The Effect of Air Pollution on Human Health

Dear Colleagues,

Air pollution is a serious global problem that affects the health of millions of people each year. According to the WHO, nine out of ten people breathe polluted air, resulting in seven million deaths annually. Air pollution is closely related to climate change, and efforts to reduce one can mitigate the other. The main pollutants are particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and ozone at the ground level. Particulate matter is the most harmful pollutant, while bioaerosols are also being increasingly reported as health determinants. There are two main types of air pollution: ambient air pollution and household air pollution. Household air pollution is responsible for four million deaths each year. Women and children are the most affected, especially in countries in Africa and Asia where polluting fuels and technologies are commonly used. Air pollution has a devastating impact on children, with up to 14% of children aged 5-18 years worldwide suffering from asthma linked to air pollution. Every year, 543,000 children under 5 years old die of respiratory diseases related to air pollution. Pregnant women exposed to air pollution can experience fetal brain growth issues, and air pollution is also linked to cognitive impairment in children and adults alike. Air quality in an occupational context is increasingly a concern, as a large part of the active life of certain professionals is spent in environments where the air quality is very poor, or seen from another perspective, very rich in pollutants of various natures. It is, therefore, necessary to raise awareness of this growing public health challenge, share information, and provide tools on the health risks of air pollution and its interventions. This MDPI Topic aims at showcasing some of the work on air pollution and to review the data on air quality and health. The key focus will be on techniques employed in order to more accurately attribute air pollution coming from different sources, and on the improvement of estimates of air quality and correlated health effects through the combination of the data from various air-quality-monitoring networks, atmospheric modeling, and the measurement of health effects.

Prof. Dr. Elisabete Carolino
Prof. Dr. Liliana Aranha Caetano
Topic Editors