This study presents the air pollution findings of the submicron (PM1) and fine (PM2.5) particulate matter. The submicron particles are entirely absorbed by the human body and they cause the greatest health risk. For the PM2.5 concentration, there are yearly and/or daily limit values regulations by the European Union (EU) and World Health Organization (WHO). There are no such regulations for PM1 but for health risk reason the knowledge of its concentration is important. This paper presents the seasonal concentration contribution of PM1 and PM2.5, their chemical composition and assessed three basic sources. Daily samples of both fractions were collected from 2nd July 2016 to 27th February 2017 in Krakow, Poland. Apart from PM1 and PM2.5 the concentration of 16 elements, 8 ions and BC for each samples were measured. Based on these chemical species the positive matrix factorization (PMF) receptor modeling was used for the determination of three main sources contribution to the PM1 and PM2.5 concentrations. Daily average concentrations of PM2.5 were 12 μg/m3 in summer and 60 μg/m3 in winter. For PM1 it was 6.9 μg/m3 in summer and 17.3 μg/m3 in winter. These data show a significant difference in percentage contribution of PM1 in PM2.5 in summer (58%) and in winter (29%).For the combustion source, the concentrations calculated from PMF modeling in winter were 4.8 μg/m3 for PM1 and 31 μg/m3 for PM2.5. In summer, the concentrations were smaller than 1 μg/m3 for both fractions. Secondary aerosols' concentration for PM1 was 3.4 μg/m3 in summer and 11 μg/m3 in winter - for PM2.5 these were 7.1 μg/m3 and 17 μg/m3 respectively. The third source - soil, industry and traffic together, had small seasonal variation: for PM1 it was from 1.4 to 1.8 μg/m3 and for PM2.5 from 4.7 to 7.9 μg/m3.

Exposure to low frequency and radiofrequency electromagnetic fields at low intensities poses a significant health hazard that has not been adequately addressed by national and international organizations such as the World Health Organization. There is strong evidence that excessive exposure to mobile phone-frequencies over long periods of time increases the risk of brain cancer both in humans and animals. The mechanism(s) responsible include induction of reactive oxygen species, gene expression alteration and DNA damage through both epigenetic and genetic processes. In vivo and in vitro studies demonstrate adverse effects on male and female reproduction, almost certainly due to generation of reactive oxygen species. There is increasing evidence the exposures can result in neurobehavioral decrements and that some individuals develop a syndrome of “electro-hypersensitivity” or “microwave illness”, which is one of several syndromes commonly categorized as “idiopathic environmental intolerance”. While the symptoms are non-specific, new biochemical indicators and imaging techniques allow diagnosis that excludes the symptoms as being only psychosomatic. Unfortunately standards set by most national and international bodies are not protective of human health. This is a particular concern in children, given the rapid expansion of use of wireless technologies, the greater susceptibility of the developing nervous system, the hyperconductivity of their brain tissue, the greater penetration of radiofrequency radiation relative to head size and their potential for a longer lifetime exposure.

According to the WHO, 3 million deaths are attributable to air pollution due to particulate matter (PM) world-wide. However, there are no specific updated studies which calculate short-term PM-related cause specific mortality in Spain. The objective is to quantify the relative risks (RRs) and attributable risks (ARs) of daily mortality associated with PM10 concentrations, registered in Spanish provinces and to calculate the number of PM-related deaths. We calculated daily mortality due to natural (ICD-10: A00 R99), circulatory (ICD-10: I00 I99) and respiratory causes (ICD-10: J00 J99) for each province across the period 2000–2009. Mean daily concentrations of PM10, NO2 and O3 was used. For the estimate of RRs and ARs, we used generalised linear models with a Poisson link. A meta-analysis was used to estimate RRs and ARs in the provinces with statically significant results. The overall RRs obtained for these provinces, corresponding to increases of 10 μ g/m³ in PM10 concentrations were 1.009 (95% CI: 1.006 1011) for natural, 1.026 (95% CI: 1.019 1033) for respiratory, and 1.009 (95% CI: 1.006 1012) for circulatory-cause mortality. This amounted to an annual overall total of 2683 deaths (95% CI: 852 4354) due to natural, 651 (95% CI: 359 1026) due to respiratory, and 556 (95% CI: 116 1012) due to circulatory causes, with 90% of this mortality lying below the WHO guideline values. This study provides an updated estimate of the effect had by this type of pollutant on causes of mortality, and constitutes an important basis for reinforcing public health measures.

