Journal of Air Pollution and Health
Volume:8 Issue: 4, Autumn 2023

In the coming decades, addressing climate change necessitates substantial Carbon dioxide (CO2) emission reductions. Carbon capture and storage are vital for achieving these goals. Beyond industrial emissions, Direct Air Capture (DAC) extracts CO2 from the atmosphere, complementing point source capture and enabling the reduction of atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Our research confirms the thermodynamic feasibility of DAC with Potassium hydroxide (KOH) solution, taking into account energy and performance considerations.

To assess DAC's potential, we built a 1.2 m contactor prototype measuring CO2 absorption from the air. Operating at 100 pa with an air speed of 1.75 m/s in a cross-flow regime, we used KOH and NaOH solutions as capture mediums, implementing duty cycles for absorbent pumping and exhaust fan operation.

Our findings revealed that transitioning to intermittent operation can dramatically reduce overall energy costs by 70%. We explored various absorbent concentrations for both KOH and NaOH solutions, examining their impact. Operating temperatures ranged from 14°C to 33°C, providing insights into temperature's pivotal role in DAC performance.

This study showcases the viability of DAC with a KOH solution, particularly highlighting the significant energy savings achieved through intermittent operation. These findings emphasise DAC's role as a vital tool in our collective efforts to combat climate change.

This study aimed to assess the health impacts and economic costs of implementing the scenarios of decommissioning end-of-life cars and motorcycles and equipping buses with soot filters in Tehran, one of the largest cities in the Middle East, over a period of ten years (2017-2026) using the AIRQ+ model.

To start, the emission weights of Particulate matter (PM2.5) emitted from the vehicles mentioned in the scenarios were extracted from the Comprehensive National Action Plan for Reducing Air Pollution. Then the concentrations of PM2.5 were calculated using AERMOD. Finally, the AIRQ+ model was used to calculate the health effects of the scenarios over ten years.

The results indicated that implementing the total of three scenarios during ten years led to a reduction in mortality rates due to all causes, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), lung cancer, Acute Lower Respiratory tract Infection (ALRI), Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD), and stroke by 14.89%, 6.16%, 31.51%, 19.5%, 16.5%, and 17.38%, respectively. In addition, decommissioning end-oflife cars and motorcycles separately led to a 6.75% and 6.53% reduction in deaths from all causes, 2.54% and 2.46% from COPD, 18.40% and 18.01% from lung cancer, 11.16% and 11% from ALRI, 12.82% and 12.69% from IHD, and 12.12% and 12.96% from stroke.

The results indicate that the implementation of these scenarios during ten years has positive effects on reducing deaths attributed by PM2.5 particles, but due to population growth, it has no effect on reducing economic costs.

Today, a lot of research work is carried out in the vegetable oil based fuels which are the blended renewable fuels derived from vegetable oils or the oxygenated fuels which could effect in reduced Carbonaceous emissions. This experimental study investigates the impact of Silicon dioxide (SiO2) nanoparticles as additives on the performance and emission parameters of a diesel engine running on castor oil blends.

Castor oil is a renewable source of biodiesel, but it has limitations such as lower calorific value and higher viscosity compared to conventional diesel. To overcome these limitations, SiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized and characterized. Tests were conducted on a single-cylinder diesel engine under various load conditions using different fuel blends.

Results shows that the addition of SiO2 nanoparticles improved the engine's performance by increasing brake thermal efficiency by 25% and reducing specific fuel consumption by 9%. Carbon monoxide emissions (CO) were decreased by 25%, Hydro Carbon emissions (HC) decreased by 52% with SiO2 nanoparticles while a marginal percentage of NOx was also observed.

This study demonstrates the potential of SiO2 nanoparticles as additives in enhancing the performance and reducing emissions of diesel engines using castor oil blends, contributing to the development of sustainable transportation.

Outdoor air pollution has been considered the primary issueby scientists and environmentalists for decades. With the advancement of technology, the activities of human are shifting from outdoor to indoor, urging researchers to investigate the indoor environment. Theerefore, the focus of this study is to examine indoor air quality in the metropolitan of Lahore.

The Temtop M2000C and Temtop H3 Laser monitors were used to collect data on Particulate Matter (PM), Carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration, Total Volatile Organic Compounds (TVOC), and formaldehyde (HCHO). The concentration of air pollutants in nine indoor areas was measured for a specified time interval. The values of particulate matter are measured to find the impact of the outdoor environment on the indoor environment.

The maximum average values of the particulate matter PM2.5 and PM10 were 488.6 μg/m³ and 737.2 6 μg/m³, respectively, which reduced drastically after the rain to 219 μg/m³ and 340 μg/m³, respectively. The maximum values of PM2.5 and PM10 during coal burning outside the room were 997.6 μg/m³ and 999.9 μg/m³, respectively, far higher than the values during normal conditions. TVOC and HCHO were found within the prescribed limits.

