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Waste Management, Air Quality, Pollutant Dispersion, Human Health Impact

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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 2022) | Viewed by 28940

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Deborah Panepinto

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Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering (DIATI), Polytechnic of Turin, I-10129 Turin, Italy
Interests: air quality; air pollution and urban environmental conservation; climate change mitigation; odors; biomethane; health impact assessment; carbon footprint; waste management; wastewater treatment plants
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Marco Ravina

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Guest Editor

Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering (DIATI), Polytechnic of Turin, I-10129 Turin, Italy
Interests: air quality; pollutant dispersion modelling; air pollution and urban environmental conservation; GHG emissions; odors; biomethane; health impact assessment; carbon footprint
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Elena Magaril

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Guest Editor

Department of Environmental Economics, Ural Federal University, Mira str, 19-418A, 620002 Ekaterinburg, Russia
Interests: environmental sustainability; energy efficiency; environmental management; motor fuels; petroleum refining
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear colleagues,

The interactions between humans and their physical surroundings have been extensively studied in the recent past, and the result is that there are many human activities that influence the environment.

Pollution is defined as the introduction into the environment of substances harmful to humans and other living organisms. Human activities have an adverse effect on the environment, and air pollution has various health effects.

In order to improve environmental quality (from the point of view of local air quality and also from the point of view of greenhouse gas emissions), waste prevention, reuse, and valorization must be realized. Waste management must thus be linked with air quality assessment, studies of pollutant dispersion, and analyses of human health impacts, with risk assessments.

This Special Issue aims to discuss strategy frameworks that integrate waste management, air quality assessment, pollutant emission and dispersion calculation, and the evaluation of the impacts on human health. A wide range of national and local approaches could be implemented, taking into account the actual situation, with sharing of the best practices.

The following themes would be of particular interest (note that this list is not exhaustive):

Waste (municipal and industrial) prevention, reuse, recovery and valorization;
New waste management strategies: COVID-19 concern;
Analysis of air quality;
Analysis of pollutant emission dispersion from different kinds of treatments/plants;
Analysis of the human health impact linked to the previous aspects.

We invite you to contribute to this issue by submitting comprehensive reviews, case studies, or research articles. Papers selected for this Special Issue are subject to a rigorous peer review procedure, with the aim of the rapid and wide dissemination of research results, developments, and applications.

Prof. Dr. Deborah Panepinto
Dr. Marco Ravina
Prof. Dr. Elena Magaril
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. 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

waste management
by-products
circular economy
air pollution
climate change
pollutant emission dispersion
human health impact
risk analysis
environmental impact
complex systems

Published Papers (8 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 2943 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Particulate Matter Emission Factors for Dairy Facilities and Cattle Feedlots during Summertime in Texas

by Mohammad Ruzlan Habib, El Jirie N. Baticados and Sergio C. Capareda

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(21), 14090; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph192114090 - 28 Oct 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1369

Abstract

Particulate matter (PM) emissions from dairies and feedlot sources require regular emission factor update. Likewise, development of simple measurement technique to accurately measure pollution concentration is warranted to limit the impact of air pollution and take necessary actions. During June of 2020, a dairy facility from central Texas and a feedlot from the Texas Panhandle region, titled as Dairy B and Feedlot C, respectively, were chosen for measurement of PM emissions in the state of Texas to represent dairy facilities and cattle feedlots PM emission rates. Four stations, each assigned with an EPA-approved Federal Reference Method (FRM) sampler, Texas A&M University (TAMU) designed sampler and handheld non-FRM AEROCET (MET One Instruments) sampler for collocation, were selected within each sampling locations. Drones were also utilized mounted with a handheld AEROCET sampler for simultaneously sampling at a certain height. PM_2.5 emissions of Dairy B were all below 24-h PM_2.5 standard of 35 μg m⁻³ as specified by National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) even at the 98th percentile. The PM ratio between regulated PM₁₀ to PM_2.5 was determined to make an estimate of relative percentage of coarser particles to fine particles in both feedlot and the dairy representative animal facilities. The maximum mean emission factor determined using AERMOD for PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ was found to be 0.53 and 7.09 kg 1000-hd⁻¹ d⁻¹, respectively, for the dairy facility while 8.93 and 33.42 kg 1000-hd⁻¹ d⁻¹, respectively, for the feedlot. A conversion factor and correlation matrix were developed in this study to relate non-FRM sampler data from the handheld AERCET samplers with FRM samplers. Cheaper handheld samplers (AEROCETs) may play a potential role in quick and relatively instant measurement of PM emissions to initiate necessary preventive actions to control PM emission from dairy facility and feedlot sources. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Waste Management, Air Quality, Pollutant Dispersion, Human Health Impact)

