The presence of contaminants or pollutant substances in the air (AIR POLLUTANTS) that interfere with human health or welfare, or produce other harmful environmental effects. The substances may include GASES; PARTICULATE MATTER; or volatile ORGANIC CHEMICALS.

Any substance in the air which could, if present in high enough concentration, harm humans, animals, vegetation or material. Substances include GASES; PARTICULATE MATTER; and volatile ORGANIC CHEMICALS.

A highly toxic, colorless, nonflammable gas. It is used as a pharmaceutical aid and antioxidant. It is also an environmental air pollutant.

Nitrogen oxide (NO2). A highly poisonous gas. Exposure produces inflammation of lungs that may only cause slight pain or pass unnoticed, but resulting edema several days later may cause death. (From Merck, 11th ed) It is a major atmospheric pollutant that is able to absorb UV light that does not reach the earth's surface.

Particles of any solid substance, generally under 30 microns in size, often noted as PM30. There is special concern with PM1 which can get down to PULMONARY ALVEOLI and induce MACROPHAGE ACTIVATION and PHAGOCYTOSIS leading to FOREIGN BODY REACTION and LUNG DISEASES.

The monitoring of the level of toxins, chemical pollutants, microbial contaminants, or other harmful substances in the environment (soil, air, and water), workplace, or in the bodies of people and animals present in that environment.

Collection, analysis, and interpretation of data about the frequency, distribution, and consequences of disease or health conditions, for use in the planning, implementing, and evaluating public health programs.

The unstable triatomic form of oxygen, O3. It is a powerful oxidant that is produced for various chemical and industrial uses. Its production is also catalyzed in the ATMOSPHERE by ULTRAVIOLET RAY irradiation of oxygen or other ozone precursors such as VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS and NITROGEN OXIDES. About 90% of the ozone in the atmosphere exists in the stratosphere (STRATOSPHERIC OZONE).

Respiratory tract diseases are a broad range of medical conditions that affect the nose, throat, windpipe, and lungs, impairing breathing and oxygen uptake, including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pneumonia, bronchitis, influenza, tuberculosis, and sleep apnea.

Gases, fumes, vapors, and odors escaping from the cylinders of a gasoline or diesel internal-combustion engine. (From McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed & Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed)

The exposure to potentially harmful chemical, physical, or biological agents in the environment or to environmental factors that may include ionizing radiation, pathogenic organisms, or toxic chemicals.

The contamination of indoor air.

Contamination of bodies of water (such as LAKES; RIVERS; SEAS; and GROUNDWATER.)

A large or important municipality of a country, usually a major metropolitan center.

The state of the ATMOSPHERE over minutes to months.

'Smoke' is a complex mixture of gases, fine particles, and volatile compounds, generally produced by combustion of organic substances, which can contain harmful chemicals known to have adverse health effects.

Contamination of the air, bodies of water, or land with substances that are harmful to human health and the environment.

Relating to the size of solids.

The status of health in urban populations.

Divisions of the year according to some regularly recurrent phenomena usually astronomical or climatic. (From McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th ed)

Carbon monoxide (CO). A poisonous colorless, odorless, tasteless gas. It combines with hemoglobin to form carboxyhemoglobin, which has no oxygen carrying capacity. The resultant oxygen deprivation causes headache, dizziness, decreased pulse and respiratory rates, unconsciousness, and death. (From Merck Index, 11th ed)

Diseases of the respiratory system in general or unspecified or for a specific respiratory disease not available.

Inorganic oxides that contain nitrogen.

All deaths reported in a given population.

A form of bronchial disorder with three distinct components: airway hyper-responsiveness (RESPIRATORY HYPERSENSITIVITY), airway INFLAMMATION, and intermittent AIRWAY OBSTRUCTION. It is characterized by spasmodic contraction of airway smooth muscle, WHEEZING, and dyspnea (DYSPNEA, PAROXYSMAL).

A country spanning from central Asia to the Pacific Ocean.

Adverse effect upon bodies of water (LAKES; RIVERS; seas; groundwater etc.) caused by CHEMICAL WATER POLLUTANTS.

An infant during the first month after birth.

An aspect of personal behavior or lifestyle, environmental exposure, or inborn or inherited characteristic, which, on the basis of epidemiologic evidence, is known to be associated with a health-related condition considered important to prevent.

The exposure to potentially harmful chemical, physical, or biological agents by inhaling them.

Compounds that accept electrons in an oxidation-reduction reaction. The reaction is induced by or accelerated by exposure to electromagnetic radiation in the spectrum of visible or ultraviolet light.