The outcomes of this study established a deep impact of the outdoor environment on the indoor environment and recommend air purifiers to reduce the level of pollutants in the indoor environment.

The present work addresses the temporal characteristics of air pollution in Delhi and the surrounding five cities during the years 2019 and 2020. Further, we have addressed the hypothesis whether air pollution of a particular city is affected by its neighboring cities.

To test the hyopthesis we have used the Granger causality test to detect the causal relationship (feedback) between the air pollution of Delhi and its neighbouring cities. Initially we have checked whether the Air Quality Index (AQI) time series are stationary and integrated of the same order. This involved employing a unit root test, specifically Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) test followed by Granger causality test.

From the descriptive statistical analysis, it is observed that there is a significant reduction in the air pollution across six cities during the year 2020. From causality network, it is observed that bidirectional and unidirectional causal links exists for 2019 and only unidirectional causal links exists for 2020. Air pollution of Delhi is strongly influencing the air pollution of Gurugram city in the year 2019 evident from the higher values of Indegree (0.7) for Gurugram city and high value of outdegree (0.85) for Delhi city. Unidirectional causal links observed from Gurugram city in 2020, whereas unidirectional causal links observed from Delhi, Gurugam and Lucknow cities in 2019. Network in 2020, consists of lesser number of causal links (5), in comparison to the network in 2019, that comprises of more number of causal links (12) that indicates the impact of lockdown on air quality due to COVID-19.

Air pollution of highly polluted cities affects the cities with low air pollution. Present work helps the policymakers to implement the effective mitigation and measures to control the air pollution at regional scale.

In this work, we target the analysis and the characterization of bioaerosols species present in medical emergency of north Algerian hospital, were we consider in four operating rooms, two preoperative and resuscitation rooms.

Passive technique was applied for the collection of bacterial and fungal samples in indoor air, for three days from 16 to 18 January 2018. Two techniques were then chosen for the bacterial identification, the Analytical Profile Index (API) system and Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/ Ionization Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS).

It has been found that fungal contamination was highest in neurosurgery block, 103 CFU/m3
, whereas the highest bacterial contamination, 2645 CFU/m3 , was noted in postoperative room. The most predominant identified bacteria were Gram-positive cocci.

The high contamination in bioaerosols and the types of bacteria identified in the premises studied increase the risk of contracting a nosocomial infection, hence the importance of daily disinfection and sterilization of hospitals area in order to reduce bioaerosols dangerous effects on human health

Currently, reducing road dust emissions is a serious problem for safe and environment protective transportation, leading to Particulate Matter (PM) limit violations and high population exposures to dust containing poisonous metals and mineral particles. Nowadays chemical road dust suppressants are being employed more frequently as a viable remedy to reduce roadside dust emissions.

Two seasons winter and summer were selected for the study and during which, typically 3 types of roads as per average traffic density and land-use category identified in the city of Pimpri Chinchwad were sprayed. Dry samples were taken on day one from a 1 m2 area using a portable vacuum cleaner that was run for 8 to 10 min each. Similarly, samples were collected in the same area after 5-10 min after spraying with Calcium Chloride (CaCl2) and Magnesium Chloride (MgCl2). Also, the second set ofsamples was collected after 24 h of chemical applied.

Maximum reduction in silt loading occurred i.e., 99.73% on the application of 30 g/m2 of CaCl2 . Reduction observed in emission factor of PM2.5 was 97.78% and in the case of PM10 it was 97.59%. While increase in average particle size was observed up to 27.88 µm.

Both the suppressant efficient in suppressing the road dust but the day 1 result shows more dust suppression as compared to the day 2 dust suppression also as per the dust loading CaCl2 is a better dust suppressant than MgCl2.

Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI) are commonly experienced by children, infants, and toddlers. This study analysed the relationship of several factors that cause the occurrence of ARI in Toddlers, namely temperature, humidity, exposure to cigarette smoke, and the use of mosquito repellent. This study used the meta-analysis method by doing a literature search and then finding the value of the effect size using JASP. The research with meta-analysis showed that the smoking behaviour of family members is the highest risk of ARI in toddlers with a value of PR=E1.57=4,572 (95% CI 1.28-1.77). Furthermore, ventilation is the second highest risk of ARI in toddlers, with PR=E1.36=3.896. Then the humidity condition with the value of PR=E1.31=3.706. Other variables, such as air temperature risk increasing the incidence of ARI up to 2,829 times, and mosquito coils that had an impact up to 2,293 times increased the risk of ARI in Toddlers. All variables can increase the risk of ARI in toddlers, with the three most potent variables being smoking behaviour, ventilation, and humidity. Other variables can still increase the risk of ARI in toddlers, but to a lesser extent.