| 1. |
- Barregård, Lars, 1948, et al.
(författare)
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Urinary mercury in people living near point sources of mercury emissions.
- 2006
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Ingår i: The Science of the total environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0048-9697. ; 368:1, s. 326-34
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- As part of the European Mercury Emissions from Chlor Alkali Plants (EMECAP) project, we tested the hypothesis that contamination of ambient air with mercury around chlor alkali plants using mercury cells would increase the internal dose of mercury in people living close to the plants. Mercury in urine (U-Hg) was determined in 225 individuals living near a Swedish or an Italian chlor alkali plant, and in 256 age- and sex-matched individuals from two reference areas. Other factors possibly affecting mercury exposure were examined. Emissions and concentrations of total gaseous mercury (TGM) around the plants were measured and modeled. No increase in U-Hg could be demonstrated in the populations living close to the plants. This was the case also when the comparison was restricted to subjects with no dental amalgam and low fish consumption. The emissions of mercury to air doubled the background level, but contributed only about 2 ng/m(3) to long-term averages in the residential areas. The median U-Hg levels in subjects with dental amalgam were 1.2 microg/g creatinine (micro/gC) in Italy and 0.6 microg/gC in Sweden. In individuals without dental amalgam, the medians were 0.9 microg/gC and 0.2 microg/gC, respectively. The number of amalgam fillings, as well as chewing, fish consumption, and female sex were associated with higher U-Hg. The difference between the countries is probably due to higher fish consumption in Italy, demethylated methyl mercury (MeHg) being partly excreted in urine. Post hoc power calculations showed that if the background mercury exposure is low it may be possible to demonstrate an increase in U-Hg of as little as about 10 ng/m(3) as a contribution to ambient mercury from a point source.
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| 2. |
- Berghauser Pont, Meta, 1972, et al.
(författare)
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Increasing cities' capacity to manage noise and air quality using urban morphology
- 2019
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Ingår i: Book of Abstracts XXVI International Seminar on Urban Form “Cities as Assemblages”. ; , s. 42-42
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- According to the World Health Organization, the top two in disease burden are air pollution and environmental noise. In cities, road traffic is the largest contributor to both noise and air pollution and the corresponding Swedish Environmental objectives are to date estimated to not be reached by 2020. Future reductions concerning both air quality and noise are considered insufficient whereby additional measures are needed. Air quality is linked to urban form such that compact cities were shown to result in increasing concentrations of air pollution. Further, urban form influences the meteorology due to changed surface roughness on the larger scale (urban scale), and even more in a local- and microscale at ground level in street canyons. This will affect wind patterns influencing the dispersion possibility of air pollutants. For investigating local effects of urban morphology on noise and air distribution simultaneously, the Spacematrix method has been shown to be useful, as described in Berghauser Pont and Haupt (2010). Building types can be composed of a combination of density variables enabling to quantify a type and manipulate each variable separately. The aim of this paper is to identify critical spatial parameters influencing noise and air pollution and translate them into measures of spatial form including size of the urban block, and distribution, positioning and height of the buildings within that block.
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| 3. |
- Berghauser Pont, Meta, 1972, et al.
(författare)
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Using urban form to increase the capacity of cities to manage noise and air quality
- 2023
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Ingår i: Urban Morphology. - 1027-4278. ; 27:1, s. 51-70
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The top two environmental factors adversely affecting human health in Europe are air and noise pollution, with road traffic being the largest source. Urban density plays an important role in reducing car traffic. However, the benefits of reduced emissions per capita can still mean higher emissions locally, because of the number of people in the area. Therefore, this paper investigates how morphological parameters influence the local distribution of noise and air pollution. A parametric approach, based on the Spacematrix method, is used to study the impact of morphological parameters on the distribution of air and noise pollution, controlling for traffic mode, flows and speed. To compare the impact of exposure to noise and air pollution, their respective health burden is calculated using disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). The results, based on 31 models of different forms, show that the degree of openness greatly affects performance with opposite effects for noise and air pollution. Building types with slightly open yards, like open corner blocks, may provide an attractive compromise solution due to their relatively good noise exposure situation at the same time as the dispersion of air pollutants improves. Adding sound absorbing vegetation is an effective measure to mitigate noise, especially for blocks with openings, limiting the propagation of sound into the yard. Further, densification is beneficial for health if the increase in density does not increase traffic volume in the same proportion. Densification by adding towers on a perimeter building block gives the best results for health as it combines a less noisy yard, thanks to the enclosure of the yard with towers, which enhances turbulent mixing of air within the street canyon.
