Particulate matter (PM) is a vital pollutant that severely impacts human health, ecosystem well-being, and climate systems. In this review, the importance of vertical profiling is considered for understanding PM behavior between different layers of the atmosphere, and it includes modern techniques used such as meteorological towers and building methods, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), aircraft, and satellite-based aerosol optical depth measurements. A systematic review was conducted, sourcing 150 articles published between 2000 and 2023, using relevant keywords such as Particulate Matter, Vertical Profiling, Environmental Impacts, and Climate Change from databases like Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar. Key findings illustrate the vertical variations in PM levels associated with interactions among urban environments, meteorology, and specific atmospheric processes such as cloud formation, radiative forcing, and long-distance transport of pollutants. PM's effects on biodiversity, nutrient cycles, and ecosystem stability are also discussed. The environmental impacts of PM deposition, including biodiversity loss, nutrient cycling disruption, and ecosystem destabilization, elucidate widespread chronic anthropogenic particulate causes of long-term ecological damage around the globe. The study also examines relevant regulatory frameworks, specifically air quality standards, and policies, underpinning mitigation strategies. This review discusses how PM pollution is an increasingly alarming health risk. It reiterates the importance of demanding effective regulations on the local and global levels to counteract detrimental environmental and climatic consequences. This review clearly shows the immediate threats of PM. It should form a wake-up call to develop more effective monitoring tools and stringent regulatory measures against this omnipresent pollutant.

Purpose of ReviewLeather tanneries are known to produce harmful particulate matter (PM), leading to various respiratory and other health issues among workers. While studies have linked PM exposure to respiratory ailments, research on PM composition and its association with health risks in tanneries is limited. This study aimed to investigate PM composition, size-based exposures, and associated health risks among tannery workers.Recent FindingsA comprehensive literature review was conducted, focusing on PM characteristics, occupational exposures in tanneries, and pulmonary impairments. Results showed that tannery workers exhibited lung function decline, with a mixed pattern of restrictive and obstructive disorders. PM analysis revealed diverse airborne metal concentrations within acceptable limits but posing respiratory and cancer risks. Chromium, carbon and bacterial pathogens emerged as major concerns.SummaryThe organic carbon and bacterial species were identified as both contributors and synergists to respiratory ailments, with bacterial associations more prominent in larger PM sizes. Smoking further exacerbated lung damage, synergizing with PM exposure.

External contamination (soiling) of the incident surface is a major limiting factor for solar technologies. A 5year field glass coupon study was conducted to better understand external contamination and its effects; compare cleaning methods and the use of preventative coatings; and explore the abrasion resulting from cleaning to advise on accelerated abrasion testing. Test sites included the cities of Dubai (UAE), Kuwait City (Kuwait), Mesa (AZ), Mumbai (India), and Sacramento (CA). Through the 5-year cumulative study, dry brush, water spray, and wet sponge and squeegee cleaning methods were compared to no cleaning. Optical microscopy was used to obtain images, including representative color images, grayscale images for object analysis, and oblique images for coating integrity assessment. A thresholding protocol was developed to analyze and distinguish specimens using the ImageJ software. Optical performance was quantified using a spectrophotometer, including comprehensive optical characterization (transmittance, reflectance, and absorptance in addition to forward- and back- scattering). Atomic force microscopy was used to verify the abrasion damage morphology, including the width and depth of surface scratches. Analysis of the results included correlation of optical performance and particle area coverage, rank order (by coating or location), and the acceleration factor for abrasion damage. The efficacy of external cleaning was more readily distinguished from the effectiveness of antisoiling coatings. The acceleration factor for dry brush cleaning of a porous silica coating was found to be on the order of unity.

PM2.5 impacts the atmospheric temperature structure through scattering or absorbing solar radiation, whose concentration and composition can affect the impact. This study calculated the effect of PM2.5 on the temperature structures in the urban centre and the suburbs of Nanjing, as well as their differences. The results show that the optical parameters, atmospheric heating rate, radiative forcing, and temperature are all impacted by the concentration and composition of PM2.5. The uneven distribution of PM2.5 influences the differences in those factors between the urban centre and suburbs. In spring, summer, autumn, and winter, surface temperatures in the urban centre were approximately 283 K, 285 K, 305 K, and 277 K, while those in the suburbs were approximately 282 K, 283 K, 304 K, and 274 K. The urban heat island intensity has been reduced by 0.1-0.4 K due to the presence of PM2.5 in Nanjing. Due to the black carbon component's warming effect on the top of the boundary layer, the impact of PM2.5 on the urban heat island intensity profile drops quickly at the 0.75-1.25 km. PM2.5 may mask the warm city problem and have a more complex impact on the urban climate.

