Environment International最新文献

{"title":"Integrating machine learning and metabolomics to identify PFAS-associated metabolic alterations related to lung cancer risk","authors":"Jianli Qu ,&nbsp;Xinguo Zhang ,&nbsp;Qianxun Jin ,&nbsp;Yasheng Guo ,&nbsp;Haomiao Yu ,&nbsp;Guoyin Zhan ,&nbsp;Weili Mao ,&nbsp;Sicheng Xiang ,&nbsp;Meirong Zhao ,&nbsp;Hangbiao Jin","doi":"10.1016/j.envint.2026.110276","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envint.2026.110276","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are pervasive environmental contaminants increasingly implicated in lung cancer risk. However, the metabolic features and biological pathways associated with human PFAS exposure in relation to lung cancer remain poorly characterized. We conducted a nested case-control study within the Quzhou Environment Exposure and Human Health cohort (408 lung cancer cases and 421 controls) to examine whether serum PFAS concentrations are associated with lung cancer risk and to identify metabolic alterations associated with both PFAS exposure and lung cancer. Seven PFAS were quantified and associations assessed with multivariable logistic regression, Bayesian Kernel Machine Regression, and Weighted Quantile Sum (WQS) regression models, alongside high-resolution serum metabolomics (1,403 features) and machine learning classification. Higher serum levels of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorononanoate (PFNA), perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and 6:2 chlorinated polyfluoroether sulfonic acid (6:2Cl-PFESA) were associated with increased risk, with dose–response patterns for several chemicals. Highest-quartile odds ratios were 7.94 for PFOA, 3.82 for PFNA, 4.55 for PFHxS, 2.84 for PFOS, and 5.54 for 6:2Cl-PFESA (all trend <em>p</em> &lt; 0.05). Mixture analyses supported a positive joint effect (WQS <em>β</em> = 1.95, 95% CI 1.61–2.38), with greatest weights for PFOA, PFHxS and PFNA. Metabolomics revealed broad metabolic alterations in cases (886 features up-regulated and 202 down-regulated). Among the evaluated metabolomics-based models, the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) showed the highest performance under the present analytical framework. The LASSO model identified candidate discriminative metabolites including adenosine triphosphate, citrulline, L-carnitine, 1-methylhistidine, and ethanolamine (<em>β</em> = 1.05–51.04, <em>p</em> &lt; 0.05). Pathway enrichment analysis indicated significant perturbations in phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis, phospholipid biosynthesis, phosphatidylethanolamine biosynthesis, and aspartate metabolism. This study provides novel evidence that PFAS exposure is associated with metabolic alterations that may be relevant to lung cancer-related processes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":308,"journal":{"name":"Environment International","volume":"211 ","pages":"Article 110276"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147803627","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Extractable organofluorine (EOF) and target PFAS, including trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), in human serum from a Norwegian cohort, with a case study on the impact of fluorinated pharmaceuticals","authors":"Leo W.Y. Yeung ,&nbsp;Trine Husøy ,&nbsp;Enmiao Jiao ,&nbsp;Welmoed Nauta ,&nbsp;Dorte Herzke ,&nbsp;Line Småstuen Haug ,&nbsp;Jana K. Geuer ,&nbsp;Monica Andreassen ,&nbsp;Hubert Dirven","doi":"10.1016/j.envint.2026.110280","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envint.2026.110280","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigated the amount and proportion of unidentified organofluorine (UOF) in human serum and assessed short-term variability in exposure using extractable organofluorine (EOF) analysis and a fluorine mass balance approach. Serum samples were obtained from the well-characterized EuroMix cohort, comprising residents living in and around Oslo, Norway, collected between September 2016 and November 2017. Short-term intra-individual variability was evaluated using 72 paired serum samples collected 2–3 weeks apart. An extended target list of 64 PFAS, including trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), was applied to quantify identified and unidentified EOF. UOF accounted for up to 81% of EOF (median: 38%) in EuroMix samples. In 36% of paired samples, EOF concentrations varied by more than 25% over the 2–3-week interval, indicating the presence of compounds with relatively short biological half-lives. TFA was the most abundant individual PFAS detected, with median concentrations approximately twice those of PFOS. In a separate case study, serum samples from individuals using the fluorinated pharmaceutical Fluoxetine showed substantially elevated EOF and TFA concentrations (EOF: median 140 ng F/mL; TFA: median 27.7 ng/mL) compared with samples from individuals not using Fluoxetine (EOF: median &lt; 8 ng F/mL; TFA: median 6.22 ng/mL). These findings indicate that fluorinated pharmaceuticals may contribute significantly to circulating EOF and TFA in humans. The large fraction of UOF and the widespread occurrence of TFA highlight the need to identify their sources relevant to human exposure. Together, these findings indicate that current PFAS including TFA biomonitoring approaches capture only a fraction (estimated to be 50%) of total human exposure to fluorinated substances and highlight the need to complement target analysis with fluorine mass balance approaches in future exposure assessment.