Dear Colleagues,

Particulate matter (PM) is an air pollutant of great and increasing concern to human health. Particle properties depend not only on their originating sources, but also on the dynamic physico-chemical processes that follow their formation. Personal exposure to PM depends on the lifestyle of each individual and the different microenvironments frequented. A holistic and accurate characterization of both outdoor and indoor PM is essential to better assess total personal exposure to PM, as well as the consequent health effects. Such knowledge is crucial for the proper development of effective mitigation strategies.

This Special Issue intends to compile high quality research on PM characterization in indoor and outdoor microenvironments, to support the assessment of integrated personal exposure. Indoor particulate pollution is highly site-specific, since some sources are uniquely building-related. Thus, studies with site-specific measurements (e.g., residence, workplace, and public building) are welcome. Detailed characterization of short-term pollution events such as specific indoor activity (e.g. cooking, cleaning, smoking, and dust resuspension) will be valued. Concerning outdoor PM, strong consideration will be given to studies discussing urban and suburban measurements, at a wide variety of sites (e.g. roadside, background and green spaces). Although commuting accounts for a short period of a person’s daily time, its contribution to the total exposure to PM may be disproportionally high. Thus, research studies in transport modes also deserve attention in this Special Issue. Investigation of indoor-to-outdoor PM relationships will be highly valuable. Finally, a particular focus will be given for studies that establish actions towards an effective reduction of PM levels, by identifying and encouraging the application of practical mitigation strategies.

This Special Issue invites research in the areas of particulate air pollution, with topics of interest including, but not limited to, those indicated in the keywords.

Dr. Vânia Martins
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. 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.

• particulate matter pollution
• air monitoring
• exposure assessment
• particle chemical composition
• particle size distribution
• dosimetry
• health risk assessment
• source apportionment
• air pollution mitigation strategies