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\"The WHO Handbook on Indoor Radon\" is a key product of the WHO International Radon Project, which was launched in 2005. The \"Handbook\" focuses on residential radon exposure from a public health point of view and provides detailed recommendations on reducing health risks from radon and sound policy options for preventing and mitigating radon exposure. The material in the \"Handbook\" reflects the epidemiological evidence that indoor radon exposure is responsible for a substantial number of lung cancers in the general population. The material is organized into six chapters, each introduced by key messages. Usually, technical terms are defined the first time they are used, and a glossary is also included. Information is provided on the selection of devices to measure radon levels and on procedures for the reliable measurement of these levels. Discussed also are control options for radon in new dwellings, radon reduction in existing dwellings as well as assessment of the costs and benefits of different radon prevention and remedial actions. Also covered are radon risk communication strategies and organization of national radon programs.This publication is intended for countries planning to develop their national radon programs or extend such activities, as well as for stakeholders involved in radon control such as the construction industry and building professionals.The overall goal of this \"Handbook\" is to provide an up-to-date overview of the major aspects of radon and health. It does not aim to replace existing radiation protection standards, rather it emphasizes issues relevant to the comprehensive planning, implementation and evaluation of national radon programs.

Researchers must find the particles that are most dangerous to health in each place so policies can reduce levels of those pollutants first, urge Xiangdong Li and colleagues. Researchers must find the particles that are most dangerous to health in each place so policies can reduce levels of those pollutants first, urge Xiangdong Li and colleagues. Photographers take photos on the roof of a building in heavy smog in Zhengzhou, China

In China, where air pollution has become a major threat to public health, public awareness of the detrimental effects of air pollution on respiratory health is increasing—particularly in relation to haze days. Air pollutant emission levels in China remain substantially higher than are those in developed countries. Moreover, industry, traffic, and household biomass combustion have become major sources of air pollutant emissions, with substantial spatial and temporal variations. In this Review, we focus on the major constituents of air pollutants and their impacts on chronic respiratory diseases. We highlight targets for interventions and recommendations for pollution reduction through industrial upgrading, vehicle and fuel renovation, improvements in public transportation, lowering of personal exposure, mitigation of the direct effects of air pollution through healthy city development, intervention at population-based level (systematic health education, intensive and individualised intervention, pre-emptive measures, and rehabilitation), and improvement in air quality. The implementation of a national environmental protection policy has become urgent.

Particulate pollution has important consequences for human health, and is an issue of global concern. Outdoor air pollution has become a cause for alarm in India in particular because recent data suggest that ambient pollution levels in Indian cities are some of the highest in the world. We study the number of particles between 0.5μm and 2.5μm indoors while using affordable air purifiers in the highly polluted city of Delhi. Though substantial reductions in indoor number concentrations are observed during air purifier use, indoor air quality while using an air purifier is frequently worse than in cities with moderate pollution, and often worse than levels observed even in polluted cities. When outdoor pollution levels are higher, on average, indoor pollution levels while using an air purifier are also higher. Moreover, the ratio of indoor air quality during air purifier use to two comparison measures of air quality without an air purifier are also positively correlated with outdoor pollution levels, suggesting that as ambient air quality worsens there are diminishing returns to improvements in indoor air quality during air purifier use. The findings of this study indicate that although the most affordable air purifiers currently available are associated with significant improvements in the indoor environment, they are not a replacement for public action in regions like Delhi. Although private solutions may serve as a stopgap, reducing ambient air pollution must be a public health and policy priority in any region where air pollution is as high as Delhi's during the winter.

The growing populations around the world are closely associated with rising levels of air pollution. The impact is not restricted to outdoor areas. Moreover, the health of building occupants is also deteriorating due to poor indoor air quality. As per the World Health Organization, indoor air pollution is a leading cause of 1.6 million premature deaths annually. Therefore, numerous companies have started the development of low-cost sensors to monitor indoor air pollution with the Internet of Things–based applications. However, due to the close association of air pollution levels to the mortality and morbidity rates, communities face several limitations while selecting sensors to address this public health challenge. The main contribution of this systematic review is to present a qualitative and quantitative evaluation of low-cost sensors while providing deep insights into the selection criteria for adequate monitoring. The authors in this paper discussed studies published after the year 2015, and it includes an analysis of papers published in the English language only. Moreover, this study highlights crucial research questions, states answers, and provides recommendations for future research studies. The outcomes of this paper will be useful for students, researchers, and industry members concerning the upcoming research and manufacturing activities. The results show that 28 studies (70%) include indoor thermal comfort assessment, 26 (65%) and 12 (30%) studies include CO 2 and CO sensors, respectively. In total, 32 (45.7%) out of 71 sensors (whose prices are available) discussed in this study are available in a price below the US $20 over online marketplaces. Furthermore, the authors conclude that 77.5% of the analyzed literature does not include calibration details, and the accuracy specification is missing for 39.4% sensors.