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":308,"journal":{"name":"Environment International","volume":"211 ","pages":"Article 110280"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147756170","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Metabolome-wide association study to decipher the risk of exogenous chemical exposure to liver cancer in a Chinese nested case-control cohort","authors":"Chengnan Fang ,&nbsp;Pengwei Guan ,&nbsp;Huan Yang ,&nbsp;Xiaokun Wang ,&nbsp;Lei You ,&nbsp;Qi Li ,&nbsp;Xiaolin Wang ,&nbsp;Yaorui Ye ,&nbsp;Jinhu Fan ,&nbsp;Guowang Xu ,&nbsp;Youlin Qiao ,&nbsp;Xinyu Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.envint.2026.110274","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envint.2026.110274","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Exogenous chemical exposures are a global health concern due to their hepatotoxic potential, yet the extent to which endogenous metabolic disruption bridges these exposures to long-term liver cancer risk remains unclear. In a nested case-control study within a prospective Chinese cohort (n = 200), we conducted a metabolome-wide association analysis integrating 254 serum exogenous chemical residues with 478 endogenous metabolites to characterize pre-diagnostic metabolic disorders occurring up to 10 years before liver cancer onset and to delineate exposure-risk relationships. Individuals who later developed liver cancer exhibited pronounced metabolic perturbations, particularly involving bile acid metabolism, acylcarnitine pathways, glycerophospholipid turnover, sphingomyelin composition, and acylglycerol metabolism. A candidate early-warning panel comprising Phe/Tyr, FFA 24:1, PC (16:0_20:5), TG (18:1_18:1_21:0), and TG (18:3_17:1_18:2) was identified for liver cancer risk stratification. Exposure to salmeterol, diethylstilbestrol, and dibutyl phosphate showed positive associations with liver cancer risk, and mediation analysis highlighted tyrosine, PC (19:0_18:2), and SM (d18:1/24:1) as significant intermediators, suggesting hepatocarcinogenesis arises from the combined impact of exogenous chemical exposure and endogenous metabolic disorders. Overall, these findings indicate that early disturbances in bile acid, lipid, and amino acid metabolism precede clinical diagnosis by years and may serve as mechanistic links and early-warning biomarkers for exposure-related liver carcinogenesis.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":308,"journal":{"name":"Environment International","volume":"211 ","pages":"Article 110274"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147739212","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mapping the impact of prolonged microplastics exposure on enteric viral infections using human intestinal organoids","authors":"Jiangrong Zhou ,&nbsp;Yilan Zhao ,&nbsp;Xincheng Li ,&nbsp;Guige Xu ,&nbsp;Marcel J.C. Bijvelds ,&nbsp;Luc J.W. van der Laan ,&nbsp;Annemarie C. de Vries ,&nbsp;Qiuwei Pan ,&nbsp;Pengfei Li","doi":"10.1016/j.envint.2026.110213","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envint.2026.110213","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Micro- and nanoplastic particles (MNPs) are pervasive environmental pollutants increasingly detected in the human body, yet the health consequences of chronic exposure remain poorly defined. Human intestinal organoids (HIO) have emerged as superior platforms for modelling intestinal diseases including enteric viral infections. In this study, we established a chronic MNPs exposure model using HIO. Long-term MNPs exposure elicited transcriptomic signatures of mitochondrial stress and broad metabolic disruption without inducing overt epithelial cell death. Using this system, we modeled enteric viral infection with echovirus and rotavirus, and demonstrated that prolonged MNPs exposure reprogrammed epithelial antiviral responses, altered viral infection capability, and diminished the efficacy of antiviral treatment. Together, these findings suggest that chronic microplastic exposure can reshape mucosal physiology, modulate virus-host interactions, and impair therapeutic responsiveness, highlighting an under recognized dimension of MNPs impact on infectious disease outcomes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":308,"journal":{"name":"Environment International","volume":"210 ","pages":"Article 110213"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147501807","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Photoaging amplified the