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Microenvironmental Air Pollution Control, Comfort and Health Risk

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Sustainability and Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (23 October 2023) | Viewed by 5390

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Rosa Caggiano

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Guest Editor

Institute of Methodologies for Environmental Analysis (IMAA), National Research Council (CNR), 85050 Tito Scalo, Italy
Interests: environmental monitoring; indoor air quality; particulate matter; trace elements; health risk assessment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Antonio Speranza

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Guest Editor

Institute of Methodologies for Environmental Analysis (IMAA), National Research Council (CNR), 85050 Tito Scalo, Italy
Interests: particulate matter; atmospheric dust; compositional data analysis; source apportionment; multiple linear regression model
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The air pollution of the microenvironment can have a great impact on the health, comfort, and well-being of its occupants. Indoor air pollution is a growing concern, due to the wide variety of sources that contribute to the contamination of spaces. Microenvironmental air pollutants can be generated by both indoor sources (e.g., cooking, cleaning products, smoking, building-related pollutants, furniture) and outdoor sources (e.g. vehicles, industry), whose pollutants can enter into buildings through windows and/or air ventilation systems. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), carbon oxides (CO₂, CO), benzene (C₆H₆), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), ozone (O₃), oxides of nitrogen (NO, NO₂) and particulate matter (PM) can be considered the main microenvironmental air pollutants. Microenvironmental air pollution can have serious impacts on health, particularly on vulnerable populations such as children, the elderly, and those with pre-existing health conditions. Microenvironmental air pollution can contribute to respiratory diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, as well as cardiovascular disease, cancer, and other health problems. Alongside microenvironmental air pollutants, other factors, including temperature, humidity, noise and lighting, can have a significant impact on the comfort and productivity of people. This Special Issue considers this context and welcomes original research articles and reviews. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

Air pollution
Microenvironments
Indoor air pollutants
Indoor Air quality (IAQ)
Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ)
Microenvironment comfort evaluation
Occupant productivity
Occupant health
Health effects
Building sustainability

I/we look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Rosa Caggiano
Dr. Antonio Speranza
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. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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

indoor air pollution
microenvironmental pollutants
thermal comfort
visual comfort
acoustic comfort
health effects

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 6508 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Zero-Energy Purification of Ambient Particulate Matter Using a Novel Double-Skin Façade System Integrated with Porous Materials

by He Li, Hongwei Guo, Xiaohan Lu, Jun Hu and Ke Zhong

Sustainability 2024, 16(6), 2489; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16062489 - 17 Mar 2024

Viewed by 780

Abstract

This study introduces an innovative double-skin façade system integrated with porous materials (DSF-PM) designed to combat air pollution by purifying atmospheric particulate matter without energy consumption. By evaluating three installation strategies—vertical, horizontal, and cross placement—and examining porous materials with pore sizes of 0.5 mm, 1 mm, and 2 mm through a validated computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model, we optimized the DSF-PM system for enhanced particulate matter purification. Our findings reveal that positioning the porous material on both airflow sides with a pore size of 1 mm yields the best purification performance. The seasonal performance analysis demonstrates that the DSF-PM system achieves an average annual purification efficiency of 26.24% for particles larger than 5 µm, surpassing 20% efficiency, comparable to primary filters in global standards, with zero energy input. This passive double-skin façade system, leveraging solar-driven natural convection, emerges as a sustainable solution for ambient air purification in urban environments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microenvironmental Air Pollution Control, Comfort and Health Risk)

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Review

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32 pages, 2322 KiB

Open AccessReview

Exposure to Air Pollution in Transport Microenvironments

by Samuele Marinello, Francesco Lolli, Antonio Maria Coruzzolo and Rita Gamberini

Sustainability 2023, 15(15), 11958; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151511958 - 3 Aug 2023

Viewed by 1333

Abstract

People spend approximately 90% of their day in confined spaces (at home, work, school or in transit). During these periods, exposure to high concentrations of atmospheric pollutants can pose serious health risks, particularly to the respiratory system. The objective of this paper is to define a framework of the existing literature on the assessment of air quality in various transport microenvironments. A total of 297 papers, published from 2002 to 2021, were analyzed with respect to the type of transport microenvironments, the pollutants monitored, the concentrations measured and the sampling methods adopted. The analysis emphasizes the increasing interest in this topic, particularly regarding the evaluation of exposure in moving cars and buses. It specifically focuses on the exposure of occupants to atmospheric particulate matter (PM) and total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs). Concentrations of these pollutants can reach several hundreds of µg/m³ in some cases, significantly exceeding the recommended levels. The findings presented in this paper serve as a valuable resource for urban planners and decision-makers in formulating effective urban policies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microenvironmental Air Pollution Control, Comfort and Health Risk)

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15 pages, 2397 KiB

Open AccessReview

Evaluating Methods That Calculate Aircraft Emission Impacts on Air Quality: A Systematic Literature Review

by Manori Dissanayaka, Tim Ryley, Bojana Spasojevic and Savindi Caldera

Sustainability 2023, 15(12), 9741; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15129741 - 19 Jun 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1827

Abstract

Aircraft operations from above ground level to 3000 feet impact air quality and cause health issues, particularly for people working and living in and around airports. This paper evaluates the current emission calculation methods to identify the most accurate way to generate an emission inventory. Journal articles on aircraft influence on air quality were selected for a systematic literature review (SLR). After screening 277 articles written in English, 60 articles on emission calculation methods were included in the analysis. Based on the analysis, air quality can be more accurately assessed when considering direct emissions from an aircraft than when measuring atmospheric pollutant concentrations. While the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) advanced approach was the most widely used from the literature reviewed, airport-specific, time-in-mode, and actual atmospheric conditions where aircraft operate offer the potential for significant improvement. The SLR demonstrates a need for more accurate emission calculation methods to assess the aircraft’s influence on air quality. The SLR guides airlines and airports to maintain an accurate emission inventory, which will set future targets to improve air quality. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microenvironmental Air Pollution Control, Comfort and Health Risk)

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