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Atmosphere
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Heat Wave, Bush Fire and Air-Quality: Impacts on Respiratory Health
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Heat Wave, Bush Fire and Air-Quality: Impacts on Respiratory Health

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Air Quality".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (18 January 2023) | Viewed by 18358

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Saidul Islam

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), 15 Broadway, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia
Interests: heat wave; bush fire and air-quality; particle transport, and deposition; human lung modelling; microfluidics; CFD; heat and mass transfer
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Gunther Paul

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4810, Australia
Interests: occupational health and safety; ergonomics; biomechanics; public health; human system interface; rehabilitation; respiratory health
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to inform you that we are organizing a Special Issue on Heat Wave, Bush Fire and Air-Quality: Impacts on Public Health in the Atmosphere. Atmosphere is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that publishes original articles and reviews, communications and short notes related to the atmosphere and there is no restriction on the length of papers. For detailed information on the journal, we refer you to https://www.mdpi.com/journal/atmosphere.

A heatwave is a condition where there is a considerable increase in temperature which lasts for a prolonged period of time, mostly for two to three days. Under this condition, air moving over the earth gets trapped in a particular space, and the temperature of this air then increases due to environmental thermal conditions during summer days. The cause of air trapping is a temperature difference of the atmosphere. With a broader viewpoint, the primary reason for both bushfires and heatwaves is high temperature. Bushfires are widespread across the Southern hemisphere during the summer season. High temperatures during this time of the year are the leading cause of bushfires. Emissions from bushfire smoke significantly affect the air-quality, and bushfire smoke contains ultrafine particular matter 2.5 (PM2.5), which when inhaled is able to penetrate the deeper lungs compared to larger particles such as PM10. Ultrafine particles in lung can cause inflammation in the respiratory system and may also enter the bloodstream. People with existing respiratory health conditions such as asthma are at an even higher risk of exacerbating their quality of life. This special issue aims to construct a precise understanding of how heatwaves, bushfires associated air quality impact on public respiratory health.

This Special Issue is open to any subject area related to the topics of heatwave, bush fire, air quality and associated public respiratory health. The listed keywords suggest a selection of subject areas.

Dr. Saidul Islam
Prof. Dr. Gunther Paul
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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

  • heat wave
  • bush fire
  • fire smoke
  • airborne particle
  • particulate matter
  • aerosol composition
  • air-quality
  • air pollution
  • public health
  • occupational health
  • environmental exposure
  • particle exposure
  • respiratory health
  • computational modelling
  • biological modelling
  • computational fluid modelling
  • chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
  • asthma
  • farming
  • mining
  • aerosol chemistry
  • climate change
  • wild fire
  • global warming

