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Environmental Pollution and Associated Human Health Effects

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A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2023) | Viewed by 13222

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Fei Wang

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Guest Editor

School of Environment, Jinan University, Guangzhou 511443, China
Interests: environmental health; exposure risks of organic chemicals; association between organic chemicals and public health; sorption; organic pollutants; heavy metals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, the rapid development of the global economy and the accelerating process of urbanization not only cause great pressure on the ecological environment but also pose a serious threat to human health and safety. Various emerging pollutants emerge one after another, bringing severe potential harm to humankind and representing a research hotspot and difficulty in the field of environmental health. Although scientists from various countries have a certain scientific understanding of the fate, source, migration, and transformation of such substances and the harm they cause to the human body, research on their pollution characteristics and ecotoxicology, human exposure and health risks, and ecotoxic effects and pathogenesis is still in its infancy. As such, we are proposing this Special Issue on environmental pollution and human health. Papers on all topics linked to environmental pollution and human health are encouraged in this Special Issue. Manuscripts on new findings regarding environmental problems or novelty environmental techniques are also welcomed.

Prof. Dr. Fei Wang
Guest Editor

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. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 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 2500 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

environmental pollution
human health
environmental health
exposure risk
disease
environmental technology

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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11 pages, 10019 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Preparation of Covalent Bonding COF-TpBD Coating in Arrayed Nanopores of Stainless Steel Fiber for Solid-Phase Microextraction of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Water

by Zihan Li, Mengqi Yang, Xuetong Shen, Hongtao Zhu and Baohui Li

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(2), 1393; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20021393 - 12 Jan 2023

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1573

Abstract

Covalent organic framework (COF)-TpBD was grafted on the arrayed nanopores of stainless steel fiber (SSF) with (3-aminopropyl) triethoxysilane as the cross-linking agent. The prepared SSF bonded with COF-TpBD showed high thermal and chemical stability and excellent repeatability. The prepared SSF bonded with COF-TpBD was also used for the solid-phase microextraction (SPME) of seven kinds of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in actual water samples, followed by gas chromatography with flame ionization detection (GC-FID) determination, which exhibited low limits of detection (LODs), good relative standard deviation (RSD) and high recoveries. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Pollution and Associated Human Health Effects)

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21 pages, 4475 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Public Concern about Air Pollution and Related Health Outcomes on Social Media in China: An Analysis of Data from Sina Weibo (Chinese Twitter) and Air Monitoring Stations

by Binbin Ye, Padmaja Krishnan and Shiguo Jia

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(23), 16115; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192316115 - 1 Dec 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2096

Abstract

To understand the temporal variation, spatial distribution and factors influencing the public’s sensitivity to air pollution in China, this study collected air pollution data from 2210 air pollution monitoring sites from around China and used keyword-based filtering to identify individual messages related to air pollution and health on Sina Weibo during 2017–2021. By analyzing correlations between concentrations of air pollutants (PM_2.5, PM₁₀, CO, NO₂, O₃ and SO₂) and related microblogs (air-pollution-related and health-related), it was found that the public is most sensitive to changes in PM_2.5 concentration from the perspectives of both China as a whole and individual provinces. Correlations between air pollution and related microblogs were also stronger when and where air quality was worse, and they were also affected by socioeconomic factors such as population, economic conditions and education. Based on the results of these correlation analyses, scientists can survey public concern about air pollution and related health outcomes on social media in real time across the country and the government can formulate air quality management measures that are aligned to public sensitivities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Pollution and Associated Human Health Effects)

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13 pages, 3319 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Distribution of Radionuclides and Radiological Health Assessment in Seih-Sidri Area, Southwestern Sinai

by Gharam A. Alharshan, Mohamed S. Kamar, El Saeed R. Lasheen, Antoaneta Ene, Mohamed A. M. Uosif, Hamdy A. Awad, Shams A. M. Issa and Hesham M. H. Zakaly

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(17), 10717; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191710717 - 28 Aug 2022

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 1681

Abstract

The current contribution goal is to measure the distribution of the radionuclide within the exposed rock units of southwestern Sinai, Seih-Sidri area, and assess the radiological risk. Gneisses, older granites, younger gabbro, younger granites, and post granitic dikes (pegmatites) are the main rock units copout in the target area. Radioactivity, as well as radiological implications, were investigated for forty-three samples from gneisses (seven hornblende biotite gneiss and seven biotite gneiss), older granites (fourteen samples), and younger granites (fifteen samples of syenogranites) using NaI (Tl) scintillation detector. External and internal hazard index (H_ex, H_in), internal and external level indices (Iα, Iγ), absorbed dose rates in the air (D), the annual effective dose equivalent (AED), radium equivalent activity (Ra_eq), annual gonadal dose (AGDE), excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR), and the value of Upper Continental Core ²³²Th/²³⁸U mass fractions were determined from the obtained values of ²³⁸U, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K for the examined rocks of Seih-Sidri area. The average ²³⁸U mg/kg in hornblende biotite gneiss and biotite gneiss, older granites, and syenogranites is 2.3, 2.1, 2.7, and 8.4 mg/kg, respectively, reflecting a relatively higher concentration of uranium content in syenogranites. The results suggest that using these materials may pose risks to one’s radiological health. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Pollution and Associated Human Health Effects)

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16 pages, 2715 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Phytoplankton Communities and Their Relationship with Environmental Factors in the Waters around Macau

by Rui He, Huan Luo, Ning He, Wenlong Chen, Fang Yang, Weijie Huang, Ning Li, Lingling Sun and Songyao Peng