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11 pages, 2354 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Modeling and Predicting Pulmonary Tuberculosis Incidence and Its Association with Air Pollution and Meteorological Factors Using an ARIMAX Model: An Ecological Study in Ningbo of China

by Yun-Peng Chen, Le-Fan Liu, Yang Che, Jing Huang, Guo-Xing Li, Guo-Xin Sang, Zhi-Qiang Xuan and Tian-Feng He

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(9), 5385; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph19095385 - 28 Apr 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2580

Abstract

The autoregressive integrated moving average with exogenous regressors (ARIMAX) modeling studies of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) are still rare. This study aims to explore whether incorporating air pollution and meteorological factors can improve the performance of a time series model in predicting PTB. We collected the monthly incidence of PTB, records of six air pollutants and six meteorological factors in Ningbo of China from January 2015 to December 2019. Then, we constructed the ARIMA, univariate ARIMAX, and multivariate ARIMAX models. The ARIMAX model incorporated ambient factors, while the ARIMA model did not. After prewhitening, the cross-correlation analysis showed that PTB incidence was related to air pollution and meteorological factors with a lag effect. Air pollution and meteorological factors also had a correlation. We found that the multivariate ARIMAX model incorporating both the ozone with 0-month lag and the atmospheric pressure with 11-month lag had the best performance for predicting the incidence of PTB in 2019, with the lowest fitted mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of 2.9097% and test MAPE of 9.2643%. However, ARIMAX has limited improvement in prediction accuracy compared with the ARIMA model. Our study also suggests the role of protecting the environment and reducing pollutants in controlling PTB and other infectious diseases. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Waste Management, Air Quality, Pollutant Dispersion, Human Health Impact)

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15 pages, 2727 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Living Lab Experience in Turin: Lifestyles and Exposure to Black Carbon

by Ornella Salimbene, Luca Boniardi, Andrea Maria Lingua, Marco Ravina, Mariachiara Zanetti and Deborah Panepinto

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(7), 3866; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph19073866 - 24 Mar 2022

Viewed by 1762

Abstract

State-of-the-art, continuous personal monitoring is a reference point for assessing exposure to air pollution. European air-quality standards for particulate matter (PM) use mass concentration of PM (PM with aerodynamic diameters ≤ 10 μm (PM10) or ≤2.5 μm (PM2.5)) as the metric. It would be desirable to determine whether black carbon (BC) can be used as a better, newer indicator than PM10 and PM2.5. This article discusses the preliminary results of one of the three living laboratories developed in the project “Combination of traditional air quality indicators with an additional traffic proxy: Black Carbon (BC)”. The Living Lab#1 (LL#1) involved 15 users in the city of Turin, Italy. Three portable aethalometers (AE51) were used to detect personal equivalent black carbon (eBC) concentrations in the respiratory area of volunteers at 10-s intervals as they went about their normal daily activities. The Geo-Tracker App and a longitudinal temporal activity diary were used to track users’ movements. The sampling campaign was performed in November for one week. and each user was investigated for 24 h. A total of 8640 eBC measurements were obtained with an average daily personal exposure of 3.1 µg/m³ (±SD 1.3). The change in movement patterns and the variability of microenvironments were decisive determinants of exposure. Preliminary results highlight the potential utility of Living Labs to promote innovative approaches to design an urban-scale air-quality management plan which also includes BC as a new indicator. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Waste Management, Air Quality, Pollutant Dispersion, Human Health Impact)

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15 pages, 2749 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Utilization of Alkali-Activated Lead–Zinc Smelting Slag for Chromite Ore Processing Residue Solidification/Stabilization

by Lin Yu, Lu Fang, Pengpeng Zhang, Shujie Zhao, Binquan Jiao and Dongwei Li

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(19), 9960; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph18199960 - 22 Sep 2021