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 2263 KiB  
Article
The Effect of Metro Construction on the Air Quality in the Railway Transport System of Sydney, Australia
by Puchanee Larpruenrudee, Nic C. Surawski and Mohammad S. Islam
Atmosphere 2022, 13(5), 759; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13050759 - 08 May 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3673
Abstract
Sydney Metro is the biggest project of Australia’s public transport, which was designed to provide passengers with more trains and faster services. This project was first implemented in 2017 and is planned to be completed in 2024. As presented, the project is currently [...] Read more.
Sydney Metro is the biggest project of Australia’s public transport, which was designed to provide passengers with more trains and faster services. This project was first implemented in 2017 and is planned to be completed in 2024. As presented, the project is currently in the construction stage located on the ground stations of the Sydney Trains Bankstown line (T3). Based on this stage, several construction activities will generate air pollutants, which will affect the air quality around construction areas. Moreover, it might cause health problems to people around there and also the passengers who usually take the train on the T3 line. However, there is no specific data for air quality inside the train that may be affected by the construction from each area. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the air quality inside the train carriage of all related stations from the T3 line. A sampling campaign was conducted over 3 months to analyze particulate matter (PM) concentration, the main indoor pollutants including formaldehyde (HCHO) and total volatile organic compounds (TVOC). The results of the T3 line were analyzed and compared to Airport & South line (T8) that were not affected by the project’s construction. The results of this study indicate that Sydney Metro construction activities insignificantly affected the air quality inside the train. Average PM2.5 and PM10 inside the train of T3 line in the daytime were slightly higher than in the nighttime. The differences in PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations from these periods were around 6.8 μg/m3 and 12.1 μg/m3, respectively. The PM concentrations inside the train from the T3 line were slightly higher than the T8 line. However, these concentrations were still lower than those recommended by the national air quality standards. For HCHO and TVOC, the average HCHO and TVOC concentrations were less than the recommendation criteria. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Heat Wave, Bush Fire and Air-Quality: Impacts on Respiratory Health)
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18 pages, 2363 KiB  
Article
CFD Study of Dry Pulmonary Surfactant Aerosols Deposition in Upper 17 Generations of Human Respiratory Tract
by Tevfik Gemci, Valery Ponyavin, Richard Collins, Timothy E. Corcoran, Suvash C. Saha and Mohammad S. Islam
Atmosphere 2022, 13(5), 726; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13050726 - 02 May 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1749
Abstract
The efficient generation of high concentrations of fine-particle, pure surfactant aerosols provides the possibility of new, rapid, and effective treatment modalities for Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). SUPRAER-CATM is a patented technology by Kaer BiotherapeuticsTM, which is a new class [...] Read more.
The efficient generation of high concentrations of fine-particle, pure surfactant aerosols provides the possibility of new, rapid, and effective treatment modalities for Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). SUPRAER-CATM is a patented technology by Kaer BiotherapeuticsTM, which is a new class of efficient aerosol drug generation and delivery system using Compressor Air (CA). SUPRAER-CA is capable of aerosolizing relatively viscous solutions or suspensions of proteins and surfactants and of delivering them as pure fine particle dry aerosols. In this Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) study, we select a number of sites within the upper 17 generations of the human respiratory tract for calculation of the deposition of dry pulmonary surfactant aerosol particles. We predict the percentage of inhaled dry pulmonary surfactant aerosol arriving from the respiratory bronchioles to the terminal alveolar sacs. The dry pulmonary surfactant aerosols, with a Mass Median Aerodynamic Diameter (MMAD) of 2.6 µm and standard deviation of 1.9 µm, are injected into the respiratory tract at a dry surfactant aerosol flow rate of 163 mg/min to be used in the CFD study at an air inhalation flow rate of 44 L/min. This CFD study in the upper 17th generation of a male adult lung has shown computationally that the penetration fraction (PF) is approximately 25% for the inhaled surfactant aerosols. In conclusion, an ARDS patient might receive approximately one gram of inspired dry surfactant aerosol during an administration period of one hour as a possible means of further inflating partly collapsed alveoli. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Heat Wave, Bush Fire and Air-Quality: Impacts on Respiratory Health)
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10 pages, 2574 KiB  
Article
Investigation of the Upper Respiratory Tract of a Male Smoker with Laryngeal Cancer by Inhaling Air Associated with Various Physical Activity Levels
by Hamidreza Mortazavy Beni, Hamed Mortazavi, Ebrahim Tashvighi and Mohammad S. Islam
Atmosphere 2022, 13(5), 717; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13050717 - 30 Apr 2022
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 1721
Abstract
Smokers are at a higher risk of laryngeal cancer, which is a type of head and neck cancer in which cancer cells proliferate and can metastasize to other tissues after a tumor has formed. Cigarette smoke greatly reduces the inhaled air quality and [...] Read more.
Smokers are at a higher risk of laryngeal cancer, which is a type of head and neck cancer in which cancer cells proliferate and can metastasize to other tissues after a tumor has formed. Cigarette smoke greatly reduces the inhaled air quality and can also lead to laryngeal cancer. In this study, the upper airway of a 70-year-old smoker with laryngeal cancer was reconstructed by taking a CT scan using Mimics software. To solve the governing equations, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) with a pressure base approach was used with the help of Ansys 2021 R1 software. As a result, the maximum turbulence intensity occurred in the larynx. At 13 L/min, 55 L/min, and 100 L/min, the maximum turbulence intensity was 1.1, 3.5, and 6.1, respectively. The turbulence intensity in the respiratory system is crucial because it demonstrates the ability to transfer energy. The maximum wall shear stress (WSS) also occurred in the larynx. At 13 L/min, 55 L/min, and 100 L/min, the maximum WSS was 0.62 Pa, 5.4 Pa, and 12.4 Pa, respectively. The WSS index cannot be calculated in vivo and should be calculated in vitro. Excessive WSS in the epiglottis is inappropriate and can lead to an airway obstruction. Furthermore, real mathematical modeling outcomes provide an approach for future prevention, treatment, and management planning by forecasting the zones prone to an acceleration of disease progression. In this regard, accurate computational modeling leads to pre-visualization in surgical planning to define the best reformative techniques to determine the most probable patient condition consequences. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Heat Wave, Bush Fire and Air-Quality: Impacts on Respiratory Health)
