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Epidemiological research suggests that air pollution may cause chronic diseases, as well as exacerbation of related pathologies such as cardiovascular and respiratory morbidity and mortality. This study evaluates air pollution scenarios considering a Health Impact Assessment approach in São Paulo, Brazil. We have analyzed abatement scenarios of Particulate Matter (PM) with an aerodynamic diameter <10 μm (PM10), <2.5 μm (PM2.5) and ozone concentrations and the health effects on respiratory and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in the period from 2009 to 2011 through the APHEKOM tool, as well as the associated health costs. Considering World Health Organization (WHO) standards of PM2.5 (10 μg/m3), São Paulo would avoid more than 5012 premature deaths (equivalent to 266,486 life years’ gain) and save US $15.1 billion annually. If São Paulo could even diminish the mean of PM2.5 by 5 μg/m3, nearly 1724 deaths would be avoided, resulting in a gain of US$4.96 billion annually. Reduced levels of PM10, PM2.5 and ozone could save lives and an impressive amount of money in a country where economic resources are scarce. Moreover, the reduced levels of air pollution would also lower the demand for hospital care, since hospitalizations would diminish. In this sense, Brazil should urgently adopt WHO air pollution standards in order to improve the quality of life of its population.

Excess mortality due to heat is a major public health concern globally. In this study, we investigated the association between extreme heat and mortality in three distinct locations in São Paulo state, Brazil—São Paulo city (the capital), Campinas (a large countryside city), and Marília (a typical medium-sized rural city)—from 2004 to 2018. We applied a generalized linear model (GLM) with a Poisson distribution and a logarithmic link function for each city, using the excess heat factor (EHF) as the exposure metric. The results showed that increases in the EHF were associated with relative risks of 1.0018 (95% CI: 1.0015–1.0022) in São Paulo, 1.0029 (95% CI: 1.0023–1.0036) in Campinas, and 1.0033 (95% CI: 1.0025–1.0041) in Marília. Altogether, 2319 heat-attributable deaths were estimated, representing an economic burden of USD 6.03 billion based on the value of a statistical life. By integrating economic valuation with mortality risk estimates, our study offers a broader perspective on the consequences of extreme heat, reinforcing the need for public health and policy interventions.

This study investigates associations between socioeconomic and travel variables among users of the São Paulo metro, focusing on travels made for work and study purposes, which are expected to reflect regular commuting patterns, and identifies the main variables associated with mobility characteristics within this group. Using data from the 2017 Origin–Destination Survey conducted by the São Paulo Metro Company, a set of 10,522 respondents was analyzed. The statistical analysis employed Pearson correlation, factor analysis of mixed data (FAMD), and multiple linear regression. The findings indicate that both socioeconomic and travel variables were significantly associated with mobility characteristics among metro system users in the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo (RMSP). The main variables associated with these mobility characteristics were the distance between origin and destination, the distances to the respective stations, travel duration, age, study status, employment status, education level, Brazilian Criteria score, and number of vehicles. Based on the FAMD, these variables were organized into multiple dimensions that could be descriptively grouped into three main groups of information: travel burden and spatial accessibility; life-stage and educational/occupational profile; and life-stage and socioeconomic position. The socioeconomic composition of consistent metro users predominantly includes middle and middle-lower economic classes, with lower economic class, lower household income, and lower education levels being associated with longer travel distances and durations. The study also revealed that most metro travels are within 20 km, with an average travel time of 74 min. These findings suggest that improved infrastructure and better-distributed metro networks throughout the RMSP may contribute to enhancing accessibility, promoting social inclusion, and improving transportation equity.

Despite the concern about climate change and the associated negative impacts, fossil fuels continue to prevail in the global energy consumption. This paper aimed to propose the first model that relates CO2 emissions of Sao Paulo, the main urban center emitter in Brazil, with gross national product and energy consumption. Thus, we investigated the accuracy of three different methods: multivariate linear regression, elastic-net regression, and multilayer perceptron artificial neural networks. Comparing the results, we clearly demonstrated the superiority of artificial neural networks when compared with the other models. They presented better results of mean absolute percentage error (MAPE = 0.76%) and the highest possible coefficient of determination (R2 = 1.00). This investigation provides an innovative integrated climate-economic approach for the accurate prediction of carbon emissions. Therefore, it can be considered as a potential valuable decision-support tool for policymakers to design and implement effective environmental policies.

Since air pollution compromise the respiratory system and COVID-19 disease is caused by a respiratory virus, it is expected that air pollution plays an important role in the current COVID-19 pandemic. Exploratory studies have observed positive associations between air pollution and COVID-19 cases, deaths, fatality, and mortality rate. However, no study focused on Brazil, one of the most affected countries by the pandemic. Thus, this study aimed to understand how long-term exposure to PM 10 , PM 2.5 , and NO 2 contributed to COVID-19 fatality and mortality rates in São Paulo state in 2020. Air quality data between 2015 and 2019 in 64 monitoring stations within 36 municipalities were considered. The COVID-19 fatality was calculated considering cases and deaths from the government’s official data and the mortality rate was calculated considering the 2020 population. Linear regression models were well-fitted for PM 2.5 concentration and fatality ( R 2  = 0.416; p  = 0.003), NO 2 concentration and fatality ( R 2  = 0.232; p  = 0.005), and NO 2 concentration and mortality ( R 2  = 0.273; p  = 0.002). This study corroborates other authors’ findings and enriches the discussion for having considered a longer time series to represent long-term exposure to the pollutants and for having considered one of the regions with the highest incidence of COVID-19 in the world. Thus, it reinforces measures to reduce the concentration of air pollutants which are essential for public health and will increase the chance to survive in future respiratory disease epidemics.

