Tens of millions of Americans suffer from a range of adverse health outcomes due to noise exposure, including heart disease and hearing loss. Reducing environmental noise pollution is achievable and ...consistent with national prevention goals, yet there is no national plan to reduce environmental noise pollution.
We aimed to describe some of the most serious health effects associated with noise, summarize exposures from several highly prevalent noise sources based on published estimates as well as extrapolations made using these estimates, and lay out proven mechanisms and strategies to reduce noise by incorporating scientific insight and technological innovations into existing public health infrastructure.
We estimated that 104 million individuals had annual LEQ(24) levels > 70 dBA (equivalent to a continuous average exposure level of >70 dBA over 24 hr) in 2013 and were at risk of noise-induced hearing loss. Tens of millions more may be at risk of heart disease, and other noise-related health effects. Direct regulation, altering the informational environment, and altering the built environment are the least costly, most logistically feasible, and most effective noise reduction interventions.
Significant public health benefit can be achieved by integrating interventions that reduce environmental noise levels and exposures into the federal public health agenda.
Exposure to outdoor fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is a leading risk factor for mortality. We develop global estimates of annual PM2.5 concentrations and trends for 1998–2018 using advances in ...satellite observations, chemical transport modeling, and ground-based monitoring. Aerosol optical depths (AODs) from advanced satellite products including finer resolution, increased global coverage, and improved long-term stability are combined and related to surface PM2.5 concentrations using geophysical relationships between surface PM2.5 and AOD simulated by the GEOS-Chem chemical transport model with updated algorithms. The resultant annual mean geophysical PM2.5 estimates are highly consistent with globally distributed ground monitors (R 2 = 0.81; slope = 0.90). Geographically weighted regression is applied to the geophysical PM2.5 estimates to predict and account for the residual bias with PM2.5 monitors, yielding even higher cross validated agreement (R 2 = 0.90–0.92; slope = 0.90–0.97) with ground monitors and improved agreement compared to all earlier global estimates. The consistent long-term satellite AOD and simulation enable trend assessment over a 21 year period, identifying significant trends for eastern North America (−0.28 ± 0.03 μg/m3/yr), Europe (−0.15 ± 0.03 μg/m3/yr), India (1.13 ± 0.15 μg/m3/yr), and globally (0.04 ± 0.02 μg/m3/yr). The positive trend (2.44 ± 0.44 μg/m3/yr) for India over 2005–2013 and the negative trend (−3.37 ± 0.38 μg/m3/yr) for China over 2011–2018 are remarkable, with implications for the health of billions of people.
Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is an important contributor to air pollution and can adversely
affect human health(1–9) . A decrease in NO2 concentrations has been reported as a result of lockdown measures to ...reduce the spread of COVID-19(10–20). Questions remain, however, regarding the relationship of satellite-derived atmospheric column NO2
data with health-relevant ambient ground-level concentrations, and the representativeness of limited ground-based monitoring data for global assessment.
Here we derive spatially resolved, global ground-level NO2 concentrations from NO2
column densities observed by the TROPOMI satellite instrument at sufficiently fine
resolution (approximately one kilometre) to allow assessment of individual cities
during COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020 compared to 2019. We apply these estimates to
quantify NO2 changes in more than 200 cities, including 65 cities without available
ground monitoring, largely in lower-income regions. Mean country-level
population-weighted NO2 concentrations are 29% ± 3% lower in countries with strict
lockdown conditions than in those without. Relative to long-term trends, NO2
decreases during COVID-19 lockdowns exceed recent Ozone Monitoring Instrument
(OMI)-derived year-to-year decreases from emission controls, comparable to 15 ± 4
years of reductions globally. Our case studies indicate that the sensitivity of NO2 to
lockdowns varies by country and emissions sector, demonstrating the critical need
for spatially resolved observational information provided by these satellite-derived
surface concentration estimates.
Abstract
Ambient fine particulate matter (PM
2.5
) is the world’s leading environmental health risk factor. Reducing the PM
2.5
disease burden requires specific strategies that target dominant ...sources across multiple spatial scales. We provide a contemporary and comprehensive evaluation of sector- and fuel-specific contributions to this disease burden across 21 regions, 204 countries, and 200 sub-national areas by integrating 24 global atmospheric chemistry-transport model sensitivity simulations, high-resolution satellite-derived PM
2.5
exposure estimates, and disease-specific concentration response relationships. Globally, 1.05 (95% Confidence Interval: 0.74–1.36) million deaths were avoidable in 2017 by eliminating fossil-fuel combustion (27.3% of the total PM
2.5
burden), with coal contributing to over half. Other dominant global sources included residential (0.74 0.52–0.95 million deaths; 19.2%), industrial (0.45 0.32–0.58 million deaths; 11.7%), and energy (0.39 0.28–0.51 million deaths; 10.2%) sectors. Our results show that regions with large anthropogenic contributions generally had the highest attributable deaths, suggesting substantial health benefits from replacing traditional energy sources.