inhibition of microplastics on salivary amylase function via affecting the structure of α-helix: From in vitro digestive models to human samples","authors":"Han Li ,&nbsp;Shusi Wang ,&nbsp;Jing He ,&nbsp;Ruoyun Dong ,&nbsp;Tong Wang ,&nbsp;Yemian Zhou ,&nbsp;Yichen Liu ,&nbsp;An Xu ,&nbsp;Yun Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.envint.2026.110221","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envint.2026.110221","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Microplastics (MPs), as ubiquitous environmental contaminants, inevitably undergo photoaging processes. Critically, the predominant route of human exposure to environmental MPs is oral ingestion, thereby establishing the digestive system as their key target site. However, the effects and underlying mechanisms of photoaged MPs on different types of key digestive enzymes were still unclear. In this study, significant physicochemical properties alterations, including surface crumpling, detachment, and the generation of more oxygen-containing functional groups, were observed in polystyrene and polylactic acid MPs after UVA or UVC-induced photoaging. Compared with pristine MPs, photoaged MPs selectively inhibited <em>α</em>-amylase (AMS) activity by nearly 50% at the estimated maximum realistic human exposure concentration (700 μg/mL), without affecting the protein expression of AMS. In contrast, neither pristine nor photoaged MPs exerted significant effects on the activities of pepsin, lipase, or trypsin. Moreover, human samples revealed that the inhibition rates of AMS activity in healthy children (aged 0–6 years) were 1.5 times those observed in healthy adults (aged 18–35 years), demonstrating a higher susceptibility to photoaged MPs in children, which may be associated with physiological development or exposure levels. Mechanistic analysis further demonstrated that new byproducts generated following photoaging might be more prone to bind to <em>α</em>-helical domains, resulting in a reduction of <em>α</em>-helix content and consequently disrupting the function of AMS. Our findings established a structure–activity relationship between photoaged MPs and dysfunction of digestive enzymes, which may provide novel insights into understanding the relationships between MP exposure and the onset/progression of diseases in the digestive system, as well as disorders related to sugar metabolism.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":308,"journal":{"name":"Environment International","volume":"210 ","pages":"Article 110221"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147602761","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Microbial interactions and health risks of organophosphate esters and their transformation products in indoor dust","authors":"Si-Qi Wang ,&nbsp;Ze-Chao Hu ,&nbsp;Jin-Cheng Li ,&nbsp;Bing-Bing Sun ,&nbsp;Ming-Deng Xiang ,&nbsp;She-Xia Ma ,&nbsp;Yun-Jiang Yu","doi":"10.1016/j.envint.2026.110225","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envint.2026.110225","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The health risks of organophosphate esters (OPEs) have attracted increasing attention, yet information on their occurrence, transformation, and interactions with microorganisms remains limited. In this study, dust samples from various indoor microenvironments were collected and analyzed for 17 tri-OPEs and 9 transformation products (TPs), alongside characterization of bacterial communities. Both tri-OPEs and TPs were ubiquitous, with higher concentrations in public places than in residences. TPs may originate from both the degradation of parent tri-OPEs and direct commercial applications. Proteobacteria, Actinobacteriota, and Firmicutes dominated the bacterial community, with <em>Staphylococcus</em> as the predominant genus and numerous potential pathogenic taxa identified. Indoor OPE exposure was significantly associated with bacterial community composition (PERMANOVA, <em>p</em> &lt; 0.001), with markedly stronger genus-compound associations in residences than in public microenvironments. Functional gene predictions revealed phosphatase-mediated pathways potentially involved in OPE biotransformation. Predicted pathogenic potential indices were higher in public environments and positively correlated with OPE and TP levels (<em>p</em> &lt; 0.01). Although overall hazard quotients (HQs) indicated low non-carcinogenic risks, several TPs showed HQs and predicted receptor-binding affinities comparable to those of tri-OPEs. A ToxPi-based multi-dimensional assessment, incorporating HQs, receptor binding, physicochemical properties, and microbial associations, prioritized aryl tri-OPEs as the most concerning group, while several TPs also ranked highly, warranting further regulatory attention. This study highlights the critical role of linking chemical contamination in indoor dust with microbial characteristics for health risk assessment.