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1852

Abstract

Lead–zinc smelting slag (LZSS) is regarded as a hazardous waste containing heavy metals that poses a significant threat to the environment. LZSS is rich in aluminosilicate, which has the potential to prepare alkali-activated materials and solidify hazardous waste, realizing hazardous waste cotreatment. In this study, the experiment included two parts; i.e., the preparation of alkali-activated LZSS (pure smelting slag) and chromite ore processing residue (COPR) solidification/stabilization. Single-factor and orthogonal experiments were carried out that aimed to explore the effects of various parameters (alkali solid content, water glass modulus, liquid–solid ratio, and initial curing temperature) for alkali-activated LZSS. Additionally, compressive strength and leaching toxicity were the indexes used to evaluate the performance of the solidified bodies containing COPR. As a result, the highest compressive strength of alkali-activated LZSS reached 84.49 MPa, and when 40% COPR was added, the strength decreased to 1.42 MPa. However, the leaching concentrations of Zn and Cr from all the solidified bodies were far below the critical limits (US EPA Method 1311 and China GB5085.3-2007). Heavy-metal ions in LZSS and COPR were immobilized successfully by chemical and physical means, which was detected by analyses including environmental scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectrometry, Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, and X-ray diffraction. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Waste Management, Air Quality, Pollutant Dispersion, Human Health Impact)

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14 pages, 1694 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluation of Green Coffee-Roasting Biogas with Modeling Valorization of Possible Solutions

by Giuseppe Campo, Alberto Cerutti, Marco Ravina, Deborah Panepinto, Vincenzo A. Riggio and Mariachiara Zanetti

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(19), 6947; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph17196947 - 23 Sep 2020

Viewed by 2545

Abstract

According to the European Union Directive 2009/28/EC, the goals of obtaining 20% of all energy requirements from renewable sources and a 20% reduction in primary energy use must be fulfilled by 2020. In this work, an evaluation was performed, from the environmental and energy point of view, of anaerobic digestion as a valid solution for the treatment of the byproducts obtained from the coffee-roasting process. In particular, thermophilic anaerobic digestion tests were carried out. Output values from the laboratory were used as input for the MCBioCH₄ model to evaluate the produced flow of biogas and biomethane and two different biogas valorization alternatives, namely, the traditional exploitation of biogas for heat/energy production and biomethane conversion. The results of the preliminary simulation showed that a full-scale implementation of the coffee waste biogas production process is technically feasible and environmentally sustainable. Furthermore, the performed analysis validates a general methodology for energy production compatibility planning. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Waste Management, Air Quality, Pollutant Dispersion, Human Health Impact)

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18 pages, 3298 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Assessment of COVID-19 Waste Flows During the Emergency State in Romania and Related Public Health and Environmental Concerns

by Florin-Constantin Mihai

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(15), 5439; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph17155439 - 28 Jul 2020

Cited by 82 | Viewed by 10759

Abstract

This paper provides a rapid assessment method of potentially infectious waste flow related to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Romania focusing on the emergency state (from 16 March to 14 May 2020) where a national lockdown was in force with restrictive and social distancing measures concerning population mobility and economic activities. Medical and municipal waste management systems are critical services in combating the virus spread in the community. This assessment is useful due to poor available data of medical waste flow in environmental reports and it covers COVID-19 patients, quarantined, and self-isolated persons as the main potential infectious waste sources. The proposed model estimates that COVID-19 related waste flow is 4312 t at the national level from 25 February to 15 June of which 2633 t in the emergency state period. This assessment is correlated with deficiencies of medical and municipal waste management systems in Romania before the COVID-19 pandemic as stress factors of public health and environment. This study points out the main challenges of waste operators and reveals some best practices during this pandemic crisis. Based on the results and discussion section, several recommendations are proposed to COVID-19 waste-related issues and points out the crucial role of the reliable medical and municipal waste database in managing such biologic hazards at national and EU levels. Monitoring of COVID-19 waste flow through such models are important for decision-makers, particularly in low and middle-income countries which are facing waste management deficiencies and gaps in waste statistics, to reduce other contamination risks or related environmental threats. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Waste Management, Air Quality, Pollutant Dispersion, Human Health Impact)

