Consumption in the G20 nations causes particulate air pollution resulting in two million premature deaths annually.

Worldwide exposure to ambient PM2.5 causes over 4 million premature deaths annually. As most of these deaths are in developing countries, without internationally coordinated efforts this polarized situation will continue. As yet, however, no studies have quantified nation-to-nation consumer responsibility for global mortality due to both primary and secondary PM2.5 particles. Here we quantify the global footprint of PM2.5-driven premature deaths for the 19 G20 nations in a position to lead such efforts. G20 consumption in 2010 was responsible for 1.983 [95% Confidence Interval: 1.685-2.285] million premature deaths, at an average age of 67, including 78.6 [71.5-84.8] thousand infant deaths, implying that the G20 lifetime consumption of about 28 [24-33] people claims one life. Our results indicate that G20 nations should take responsibility for their footprint rather than focusing solely on transboundary air pollution, as this would expand opportunities for reducing PM2.5-driven premature mortality. Given the infant mortality footprint identified, it would moreover contribute to ensuring infant lives are not unfairly left behind in countries like South Africa, which have a weak relationship with G20 nations.

A preliminary study on humic-like substances in particulate matter in Malaysia influenced by Indonesian peatland fires.

In this paper, ambient total suspended particulates (TSP) with a focus on humic-like substances (HULIS) are characterized based on intensive ground-based field samplings collected in Malaysia during non-haze and haze periods caused by peatland fires on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Furthermore, concentrations of water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) and carbon content of HULIS (HULIS-C) were determined, and fluorescence spectra of the HULIS samples were recorded by excitation emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy. The concentrations of WSOC and HULIS-C over the entire period ranged from 4.1 to 24 and 1.3 to 18 µgC m-3, respectively. The concentrations of WSOC and HULIS-C during the peatland fire-induced strong haze periods were over 4.3 and 6.1 times higher, respectively, than the average values recorded during the non-haze periods. Even during the light haze periods, the concentrations of WSOC and HULIS-C were significantly higher than their averages during the non-haze periods. These results indicate that peatland fires induce high concentrations of WSOC, particularly HULIS-C, in ambient TSP at receptor sites. EEM fluorescence spectra identified fulvic-like fluorophores at the highest intensity level in the EEM fluorescence spectra of the haze samples. A peak at excitation/emission (Ex/Em) ≈ (290-330)/(375-425) nm is also observed at high intensity, though this peak is normally associated with marine humic-like fluorophores. It is shown that a peak at Ex/Em ≈ (290-330)/(375-425) nm is not derived from marine sources only; furthermore, peatland fires are shown to be important contributors to HULIS around this peak.

Affluent countries inflict inequitable mortality and economic loss on Asia via PM2.5 emissions.

This research sets out to quantify the mortality and economic loss in individual Asian countries caused by the PM2.5 emissions induced by the consumption of the world's five highest-consuming countries (US, China, Japan, Germany, UK). In 2010 alone, the economic impact of these five countries' consumption caused a loss of almost 45 billion US dollars due to the premature deaths of more than 1 million people in Asia, including 15 thousand children younger than 5 years old. The percentage ratio of economic loss to value-added driven by consumers via trade differed greatly among the impacted countries. For the US, the highest percentage loss was 4.1% in Laos, followed by 2.0% in Bangladesh, both markedly higher than the figures for the more developed countries, such as 0.21% for Japan and 0.18% for Korea. This reflects the inequitable value chain existing between consumer countries and impacted countries, and implies that developing countries are obtaining value-added in exchange for unintentionally increased health risks, delaying their development and potentially creating a vicious circle that hinders much-needed improvements in areas like poverty reduction and public health. This inequitable situation needs to be redressed through introduction of clean energy and other types of technological assistance to help achieve United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 7, 10 and 13. Such as move is essential if premature infant deaths are to be curtailed.

Distribution, sources and potential health risks of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in PM2.5 collected during different monsoon seasons and haze episode in Kuala Lumpur.

This study aimed to determine the distribution and potential health risks of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in PM2.5 collected in Kuala Lumpur during different monsoon seasons. The potential sources of PM2.5 were investigated using 16 priority PAHs with additional of biomass tracers namely levoglucosan (LV), mannosan (MN) and galactosan (GL). This study also investigated the cytotoxic potential of the extracted PAHs towards V79-4 cells. A high-volume air sampler (HVS) was used to collect PM2.5 samples for 24 h. PAHs were extracted using dichloromethane (DCM) while biomass tracers were extracted by a mixture of DCM/methanol (3:1) before analysis with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The cytotoxicity of the PAHs extract was determined by assessing the cell viability through the reduction of tetrazolium salts (MTT). The results showed that the total mean ±â€¯SD concentrations of PAHs during the southwest (SW) and northeast (NE) monsoons were 2.51 ±â€¯0.93 ng m-3 and 1.37 ±â€¯0.09 ng m-3, respectively. Positive matrix factorization (PMF) using PAH and biomass tracer concentrations suggested four potential sources of PM2.5; gasoline emissions (29.1%), natural gas and coal burning (28.3%), biomass burning (22.3%), and diesel and heavy oil combustion (20.3%). Health risk assessment showed insignificant incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) of 2.40E-07 for 70 years of exposure. MTT assay suggested that PAHs extracts collected during SW monsoon have cytotoxic effect towards V79-4 cell at the concentrations of 25 µg mL-1, 50 µg mL-1, 100 µg mL-1 whereas non-cytotoxic effect was observed on the PAHs sample collected during NE monsoon.

