Air Quality and Health

 

Air pollution is now classified as a mild carcinogen and exposure of populations to increased particulate matter concentrations are linked to increased rates of cardiovascular diseases, acute respiratory disorders, mitochondrial damage and oxidative stress. A direct mechanism linking particulate matter (PM) exposure to health outcomes is however not yet well established and the level of exposure of populations sensitive to these particles are still poorly understood.

LAPI conducts studies to link particulate matter concentration and composition to biological endpoints like oxidative stress, which is one of the leading hypotheses regarding the reason for observed cardiopulmonary health effects. A complementary line of research within the lab is to analyze trends in pollutant concentrations in long-term monitoring networks that relate human exposure and how they have changed over time and space to changes in regulatory measures, emissions, and atmospheric chemistry.

Research themes

Select references

Wong et al. (2019) Effects of Atmospheric Processing on the Oxidative Potential of Biomass Burning Organic Aerosols, Environ. Sci. Technol. 53, 12, 6747-6756, doi:10.1021/acs.est.9b01034

Paraskevopoulou et al. (2019) Yearlong variability of oxidative potential of particulate matter in an urban Mediterranean environment, Atmos. Environ., 206, 183-196, doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2019.02.027

Fang et al. (2017) Highly Acidic Ambient Particles, Soluble Metals, and Oxidative Potential: A Link between Sulfate and Aerosol Toxicity, Environ. Sci. Technol. 51, 5, 2611-2620, doi:10.1021/acs.est.6b06151

Reggente, M., Dillner, A. M., and Takahama, S. (2019) Analysis of functional groups in atmospheric aerosols by infrared spectroscopy: systematic intercomparison of calibration methods for US measurement network samples, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 2287–2312, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-2287-2019

Takahama et coll. (2019) Caractérisation des particules atmosphériques par spectroscopie infrarouge à transformée de Fourier: un examen des stratégies d’étalonnage statistique pour la quantification des aérosols carbonés dans les réseaux de mesure américains, Atmos. Mes. Tech., 12, 525–567, doi: 10.5194 / amt-12-525-2019