Chemical compositions of atmospheric fine particles like PM2.5 prove harmful to human health, particularly to cardiopulmonary functions. Multifaceted health effects of PM2.5 have raised broader, stronger concerns in recent years, calling for comprehensive environmental health-risk assessments to offer new insights into air-pollution control. However, there have been few studies adopting local air-quality-monitoring datasets or local coefficients related to PM2.5 health-risk assessment. This study aims to assess health effects caused by PM2.5 concentrations and metal toxicity using epidemiological and toxicological methods based on long-term (2007–2017) hourly monitoring datasets of PM2.5 concentrations in four cities of Taiwan. The results indicated that (1) PM2.5 concentrations and hazardous substances varied substantially from region to region, (2) PM2.5 concentrations significantly decreased after 2013, which benefited mainly from two actions against air pollution, i.e., implementing air-pollution-control strategies and raising air-quality standards for certain emission sources, and (3) under the condition of low PM2.5 concentrations, high health risks occurred in eastern Taiwan on account of toxic substances adsorbed on PM2.5 surface. It appears that under the condition of low PM2.5 concentrations, the results of epidemiological and toxicological health-risk assessments may not agree with each other. This raises a warning that air-pollution control needs to consider toxic substances adsorbed in PM2.5 and region-oriented control strategies are desirable. We hope that our findings and the proposed transferable methodology can call on domestic and foreign authorities to review current air-pollution-control policies with an outlook on the toxicity of PM2.5.

Pakistan's urban air pollution is among the most severe in the world and it engenders significant damages to human health and the economy. Air pollution, inadequate water supply, sanitation, and hygiene are the top environmental priority problems in Pakistan. Industrialization and urbanization, in conjunction with motorization, can result in further deterioration of urban air quality. This book examines policy options to strengthen the Pakistan clean air program (PCAP) to better address the cost imposed by outdoor air pollution upon Pakistan's economy and populace. The approach provided in this book recommends that the federal and provincial environmental protection agencies (EPAs) take on a limited number of high return, essential, and feasible interventions drawn largely from the PCAP. The objective of this book is to examine policy options to control outdoor air pollution in Pakistan. The findings of the analysis aim at assisting the Government of Pakistan (GoP) in the design and implementation of reforms to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of Pakistan's ambient air quality institutions. The overarching theme of this book is that prioritizing interventions is essential to address the cost of outdoor air pollution, given current resource limitations. The book also includes a review of secondary sources, focusing on recent analysis of the effects of different air pollutants on human health, as well as lessons learned from ongoing regional and international efforts to improve ambient air quality. This book has seven chapters. Chapter one gives overview. Chapter two identifies major trends in ambient air pollution, including concentration levels of main pollutants and the identification of principal sources. Chapter three examines the evolution of Pakistan's air quality management (AQM) framework over the period 1993 to 2013. Chapter four examines options to control air pollution from mobile sources, the main contributors of several air pollutants, including noxious fine particulate matter (PM) and its precursors. Chapter five addresses measures to tackle pollution from industrial sources. Chapter six identifies synergies of interventions for air pollution control and climate change mitigation. Chapter seven summarizes the main conclusions of the book.

