This study examines variations in personal exposure to PM_2.5 and NO₂ while commuting by bicycle, vehicle, and walking during heating and non-heating seasons in Gliwice, an industrial city in Upper Silesia, Poland. Understanding these variations is crucial for assessing health risks and developing effective mitigation strategies. Personal exposure was measured using low-cost sensors, while stationary measurements provided comparative background concentrations. The results indicate statistically significant seasonal differences in pollutant concentrations. NO₂ levels were higher during the heating season (mean: 30.84 µg/m³, median: 25.60 µg/m³) than in the non-heating season (mean: 22.61 µg/m³, median: 20.37 µg/m³; p = 0.025). In contrast, PM_2.5 concentrations were higher in the non-heating season (mean: 12.1 µg/m³) compared to the heating season (mean: 9.5 µg/m³; p = 0.032). Inhaled doses instead of concentrations evaluated the exposure of participants. The inhaled doses of NO₂ and PM_2.5 per km were significantly higher for walking (mean: 141.3 and 30.7 µg/km for the male participant; 77.9 and 31.6 µg/km for the female participant) than for bicycle and walking (p < 0.05). These findings underscore the impact of transport mode and seasonality on air pollution exposure, highlighting the necessity for targeted mitigation strategies to reduce commuters’ exposure to traffic-related pollutants.

INTRODUCTION. Respiratory tract infections in children are an interdisciplinary problem that pediatricians, allergists, laryngologists and immunologists encounter on a daily basis. In the youngest children, these diseases are caused by the structure of the respiratory tract, which is shorter and narrower than in an adult, as well as the immaturity of the immune system. Among all children under 5 years of age hospitalized due to respiratory diseases, 20% of cases are acute respiratory infections. OBJECTIVE. The aim of the study is to discuss selected respiratory diseases in children aged 0-18 years hospitalized at the Pediatric Hospital in Bielsko-Biała. MATERIAL AND METHODS. In June 2023, statistical data from the Pediatric Hospital was received regarding the number of hospitalized children aged 0-18 in 2015-2022. This article covers the following respiratory diseases: acute laryngitis, acute pharyngitis, pneumonia, bronchitis and bronchiolitis, bronchial asthma, adenoid hypertrophy and palatine tonsil hypertrophy coexisting with adenoid hypertrophy. Then, a table was prepared illustrating the trends of individual disease entities in the discussed time period. RESULTS. A total of 5,573 hospitalizations were analyzed for the period from 2015-2022. The largest group of children (1,583) were hospitalized due to acute bronchitis and bronchiolitis (28.41%), due to hypertrophy of the adenoid (1,093) and palatine tonsils (1,039), which is 19.6% and 18.64% respectively. The smallest number of children and adolescents were hospitalized due to acute laryngotracheitis (474) and pharyngitis (361), which is 8.51% and 6.47%, respectively, and due to asthma (54), which is 0.97%. It has been observed that from 2017 to 2022 the number of hospitalized patients is constantly increasing due to acute pharyngitis and pneumonia, and from 2018 to 2022 due to acute laryngotracheitis. CONCLUSIONS. In the analyzed Pediatric Hospital in Bielsko-Biała, the number of hospitalized children (from 0 to 18 years of age) due to pharyngitis, laryngotracheitis and pneumonia increased during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2022). The number of hospitalized patients due to pneumonia increased by as many as 70 from 2021 (197) to 2022 (267). In the case of hospitalizations for pharyngitis during the COVID-19 period, the number ranged from 46 in 2019 to 69 in 2022. Also in the case of acute laryngotracheitis in the period 2019-2022, the number of hospitalized young patients increases and ranges from 61 to 76. Respiratory tract infections are an important and common health problem for children. The vast majority of respiratory infections are caused by viruses.

Air pollution can originate from natural processes (volcanism, wind erosion, decomposition of organic matter, methane generation) and human activities (industry, agriculture). Over 90% of children worldwide breathe polluted air, causing respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and cancers....

The aim of this study is to assess the contribution of selected air pollutants from the residential sector to the total emissions in Poland from 1990 to 2022 and to evaluate their impact on the incidence of selected diseases among children and adolescents aged 0 to 18 years. The study used data...

Malnutrition among adolescents

Chemical composition of polluted atmospheric air has a negative impact on human health as well as animals, water and soil. In effect it causes respiratory system disease, blood system disease and cancers. Children and elderly people are among the most endangered as their immune system is weak. It is estimated that every year in Poland 45000 people die as a result of polluted air. On a global scale the number rises to 7 million people. The aim of this elaboration is to present the concentration of chemical elements and particles, such as: suspended dust PM10 and PM2.5, nitro dioxide sulphur and benzo(a)pyrene, and to prove their negative impact on the human body. The article includes data from the Provincial Inspectorate for Environmental Protection in Katowice, Delegature in Bielsko-Biała. The next stage was to prepare appropriate graphs that show the concentrations of elements and chemical compounds in the air in individual months in 2018. The conducted analysis showed that the average annual PM2.5 dust concentration was 36 μg/m3, PM10 suspended dust 37 μg/m3, benzo(a)pyrene 4.47 ng/m3 and nitrogen oxides 62 μg/m3. In order to improve the sanitary state of the atmospheric air in the city of Bielsko-Biała and other areas with a high degree of urbanization, first of all reduce the sources of low emissions, i.e. emission of harmful dusts and gases from low emitters, which include chimneys, e.g from single-family houses or townhouses. Literature data show that exposure of people to particulate matter, benzo (a) pyrene and nitric oxides is mainly associated with an increased risk of heartbeat, bronchopulmonary and lung cancer and asthma.