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18 pages, 5531 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Waterborne Exposure of Paclobutrazol at Environmental Relevant Concentration Induce Locomotion Hyperactivity in Larvae and Anxiolytic Exploratory Behavior in Adult Zebrafish

by Akhlaq Hussain, Gilbert Audira, Petrus Siregar, Yi-Chen Lin, Omar Villalobos, Oliver Villaflores, Wen-Der Wang and Chung-Der Hsiao

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(13), 4632; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph17134632 - 27 Jun 2020

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 3372

Abstract

The available arable land is unable to fulfill the food production need of rapidly the exponentially growing human population in the world. Pesticides are one of those different measures taken to meet this demand. As a plant growth regulator to block gibberellin, paclobutrazol (PBZ) is used excessively throughout the world to promote early fruit setting, and to increase seed setting which might be harmful because PBZ is a very stable compound; therefore, it can bioaccumulate into the food chain of an ecosystem. In the present study, we discovered unexpected effects of PBZ on zebrafish larvae and adult behaviors by challenging them with low dose exposure. Zebrafish larvae aged 4 days post-fertilization (dpf) were exposed for 24 h at 10 µg/L (0.01 ppm) and 100 µg/L (0.1 ppm) of PBZ, respectively, and adults were incubated at 100 µg/L (0.1 ppm) and 1000 µg/L (1 ppm) concentrations of PBZ, respectively, for fourteen days. After incubation, the locomotor activity, burst, and rotation movement for the larvae; and multiple behavioral tests such as novel tank exploration, mirror biting, shoaling, predator avoidance, and social interaction for adult zebrafish were evaluated. Brain tissues of the adult fish were dissected and subjected to biochemical analyses of the antioxidant response, oxidative stress, superoxide dismutase (SOD), and neurotransmitter levels. Zebrafish larvae exposed to PBZ exhibited locomotion hyperactivity with a high burst movement and swimming pattern. In adult zebrafish, PBZ resulted in anxiolytic exploratory behavior, while no significant results were found in social interaction, shoal making, and predator avoidance behaviors. Interestingly, high dose PBZ exposure significantly compromised the innate aggressive behavior of the adult fish. Biochemical assays for oxidative stress, antioxidant response, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) showed significant reductions in their relative contents. In conclusion, for the first time, our behavior assays revealed that chronic PBZ exposure induced behavioral alterations in both larvae and the adult zebrafish. Because PBZ is a widely-used plant growth regulator, we suggest that it is necessary to conduct more thorough tests for its biosafety and bioaccumulation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Waste Management, Air Quality, Pollutant Dispersion, Human Health Impact)

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Review

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11 pages, 333 KiB

Open AccessReview

Analysis of the Emergent Climate Change Mitigation Technologies

by Deborah Panepinto, Vincenzo A. Riggio and Mariachiara Zanetti

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(13), 6767; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijerph18136767 - 24 Jun 2021

Cited by 19 | Viewed by 3164

Abstract

A climate change mitigation refers to efforts to reduce or prevent emission of greenhouse gases. Mitigation can mean using new technologies and renewable energies, making older equipment more energy efficient, or changing management practices or consumer behavior. The mitigation technologies are able to reduce or absorb the greenhouse gases (GHG) and, in particular, the CO₂ present in the atmosphere. The CO₂ is a persistent atmospheric gas. It seems increasingly likely that concentrations of CO₂ and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will overshoot the 450 ppm CO₂ target, widely seen as the upper limit of concentrations consistent with limiting the increase in global mean temperature from pre-industrial levels to around 2 °C. In order to stay well below to the 2 °C temperature thus compared to the pre-industrial level as required to the Paris Agreement it is necessary that in the future we will obtain a low (or better zero) emissions and it is also necessary that we will absorb a quantity of CO₂ from the atmosphere, by 2070, equal to 10 Gt/y. In order to obtain this last point, so in order to absorb an amount of CO₂ equal to about 10 Gt/y, it is necessary the implementation of the negative emission technologies. The negative emission technologies are technologies able to absorb the CO₂ from the atmosphere. The aim of this work is to perform a detailed overview of the main mitigation technologies possibilities currently developed and, in particular, an analysis of an emergent negative emission technology: the microalgae massive cultivation for CO₂ biofixation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Waste Management, Air Quality, Pollutant Dispersion, Human Health Impact)

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