Ambient fine and coarse particles in Japan affect nasal and bronchial epithelial cells differently and elicit varying immune response.

Ambient particulate matter (PM) epidemiologically exacerbates respiratory and immune health, including allergic rhinitis (AR) and bronchial asthma (BA). Although fine and coarse particles can affect respiratory tract, the differences in their effects on the upper and lower respiratory tract and immune system, their underlying mechanism, and the components responsible for the adverse health effects have not been yet completely elucidated. In this study, ambient fine and coarse particles were collected at three different locations in Japan by cyclone technique. Both particles collected at all locations decreased the viability of nasal epithelial cells and antigen presenting cells (APCs), increased the production of IL-6, IL-8, and IL-1ß from bronchial epithelial cells and APCs, and induced expression of dendritic and epithelial cell (DEC) 205 on APCs. Differences in inflammatory responses, but not in cytotoxicity, were shown between both particles, and among three locations. Some components such as Ti, Co, Zn, Pb, As, OC (organic carbon) and EC (elemental carbon) showed significant correlations to inflammatory responses or cytotoxicity. These results suggest that ambient fine and coarse particles differently affect nasal and bronchial epithelial cells and immune response, which may depend on particles size diameter, chemical composition and source related particles types.

Changes in the carbon footprint of Japanese households in an aging society.

As the aging and low birthrate trends continue in Japan, and as changes in the working population and consumption patterns occur, new factors are expected to have an impact on consumption-based greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. We present the impacts of changes in the composition of Japanese households on GHG emission structures using current (2005) consumption-based accounting on the commodity sectors that are expected to require priority efforts for reducing emissions in 2035. This is done using the Global Link Input-Output model (GLIO) and domestic household consumption data and assuming that recent detailed consumption expenditures based on the Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) will continue into the future. The results show that consumption-based GHG emissions derived from Japanese household consumption in 2035 are estimated to be 1061 Mt-CO2eq (4.2% lower than in 2005). This study can be used to reveal more information and as a resource in developing policies to more meticulously and efficiently reduce emissions based on emission and import rates for each domestic and overseas commodity supply chain.

Indoor particle counts during Asian dust events under everyday conditions at an apartment in Japan.

OBJECTIVE: Asian dust storms originating from arid regions of Mongolia and China are a well-known springtime phenomenon throughout East Asia. Evidence is increasing for the adverse health effects caused by airborne desert dust inhalation. Given that people spend approximately 90 % of their time indoors, indoor air quality is a significant concern. The present study aimed to examine the influence of outdoor particulate matter (PM) levels on indoor PM levels during Asian dust events under everyday conditions. METHODS: We simultaneously monitored counts of particles larger than 0.3, 0.5, 1, 2, and 5 µm using two direct-reading instruments (KC-01D1 airborne particle counter; Rion), one placed in an apartment room and another on the veranda, under everyday conditions before and during an Asian dust event. We also examined how indoor particle counts were affected by opening a window, crawling, and air purifier use. RESULTS: An Asian dust event on 24 April 2012 caused 50- and 20-fold increases in PM counts in outdoor and indoor air, respectively. A window open for 10 min resulted in a rapid increase of indoor PM counts up to 70 % of outside levels that did not return to baseline levels after 3 h. An air purifier rapidly reduced PM counts for all particle sizes measured. CONCLUSIONS: It is important to account for occupant behavior, such as window-opening and air purifier use, when estimating residential exposure to particulate matter.

Estimates of embodied global energy and air-emission intensities of Japanese products for building a Japanese input-output life cycle assessment database with a global system boundary.

To build a life cycle assessment (LCA) database of Japanese products embracing their global supply chains in a manner requiring lower time and labor burdens, this study estimates the intensity of embodied global environmental burden for commodities produced in Japan. The intensity of embodied global environmental burden is a measure of the environmental burden generated globally by unit production of the commodity and can be used as life cycle inventory data in LCA. The calculation employs an input-output LCA method with a global link input-output model that defines a global system boundary grounded in a simplified multiregional input-output framework. As results, the intensities of embodied global environmental burden for 406 Japanese commodities are determined in terms of energy consumption, greenhouse-gas emissions (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, perfluorocarbons, hydrofluorocarbons, sulfur hexafluoride, and their summation), and air-pollutant emissions (nitrogen oxide and sulfur oxide). The uncertainties in the intensities of embodied global environmental burden attributable to the simplified structure of the global link input-output model are quantified using Monte Carlo simulation. In addition, by analyzing the structure of the embodied global greenhouse-gas intensities we characterize Japanese commodities in the context of LCA embracing global supply chains.