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11 pages, 1443 KiB  
Article
Relationship between Wildfire Smoke and Children’s Respiratory Health in the Metropolitan Cities of Central-Chile
by Rebecca Ciciretti, Francisco Barraza, Francisco De la Barrera, Lorna Urquieta and Sandra Cortes
Atmosphere 2022, 13(1), 58; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13010058 - 30 Dec 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2813
Abstract
Wildfire causes multiple problems for people living in cities. One of them is the deterioration of air quality as a result of wildfire smoke. This smoke can consequently have effects on human health. The present study aims to characterize the relationship between the [...] Read more.
Wildfire causes multiple problems for people living in cities. One of them is the deterioration of air quality as a result of wildfire smoke. This smoke can consequently have effects on human health. The present study aims to characterize the relationship between the occurrence of wildfires in central Chile and the effects on children’s respiratory health. Public databases provided the number of emergency care visits, wildfires, and concentration of air pollutants, demographics and meteorological variables for the regions of Santiago and Valparaiso from 2010 to 2013. Time series analysis was used monthly on health care visits to determine the relative health risk in children when in the presence of additional wildfires. Significant health risks were observed in Santiago for children younger than 1-year-old of bronchitis (RR 1.007, CI 95% 1.007–1.008; chronic lower respiratory diseases (RR 1.012, CI 95% 1.012–1.013); and pneumonia (RR 1.026 CI 95% 1.026–1.027) and in children aged one to four years old (RR 1.016 CI 95% 1.015–1.016). A dose-response relationship was also observed for pneumonia, showing that it affects younger children particularly when there is an increase in the number of wildfires. In the Region of Valparaíso, wildfires did not significantly change the risk of respiratory illness, this could be due to favorable ventilation. Currently, Santiago has an urgent need for monitoring and the evaluation of the damage to children’s respiratory health, along with the development of comprehensive prevention strategies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Heat Wave, Bush Fire and Air-Quality: Impacts on Respiratory Health)
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16 pages, 7043 KiB  
Article
Aerosol Particle Transport and Deposition in Upper and Lower Airways of Infant, Child and Adult Human Lungs
by Md. M. Rahman, Ming Zhao, Mohammad S. Islam, Kejun Dong and Suvash C. Saha
Atmosphere 2021, 12(11), 1402; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12111402 - 26 Oct 2021
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2783
Abstract
Understanding transportation and deposition (TD) of aerosol particles in the human respiratory system can help clinical treatment of lung diseases using medicines. The lung airway diameters and the breathing capacity of human lungs normally increase with age until the age of 30. Many [...] Read more.
Understanding transportation and deposition (TD) of aerosol particles in the human respiratory system can help clinical treatment of lung diseases using medicines. The lung airway diameters and the breathing capacity of human lungs normally increase with age until the age of 30. Many studies have analyzed the particle TD in the human lung airways. However, the knowledge of the nanoparticle TD in airways of infants and children with varying inhalation flow rates is still limited in the literature. This study investigates nanoparticle (5 nm ≤ dp ≤ 500 nm) TD in the lungs of infants, children, and adults. The inhalation air flow rates corresponding to three ages are considered as Qin=3.22 L/min (infant), 8.09 L/min (Child), and Qin=14 L/min (adult). It is found that less particles are deposited in upper lung airways (G0–G3) than in lower airways (G12–G15) in the lungs of all the three age groups. The results suggest that the particle deposition efficiency in lung airways increases with the decrease of particle size due to the Brownian diffusion mechanism. About 3% of 500 nm particles are deposited in airways G12–G15 for the three age groups. As the particle size is decreased to 5 nm, the deposition rate in G12–G15 is increased to over 95%. The present findings can help medical therapy by individually simulating the distribution of drug-aerosol for the patient-specific lung. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Heat Wave, Bush Fire and Air-Quality: Impacts on Respiratory Health)
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22 pages, 7450 KiB  
Article
Deposition of Smoke Particles in Human Airways with Realistic Waveform
by Akshoy Ranjan Paul, Firoz Khan, Anuj Jain and Suvash Chandra Saha
Atmosphere 2021, 12(7), 912; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12070912 - 15 Jul 2021
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3693
Abstract
Exposure to toxic particles from smoke generated either from bush fire, stable burning, or direct smoking is very harmful to our health. The tiny particles easily penetrate deep into the lungs after exposure and damage the airways. Tobacco smoking causes the direct emission [...] Read more.
Exposure to toxic particles from smoke generated either from bush fire, stable burning, or direct smoking is very harmful to our health. The tiny particles easily penetrate deep into the lungs after exposure and damage the airways. Tobacco smoking causes the direct emission of 2.6 million tons of CO2 and 5.2 million tons of methane annually into the atmosphere. Nevertheless, it is one of the significant contributors to various respiratory diseases leading to lung cancer. These particles’ deposition in the human airway is computed in the present article for refining our understanding of the adverse health effects due to smoke particle inhalation, especially cigarette smoke. Until recently, little work has been reported to account for the transient flow pattern of cigarette smoking. Consideration of transient flow may change the deposition pattern of the particle. A high-resolution CT scan image of the respiratory tract model consisting of the oral cavity, throat, trachea, and first to sixth generations of the lungs helps predict cigarette smoke particle (CSP) deposition. With the same scan, a realistic geometric model of the human airways of an adult subject is used to simulate the transport of air and particle. The CSP deposition is determined at different locations from the oral cavity to the sixth generation of the bronchi. In addition, an unsteady breathing curve indicative of realistic smoking behavior is utilized to represent the breathing conditions accurately. The discrete phase model (DPM) technique is used to determine smoke particle deposition in the human airways. It is found that the deposition increases with the size of the smoke particle. Particles tend to deposit in the oral cavity around the bifurcation junction of the airways. The deposition fraction of CSP with the realistic waveform of smoking is found to be smaller compared to that during the stable flow condition. It is also observed that the fine particles (0.1–1.0 micron) escape to lower generations, leading to higher deposition of fine particles in the deeper airways. The outcome of the study is helpful for understanding smoke-related pulmonary complications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Heat Wave, Bush Fire and Air-Quality: Impacts on Respiratory Health)
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