (3.8%), and road salt (1.0%). Compared with the 2005–2012 result, sulfate and nitrate contributions had increased, while wood smoke and diesel contributions had decreased, in which emission control measures as well as a change of sampling sites could play an important role. This systematic analysis offers reference for mitigation measures and pollution prediction. Meanwhile, further field investigation is required for conclusion validation and model improvement. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sources, Spatiotemporal Variation and Potential Health Risk of Hazardous Air Pollutants)
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