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Aerosol Air Qual Res 2021 Nov 2;21(11). Epub 2021 Sep 2.

Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences, University of Florida, USA.

Fitness centers are considered high risk for SARS-CoV-2 transmission due to their high human occupancy and the type of activity taking place in them, especially when individuals pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic for COVID-19 exercise in the facilities. In this study, air (N=21) and surface (N=8) samples were collected at a fitness center through five sampling events from August to November 2020 after the reopening restrictions were lifted in Florida. The total attendance was ~2500 patrons during our air and environmental sampling work. Read More

Aerosol Air Qual Res 2022 Jan 3;22(1). Epub 2021 Dec 3.

Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences, University of Florida, USA.

Since mask use and physical distancing are difficult to maintain when people dine indoors, restaurants are perceived as high risk for acquiring COVID-19. The air and environmental surfaces in two restaurants in a mid-scale city located in north central Florida that followed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reopening guidance were sampled three times from July 2020 to February 2021. Sixteen air samples were collected for 2 hours using air samplers, and 20 surface samples by using moistened swabs. Read More

Aerosol Air Qual Res 2020 ;20

Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA.

In densely developed port areas with numerous emissions sources, relating measured air quality changes to emissions is challenging given the geographic density of sources without unique pollutant composition signatures. To better understand air quality during increasing emission controls at the Port of New York and New Jersey ("Port"), an air monitoring station was sited to minimize collinearity of sources along ordinal directions. The study area includes an international airport, interstate highway, port terminals and shipping lanes, and industrial sources, as well as typical urban emissions of a megacity. Read More

Aerosol Air Qual Res 2021 Feb 29;21(2). Epub 2020 Sep 29.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Division of Field Studies and Engineering, 1090 Tusculum Ave, MS: R5, Cincinnati, OH 45226, USA.

Laboratory tests were conducted to characterize the composition of emissions from sanding Corian, a solid-surface composite material mainly composed of alumina trihydrate (ATH) and acrylic polymer. Three sandpaper materials (ceramic, silicon carbide, and aluminum oxide) were tested to distinguish the contribution of aluminum-containing dust in the emission from Corian and sandpaper itself. The result can help identify the main cause of the pulmonary fibrosis from exposure to aluminum-containing dust while sanding Corian. Read More

Aerosol Air Qual Res 2020 Jun 25;20(6):1167-1171. Epub 2020 May 25.

Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences, University of Florida.

The progression of COVID-19 worldwide can be tracked by identifying mutations within the genomic sequence of SARS-CoV-2 that occur as a function of time. Such efforts currently rely on sequencing the genome of SARS-CoV-2 in patient specimens (direct sequencing) or of virus isolated from patient specimens in cell cultures. A pilot SARS-CoV-2 air sampling study conducted at a clinic within a university student health care center detected the virus vRNA, with an estimated concentration of 0. Read More

Aerosol Air Qual Res 2020 Feb;20(2):217-230

Department of Environmental Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA.

There has been a proliferation of inexpensive consumer-grade devices for monitoring air pollutants, including PM and certain gasses. This study compared the performance of four consumer-grade devices-the Air Quality Egg 2 (AQE2), BlueAir Aware, Foobot, and Speck-that utilize optical sensors to measure the PM concentration. The devices were collocated and operated for 7 days in each of three residences, and the PM mass concentrations were compared with those measured by established optical sensing devices, viz. Read More

Aerosol Air Qual Res 2020 ;20(6)

Exposure, Epidemiology, and Risk Program, Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02215, USA.

Exposure to radioactivity inside homes potentially poses severe health risks which can be exacerbated by the interaction between radioactive particles and fine indoor particles; in particular, the presence of α particles are a key risk factor. Hence, in this study, particle radioactivity was concurrently measured in the family rooms and basements of 26 homes to assess its concentrations and identify its sources, both indoors and outdoors, across two seasons. The levels of radon, air ions, and particle radioactivity, which included short- and long-lived α-activity (SLA and LLA, respectively), varied greatly but were substantially higher in the basements. Read More

Aerosol Air Qual Res 2019 Nov;18(9):2207-2219

School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea.

