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Dr. Luigi Vimercati

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Guest Editor

1. Chief Division of Occupational Medicine, University Hospital Policlinico of Bari, 70124 Bari, Italy
2. Head Section of Occupational Medicine "B.Ramazzini", Interdisciplinary Department of Medicine, University of Bari Aldo Moro, 70124 Bari, Italy
Interests: occupational medicine; toxicology; environmental science; biomarkers; public health
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The effects of air pollution exposure on human health are an important global health issue. Particulate matter also increases the risk of respiratory, allergic and oncological diseases in both exposed workers and the general population. Pathogenic pathways are likely related to some of the compounds contained in particulate matter, e.g., PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), gases, heavy metals, asbestos and microorganisms. These pollutants are able to penetrate the lower airways due to their small sizes, where they can cause damage to the bronchial epithelium, inducing inflammation or neoplastic degeneration, or can be carried into the pulmonary blood and spread throughout the body. Moreover, some evidence has been published about the aerosol survival of Sars-CoV-2, the virus causing the COVID-19 pandemic. It has also been hypothesized that exposure to fine particulate concentrations can in some way influence the progression of epidemics.

This Special Issue aims to showcase the variety and relevance of recent developments in the ﬁeld of exposure to air pollutants and health effects.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following: environmental and occupational exposure to air pollutants and effects on human health; environmental monitoring and unknown contaminant source characterization; the importance and role of biomarkers of exposure, their effects and susceptibility; biomonitoring of occupational exposure; the use of biomarkers to assess environmental and occupational exposure; asbestos-related diseases, association between air pollution and health outcomes of COVID-19 epidemics. All submitted manuscripts will go through a rigorous peer review process.

Dr. Luigi Vimercati
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.

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Research

15 pages, 1601 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Particle Morphology and Elemental Analysis of Lung Tissue from Post-9/11 Military Personnel with Biopsy-Proven Lung Disease

by Heather Lowers, Lauren Zell-Baran, Zikri Arslan, Camille M. Moore and Cecile Rose

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2024, 21(1), 91; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21010091 - 12 Jan 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1308

Abstract

The relationship between exposure to inhaled inorganic particulate matter and risk for deployment-related lung disease in military personnel is unclear due in part to difficulties characterizing individual exposure to airborne hazards. We evaluated the association between self-reported deployment exposures and particulate matter (PM) contained in lung tissue from previously deployed personnel with lung disease (“deployers”). The PM in deployer tissues was compared to normal lung tissue PM using the analytical results of scanning electron microscopy and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The majority of PM phases for both the deployers and the controls were sub-micrometer in size and were compositionally classified as aluminum and zirconium oxides, carbonaceous particles, iron oxides, titanium oxides, silica, other silicates, and other metals. The proportion of silica and other silicates was significantly higher in the retained dust from military veterans with biopsy-confirmed deployment-related lung disease compared to the control subjects. Within the deployer population, those who had combat jobs had a higher total PM burden, though the difference was not statistically significant. These findings have important implications for understanding the role of inhaled inorganic dusts in the risk for lung injury in previously deployed military veterans. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The 2nd Edition of Air Pollution: Occupational Exposure and Public Health)

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8 pages, 308 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

Indoor Radon Concentration Levels in Healthcare Settings: The Results of an Environmental Monitoring in a Large Italian University Hospital

by Luigi De Maria, Stefania Sponselli, Antonio Caputi, Giuseppe Delvecchio, Gianmarco Giannelli, Antonella Pipoli, Francesco Cafaro, Silvia Zagaria, Domenica Cavone, Rodolfo Sardone and Luigi Vimercati

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(6), 4685; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20064685 - 07 Mar 2023

Viewed by 1476

Abstract

The aim of the study is to determine the radon concentrations in the University Hospital of Bari, Apulia Region, Southern Italy. The monitoring took place from 2017 to 2018 for a total of 402 days and included 3492 premises. Radon environmental sampling was performed with passive dosimeters of the CR-39 type. The highest mean concentration was found in basement rooms (118.9 Bq/m³), followed by ground-floor rooms (88.2 Bq/m³), first-floor rooms (78.1 Bq/m³), second-floor rooms (66.7 Bq/m³), and third-floor rooms (68.9 Bq/m³). An average radon concentration lower than the WHO recommended level of 100 Bq/m³ was detected in 73.5% of monitored environments, while only 0.9% exceeded the reference level of 300 Bq/m³ set by the national law (Legislative Decree 101/2020). The frequency of environments in which radon concentrations exceed 300 Bq/m³ is significantly higher in the basement (p-value < 0.001). As for a previous preliminary investigation in the same hospital conducted on a much smaller number of premises (n = 401), most of the monitored environments had radon concentrations lower than the reference levels set by the new national law, and the risk to the healthcare workers’ health derived from occupational exposure to radon could be considered acceptable. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The 2nd Edition of Air Pollution: Occupational Exposure and Public Health)

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