This study delved into the impact of open biomass burning on the distribution of pesticide and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) residues across soil, rice straw, total suspended particulates (TSP), particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter <= 10 mu m (PM10), and aerosols. A combination of herbicides atrazine (ATZ) and diuron (DIU), fungicide carbendazim (CBD), and insecticide chlorpyriphos (CPF) was applied to biomass before burning. Post-burning, the primary soil pesticide shifted from propyzamide (67.6%) to chlorpyriphos (94.8%). Raw straw biomass retained residues from all pesticide groups, with chlorpyriphos notably dominating (79.7%). Ash residue analysis unveiled significant alterations, with elevated concentrations of chlorpyriphos and terbuthylazine, alongside the emergence of atrazine-desethyl and triadimenol. Pre-burning TSP analysis identified 15 pesticides, with linuron as the primary compound (51.8%). Post-burning, all 21 pesticides were detected, showing significant increases in metobromuron, atrazine-desethyl, and cyanazine concentrations. PM10 composition mirrored TSP but exhibited additional compounds and heightened concentrations, particularly for atrazine, linuron, and cyanazine. Aerosol analysis post-burning indicated a substantial 39.2-fold increase in atrazine concentration, accompanied by the presence of sebuthylazine, formothion, and propyzamide. Carcinogenic PAHs exhibited noteworthy post-burning increases, contributing around 90.1 and 86.9% of all detected PAHs in TSP and PM10, respectively. These insights advance understanding of pesticide dynamics in burning processes, crucial for implementing sustainable agricultural practices and safeguarding environmental and human health.

Air pollution is a major environmental and public health issue. Each year, large amounts of particulate matter (PM) and other harmful pollutants are released into the atmosphere. Conventional polymer nanofiber filters lack the functionality to capture ultrafine PM. As a sustainable alternative, this work developed titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticle surface-modified cellulose nanofiber (CNF) aerogels for PM2.5 filtration. CNFs were extracted via mechanical disintegration to diameters below 100 nm. The nanofibers were functionalized with 1.0-2.5 wt% TiO2 nanoparticles using citric acid cross-linking. Cylindrical aerogels were fabricated by freezing and lyophilizing aqueous suspensions. Structural, morphological, thermal, and mechanical properties were characterized. TiO2 modification increased density (11.8-19.7 mg/cm3), specific surface area (287-370 m2/g), and Young's modulus (33.5-125.5 kPa) but decreased porosity (99.6 %-97.7 %), pore size (20.2-15.6 nm) and thermal stability compared to unmodified cellulose aerogels. At 2.5 wt% loading, the optimized aerogels achieved 100 % absorption of 0.1-5 mu m particulates owing to reduced pore size. Despite enhanced filtration capabilities, the modified CNF aerogels retained inherent biodegradability, degrading over 70 % within one month of soil burial. This pioneering research establishes TiO2 functionalized CNF aerogels as promising sustainable alternatives to traditional petroleum-based air filters, representing an innovative approach to creating next-generation nanofiltration materials capable of effectively capturing fine and ultrafine particulate matter pollutants.

Aviation emissions are the only direct source of anthropogenic particulate pollution at high altitudes, which can form con-trails and contrail-induced clouds, with consequent effects upon global radiative forcing. In this study, we develop a pre-dictive model, called APMEP-CNN, for aviation non-volatile particulate matter (nvPM) emissions using a convolutional neural network (CNN) technique. The model is established with data sets from the newly published aviation emission databank and measurement results from several field studies on the ground and during cruise operation. The model also takes the influence of sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) on nvPM emissions into account by considering fuel properties. This study demonstrates that the APMEP-CNN can predict nvPM emission index in mass (EIm) and number (EIn) for a number of high-bypass turbofan engines. The accuracy of predicting EIm and EIn at ground level is significantly improved (R2 = 0.96 and 0.96) compared to the published models. We verify the suitability and the applicability of the APMEP-CNN model for estimating nvPM emissions at cruise and burning SAFs and blend fuels, and find that our predictions for EIm are within & PLUSMN;36.4 % of the measurements at cruise and within & PLUSMN;33.0 % of the measurements burning SAFs in av-erage. In the worst case, the APMEP-CNN prediction is different by -69.2 % from the measurements at cruise for the JT3D-3B engine. Thus, the APMEP-CNN model can provide new data for establishing accurate emission inventories of global aviation and help assess the impact of aviation emissions on human health, environment and climate.Synopsis: The results of this paper provide accurate predictions of nvPM emissions from in-use aircraft engines, which im-pact airport local air quality and global radiative forcing.