► Develops a model to estimate urban building sector annual energy end-use intensities. ► Intensities calculated using a robust multivariate linear regression. ► Calibrated using ZIP code level data ...for electricity and fuel use. ► End-use ratios derived from residential and commercial building consumption surveys. ► Results in map of building energy consumption by end use for New York City.
The current energy distribution infrastructure in many urban areas either cannot support anticipated future energy use or would require significant rehabilitation even if current use were maintained. Understanding the dynamics of local energy use is an important precondition of understanding how to remedy this situation. This paper builds a model to estimate the building sector energy end-use intensity (kwh/m
2 floor area) for space heating, domestic hot water, electricity for space cooling and electricity for non-space cooling applications in New York City. The model assumes that such end use is primarily dependent on building function, whether residential, educational or office for example, and not on construction type or the age of the building. The modeled intensities are calibrated using ZIP code level electricity and fuel use data reported by the New York City Mayor's Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability. The end-use ratios were derived from the Residential and Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey's Public Use Microdata. The results provide the ability to estimate the end-use energy consumption of each tax lot in New York City. The resulting spatially explicit energy consumption can be a valuable tool for determining cost-effectiveness and policies for implementing energy efficiency and renewable energy programs.
Plastic pollution in the oceans is a priority environmental issue. The recent increase in research on the topic, coupled with growing public awareness, has catalyzed policymakers around the world to ...identify and implement solutions that minimize the harm caused by plastic pollution. To aid and coordinate these efforts, we surveyed experts with scientific experience identified through their peer-reviewed publications. We asked experts about the most pressing research questions relating to how biota interact with plastic pollution that in turn can inform policy decisions and research agendas to best contribute to understanding and reducing the harm of plastic pollution to biota. We used a modified Horizon Scan method that first used a subgroup of experts to generate 46 research questions on aquatic biota and plastics, and then conducted an online survey of researchers globally to prioritize questions in terms of their importance to inform policy development. One hundred and fifteen experts from 29 countries ranked research questions in six themes. The questions were ranked by urgency, indicating which research should be addressed immediately, which can be addressed later, and which are of limited relevance to inform action on plastics as an environmental pollutant. We found that questions relating to the following four themes were the most commonly top-ranked research priorities: (i) sources, circulation and distribution of plastics, (ii) type of harm from plastics, (iii) detection of ingested plastics and the associated problems, and (iv) related economies and policy to ingested plastics. While there are many research questions on the topic of impacts of plastic pollution on biota that could be funded and investigated, our results focus collective priorities in terms of research that experts believe will inform effective policy and on-the-ground conservation.
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•Plastic pollution is an emerging environmental pollutant.•It is important for research to be inform policies aimed at reducing plastic pollution.•Expert opinion was used to understand global research priorities.•Top priorities include understanding sources and most effective policy tools.•Priorities as determined by expert opinion show differences across several regions.
Robotic platforms for chemistry are developing rapidly but most systems are not currently able to adapt to changing circumstances in real-time. We present a dynamically programmable system capable of ...making, optimizing, and discovering new molecules which utilizes seven sensors that continuously monitor the reaction. By developing a dynamic programming language, we demonstrate the 10-fold scale-up of a highly exothermic oxidation reaction, end point detection, as well as detecting critical hardware failures. We also show how the use of in-line spectroscopy such as HPLC, Raman, and NMR can be used for closed-loop optimization of reactions, exemplified using Van Leusen oxazole synthesis, a four-component Ugi condensation and manganese-catalysed epoxidation reactions, as well as two previously unreported reactions, discovered from a selected chemical space, providing up to 50% yield improvement over 25-50 iterations. Finally, we demonstrate an experimental pipeline to explore a trifluoromethylations reaction space, that discovers new molecules.
Ménière disease is characterized by endolymphatic hydrops, whereas perilymphatic enhancement on MR imaging has been suggested to be of additional value in diagnosing Ménière disease. This study ...evaluates the presence of endolymphatic hydrops and perilymphatic enhancement in patients with Ménière disease and with other vertigo-associated inner ear pathology.