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":308,"journal":{"name":"Environment International","volume":"210 ","pages":"Article 110225"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147643490","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The silent sex-related burden of human exposure to arctic dietary pollution","authors":"María Murcia-Morales ,&nbsp;Thora Herrmann ,&nbsp;Tahnee Prior ,&nbsp;Karl Karlsson ,&nbsp;Erik Kielsen ,&nbsp;Gaud Dervilly ,&nbsp;Bruno Le Bizec","doi":"10.1016/j.envint.2026.110234","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envint.2026.110234","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Climate change is accelerating the release and redistribution of contaminants in the Arctic, increasing human exposure to both legacy and emerging pollutants. Arctic biomonitoring studies reveal consistently higher contaminant levels in men than in women, driven by distinct dietary habits, exposure pathways, and physiological processes. To ensure effective protection of all population groups, Arctic research and policies must systematically integrate sex- and culture-sensitive perspectives into pollution and health strategies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":308,"journal":{"name":"Environment International","volume":"210 ","pages":"Article 110234"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147620038","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Maternal paraben exposure during early pregnancy is associated with altered cord blood DNA methylation: The PREDO cohort","authors":"Marjaana Mäkinen ,&nbsp;Johanna Tuhkanen ,&nbsp;Marius Lahti-Pulkkinen ,&nbsp;Jani Koponen ,&nbsp;Hannu Kiviranta ,&nbsp;Päivi Ruokojärvi ,&nbsp;Darina Czamara ,&nbsp;Katri Räikkönen ,&nbsp;Jari Lahti","doi":"10.1016/j.envint.2026.110195","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envint.2026.110195","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Prenatal exposure to parabens, which are environmental endocrine disrupting chemicals and widely used preservatives in cosmetics, may alter DNA methylation (DNAm) in cord blood.</div><div>Study design</div><div>In 328 mother–child dyads of the Finnish PREDO Study cohort, we studied with robust linear regression if paraben levels in early pregnancy associated with DNAm levels in cord blood. We measured genome-wide DNAm using Illumina Infinium Human Methylation 450 k or EPIC v1 arrays and concentrations of metabolites of six parabens, namely methyl-, ethyl-, propyl-, isopropyl-, butyl, and isobutylparaben, in early pregnancy urine samples with liquid chromatography – mass spectrometry. All parabens were analyzed as continuous and binary variables (high levels &gt; 66th percentile). As isopropylparaben was present in only 8 % of samples it was analyzed separately as a dichotomic (detected/undetected) variable. Furthermore, we explored the putative functions of associated DNAm markers.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Every mother in the cohort had been exposed to parabens during early pregnancy. After correction for multiple testing there were significant associations (<em>p</em>-value ≤ 2.4 × 10 ^-7) between parabens and hypomethylation of four GpG sites: butylparaben associated with cg19246197 near <em>USP2</em> (B = -0.009; <em>p</em> = 2.10 × 10^-7), high level of isobutylparaben associated with cg27194164 near <em>GLTD25D1</em> (B = -0.004; <em>p</em> = 1.89 × 10^-7), detected isopropylparaben associated with cg00973732 in <em>FAM38A</em> (B = 0.007; p = 1.26 × 10^-7), and high levels in the sum of the five most common parabens associated with cg21701043 in chromosome 11 (B = -0.016; <em>p</em> = 1.01 × 10^-7). In total, 52 CpG sites associated with at least one of the parabens at a suggestive level (<em>p</em>-value &lt; 1 × 10⁻⁵). Moreover, butyl- and isobutylparaben showed associations with differentially methylated regions located within <em>PF4</em> and <em>ABAT</em>.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>Paraben exposure during early pregnancy associates with altered DNAm in cord blood.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":308,"journal":{"name":"Environment International","volume":"210 ","pages":"Article 110195"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147489804","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A spatio-temporal systematic evidence map of exposure to bisphenols and their alternatives: Social and environmental justice","authors":"Bhedita J. Seewoo ,&nbsp;Aleksandra Gozt ,&nbsp;Ahmed Elagali ,&nbsp;Aoife Lyons ,&nbsp;Henoch Kabeya ,&nbsp;Christos Symeonides ,&nbsp;Sarah A. Dunlop","doi":"10.1016/j.envint.2026.110232","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envint.2026.110232","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Bisphenol A (BPA) and a growing number of its structural analogues and functional alternatives are widely used in consumer plastic products and therefore have high exposure potential. Social and environmental justice (SEJ) issues arise when exposure or health risks are unevenly distributed across populations. However, no global synthesis of their exposure levels exists.