Air Pollution in Urban and Industrial Areas, 4th Edition

Dear Colleagues,

As guest editor of Environments, I invite you to submit a paper to the Special Issue, "Air Pollution in Urban and Industrial Areas, 4th Edition". Environments publishes articles and communications in the interdisciplinary area of environmental technologies and methodologies, environmental protection, and pollution prevention. Detailed information on the journal can be found at https://www.mdpi.com/journal/environments.

Airborne particle concentration levels in cities are mostly related to anthropic urban activities/sources, such as industrial and residential sectors (heating) and vehicular traffic, i.e., sources characterized by combustion processes mainly producing high levels of particulate matter (PM), sub-micrometric, and ultrafine particles. Recent epidemiological studies have demonstrated that exposure to these concentrations can lead to respiratory and circulatory health problems. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified particulate matter, a major component of air pollution, as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1).

Different measures should be taken regarding vehicle technologies, distribution optimization, and regulations. Furthermore, some policies and interventions, such as the promotion of sustainable urban mobility actions (for example, different urban transport strategies ranging from carpooling and expanded electric vehicle (EV) use to bike sharing), are needed to improve urban air quality and reduce the impact of such sources on the urban environment in terms of human exposure.

Air pollution in industrial areas is still a great health and social relevance topic. In the last few decades, conventional industrial processes (e.g., concrete, steel, plastic production, waste incineration, and thermoelectric energy generation) have undergone several changes to mitigate their environmental burden. Nevertheless, such processes are still a major source of air pollutants. On the other hand, novel industrial processes related to a circular economy (waste recycling, biomaterials production, renewable energy generation, etc.) are experiencing rapid growth. At the same time, their global impact on climate change mitigation is well known, but little information is available on their local impact on air quality.

In this framework, new research is needed to provide updated information on air pollutant emissions in urban and industrial areas. Interest can be focused on regulated or emerging pollutants, including volatile organic compounds, polyaromatic, halogenated, flame retardants, siloxanes, greenhouse gases, biologically active molecules, and nanoparticles.

This Special Issue is open to the subject area of urban and industrial air pollution. The keywords listed below outline some of the possible areas of interest.

The publications in previous volumes, which we believe may be of interest to you, can be found at the following links: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/environments/special_issues/Air_Urban; https://www.mdpi.com/journal/environments/special_issues/10R20O310O; https://www.mdpi.com/journal/environments/special_issues/934N9CCWEG.

Dr. Valerio Paolini
Dr. Francesco Petracchini
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. Environments 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 1800 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.