Over 700 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa depend on solid biomass fuel and use simple cookstoves in poorly ventilated kitchens, which results in high indoor concentrations of household air pollutants. Switching from biomass to biogas as a cooking fuel can reduce airborne emissions of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and carbon monoxide (CO), but households often only partially convert to biogas, continuing to use solid biomass fuels for part of their daily cooking needs. There is little evidence of the benefits of partial switching to biogas. This study monitored real-time PM2.5 and CO concentrations in 35 households in Cameroon and Uganda where biogas and firewood (or charcoal) were used. The 24 h mean PM2.5 concentrations in households that used: (1) firewood and charcoal; (2) both firewood (mean 54% cooking time) and biogas (mean 46% cooking time); and (3) only biogas, were 449 μg m⁻³, 173 μg m⁻³ and 18 μg m⁻³ respectively. The corresponding 24 h mean CO concentrations were 14.2 ppm, 2.7 ppm and 0.5 ppm. Concentrations of both PM2.5 and CO were high and exceeded the World Health Organisation guidelines when firewood and charcoal were used. Partially switching to biogas reduced CO exposure to below the World Health Organisation guidelines, but PM2.5 concentrations were only below the 24 h recommended limits when households fully converted to biogas fuel. These results indicate that partial switching from solid fuels to biogas is not sufficient and continues to produce concentrations of household air pollution that are likely to harm the health of those exposed. Programmes introducing biogas should aim to ensure that household energy needs can be fully achieved using biogas with no requirement to continue using solid fuels.

In recent years, a trend toward a declining proportion of male births has been noted in several, but not all, industrialized countries. The underlying reason for the drop in the sex ratio is unclear, but one theory states that widespread environmental endocrine disrupting chemicals affecting the male reproductive system in a negative manner could be part of the explanation. The present study was designed to investigate whether the urinary phthalate, pyrethroids and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons metabolites concentrations were associated with sperm Y:X ratio.The study population consisted of 194 men aged under 45 years of age who attended infertility clinic in Lodz, Poland for diagnostic purposes with normal semen concentration of 20–300 mln/ml or with slight oligozoospermia (semen concentration of 15–20 mln/ml) (WHO, 1999). The Y:X ratio was assessed by fluorescent in situ hybridization. Urinary concentrations of 1-hydroxypyrene were measured by high performance liquid chromatography, phthalate metabolites were analyzed using a procedure based on the LC-MS/MS methods and metabolites of synthetic pyrethroids were assessed by gas chromatography ion-tap mass spectrometry method.After adjustment for potential confounders (past diseases, age, abstinence, smoking, alcohol consumption, sperm concentration, motility, morphology) 5OH MEHP, CDCCA to TDCCA and 1-OHP was negatively related to Y:X sperm chromosome ratio (p = 0.033, p < 0.001, p = 0.047 respectively).As this is the first study to elucidate the association between the level of metabolites of widespread environmental endocrine disrupting chemicals (phthalates, synthetic pyrethroids, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) on sex chromosome ratio in sperm therefore, these findings require further replication in other populations.

Whereas air pollution in many Chinese cities has reached epidemic levels in recent years, limited research has explored the spatial and temporal patterns of fine air particles such as PM2.5, or particulate matter with diameter smaller than 2.5 μm, using nationally representative data. This article applied spatial statistical approaches including spatial interpolation and spatial regression to the analysis of ground-level PM2.5 observations for 190 Chinese cities in 2014 obtained from the Chinese Air Quality Online Monitoring Platform. Results of this article suggest that most Chinese cities included in the dataset recorded severe levels of PM2.5 in excess of the WHO’s interim target and cities in the North China Plain had the highest levels of PM2.5 regardless of city size. Spatially interpolated maps of PM2.5 and population-weighted PM2.5 indicate vast majority of China’s land and population was exposed to disastrous levels of PM2.5 concentrations. The regression results suggest that PM2.5 in a city was positively related to its population size, amount of atmospheric pollutants, and emissions from nearby cities, but inversely related to precipitation and wind speed. Findings from this research can shed new light on the complex spatiotemporal patterns of PM2.5 throughout China and provide insights into policies aiming to mitigate air pollution in China.