Metals with high specific gravity, typically larger than 5. They have complex spectra, form colored salts and double salts, have a low electrode potential, are mainly amphoteric, yield weak bases and weak acids, and are oxidizing or reducing agents (From Grant & Hackh's Chemical Dictionary, 5th ed)

A mixture of smoke and fog polluting the atmosphere. (Dorland, 27th ed)

Substances or organisms which pollute the water or bodies of water. Use for water pollutants in general or those for which there is no specific heading.

AUTOMOBILES, trucks, buses, or similar engine-driven conveyances. (From Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed)

The science of controlling or modifying those conditions, influences, or forces surrounding man which relate to promoting, establishing, and maintaining health.

Chemical compounds which pollute the water of rivers, streams, lakes, the sea, reservoirs, or other bodies of water.

Contamination of the air by tobacco smoke.

Any enterprise centered on the processing, assembly, production, or marketing of a line of products, services, commodities, or merchandise, in a particular field often named after its principal product. Examples include the automobile, fishing, music, publishing, insurance, and textile industries.

A dark powdery deposit of unburned fuel residues, composed mainly of amorphous CARBON and some HYDROCARBONS, that accumulates in chimneys, automobile mufflers and other surfaces exposed to smoke. It is the product of incomplete combustion of carbon-rich organic fuels in low oxygen conditions. It is sometimes called lampblack or carbon black and is used in INK, in rubber tires, and to prepare CARBON NANOTUBES.

Substances which pollute the soil. Use for soil pollutants in general or for which there is no specific heading.

A polysymptomatic condition believed by clinical ecologists to result from immune dysregulation induced by common foods, allergens, and chemicals, resulting in various physical and mental disorders. The medical community has remained largely skeptical of the existence of this "disease", given the plethora of symptoms attributed to environmental illness, the lack of reproducible laboratory abnormalities, and the use of unproven therapies to treat the condition. (From Segen, Dictionary of Modern Medicine, 1992)

Large natural streams of FRESH WATER formed by converging tributaries and which empty into a body of water (lake or ocean).

The art or practice of preparing food. It includes the preparation of special foods for diets in various diseases.

Acidic water usually pH 2.5 to 4.5, which poisons the ecosystem and adversely affects plants, fishes, and mammals. It is caused by industrial pollutants, mainly sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides, emitted into the atmosphere and returning to earth in the form of acidic rain water.

Any combustible hydrocarbon deposit formed from the remains of prehistoric organisms. Examples are petroleum, coal, and natural gas.

A natural fuel formed by partial decomposition of vegetable matter under certain environmental conditions.

The application of heat to raise the temperature of the environment, ambient or local, or the systems for accomplishing this effect. It is distinguished from HEAT, the physical property and principle of physics.

High temperature destruction of waste by burning with subsequent reduction to ashes or conversion to an inert mass.

Worthless, damaged, defective, superfluous or effluent material from industrial operations.

The inhabitants of a city or town, including metropolitan areas and suburban areas.

Created 1 January 1993 as a result of the division of Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

A major group of unsaturated cyclic hydrocarbons containing two or more rings. The vast number of compounds of this important group, derived chiefly from petroleum and coal tar, are rather highly reactive and chemically versatile. The name is due to the strong and not unpleasant odor characteristic of most substances of this nature. (From Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, 12th ed, p96)

The motion of air currents.

The presence of bacteria, viruses, and fungi in water. This term is not restricted to pathogenic organisms.

Exposure of the female parent, human or animal, to potentially harmful chemical, physical, or biological agents in the environment or to environmental factors that may include ionizing radiation, pathogenic organisms, or toxic chemicals that may affect offspring. It includes pre-conception maternal exposure.

The atmospheric properties, characteristics and other atmospheric phenomena especially pertaining to WEATHER or CLIMATE.

Materials or phenomena which can provide energy directly or via conversion.

Refuse liquid or waste matter carried off by sewers.

Water containing no significant amounts of salts, such as water from RIVERS and LAKES.

Substances or energies, for example heat or light, which when introduced into the air, water, or land threaten life or health of individuals or ECOSYSTEMS.

A distribution function used to describe the occurrence of rare events or to describe the sampling distribution of isolated counts in a continuum of time or space.

A rating of a body of water based on measurable physical, chemical, and biological characteristics.

Studies designed to examine associations, commonly, hypothesized causal relations. They are usually concerned with identifying or measuring the effects of risk factors or exposures. The common types of analytic study are CASE-CONTROL STUDIES; COHORT STUDIES; and CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDIES.

A product of hard secondary xylem composed of CELLULOSE, hemicellulose, and LIGNANS, that is under the bark of trees and shrubs. It is used in construction and as a source of CHARCOAL and many other products.

Removal of ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANTS or contaminants for the general protection of the environment. This is accomplished by various chemical, biological, and bulk movement methods, in conjunction with ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING.

