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Household Air Pollution in Three Urban Function Areas and Related Respiratory Health Effects

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Abstract

The health impact of atmospheric pollution is one of the hot topics in current environmental research. Herein, we examined the impacts of indoor and outdoor air pollution on respiratory health across three distinct communities in Xi’an, China. By employing a mixed-methods approach, this research quantitatively assessed particulate matter concentrations alongside gases such as CO, CO2, NO, and NO2, contrasting indoor and outdoor environments. The indoor and outdoor pollutants of urban communities presented higher emission levels, the disparities in indoor pollutant concentrations across the communities were primarily attributed to domestic activities including cooking, incense burning, and smoking. Notably, CO and CO2 levels were elevated indoors, underscoring the influence of human activities and inadequate ventilation on indoor air quality. The higher indoor/outdoor (I/O) pollutant ratios of CO and NO pointed to predominant indoor sources of these pollutants; additionally, the suburban community showed higher I/O ratio. Through lung function assessments, a negative correlation between air pollutant concentrations and respiratory health outcomes among residents was established, demonstrating the detrimental effects of air pollution on pulmonary health. The findings underscored the critical public health implications of air pollution, advocating for comprehensive interventions to enhance air quality and mitigate the adverse health impacts of pollution in residential settings.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42207117), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2021M702589), Natural Science Foundation of Shaanxi Province (2024JC-ZDXM-20).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Human Settlements and Civil Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, 710049, China

    Xinyi Niu, Cheng Yan, Xuan Tian & Shiting Chen

  2. State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Key Lab of Aerosol Chemistry and Physics, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an, 710061, China

    Wenting Dai, Yu Huang & Tafeng Hu

  3. The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310003, China

    Hengjun Mei

  4. Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, 710049, China

    Jian Sun

  5. Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    Junji Cao

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  1. Xinyi Niu
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Correspondence to Jian Sun.

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Niu, X., Yan, C., Tian, X. et al. Household Air Pollution in Three Urban Function Areas and Related Respiratory Health Effects. Aerosol Sci Eng (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41810-024-00227-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41810-024-00227-7

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