There is an ongoing debate on the fate of mercury (Hg) in areas affected by artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM). Over the last 30 years, ASGM has released 69 tons of Hg into the southeastern Peruvian Amazon. To investigate the role of suspended matter and hydrological factors on the fate of ASGM-Hg, we analysed riverbank sediments and suspended matter along the partially ASGM-affected Malinowski-Tambopata river system and examined Hg accumulation in fish. In addition, local impacts of atmospheric Hg emissions on aquatic systems were assessed by analysing a sediment core from an oxbow lake. Hg concentrations in riverbank sediments are lower (20–53 ng g−1) than in suspended matter (∼400–4000 ng g−1) due to differences in particle size. Elevated Hg concentrations in suspended matter from ASGM-affected river sections (∼1400 vs. ∼30–120 ng L−1 in unaffected sections) are mainly driven by the increased amount of suspended matter rather than increased Hg concentrations in the suspended matter. The oxbow lake sediment record shows low Hg concentrations (64–86 ng g−1) without evidence of any ASGM-related increase in atmospheric Hg input. Hg flux variations are mostly an effect of variations in sediment accumulation rates. Moreover, only 5% of the analysed fish (only piscivores) exceed WHO recommendations for human consumption (500 ng g−1). Our findings show that ASGM-affected river sections in the Malinowski-Tambopata system do not exhibit increased Hg accumulation, indicating that the released Hg is either retained at the spill site or transported to areas farther away from the ASGM areas. We suspect that the fate of ASGM-Hg in such tropical rivers is mainly linked to transport associated with the suspended matter, especially during high water situations. We assume that our findings are typical for ASGM-affected areas in tropical regions and could explain why aquatic systems in such ASGM regions often show comparatively modest enrichment in Hg levels.

This study aimed to assess the occurrence, distribution and dietary risks of seven dl-PCBs (dioxin-like PCBs) in eleven collected fish species from Chenab river, Pakistan. ∑7dl-PCBs (ng g−1, wet weight) burden was species-specific and the maximum average concentrations were found in Mastacembelus armatus (5.43), and Rita rita (5.1). Correlation of each dl-PCBs with δ15N%, indicated a food chain accumulation process of these chemicals into Chenab river, Pakistan. Species-specific toxicity of each dl-PCBs (WHO–PCBs TEQ) was calculated and higher values were found in three carnivore fish species i.e., M. armatus (2.5 pg TEQ g−1), R. rita (2.47 pg TEQ g−1), Securicola gora (2.98 pg TEQ g−1) and herbivore fish species i.e., Cirrhinus mrigala (2.44 pg TEQ g−1). The EDI (Estimated Daily Intake) values in most cases exceeded the WHO benchmark (4 pg WHO–TEQ kg−1 bw d−1) evidencing a potential health risk for consumers via fish consumption from Chenab river.

This study investigated the status of arsenic (As) exposure from groundwater and rice, and its methylation capacity in residents from the Red River Delta, Vietnam. Arsenic levels in groundwater ranged from <1.8 to 486 μg/L. Remarkably, 86% of groundwater samples exceeded WHO drinking water guideline of 10 μg/L. Also, estimated inorganic As intake from groundwater and rice were over Provisional Tolerable Weekly Intake (15 μg/week/kg body wt.) by FAO/WHO for 92% of the residents examined. Inorganic As and its metabolite (monomethylarsonic acid and dimethylarsinic acid) concentrations in human urine were positively correlated with estimated inorganic As intake. These results suggest that residents in these areas are exposed to As through consumption of groundwater and rice, and potential health risk of As is of great concern for these people. Urinary concentration ratios of dimethylarsinic acid to monomethylarsonic acid in children were higher than those in adults, especially among men, indicating greater As methylation capacity in children.

Extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBL)-producing Enterobacterales have been classified as critical priority pathogens by the World Health Organization (WHO). ESBL are universally distributed and, in 2006, were firstly reported on a wild animal. Understanding the relative contributions of wild animals to ESBL circulation in the environment is urgently needed. In this work, we have conducted a nationwide study in Portugal to investigate the occurrence of bacteria carrying clinically significant antimicrobial resistance genes (ARG), using widely distributed wild ungulates as model species. A total of 151 antimicrobial resistant-Enterobacterales isolates were detected from 181 wild ungulates: 50% (44/88) of isolates from wild boar (Sus scrofa), 40.3% (25/62) from red deer (Cervus elaphus), 41.4% (12/29) from fallow deer (Dama dama) and 100% (2/2) from mouflon (Ovis aries subsp. musimon). Selected isolates showed a diversified resistance profile, with particularly high values corresponding to ampicillin (71.5%) and tetracycline (63.6%). Enterobacterales strains carried blaTEM, tetA, tetB, sul2, sul1 or dfrA1 ARG genes. They also carried blaCTX₋M-type genes, which are prevalent in human infections, namely CTX-M-14, CTX-M-15 and CTX-M-98. Strikingly, this is the first report of CTX-M-98 in wildlife. Almost 40% (n = 59) of Enterobacterales were multi-drug resistant. The diversity of plasmids carried by ESBL isolates was remarkable, including IncF, K and P. This study highlights the potential role of wild ungulates as environmental reservoirs of CTX-M ESBL-producing E. coli and in the spill-over of AMR bacteria and their determinants. Our findings suggest that wild ungulates are useful as strategic sentinel species of AMR in terrestrial environments, especially in response to potential sources of anthropogenic pollution, providing early warning of potential risks to human, animal and environmental health.