Found 10148 publications. Showing page 1 of 406:
2026
2026
Evaluating the role of low-cost sensors in machine learning based European PM2.5 monitoring
We evaluate the added value of integrating validated Low-Cost Sensor (LCS) data into a Machine Learning (ML) framework for providing surface PM2.5 estimates over Central Europe at 1 km spatial resolution. The synergistic ML-based S-MESH (Satellite and ML-based Estimation of Surface air quality at High resolution) approach is extended, to incorporate LCS data through two strategies: using validated LCS data as a target variable (LCST) and as an input feature via an inverse distance weighted spatial convolution layer (LCSI). Both strategies are implemented within a stacked XGBoost model that ingests satellite-derived aerosol optical depth, meteorological variables, and CAMS (Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service) regional forecasts. Model performance for 2021–2022 is evaluated against a baseline trained on air quality monitoring stations without any form of LCS integration. Our results indicate that the LCSI approach consistently outperforms both the baseline and LCST models, particularly in urban areas, with RMSE reductions of up to 15–20 %. It also exhibits higher accuracy than the CAMS regional interim reanalysis with a lower annual mean absolute error (MAE) of 2.68 μg/m3 compared to 3.32 μg/m3. SHapley Additive exPlanations based analysis indicates that LCSI information improves both spatial and temporal representativeness, with the LCSI strategy better capturing localized pollution dynamics. However, the LCSI's dependency on the spatial LCS layer limits its ability to capture inter-urban pollution transport in regions with sparse or no LCS data. These findings highlight the value of large-scale sensor networks in addressing spatial coverage gaps in official air quality monitoring stations and advancing high-resolution air quality modeling.
2026
New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) are gaining significant momentum globally to reduce animal testing and enhance the efficiency and human relevance of chemical safety assessment. Even with substantial EU commitment from regulatory agencies and the academic community, the full regulatory adoption of NAMs remains a distant prospect. This challenge is further complicated by the fact that the academic world, oriented toward NAMs development, and regulatory agencies, focused on practical application, frequently operate in separate spheres. Addressing this disconnect, the present paper, developed within the European Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals (PARC), provides a clear overview of both the available non-animal tests and current evaluation practices for genotoxic and carcinogenic hazard assessment, while simultaneously highlighting existing regulatory needs, gaps, and challenges toward greater human health protection and the replacement of animal testing through NAMs adoption.
The analysis reveals a complex landscape: while the EU is deeply committed to developing and adopting NAMs, as outlined in its Chemical Strategy for Sustainability and supported by initiatives like PARC, prescriptive regulations such as Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) and Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) still heavily mandate in vivo animal data for hazard classification, particularly for germ cell mutagenicity and carcinogenicity. This reliance creates a “too-short-blanket-problem,” where efforts to reduce animal testing may impact human health protection because of the current in vivo-based classification criteria. In contrast, sectors such as cosmetics and certain European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)-regulated products demonstrate greater flexibility toward progressive integration of NAMs. While the deep mechanistic understanding of genotoxicity and carcinogenicity has significantly advanced the integration of alternatives to animal tests into regulatory chemical hazard assessment, their broader and full implementation faces considerable challenges due to both scientific complexities (i.e., the development and validation of fit-for-purpose NAMs) and existing legislative provisions.
2026
Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is a well-known air pollutant, mostly elevated by car traffic in cities. To date, small, reliable, cost-efficient multipollutant sensors with sufficient power and accuracy for community-based atmospheric studies are still lacking. The HAPADS (highly accurate and autonomous programmable platforms for providing air pollution data services) platforms, developed and tested in real conditions, can be a possible approach to solving this issue. The developed HAPADS platforms are equipped with three different NO2 sensors (7E4-NO2–5, SGX-7NO2, MICS-2711 MOS) and a combined ambient air temperature, humidity, and pressure sensor (BME280). The platforms were tested during the driving test, which was conducted across various roads, including highways, expressways, and national and regional routes, as well as major cities and the countryside, to analyse the environmental conditions as much as possible (Poland, 2024). The correlation coefficient r was more than 0.8, and RMSE (root mean squared error) was in the 3.3–4.3 μg/m3 range during the calibration process. The results obtained during the driving tests showed R2 of 0.9–1.0, which proves the ability of HAPADS platforms to work in the hard environmental conditions (including high rain and snow, as well as sun and a wide range of temperatures and humidity).
