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Urban areas around the world, particularly in emerging nations such as China, India, and Brazil are experiencing high levels of air pollution due to increased population, economy, spending, and consumption, all of which contribute to deterioration in environmental and public health conditions in urban areas. This paper briefly discusses important sources of air pollution, air pollutants of concern, public health impacts, and proposed strategies to combat urban air pollution and promote sustainable urban living. A team of researchers under the mentorship of the main author is working on a number of air quality projects that involve air quality monitoring (sources, ambient, indoor, and occupational), emissions modeling, atmospheric dispersion modeling, air pollution control, and development of knowledge-based systems to manage air quality. This paper presents potential strategies that could help address the growing public health concerns in urban areas and promote sustainable and healthy living.

Coal slag is one of the widely used abrasives in dry abrasive blasting. Atmospheric emissions from this process include particulate matter (PM) and heavy metals, such as chromium, lead, manganese, nickel. Quantities and characteristics of PM emissions depend on abrasive characteristics and process parameters. Emission factors are key inputs to estimate emissions. Experiments were conducted to study the effect of blast pressure, abrasive feed rate, and initial surface contamination on total PM (TPM) emission factors for coal slag. Rusted and painted mild steel surfaces were used as base plates. Blasting was carried out in an enclosed chamber, and PM was collected from an exhaust duct using U.S. Environment Protection Agency source sampling methods for stationary sources. Results showed that there is significant effect of blast pressure, feed rate, and surface contamination on TPM emissions. Mathematical equations were developed to estimate emission factors in terms of mass of emissions per unit mass of abrasive used, as well as mass of emissions per unit of surface area cleaned. These equations will help industries in estimating PM emissions based on blast pressure and abrasive feed rate. In addition, emissions can be reduced by choosing optimum operating conditions.

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