</div></div><div><h3>Objective</h3><div>To systematically map concentrations of bisphenols and alternatives in humans, visualising patterns by country, population characteristics, and over time, and identifying research gaps relevant to SEJ.</div></div><div><h3>Data sources</h3><div>MEDLINE®, Embase and Web of Science databases and 16 grey literature sources.</div></div><div><h3>Study eligibility criteria</h3><div>Primary studies that reported concentrations of at least one of 90 relevant chemicals in human bio-samples. Study quality was not evaluated.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>The SEJ Bisphenol Map (<span><span>https://osf.io/zhe69/</span><svg><path></path></svg></span>) includes 1413 primary research articles. Studies were disproportionately concentrated in high-income countries, with limited evidence from low-income countries and Small Island Developing States. BPA was the most frequently measured chemical, while data on BPA analogues and non-bisphenol alternatives were sparse. Children under two years old were commonly studied, but few studies examined elderly populations and workers or residents near plastics production and waste facilities. Sociodemographic variables, including socio-economic status and ethnicity, were inconsistently reported and no study explicitly considered sexual and gender minority populations.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>This first systematic evidence map of bisphenols and alternatives exposure highlights major gaps in geographic coverage, chemical scope, and sociodemographic reporting. Geographically diverse studies and explicit equity considerations are essential to strengthen the evidence base and guide equitable interventions.</div></div><div><h3>Systematic map registration number</h3><div>The protocol was registered prospectively with Open Science Framework (OSF) on the 6th of November 2023 (<span><span>https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/MNWTD</span><svg><path></path></svg></span>; <span><span>https://osf.io/mnwtd</span><svg><path></path></svg></span>).</div></div>","PeriodicalId":308,"journal":{"name":"Environment International","volume":"210 ","pages":"Article 110232"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147617507","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ultrafine particles in Australian and New Zealand cities: characteristics, trends, and relationship with ambient air pollutants","authors":"Parwapath Phunthirawuthi ,&nbsp;Giorgio Buonanno ,&nbsp;Gunaratnam Gunashanhar ,&nbsp;Congrong He ,&nbsp;Ruhi Humphries ,&nbsp;Rohan Jayaratne ,&nbsp;Melita Keywood ,&nbsp;Zijun Li ,&nbsp;Hamesh Patel ,&nbsp;Matthew Riley ,&nbsp;Zoran Ristovski ,&nbsp;Robyn Schofield ,&nbsp;Helen Thompson ,&nbsp;Lidia Morawska","doi":"10.1016/j.envint.2026.110227","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.envint.2026.110227","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Ultrafine particles (UFPs), a key component of urban air pollution, pose serious health risks due to their ability to penetrate deep into the lungs, enter the bloodstream, and reach the brain via the olfactory system. While larger particles (PM₁₀ and PM_2.5) are well studied through extensive monitoring and modelling, UFPs—measured as particle number concentration (PNC)—remain poorly quantified worldwide, including in Australasia. Available data on UFP concentrations and size distributions are scarce, fragmented, and often based on short-term or single-site studies, largely due to monitoring challenges. This limits the ability to detect regional trends, assess urban influences, and design effective air quality policies. This study addresses this gap in knowledge by analysing one year of PNC and particle size distribution (PSD) data from four cities – Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, and Auckland – representing four distinct environments. Cross-city comparisons were conducted using PNC harmonised to a common size range, while temporal variability, pollutant associations, and dominant PSD regimes were examined within each city. Harmonised median PNC levels across the three Australian sites were comparable, whereas the Auckland roadside site exhibited higher PNC associated with local source proximity. Diel patterns showed persistent traffic-related peaks and intermittent midday enhancements associated with new particle formation that varied by site type and season. Seasonal peaks occurred during the colder months, likely due to reduced atmospheric mixing and combustion-related sources. Findings highlight the need for dedicated PNC monitoring networks to improve understanding, guide air quality management, and reduce health risks from particulate pollution in urban environments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":308,"journal":{"name":"Environment International","volume":"210 ","pages":"Article 110227"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147641348","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}