The air quality index (AQI), based on criteria for air contaminants, is defined to provide a shared vision of air quality. As air pollution continues to rise in global cities due to urbanization and climate change, air pollution monitoring and forecasting models for effective air quality monitoring that gather and forecast information about air pollution concentration are essential in every city. Air quality predictions have evolved to be more helpful for management. Recently, better performance and ability have developed due to the involvement of machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) in forecasting air quality in urban cities in India. This paper focuses on air pollution as a significant ecological problem that directly impacts human health and the distribution of an environmental system in urban areas. Hence, we have developed advanced models for daily AQI forecasting to understand the air effluence level in the upcoming days. In this research, six data-driven models have been developed and implemented for daily AQI forecasting in the study area; it is crucial for understanding the future air pollution levels to plan and control air pollution in the entire city. The developed model is applied to air quality datasets. A comparison of the performance of ML models tested here indicates that the XGBoost algorithm achieves the highest coefficient of determination ( R 2 ) and root-mean-square deviation (RMSE) value of 0.99 and lower values value of 4.65 than other models in the testing phase. The results of the artificial neural network (ANN) algorithm are slightly lower than the extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost model); the ANN model results are as R 2 , mean squared error (MSE), and RMSE values of 0.99, 13.99, and 198.88, respectively. All the models were subjected to a ten-fold cross-validation model. However, the RF cross-validation model outperforms other models; the RF model result shows the R 2 , RMSE, and MSE values of 0.99, 3.64, and 4.12, respectively. This study also employed two interpretable models, namely feature importance analysis and Shapley additive explanation (SHAP), to evaluate both the global and local methods in a manner that is independent of specific ML models. The feature importance shows that particle matter (PM) 2.5, PM10, carbon monoxide (CO), and nitrogen oxides (NO x ) were the most influential variables. The results determined that such novel DL and ML models may improve the accuracy of AQI forecasts and understanding of air pollution, particularly in metropolitan cities.

A PM 2.5 crisis in Thailand has caused the Thai government and public to be increasingly concerned about children’s exposure to PM 2.5 during time in school. This study is a part of a project to create a modeled effective school indoor air quality management for the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA). We measured air quality and environment in 10 Bangkok school rooms, including CO 2 , CO, O 3 , PM 2.5 , PM 10 , TVOC PID , formaldehyde, airborne bacteria and fungi, and gaseous organic contaminants. The indoor-to-outdoor concentration ratios indicated that either outdoor sources or indoor + outdoor sources were the predominant contributors to PM in naturally ventilated classrooms. Meanwhile, PM levels in air-conditioned classrooms strongly depended on class activities. CO 2 measurements showed that the air-conditioned classrooms had a low 0.4 per hour air change rate and total fungal counts also reached 800 CFU m −3 . Analysis of gaseous organic compounds showed that the two most abundant were aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons, accounting for 60% by mass concentration. Interestingly, 2‐ethyl‐1‐hexanol, a mucous membrane irritant, was detected in all study rooms. In one naturally ventilated classroom, we implemented a positive pressure fresh air system to mitigate in-class PM levels; it kept PM levels below 20 μg m −3 throughout the class day. Students reported a 20–37% increase in satisfaction with the perceived indoor environmental quality and reported reduced rates in all symptoms of the sick building syndrome after implementing the positive pressure system.

Urban environment and air quality are changing primarily due to land use land cover (LULC) changes, economic activity, and urbanization. Air pollution has been increasingly acknowledged as a major issue for cities due to its extensive effects on health and well-being. As the second most populous city in the country, Lahore faces alarming levels of air pollutants, which induced this study to focus on the pervasive issue of air pollution in Lahore. For this, the study collected air pollutants data from the Environmental Protection Department of Punjab and analyzed them using the ARIMA model. In the research results, both the observed data and predictive models uncovered concerning trends in pollutant concentrations, ultimately portraying a concerning picture for air quality management. Carbon monoxide (CO) levels show a consistent rise, surpassing Pakistan’s environmental standards by 2025. Similarly, nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) concentrations escalate, exceeding prescribed standards. Ground-level ozone (O 3 ) also demonstrates a substantial increase, surpassing standards by 2025. Both PM 2.5 and PM 10 exhibit marked upward trends, projected to exceed recommended limits, particularly PM 10 throughout the study year. The Air Quality Index exhibits an observable upward trend, fluctuating between 70 and 442 from 2015 to 2020. Similarly, a positive correlation was found between population growth and land use conversion into residential areas. Projections suggest a continuous increase, potentially hitting a severe level of 500 during winter by 2025. These findings point to an impending air pollution crisis, demanding urgent action to address the hazardous situation in the city. The study recommends that urban air pollution should be reduced, and the negative health effects of air pollution should be minimized using vegetation barriers, screens, and greening initiatives. Strict regulations and monitoring initiatives need to be put in place in big cities to monitor pollution and vegetation.