Release of oil into the environment usually due to human activity.

Computer systems capable of assembling, storing, manipulating, and displaying geographically referenced information, i.e. data identified according to their locations.

Theoretical representations that simulate the behavior or activity of systems, processes, or phenomena. They include the use of mathematical equations, computers, and other electronic equipment.

Branch of medicine concerned with the prevention and control of disease and disability, and the promotion of physical and mental health of the population on the international, national, state, or municipal level.

The science dealing with the earth and its life, especially the description of land, sea, and air and the distribution of plant and animal life, including humanity and human industries with reference to the mutual relations of these elements. (From Webster, 3d ed)

I'm sorry for any confusion, but "California" is a place, specifically a state on the western coast of the United States, and not a medical term or concept. Therefore, it doesn't have a medical definition.

Supplying a building or house, their rooms and corridors, with fresh air. The controlling of the environment thus may be in public or domestic sites and in medical or non-medical locales. (From Dorland, 28th ed)

Procedures for finding the mathematical function which best describes the relationship between a dependent variable and one or more independent variables. In linear regression (see LINEAR MODELS) the relationship is constrained to be a straight line and LEAST-SQUARES ANALYSIS is used to determine the best fit. In logistic regression (see LOGISTIC MODELS) the dependent variable is qualitative rather than continuously variable and LIKELIHOOD FUNCTIONS are used to find the best relationship. In multiple regression, the dependent variable is considered to depend on more than a single independent variable.

'Fires' is not a recognized medical term for a symptom, diagnosis, or condition in patients.

A nonmetallic element with atomic symbol C, atomic number 6, and atomic weight [12.0096; 12.0116]. It may occur as several different allotropes including DIAMOND; CHARCOAL; and GRAPHITE; and as SOOT from incompletely burned fuel.

Earth or other matter in fine, dry particles. (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed)

A course of action or principle adopted or proposed by a government, party, business, or individual that concerns human interactions with nature and natural resources.

The maximum exposure to a biologically active physical or chemical agent that is allowed during an 8-hour period (a workday) in a population of workers, or during a 24-hour period in the general population, which does not appear to cause appreciable harm, whether immediate or delayed for any period, in the target population. (From Lewis Dictionary of Toxicology, 1st ed)

Noise associated with transportation, particularly aircraft and automobiles.

The qualitative or quantitative estimation of the likelihood of adverse effects that may result from exposure to specified health hazards or from the absence of beneficial influences. (Last, Dictionary of Epidemiology, 1988)

```bild{shortcode=!false}

Accumulations of solid or liquid animal excreta usually from stables and barnyards with or without litter material. Its chief application is as a fertilizer. (From Webster's 3d ed)

Compounds consisting of two or more fused ring structures.

Elements of residence that characterize a population. They are applicable in determining need for and utilization of health services.

Means or process of supplying water (as for a community) usually including reservoirs, tunnels, and pipelines and often the watershed from which the water is ultimately drawn. (Webster, 3d ed)

A usually four-wheeled automotive vehicle designed for passenger transportation and commonly propelled by an internal-combustion engine using a volatile fuel. (Webster, 1973)

Total mass of all the organisms of a given type and/or in a given area. (From Concise Dictionary of Biology, 1990) It includes the yield of vegetative mass produced from any given crop.

Studies in which subsets of a defined population are identified. These groups may or may not be exposed to factors hypothesized to influence the probability of the occurrence of a particular disease or other outcome. Cohorts are defined populations which, as a whole, are followed in an attempt to determine distinguishing subgroup characteristics.

Naturally occurring complex liquid hydrocarbons which, after distillation, yield combustible fuels, petrochemicals, and lubricants.

Measurement of the maximum rate of airflow attained during a FORCED VITAL CAPACITY determination. Common abbreviations are PEFR and PFR.

Pathological processes involving any part of the LUNG.

Discarded electronic devices containing valuable and sometimes hazardous materials such as LEAD, NICKEL, CADMIUM, and MERCURY. (from http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/ecycling/faq.htm#impact accessed 4/25/2010)

The enrichment of a terrestrial or aquatic ECOSYSTEM by the addition of nutrients, especially nitrogen and phosphorus, that results in a superabundant growth of plants, ALGAE, or other primary producers. It can be a natural process or result from human activity such as agriculture runoff or sewage pollution. In aquatic ecosystems, an increase in the algae population is termed an algal bloom.

Pathological conditions involving the CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM including the HEART; the BLOOD VESSELS; or the PERICARDIUM.

The process whereby a society changes from a rural to an urban way of life. It refers also to the gradual increase in the proportion of people living in urban areas.

The flow of water in enviromental bodies of water such as rivers, oceans, water supplies, aquariums, etc. It includes currents, tides, and waves.