Aerosol behavior over the Himalayas plays an important role in the regional climate of South Asia. Previous studies at highaltitude observatories have provided evidence of the impact of long-range transport of pollutants from the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP). However, little information exists for the valley areas in the high Himalayas where significant local anthropogenic emissions can act as additional sources of short-living climate forcers and pollutants. The valley areas host most economic activities based on agriculture, forestry, and pilgrimage during every summer season. We report here first measurements at a valley site at similar to 2600 m a.s.l. on the trek to the Gangotri glacier (Gaumukh), in the Western Himalayas, where local infrastructures for atmospheric measurements are absent. The study comprised short-term measurement of aerosols, chemical characterization, and estimation of aerosol radiative forcing (ARF) during the winter and summer periods (2015-2016). The particulate matter mass concentrations were observed to be higher than the permissible limit during the summer campaigns. We obtained clear evidence of the impact of local anthropogenic sources: particulate nitrate is associated with coarse aerosol particles, the black carbon (BC) mass fraction appears undiluted with respect tomeasurements performed in the lower Himalayas, and inwinter, both BC and sulfate concentrations in the valley site are well above the background levels reported from literature studies for mountain peaks. Finally, high concentrations of trace metals such as copper point to anthropogenic activities, including combustion and agriculture. While most studies in the Himalayas have addressed pollution in the high Himalayas in terms of transport from IGP, our study provides clear evidence that local sources cannot be overlooked over the high-altitude Himalayas. The estimated direct clear-sky ARF was estimated to be in the range of -0.1 to +1.6Wm(-2), with significant heating in the atmosphere over the highaltitude Himalayan study site. These results indicate the need to establish systematic aerosol monitoring activities in the high Himalayan valleys.

In order to quantify air pollution effects on climate change, we investigated the climate response associated with anthropogenic particulate matters (PMs) by dividing fine PM (PM2.5, particle size 2.5 mu m) in great detail in this work, with an aerosol-climate coupled model. We find that the changes in PM2.5 and CPM are very different and thus result in different, even opposite effects on climate, especially on a regional scale. The column burden of PM2.5 increases globally from 1850 to the present, especially over Asia's southern and eastern parts, whereas the column concentration of CPM increases over high-latitude regions and decreases over South Asia. The resulted global annual mean effective radiative forcing (ERF) values due to PM2.5 and CPM changes are -1.21 W center dot m(-2) and -0.24 W center dot m(-2), respectively. Increases in PM2.5 result in significant cooling effects on the climate, whereas changes in CPM produce small and even opposite effects. The global annual mean surface air temperature (SAT) decreases by 0.94 K due to PM2.5 increase. Coolings caused by increased PM2.5 are more apparent over Northern Hemisphere (NH) terrain and ocean at mid- and high latitudes. Increases in SATs caused by increased CPM are identified over high latitudes in the NH, whereas decreases are identified over mid-latitude regions. Strong cooling due to increased PM2.5 causes a southward shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), whereas the Hadley circulation associated with CPM is enhanced slightly over both hemispheres, along with the weak movement of corresponding ITCZ. The global annual mean precipitation decreases by approximately 0.11 mm day(-1) due to the increased PM2.5. Generally, PM2.5 concentration changes contribute more than 80% of the variation caused by all anthropogenic aerosols in ERF, SAT, cloud fraction, and precipitation.

Low- and middle-income countries have the largest health burdens associated with air pollution exposure, and are particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts. Substantial opportunities have been identified to simultaneously improve air quality and mitigate climate change due to overlapping sources of greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions and because a subset of pollutants, short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs), directly contribute to both impacts. However, planners in low- and middle-income countries often lack practical tools to quantify the air pollution and climate change impacts of different policies and measures. This paper presents a modelling framework implemented in the Low Emissions Analysis Platform - Integrated Benefits Calculator (LEAP-IBC) tool to develop integrated strategies to improve air quality, human health and mitigate climate change. The framework estimates emissions of greenhouse gases, SLCPs and air pollutants for historical years, and future projections for baseline and mitigation scenarios. These emissions are then used to quantify i) population-weighted annual average ambient PM2.5 concentrations across the target country, ii) household PM2.5 exposure of different population groups living in households cooking using different fuels/technologies and iii) radiative forcing from all emissions. Health impacts (premature mortality) attributable to ambient and household PM2.5 exposure and changes in global average temperature change are then estimated. This framework is applied in Bangladesh to evaluate the air quality and climate change benefits from implementation of Bangladesh's Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and National Action Plan to reduce SLCPs. Results show that the measures included to reduce GHGs in Bangladesh's NDC also have substantial benefits for air quality and human health. Full implementation of Bangladesh's NDC, and National SLCP Plan would reduce carbon dioxide, methane, black carbon and primary PM2.5 emissions by 25%, 34%, 46% and 45%, respectively in 2030 compared to a baseline scenario. These emission reductions could reduce population-weighted ambient PM2.5 concentrations in Bangladesh by 18% in 2030, and avoid approximately 12,000 and 100,000 premature deaths attributable to ambient and household PM2.5 exposures, respectively, in 2030. As countries are simultaneously planning to achieve the climate goals in the Paris Agreement, improve air quality to reduce health impacts and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, the LEAP-IBC tool provides a practical framework by which planners can develop integrated strategies, achieving multiple air quality and climate benefits.