A 3D-FLAIR sequence 4 hours after intravenous gadolinium injection was performed to visualize the endolymph and perilymph in 220 patients suspected of having Ménière disease. Patients' ears were retrospectively categorized as having Ménière disease (probable or definite) or other vertigo-associated inner ear pathology not attributable to Ménière disease. Endolymphatic hydrops was evaluated using a visual classification system, and perilymphatic enhancement was scored both visually and quantitatively.
Endolymphatic hydrops was present in 137 (91.9%) of the definite Ménière disease ears and in 9 (7.0%) of the ears with other vertigo-associated inner ear pathology (
< .001). The combination of endolymphatic hydrops and visually increased perilymphatic enhancement was present in 122 (81.9%) definite Ménière disease ears compared with 4 (3.1%) ears with other vertigo-associated inner ear pathology (
< .001). This combination increases the positive predictive value from 0.94 for endolymphatic hydrops and 0.91 for perilymphatic enhancement to 0.97. The addition of measured perilymphatic enhancement leads to a moderate decrease in sensitivity from 0.92 for endolymphatic hydrops to 0.86.
The combination of perilymphatic enhancement and endolymphatic hydrops in patients suspected of having Ménière disease increases the positive predictive value in the diagnosis of definite Ménière disease.
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•Levels of ambient PM2.5 are stable or increasing in many low and middle-income countries.•We assessed associations between childrens’ long-term PM2.5 exposure and acute respiratory ...infection (ARI)•We found a significant association between annual PM and ARI in the preceding two weeks.•Boys and children living in rural areas appeared to be at greater risk of adverse effects.
Evidence from developed countries suggests that fine particulate matter (≤2.5 µm PM2.5) contributes to childhood respiratory morbidity and mortality. However, few analyses have focused on resource-limited settings, where much of this burden occurs. We aimed to investigate the cross-sectional associations between annual average exposure to ambient PM2.5 and acute respiratory infection (ARI) in children aged <5 years living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
We combined Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data from 35 countries with gridded global estimates of annual PM2.5 mass concentrations. We analysed the association between PM2.5 and maternal-reported ARI in the two weeks preceding the survey among children aged <5 years living in 35 LMICs. We used multivariable logistic regression models that adjusted for child, maternal, household and cluster-level factors. We also fitted multi-pollutant models (adjusted for nitrogen dioxide NO2 and surface-level ozone O3), among other sensitivity analyses. We assessed whether the associations between PM2.5 and ARI were modified by sex, age and place of residence.
The analysis comprised 573,950 children, among whom the prevalence of ARI was 22,506 (3.92%). The mean (±SD) estimated annual concentration of PM2.5 to which children were exposed was 48.2 (±31.0) µg/m3. The 5th and 95th percentiles of PM2.5 were 9.8 µg/m3 and 110.9 µg/m3, respectively. A 10 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5 was associated with greater odds of having an ARI (OR: 1.06; 95% CI: 1.05–1.07). The association between PM2.5 and ARI was robust to adjustment for NO2 and O3. We observed evidence of effect modification by sex, age and place of residence, suggesting greater effects of PM2.5 on ARI in boys, in younger children, and in children living in rural areas.
Annual average ambient PM2.5, as an indicator for long-term exposure, was associated with greater odds of maternal-reported ARI in children aged <5 years living in 35 LMICs. Longitudinal studies in LMICs are required to corroborate our cross-sectional findings, to further elucidate the extent to which lowering PM2.5 may have a role in the global challenge of reducing ARI-related morbidity and mortality in children.
Ambient fine particulate matter (PM
) is the world's leading environmental health risk factor. Quantification is needed of regional contributions to changes in global PM
exposure. Here we interpret ...satellite-derived PM
estimates over 1998-2019 and find a reversal of previous growth in global PM
air pollution, which is quantitatively attributed to contributions from 13 regions. Global population-weighted (PW) PM
exposure, related to both pollution levels and population size, increased from 1998 (28.3 μg/m
) to a peak in 2011 (38.9 μg/m
) and decreased steadily afterwards (34.7 μg/m
in 2019). Post-2011 change was related to exposure reduction in China and slowed exposure growth in other regions (especially South Asia, the Middle East and Africa). The post-2011 exposure reduction contributes to stagnation of growth in global PM
-attributable mortality and increasing health benefits per µg/m
marginal reduction in exposure, implying increasing urgency and benefits of PM
mitigation with aging population and cleaner air.
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