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| 4. |
- Bloom, Erica, et al.
(författare)
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Mögel, organiska syror och kulturarv. Kyrkans inne- och utemiljö
- 2010
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- En kombination av ett klimat i förändring med ökande regnmängder och medeltemperaturer i kombination med energieffektivisering av kyrkobyggnader befaras medföra en ökad risk för uppkomst av mögelväxt och därmed biologisk nedbrytning av kyrkor och kulturföremål. Mögelproblem har på senare år uppmärksammats alltmer då kyrkomålningar, orglar och textilier allt oftare angripits. I detta projekt studerades fyra kyrkobyggnaders dels makro- och mikroklimat inomhus i förhållande till byggnadsfysikaliska egenskaper och kopplingen mellan inom- och utomhusklimatets eventuella samverkan. Mätningar genomfördes utom- och inomhus av temperatur och luftfuktighet samt vind utomhus. Vidare kartlades mögelskador i kyrkobyggnaderna och förekomsten av organiska syror dokumenterades. Projektresultaten visar att mögelsvamp finns närvarande i alla kyrkor utom i den relativt nyrenoverade Skarstad kyrka. Det s.k. 'Kyrkomöglet' fanns närvarande, framförallt i mikroklimaten, och återfanns i levande form trots låg relativ fuktighet inomhus. Höga halter av organiska syror återfanns i nischer, både på mögelskadade och mögelfria ytor. Dessa höga halter beror sannolikt huvudsakligen på materialets beskaffenhet och utgör främst ett problem i små utrymmen, ej i det stora kyrkorummet. Förutom kyrkans byggnadstekniska förutsättningar är sannolikt orsaken till att det i vissa kyrkor förekommer mögel och i andra inte, en kombination av luftfuktigheten och lufttemperaturen i kyrkans näromgivning, vindutsatthet, solinstrålningen samt eventuellt om det förekommer stora dygnsvariationer inom dessa parametrar. Detta projekt har visat att det är relevant att använda modellerade klimatdata för analysen av kopplingen mellan inomhus- och utomhusklimatet. Ytterligare en fördel är att det även går att visa vad som kan hända i ett framtida klimat av global uppvärmning då även detta går att simulera med samma modell. Resultaten visar sammanfattningsvis på en framkomlig väg att med modellerat lokalklimat kunna göra bättre riskbedömningar av inneklimat och mögeltillväxt
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Boström, Curt-Åke, et al.
(författare)
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Småskalig biobränsleeldning i tätbebyggda områden. Verktyg för tillståndsgivning på kommunal nivå
- 2004
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- För att klara miljömålet 'Begränsad klimatpåverkan' kommer en övergång att krävas från uppvärmning med fossila bränslen till biobränslen. En övergång till biobränslen kan även förväntas i områden där uppvärmning idag sker med el, direktverkande eller i vattenburna system. I tätbebyggda småhusområden kan en ökad biobränsleeldning ge ett betydande bidrag till överskridande av miljökvalitetsnormer. För att uppfylla miljökvalitetsnormer, och på sikt även miljömålet 'Frisk Luft', krävs dock att en ökad biobränsleintroduktion görs med sådan teknik att inte luftkvaliteten försämras. I detta arbete har kommunerna en viktig roll. Föreliggande projekt har innefattat att ta fram en arbetsgång och visa på viktigt underlag för att bistå kommunerna i deras arbete med att bedöma i vilka områden en ökad förbränning av biobränsle kan vara acceptabel. Underlaget omfattar såväl energibehovsutredningar, energiplaner och data över utsläpp till luft från olika källor i kommunen, som lagar, föreskrifter och policies. För att koppla utsläppen till halter i luft behövs även spridningsmodellering. Den föreslagna arbetsgången har testats i ett verkligt bostadsområde. De beräkningarna som gjorts av luftföroreningshalter visar att det kan uppstå problem i form av höga halter vid en kraftig utökning av biobränsleeldning, såvida inte förbränningen sker på ett miljömässigt acceptabelt sätt. Ett förslag till hur man på kommunal nivå kan hantera förfrågningar och anmälningar om ökad biobränsleeldning har utarbetats och presenteras i rapporten. Det viktigt att kommunerna har tillgång till dessa verktyg för att kunna göra nödvändiga bedömningar samtidigt som de får möjlighet att, vid risk för höga föroreningshalter, kunna påverka installationen av lokala eldstäder i kommunen
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Forssén, Jens, 1968, et al.