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(13), 7788; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19137788 - 24 Jun 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2029

Abstract

An investigation of the waters around Macau collected 43 phytoplankton species belonging to 29 genera and 5 phyla, including 32 species from 22 genera of Bacillariophyta, 7 species from 3 genera of Pyrrophyta, 2 species from 2 genera of Cyanophyta, and 1 genus and 1 species from both Euglenophyta and Chromophyta. The dominant phytoplankton species in the study areas were Skeletonema costatum (Greville) Cleve, Aulacoseira granulata (Ehrenberg) Simonsen, Thalassiothrix frauenfeidii Grunow, and Thalassionema nitzschioides Grunow. The phytoplankton abundance in the waters around Macau was between 46,607.14 and 1,355,000 cells/m³, with the highest abundance noted in station S8. Diatoms were the main contributor to phytoplankton abundance in station S8, accounting for 96.2% of the total abundance. Station S4 exhibited the lowest phytoplankton abundance of 46,607.1 cells/m³, with diatoms and Chromophytaaccounting for 58.6% and 29.9% of the total phytoplankton abundance, respectively. Biodiversity analysis results showed that the phytoplankton richness index was 1.18–3.61, the uniformity index was 0.24–0.78, and the Shannon–Wiener index was 0.94–3.41. Correlation analysis revealed that ammonia nitrogen was significantly negatively correlated with the phytoplankton richness, uniformity, and Shannon–Wiener indices. Nitrite nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen, inorganic nitrogen, salinity, turbidity, and pH were positively correlated with the phytoplankton evenness index and Shannon–Wiener index. Cluster and non-metric multidimensional scaling analyses demonstrated that the phytoplankton community structure in the waters around Macau could be divided into three groups, with A. granulata, S. costatum, T. frauenfeidii, T. nitzschioides, Chaetoceros curvisetus Cleve, and Chaetoceros diadema (Ehrenberg) Gran being predominant in different grouping communities (contribution% > 10%). Biota-Environment Stepwise Analysis (BIOENV) showed a significant correlation between the phytoplankton community and nitrite nitrogen content in the waters around Macau (correlation: 0.5544, Mantel test: statistic 0.4196, p = 0.009), which was consistent with the results of the canonical correspondence analysis. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Pollution and Associated Human Health Effects)

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13 pages, 1629 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Relative Contribution of Metal Content and Soil Particle Mass to Health Risk of Chromium-Contaminated Soil

by Shuting Huang, Fei Huang, Xiaojun Yang, Rongbo Xiao, Yunze Wang, Meili Xu, Yuxuan Huang, Hangyuan Shi and Peng Wang

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(9), 5253; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19095253 - 26 Apr 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1400

Abstract

Three soil samples from a chromium (Cr)-contaminated field were classified into five particle fractions (i.e., 0–50 μm, 50–100 μm, 100–250 μm, 250–500 μm, and 500–1000 μm) and were further characterized to study their physicochemical properties and Cr bioaccessibility. The results indicated that the gastrointestinal bioaccessibility estimated by the Solubility Bioaccessibility Research Consortium (SBRC) method was on average 15.9% higher than that by the physiologically based extraction test (PBET) method. The health risk of all samples was within the safe range, and the health risk based on total Cr content may be overestimated by an average of 13.2 times compared to the bioaccessibility-based health risk. The health risk investigated from metal content was mainly contributed by the 50–250 μm fraction, which was 47.5, 50.2, and 43.5% for low-, medium-, and high-level polluted soils, respectively. As for the combined effect, the fractions of 100–250 μm and 500–1000 μm contributed the highest proportion to health risk, which was 57.1, 62.1, and 64.4% for low-level, medium-level, and high-level polluted soils, respectively. These results may further deepen the understanding of health risk assessment and quantify the contribution of the soil particle mass to health risk. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Pollution and Associated Human Health Effects)

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Review

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19 pages, 764 KiB

Open AccessReview

Environmental Stressors and the PINE Network: Can Physical Environmental Stressors Drive Long-Term Physical and Mental Health Risks?

by Nicolas J. C. Stapelberg, Grace Branjerdporn, Sam Adhikary, Susannah Johnson, Kevin Ashton and John Headrick

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(20), 13226; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192013226 - 14 Oct 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3503

Abstract

Both psychosocial and physical environmental stressors have been linked to chronic mental health and chronic medical conditions. The psycho-immune-neuroendocrine (PINE) network details metabolomic pathways which are responsive to varied stressors and link chronic medical conditions with mental disorders, such as major depressive disorder via a network of pathophysiological pathways. The primary objective of this review is to explore evidence of relationships between airborne particulate matter (PM, as a concrete example of a physical environmental stressor), the PINE network and chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including mental health sequelae, with a view to supporting the assertion that physical environmental stressors (not only psychosocial stressors) disrupt the PINE network, leading to NCDs. Biological links have been established between PM exposure, key sub-networks of the PINE model and mental health sequelae, suggesting that in theory, long-term mental health impacts of PM exposure may exist, driven by the disruption of these biological networks. This disruption could trans-generationally influence health; however, long-term studies and information on chronic outcomes following acute exposure event are still lacking, limiting what is currently known beyond the acute exposure and all-cause mortality. More empirical evidence is needed, especially to link long-term mental health sequelae to PM exposure, arising from PINE pathophysiology. Relationships between physical and psychosocial stressors, and especially the concept of such stressors acting together to impact on PINE network function, leading to linked NCDs, evokes the concept of syndemics, and these are discussed in the context of the PINE network. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Pollution and Associated Human Health Effects)

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