Vertical column density (VCD) of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) was measured using Pandora spectrometers at six sites on the Korean Peninsula during the Megacity Air Pollution Studies-Seoul (MAPS-Seoul) campaign from May to June 2015. To estimate the tropospheric NO VCD, the stratospheric NO VCD from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) was subtracted from the total NO VCD from Pandora. European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) reanalysis wind data was used to analyze variations in tropospheric NO VCD caused by wind patterns at each site. Read More

Aerosol Air Qual Res 2018 Nov 30;18(11):2826-2839. Epub 2018 Oct 30.

Department of Occupational Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.

Bioaerosols produced from Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) can pose health risks to plant workers and nearby inhabitants. There is a gap in air quality data for WWTPs in developing countries. The present study aimed to measure airborne bacterial and fungal concentrations in a WWTP in southwestern Iran between September 2015 and May 2016. Read More

Aerosol Air Qual Res 2018 Sep;18(6):1431-1447

Institute of Space Technology (IST), Islamabad, Pakistan.

Particulate matter (PM) plays a vital role in altering air quality, human health, and climate change. There are sparse data relevant to PM characteristics in urban environments of the Middle East, including Peshawar city in Pakistan. This work reports on the morphology and composition of PM in two size fractions (PM and PM) during November 2016 in Peshawar. Read More

Aerosol Air Qual Res 2018 Aug 27;18(8):2029-2037. Epub 2018 Jul 27.

Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY 14642.

The performance of a low cost ozone monitor (Aeroqual Series 500 portable gas monitors using a metal oxide sensor for ozone; model OZL) was assessed under field conditions. Ten ozone monitors were calibrated under clean-air laboratory conditions and controlled ozone concentrations of 5 to 100 ppb. Good linearity and response were obtained relative to a research-grade ozone monitor. Read More

Aerosol Air Qual Res 2018 Jul 20;18(7):1788-1798. Epub 2018 Jun 20.

School of Geosciences, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel.

In this study, an approach has been developed for differentiating between local and remote pollution over Taiwan, based on homogeneity perspective (variations of the standard deviation) of both AERONET measurements and NASA MERRA aerosol reanalysis (version 2, MERRA-2) over a 15-year period (2002 - 2017). The analysis of seasonal variations of the standard deviation of aerosol optical depth (AOD) measurements at six AERONET sites and MERRA AOD data in Taiwan showed that, in spring when remote aerosols dominate, the standard deviation is almost three times lower than that in autumn, when aerosols from local sources dominate. This finding was supported by MERRA AOD over the open ocean area: total AOD data were used to differentiate between local and remote pollution over both Taiwan and the open ocean area in the vicinity of Taiwan. Read More

Aerosol Air Qual Res 2018 ;18(3):565-578

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, USA.

Detailed quantification of the spatial and temporal variability of ambient fine particulate matter (PM) has, to date, been limited due to the cost and logistics involved with traditional monitoring approaches. New miniaturized particle sensors are a potential strategy to gather more time- and spatially-resolved data, to address data gaps in regions with limited monitoring and to address important air quality research priorities in a more cost-effective manner. This work presents field evaluations and lab testing of three models of low-cost (< $200) PM sensors (SHINYEI: models PPD42NS, PPD20V, PPD60PV) in three locations: urban background (average PM: 8 μg m) and roadside in Atlanta, Georgia, USA (average PM: 21 μg m), and a location with higher ambient concentrations in Hyderabad, India (average PM: 72 μg m). Read More

Aerosol Air Qual Res 2017 ;17(4):951-964

Department of Mining Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, Odisha-769008, India.

The present study was designed to analyze the spatial distributions of ground-level ozone (GLO) concentrations in Ranchi (Jharkhand, India) using geostatistical approaches. From September 2014 to August 2015, monthly GLO concentrations were monitored in 40-identified locations distributed in the region of study. In every month, the monitoring was done at three different time periods of the day; 5. Read More

Aerosol Air Qual Res 2017 Sep;17(9):2235-2246

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, NY 10964, USA.

