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BackgroundStudies have shown associations between mortality and long-term exposure to particulate matter air pollution. Few cohort studies have estimated the effects of the elemental composition of particulate matter on mortality.ObjectivesOur aim was to study the association between natural-cause mortality and long-term exposure to elemental components of particulate matter.MethodsMortality and confounder data from 19 European cohort studies were used. Residential exposure to eight a priori–selected components of particulate matter (PM) was characterized following a strictly standardized protocol. Annual average concentrations of copper, iron, potassium, nickel, sulfur, silicon, vanadium, and zinc within PM size fractions ≤ 2.5 μm (PM2.5) and ≤ 10 μm (PM10) were estimated using land-use regression models. Cohort-specific statistical analyses of the associations between mortality and air pollution were conducted using Cox proportional hazards models using a common protocol followed by meta-analysis.ResultsThe total study population consisted of 291,816 participants, of whom 25,466 died from a natural cause during follow-up (average time of follow-up, 14.3 years). Hazard ratios were positive for almost all elements and statistically significant for PM2.5 sulfur (1.14; 95% CI: 1.06, 1.23 per 200 ng/m3). In a two-pollutant model, the association with PM2.5 sulfur was robust to adjustment for PM2.5 mass, whereas the association with PM2.5 mass was reduced.ConclusionsLong-term exposure to PM2.5 sulfur was associated with natural-cause mortality. This association was robust to adjustment for other pollutants and PM2.5.CitationBeelen R, Hoek G, Raaschou-Nielsen O, Stafoggia M, Andersen ZJ, Weinmayr G, Hoffmann B, Wolf K, Samoli E, Fischer PH, Nieuwenhuijsen MJ, Xun WW, Katsouyanni K, Dimakopoulou K, Marcon A, Vartiainen E, Lanki T, Yli-Tuomi T, Oftedal B, Schwarze PE, Nafstad P, De Faire U, Pedersen NL, Östenson C-G, Fratiglioni L, Penell J, Korek M, Pershagen G, Eriksen KT, Overvad K, Sørensen M, Eeftens M, Peeters PH, Meliefste K, Wang M, Bueno-de-Mesquita HB, Sugiri D, Krämer U, Heinrich J, de Hoogh K, Key T, Peters A, Hampel R, Concin H, Nagel G, Jaensch A, Ineichen A, Tsai MY, Schaffner E, Probst-Hensch NM, Schindler C, Ragettli MS, Vilier A, Clavel-Chapelon F, Declercq C, Ricceri F, Sacerdote C, Galassi C, Migliore E, Ranzi A, Cesaroni G, Badaloni C, Forastiere F, Katsoulis M, Trichopoulou A, Keuken M, Jedynska A, Kooter IM, Kukkonen J, Sokhi RS, Vineis P, Brunekreef B. 2015. Natural-cause mortality and long-term exposure to particle components: an analysis of 19 European cohorts within the Multi-Center ESCAPE Project. Environ Health Perspect 123:525–533; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1408095

In a joint analysis of 19 European cohorts, we found no statistically significant association between long-term exposure to 8 elemental constituents of particles and total cardiovascular mortality.

Abstract. In this paper emission factors (EFs) for particulate matter (PM) and some sub-components as well as gaseous substances were investigated in two onboard measurement campaigns. Emissions from two 4-stroke main engines were measured under stable-load conditions. The impact of varying engine load on the emissions was investigated on one of the engines, and the impact of fuel quality on the other, where heavy fuel oil (HFO) with sulphur content 1% and 0.5% and marine gas oil (MGO) with sulphur content 0.1% were used. Furthermore, emissions from one auxiliary engine were studied. The measured EFs for PM mass were in the range of 0.3 to 2.7 g kg−1 fuel with the lowest values for emissions from the combustion of MGO, and the highest values for HFO with a sulphur content of 1%. The PM mass size distribution was dominated by particles in accumulation mode. Emission factors for particle numbers EF(PN) in the range of 5 × 1015–1 × 1017 # kg−1 fuel were found, the number concentration was dominated by particles in the ultrafine mode and ca. 2/3 of the particle number were non-volatile. The most abundant component of the PM mass was organic carbon, making up 25–60% of the PM. The measured EFs for organic carbon (OC) were 0.6 g kg−1 fuel for HFO and 0.2 g kg−1 fuel for MGO. Elemental carbon (EC) made up 10–38% of the PM mass, with no significant differences between HFO and MGO fuels. The concentrations of metals on sampled filters were investigated with energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) and the detected metal elements in exhaust when using HFO was concluded to originate from both the fuel (V, Ni, Fe) and the lubricant (Ca, Zn), while for the case of MGO combustion, most of the metals were concluded to originate from the lubricants. The measured emission factors for sulphate particles, EF (SO2−4), were low, ca. 0.1–0.2 g kg−1 fuel for HFO with 1% sulphur, 0.07–0.09 g kg−1 fuel for HFO with 0.5% sulphur and 0.003–0.006 g kg−1 fuel for MGO. This corresponds to 0.1–0.8% and 0.1–0.6% of fuel S converted to PM sulphate for HFO and MGO, respectively. Scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) images of the collected PM showed three different types of particles: relatively pure soot; char and char-mineral particles; and amorphous, probably organic particles containing inorganic impurities. The maps of elements obtained from STEM showed a heterogeneous composition of primary soot particles with respect to the trace metals and sulphur. Temperature-programmed oxidation (TPO) of PM showed higher soot oxidation reactivity compared to automotive diesel soot, PM from the HFO exhaust being more reactive than PM from the MGO exhaust. Oxidative potential measured as the rate of consumption of Dithiothreitol (DTT) was for the first time measured on PM from ship exhaust. The obtained values were between 0.01 and 0.04 nmol DTT min−1 μg−1 PM, which is quite similar to oxidative potentials of PM collected at urban and traffic sites. The data obtained during the experiments add information about emission factors for both gaseous and PM-bound compounds from ship engines using different fuels and under different engine-load conditions. Observed variability of the EFs illustrates uncertainties of these emission factors as a result of influences from fuel and lubricant composition, from differences between individual engines and from the differences in sampling conditions.