2026
2025
2025
2025
2025
The report provides the annual update of the European air quality concentration maps and population and vegetation exposure estimates for human health related indicators of pollutants PM10 (annual average, 90.4 percentile of daily means), PM2.5 (annual average), ozone (93.2 percentile of maximum daily 8-hour means, peak season average of maximum daily 8-hour means, SOMO35, SOMO10), NO2 (annual average) and benzo(a)pyrene (annual average), and vegetation related ozone indicators (AOT40 for vegetation and for forests) for the year 2023. The report contains also maps of Phytotoxic ozone dose (PODY) for selected crops (wheat, potato and tomato) and trees (spruce and beech) and NOx annual average map for the same year 2023. The trends in exposure estimates in the period 2005-2023 are summarized. The analysis for 2023 is based on the interpolation of the annual statistics of the 2023 observational data reported by the EEA member and cooperating countries and other voluntary reporting countries and stored in the Air Quality e-reporting database, complemented, when needed, with measurements from additional sources. The mapping method is the Regression – Interpolation – Merging Mapping (RIMM). It combines monitoring data, chemical transport model results and other supplementary data using linear regression model followed by kriging of its residuals (residual kriging). The report presents the mapping results and gives an uncertainty analysis of the interpolated maps. It also presents concentration change in 2023 in comparison to the 5-year average 2018-2022 using the difference maps and exposure estimates.
European Topic Centre on Human Health and the Environment (ETC HE)
2025
The report presents interim 2024 maps for PM10 annual average, PM2.5 annual average, O3 indicator peak season average of maximum daily 8-hour means, and NO2 annual average. The maps have been produced based on the 2024 non-validated E2a (UTD) data of the AQ e-reporting database, the CAMS Ensemble Forecast modelling data and other supplementary data. Together with the concentration maps, the inter-annual differences between 5-year average 2019-2023 and 2024 are presented (using the 2019-2023 regular and the 2024 interim maps), as well as basic exposure estimates based on the interim maps.
European Topic Centre on Human Health and the Environment (ETC HE)
2025
2025
EEA´s revision of the European air quality index bands
The European Air quality index has been updated and now its bands take into consideration the World Health Organization global air quality guidelines, published in 2021. A subindex per pollutant is calculated based on hourly data (including for PM, for which running 24-hours averages were considered before) and on the risk of short-term mortality. The worst pollutant subindex categorizes the index. The health messages linked to the different index categories remain unchanged.
European Topic Centre on Human Health and the Environment (ETC HE)
2025
Monitoring air quality around airports and nearby cities is crucial to understanding the role of emissions from air traffic and other airport activities. This report analyses air quality in 23 European airports, revealing limited observations in and around airport areas. Only three of the 23 airports had at least one air quality sampling point for NO2, PM2.5 and O3 inside the airport area. Concentrations in nearby cities can be up to double (NO2), 57% higher (PM2.5) and 85% higher (O3) when the wind comes from the airport. EEA air quality maps showed higher annual mean NO2 concentrations in airport areas compared to surrounding regions, with one airport above the 2030 limit value of 20 µg/m³. Annual mean PM2.5 concentrations were also higher in airport areas, with six airports exceeding the revised limit value. The limited number of sampling points makes it challenging to assess trends in NO2, PM2.5 and O3 concentrations. A final chapter of the report presents an overview of available measurements and studies of ultra fine particles (UFP) in the vicinity of airports.
European Topic Centre on Human Health and the Environment (ETC HE)
2025
NTVA inviterer til et møte der tre nyinnvalgte toppforskere fra Industriell økologi ved NTNU deler innsikt fra sin forskning. Under temaet «Hvordan bidrar fagfeltet Industriell økologi til klima- og miljøforskningen» presenterer Francesca Verones plastens påvirkning på havmiljøet, Helene Muri diskuterer nye og kontroversielle klimaløsninger, og Francesco Cherubini belyser utfordringer og muligheter knyttet til landbruk, karbonlagring og naturvern.
2025
Usare gli oceani per catturare l'anidride carbonica? Una tecnologia ancora non matura
Per raggiungere gli obbiettivi climatici oggi bisogna dare priorità a metodi che sappiamo già essere efficaci e non creano danni ulteriori all'ambiente
2025
¿Los océanos son una solución o un riesgo en la lucha contra el cambio climático?
Un nuevo estudio de la Universidad Noruega de Ciencia y Tecnología y otras instituciones de Europa analizó su rol en la reducción de dióxido de carbono y sus desafíos tecnológicos. Los resultados del trabajo presentado en la cumbre global COP30
2025
Extremt varmt i stan? Köp en vit bil
Global uppvärmning och extremvärme i städerna är ett växande problem. Nu lanserar forskarna en ny och helt oväntad lösning.
2025
CO₂-Entfernung im Ozean – Hoffnung und Risiko zugleich
Der Ozean gilt als Schlüssel zur CO₂-Entfernung – doch Forscher warnen vor unklaren Folgen und fehlender Kontrolle.
2025