Urban Air Pollution, Atmospheric Chemistry and Human Health
A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Air Quality and Health".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 16 October 2026 | Viewed by 139
Special Issue Editors
Interests: acid rain; cloud water chemistry; water and human health issues; health impacts of air pollution
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: air quality; particulate matter; atmospheric pollution; air pollution studies; air sampling; aerosol chemistry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Urban air pollution has emerged as one of the most significant environmental health challenges of the modern era. According to the World Health Organization, air pollution contributes to millions of premature deaths globally each year, with urban populations experiencing the highest exposure levels. Rapid urbanization, increased energy demand, and expanding transportation networks have intensified emissions from fossil-fuel combustion, industrial activities, vehicular traffic, biomass burning, and residential heating.
These emissions release a complex mixture of atmospheric pollutants, including particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), black carbon (BC), ozone (O3), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Through atmospheric chemical reactions, these pollutants form secondary aerosols and other reactive species that influence air quality, climate processes, and human exposure. Growing evidence links exposure to these pollutants with respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, stroke, lung cancer, metabolic disorders, adverse birth outcomes, and neurological effects.
Recent advances in atmospheric measurements, pollutants chemical characterization, source apportionment techniques, and chemical transport modeling have improved our understanding of pollutant formation, transformation, and transport in urban environments. At the same time, epidemiological and toxicological studies are increasingly revealing the complex pathways through which air pollution affects human health.
This Special Issue aims to provide an interdisciplinary platform for research exploring the interactions between urban air pollution, atmospheric chemistry, and public health. Studies addressing pollutant sources, chemical transformations, spatial-temporal variability, exposure pathways, and health risk assessments are particularly welcome. Research contributing to air quality management, mitigation strategies, and policy development for healthier urban environments is also encouraged.
We invite researchers to submit original research articles and comprehensive reviews that advance our understanding of urban air pollution, atmospheric chemical processes, and their impacts on human health. Contributions that integrate atmospheric science, exposure assessment, and public health perspectives are particularly encouraged.
Dr. Haider A. Khwaja
Dr. Mirza M. Hussain
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Atmosphere is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- urban air pollution
- atmospheric chemistry
- particulate matter (PM2.5)
- black carbon
- volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
- secondary organic aerosols
- source apportionment
- exposure assessment
- air pollution epidemiology
- health risk assessment
- urban air quality management
- atmospheric modeling
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