Characterization of economic requirements for a "carbon-debt-free country".

In recent years, greenhouse gas emission controls that incorporate the supply chains of products and services, thereby emphasizing the role of consumers rather than producers, have been drawing increasing attention. A country's consumption-based emissions, including those due to global supply chains, reflect the total emissions on which the national economy relies. To design effective emissions control strategies there is therefore an urgent need for countries to elucidate the structural relationship between their domestic economy and emissions occurring through global supply chains. Here we consider the structural characteristics of consumption-based emissions in Japan, which in 2005 totaled 1675 Mt CO(2)eq. Outside the country the Japanese economy generated global emissions of 541 Mt CO(2)eq, 35.7% of which were UNFCCC Annex I emissions and 64.3% were non-Annex I and other emissions. This figure of 64.3% reveals that Japan is actually relying to a considerable degree on emissions that are subject to no international obligations. We identify key economic contributors to consumption-based emissions at the commodity level and specify items of household expenditure that are effective options for both financial savings and emissions reduction. We then discuss the importance of emissions control for evolving toward a "carbon-debt-free country".

Analysis for chemical characterization of atmospheric aerosols application of X-ray microprobe system and double thin film method.

The X-ray microprobe system was applied to ultra trace characterization of single Kosa aerosols and non-Kosa aerosols simultaneously collected at Yasaka, Japan and TaeAnn, Korea. We demonstrated remarkable mass increase of heavy metals as well as soil components in individual particles during the Kosa event compared with the non-Kosa period at Yasaka. Backward trajectory analysis suggested that the Kosa samples were in the mixing state of mineral components and anthropogenic heavy elements. Double thin film method was applied to investigate the seasonal change of the mixing states of single sea-salt aerosols associated with chlorine loss due to the heterogeneous reactions between sea-salt particles and acidic gases. It was revealed that the percentages of both chloride-nitrate mixed particles and sulfate-nitrate ones were larger in wintertime than those in summertime and fraction of chloride-nitrate mixed particles increased with an increase of particle size. Comparison between the size-segregated bulk analysis and the single particle analysis demonstrated that remarkable chloride depletion occurred in coarse particles sampled on May in the former analysis, while chloride depletion in coarse particles was not marked in the latter analysis. The discrepancy attributes to the difference of the sampling time between both analyses because significant change of air mass route occurred during the bulk sampling after completion of the single particle sampling.

Elemental distribution in individual rain droplets determined by a combination of the replication method and the synchrotoron radiation X-ray fluorescence microprobe technique.

The main objective of the present study is to specify the chemical properties of individual rain droplets. For this purpose, we have combined the collodion replication method and the SR-XRF microprobe technique. The dry residual materials retained in a single rain droplet, which correspond to the former cloud condensation nuclei and the scavenged particles during droplet falling, were successively reconstructed by the multiple elemental maps using SR-XRF microprobe analytical system. Also the SR-XRF microprobe system allows us to quantify the masses of ultra trace elements in residues of individual rain droplet with fg level. The proposed combination method in the present study is found to be helpful to understand the physicochemical properties of individual rain droplets.

Compilation and application of Japanese inventories for energy consumption and air pollutant emissions using input-output tables.

Preparing emission inventories is essential to the assessment and management of our environment. In this study, Japanese air pollutant emissions, energy consumption, and CO2 emissions categorized by approximately 400 sectors (as classified by Japanese input-output tables in 1995) were estimated, and the contributions of each sector to the total amounts were analyzed. The air pollutants examined were nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx), and suspended particulate matter (SPM). Consumptions of about 20 fossil fuels and five other fuels were estimated according to sector. Air pollutant emission factors for stationary sources were calculated from the results of a survey on air pollution prevention in Japan. Pollutant emissions from mobile sources were estimated taking into consideration vehicle types, traveling speeds, and distances. This work also counted energy supply and emissions from seven nonfossil fuel sources, including nonthermal electric power, and CO2 emissions from limestone (for example, during cement production). The total energy consumption in 1995 was concluded to be 18.3 EJ, and the annual total emissions of CO2, NOx, SOx, and SPM were, respectively, 343 Mt-C, 3.51 Mt, 1.87 Mt, and 0.32 Mt. An input-output analysis of the emission inventories was used to calculate the amounts of energy consumption and emissions induced in each sector by the economic final demand.