Petroleum refining and petrochemical complexes are significant sources of air pollution, emitting a variety of harmful pollutants with substantial health risks for nearby populations. While much of the information regarding this issue and the potential health impacts of this pollution has been documented, it remains fragmented across studies focusing on specific regions or health outcomes. These studies are often clustered into meta-analyses or reviews or exist as undeclared knowledge held by experts in the field, making it difficult to fully grasp the scope of the issue. To address this gap, our review consolidates the existing knowledge on the sources of air pollution from petroleum refining and petrochemical industries, the main pollutants involved, and their associated health outcomes. Additionally, we conducted an umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analysis and also included critical reviews. With this approach, we identified 12 reviews that comprehensively evaluate the health impacts in populations living near petroleum refining and/or petrochemical complexes. These reviews included studies spanning several decades (from 1980 to 2020) and encompassing regions across North America, Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa, reflecting diverse industrial practices and regulatory frameworks. From these studies, our umbrella review demonstrates that residents living near these facilities face elevated risks related to leukemia, lung and pancreatic cancer, nonmalignant respiratory conditions (such as asthma, cough, wheezing, bronchitis, and rhinitis), chronic kidney disease, and adverse reproductive outcomes. Furthermore, we discuss the key challenges in mitigating these health impacts and outline future directions, including the integration of cleaner technologies, which can significantly reduce harmful emissions; strengthening policy frameworks, emphasizing stringent emission limits, continuous monitoring, and regulatory enforcement; and advancing research on underexplored health outcomes. This review emphasizes the need for coordinated global efforts to align the industry’s evolution with sustainable development goals and climate action strategies to protect the health of vulnerable communities.

Our short communication aims to shed light on the critical health implications of the severe forest fires that occurred in Portugal in September 2024, highlighting the immediate surge in hospitalizations, the increase in mortality rates, and the long-term consequences for public health. Additionally, we emphasize the urgent need for updated public policies and air quality management strategies to effectively mitigate such crises in the future.

Objectives In order to assess if ambient air pollution in urban areas could be related to alterations in male/female ratio this study objectives to evaluate changes in ambient particulate matter (PM10) concentrations after implementation of pollution control programmes in São Paulo city and the secondary sex ratio (SRR). Design and methods A time series study was conducted. São Paulo’s districts were stratified according to the PM10 concentrations levels and were used as a marker of overall air pollution. The male ratio was chosen to represent the secondary sex ratio (SSR=total male birth/total births). The SSR data from each area was analysed according to the time variation and PM10 concentration areas using descriptive statistics. The strength association between annual average of PM10 concentration and SSR was performed through exponential regression, and it was adopted as a statistical significance level of p<0.05. Results The exponential regression showed a negative and significant association between PM10 and SSR. SSR varied from 51.4% to 50.7% in São Paulo in the analysed period (2000–2007). Considering the PM10 average concentration in São Paulo city of 44.72 μg/m3 in the study period, the SSR decline reached almost 4.37%, equivalent to 30 934 less male births. Conclusions Ambient levels of PM10 are negatively associated with changes in the SSR. Therefore, we can speculate that higher levels of particulate pollution could be related to increased rates of female births.

The need to determine cost estimates of the hazardous effects of diseases is important in order to establish the priorities of actions for prevention and health management. The evaluation of air pollution impacts on health, based on expenditures, has been carried out, but there are obvious comparison difficulties among countries, as the health-per-capita investment varies enormously. In order to achieve a standard indicator, we applied the Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALY) method to estimate the health burden and cost estimate due to air pollution in São Paulo, Brazil. The basic methodology was the utilization of dose-response curves of epidemiological studies conducted in São Paulo to assess air pollution and its health effects. DALY attributable to air pollution in São Paulo added up to 28,212 years annually. An indirect health cost attributable to air pollution resulted in 3,222,676 US dollars. This estimate refers to the children and the elderly population. These results give a preliminary and underestimated value of the burden of diseases promoted by air pollution.

This study evaluated the economic impact of health events associated with air pollution in Brazilian metropolitan regions. From the estimated mortality attributable to concentrations of particulate matter (PM) in 29 metropolitan areas, with a total of 20,050 deaths, the costs associated with mortality were calculated by means of the use of DALY (Disability Adjusted Life Years) methodology. The cost of premature deaths in Brazil resulted in $ 1.7 billion annually. Translating losses in public health to economic values served to compare this data with the expense budget of the Ministry of Health and highlight priorities in decision-making of public policies that minimize the magnitude of these impacts.