(författare)
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Effect of urban morphology and greening on noise and air pollution - case studies including disease burden estimates
- 2022
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Ingår i: Internoise 2022 - 51st International Congress and Exposition on Noise Control Engineering.
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Exposure of both noise and air pollution due to road traffic in urban environments has been calculated and evaluated for multiple cases. A model study in an urban setting used 31 cases of building morphologies and traffic concentration. An evaluating second set was based on a real case of an arterial road transformed into a boulevard. Besides the effect of building morphology, the effects of driving speed, electric vehicles and urban greening were studied. The levels of noise exposure (Lden and Lnight at housing façades) and air pollution (NO2 and PM10 at sidewalks and yards) were calculated as input to estimating the health impact using DALY (Disability-Adjusted Life Years). Concluding from the results, the best solution from a noise perspective is closed blocks with green roofs, while the best solution concerning air quality is point buildings or closed blocks with added high towers. Urban greening was shown to improve the noise situation in general whereas air quality varied due to the interaction between wind speed, dispersion, and filtering effect of leaves. Urban planning guidelines were formulated, including also suggestions of traffic concentration by locating all local traffic to a single widened road as well as transitioning to electric vehicles in combination with reduced vehicle speed.
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| 10. |
- Forssén, Jens, 1968, et al.
(författare)
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Effects of urban morphology on traffic noise: A parameter study including indirect noise exposure and estimated health impact
- 2022
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Ingår i: Applied Acoustics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0003-682X .- 1872-910X. ; 186
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Noise exposure has been calculated and analysed for 31 different urban morphologies in an urban setting. For five of the urban morphologies also vegetation surfaces on facades and roofs were studied. Facade exposures were analysed for both smaller (single-sided) flats and larger (floor-through) flats, considering the direct exposure from the roads as well as the indirect exposure at noise-shielded positions like inner yards. Also, grid map area exposures at ground level were calculated and analysed for both sidewalk and yard areas. The facade exposure levels, using indicators Lden and Lnight, were used to estimate annoyance and sleep disturbance as well as disease burden in terms of DALY (Disability-Adjusted Life Years) per person. In all urban morphology cases, single-sided flats showed overall better performance (i.e. lower DALY) than larger, floor-through flats; however, the inclusion of a bonus for additional facade elements having a lower noise exposure gave the large flats a similar or better predicted overall performance compared with the small flats. Among the building types studied, for small flats and constant building density, the use of perimeter blocks with closed inner yards, slightly open yards and U-shaped buildings showed results of relatively better overall performance compared with I-shaped, L-shaped and point buildings. When the yards grow in size, the performance of closed inner yards dropped. As general trends, perimeter blocks were shown to perform better than morphologies with less enclosed yards and densification with constant traffic flow was shown to result in improved performance. However, building types with slightly open yards may provide an attractive compromise solution due to its relatively good noise shielding at the same time as enabling solutions to air pollution and corner-flat layouts. In addition, complementing the perimeter blocks with towers was shown to enable improvement. Furthermore, traffic concentration by locating all local traffic to a single road was shown to be beneficial, increasingly so by widening the road. Predicted effects of vegetation surfaces on facades and roofs showed significant overall improvement, where closed inner yards benefit from vegetated roofs. The area exposure results showed that when the building blocks are successively less enclosed the levels are reduced on the side-walks and increased in the yards. Also, the benefit of facade vegetation is shown for the area exposures. (C) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.
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