Fine particulate matter (PM), levels of which are about 6 times the 2014 WHO air quality guidelines for 190 cities in China, has been found to be associated with various adverse health outcomes. In this study, personal PM exposures were monitored along a fixed routine that included 19 types of non-residential micro-environments (MEs) on 4 hazy days (ambient PM 292 ± 70 μg m) and 2 non-hazy days (55 ± 16 μg m) in Nanjing, China using miniaturized real-time portable particulate sensors that also collect integrated filters of PM (MicroPEMs, Research Triangle Institute (RTI), NC). Gravimetric correction is necessary for nephelometer devices in calculating real-time PM levels. Read More

Aerosol Air Qual Res 2017 Jan;17(1):24-33

Pittsburgh Mining Research Division, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Pittsburgh, PA 15236, USA.

Dust containing crystalline silica is common in mining environments in the U.S. and around the world. Read More

Aerosol Air Qual Res 2017 Jan 1;17(1):253-261. Epub 2017 Jan 1.

Department of Atmospheric Sciences, National Central University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.

Version 1 of the NASA MERRA Aerosol Reanalysis (MERRAero) assimilates bias-corrected aerosol optical depth (AOD) data from MODIS-Terra and MODIS-Aqua, and simulates particulate matter (PM) concentration data to reproduce a consistent database of AOD and PM concentration around the world from 2002 to the end of 2015. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate MERRAero's simulation of fine PM concentration against surface measurements in two regions of the world with relatively high levels of PM concentration but with profoundly different PM composition, those of Israel and Taiwan. Being surrounded by major deserts, Israel's PM load is characterized by a significant contribution of mineral dust, and secondary contributions of sea salt particles, given its proximity to the Mediterranean Sea, and sulfate particles originating from Israel's own urban activities and transported from Europe. Read More

Aerosol Air Qual Res 2016 Nov 30;16(11):2831-2842. Epub 2016 Oct 30.

Research Center for Environmental Changes, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11529, Taiwan.

This study evaluates the height of biomass burning smoke aerosols retrieved from a combined use of Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS), and Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) observations. The retrieved heights are compared against spaceborne and ground-based lidar measurements during the peak biomass burning season (March and April) over Southeast Asia from 2013 to 2015. Based on the comparison against CALIOP, a quality assurance (QA) procedure is developed. Read More

Aerosol Air Qual Res 2016 Nov 30;16(11):2818-2830. Epub 2016 Oct 30.

Centre for Remote Imaging, Sensing and Processing, National University of Singapore, Block S17, Level 2, 10 Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore 119076.

As part of the Seven Southeast Asian Studies (7SEAS) program, an Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) sun photometer and a Micro-Pulse Lidar Network (MPLNET) instrument have been deployed at Singapore to study the regional aerosol environment of the Maritime Continent (MC). In addition, the Navy Aerosol Analysis and Prediction System (NAAPS) is used to model aerosol transport over the region. From 24 September 2009 to 31 March 2011, the relationships between ground-, satellite- and model-based aerosol optical depth (AOD) and particulate matter with aerodynamic equivalent diameters less than 2. Read More

Aerosol Air Qual Res 2014 Dec;14(7):1939-1949

Rutgers Environmental and Occupational Health Science Institute, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA.

Hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) in ambient airborne particulate matter (PM) is a known pulmonary carcinogen and may have both soluble and insoluble forms. The sum of the two forms is defined as total Cr(VI). Currently, there were no methods suitable for large-scale monitoring of total Cr(VI) in ambient PM. Read More

Aerosol Air Qual Res 2014 Feb;14(1):1-9

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.

This paper reports on validation experiments with the recently developed microAeth®, a pocket-sized device which is able to obtain real-time and personal measurements of black carbon (BC) aerosol. High reproducibility was observed when comparing the results from six new individual units during fixed-site monitoring out of a window (relative standard deviation [RSD] = 8% ± 5%, N = 1442). The results obtained from the microAeth devices agreed with those obtained from a full size rack mounted Aethalometer, based on both the 1-minute data (R = 0. Read More

Aerosol Air Qual Res 2011 Jun;11(3):315-322

Center for Environmental Health Sciences, Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Montana, 32 Campus Drive, Missoula, Montana, 59812, U.S.A.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has designated a handful of instruments as Federal Reference or Federal Equivalency Methods (FRM and FEM, respectively) for the monitoring of fine particulate matter (PM). More commonly used for indoor exposure assessment studies are optical scanning devices such as the DustTrak (TSI) due to the their portability and affordability. It is recommended by the manufacturer of these instruments that a "correction factor" be applied when assessing source-specific conditions. Read More