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Anwar A, Ramis De Ayreflor Reyes S, John AA, Breiling E, O'Connor AM, Reis S, Shim JH, Shah AA, Srinivasan J, Farny NG. Nucleic acid aptamers protect against lead (Pb(II)) toxicity. N Biotechnol 2024; 83:36-45. [PMID: 38925526 DOI: 10.1016/j.nbt.2024.06.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2024] [Revised: 06/12/2024] [Accepted: 06/22/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024]
Abstract
Lead (Pb(II)) is a pervasive heavy metal toxin with many well-established negative effects on human health. Lead toxicity arises from cumulative, repeated environmental exposures. Thus, prophylactic strategies to protect against the bioaccumulation of lead could reduce lead-associated human pathologies. Here we show that DNA and RNA aptamers protect C. elegans from toxic phenotypes caused by lead. Reproductive toxicity, as measured by brood size assays, is prevented by co-feeding of animals with DNA or RNA aptamers. Similarly, lead-induced neurotoxicity, measured by behavioral assays, are also normalized by aptamer feeding. Further, cultured human HEK293 and primary murine osteoblasts are protected from lead toxicity by transfection with DNA aptamers. The osteogenic development, which is decreased by lead exposure, is maintained by prior transfection of lead-binding DNA aptamers. Aptamers may be an effective strategy for the protection of human health in the face of increasing environmental toxicants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Afreen Anwar
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609, USA; Department of Biotechnology, Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University, Rajouri, J&K, India
| | | | - Aijaz Ahmad John
- Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
| | - Erik Breiling
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609, USA
| | - Abigail M O'Connor
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609, USA
| | - Stephanie Reis
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609, USA
| | - Jae-Hyuck Shim
- Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA; Horae Gene Therapy Center, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA; Li Weibo Institute for Rare Diseases Research, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
| | - Ali Asghar Shah
- Department of Biotechnology, Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University, Rajouri, J&K, India
| | - Jagan Srinivasan
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609, USA; Program in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609, USA; Program in Neuroscience, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609, USA
| | - Natalie G Farny
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609, USA; Program in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609, USA; Program in Neuroscience, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609, USA.
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Portillo EN, Quiñones C, Foughty ZC, Ramphul R, Morrow AT, Fisher K, Harding SA, Camp EA, Hooli S, Russell EA. Communities Disproportionately Affected by Carbon Monoxide Exposure After Winter Storm Uri. JOURNAL OF PEDIATRICS. CLINICAL PRACTICE 2024; 13:200114. [PMID: 39035054 PMCID: PMC11258496 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpedcp.2024.200114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2023] [Revised: 04/17/2024] [Accepted: 04/19/2024] [Indexed: 07/23/2024]
Abstract
Extreme cold in February 2021 precipitated prolonged power failure in Texas. In Houston, many patients presented for carbon monoxide exposure from neighborhoods with lower per capita income, higher rates of limited English proficiency, and greater median Social Vulnerability Indices than Greater Houston. Weather-related disasters disproportionately affect socially vulnerable communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elyse N. Portillo
- Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine/Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, TX
| | - Casandra Quiñones
- Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine/Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, TX
| | - Zachary C. Foughty
- Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine/Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, TX
| | - Ryan Ramphul
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, TX
| | - Asha T. Morrow
- Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine/Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, TX
| | - Kathryn Fisher
- Division of Emergency Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
| | | | - Elizabeth A. Camp
- Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine/Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, TX
| | - Shubhada Hooli
- Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine/Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, TX
| | - Eric A. Russell
- Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine/Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, TX
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Barrett ES, Ames JL, Eick SM, Peterson AK, Rivera-Núñez Z, Starling AP, Buckley JP. Advancing Understanding of Chemical Exposures and Maternal-child Health Through the U.S. Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program: A Scoping Review. Curr Environ Health Rep 2024; 11:390-403. [PMID: 38985433 PMCID: PMC11324705 DOI: 10.1007/s40572-024-00456-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/24/2024] [Indexed: 07/11/2024]
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW Environmental chemical exposures may disrupt child development, with long-lasting health impacts. To date, U.S. studies of early environmental exposures have been limited in size and diversity, hindering power and generalizability. With harmonized data from over 60,000 participants representing 69 pregnancy cohorts, the National Institutes of Health's Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program is the largest study of U.S. children's health. Here, we: (1) review ECHO-wide studies of chemical exposures and maternal-child health; and (2) outline opportunities for future research using ECHO data. RECENT FINDINGS As of early 2024, in addition to over 200 single-cohort (or award) papers on chemical exposures supported by ECHO, ten collaborative multi-cohort papers have been made possible by ECHO data harmonization and new data collection. Multi-cohort papers have examined prenatal exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), phthalates, phenols and parabens, organophosphate esters (OPEs), metals, melamine and aromatic amines, and emerging contaminants. They have primarily focused on describing patterns of maternal exposure or examining associations with maternal and infant outcomes; fewer studies have examined later child outcomes (e.g., autism) although follow up of enrolled ECHO children continues. The NICHD's Data and Specimen Hub (DASH) database houses extensive ECHO data including over 470,000 chemical assay results and complementary data on priority outcome areas (pre, peri-, and postnatal, airway, obesity, neurodevelopment, and positive health), making it a rich resource for future analyses. ECHO's extensive data repository, including biomarkers of chemical exposures, can be used to advance our understanding of environmental influences on children's health. Although few published studies have capitalized on these unique harmonized data to date, many analyses are underway with data now widely available.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily S Barrett
- Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Rutgers School of Public Health; Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Piscataway, NJ, USA.
| | - Jennifer L Ames
- Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Oakland, CA, USA
| | - Stephanie M Eick
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health and Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Alicia K Peterson
- Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Oakland, CA, USA
| | - Zorimar Rivera-Núñez
- Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Rutgers School of Public Health; Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Piscataway, NJ, USA
| | - Anne P Starling
- Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Jessie P Buckley
- Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
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Slawsky ED, Weaver AM, Luben TJ, Rappazzo KM. Lead brownfields and birth defects in North Carolina 2003-2015: A cross-sectional case-control study. Birth Defects Res 2024; 116:e2367. [PMID: 39136602 PMCID: PMC11328954 DOI: 10.1002/bdr2.2367] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2024] [Revised: 05/22/2024] [Accepted: 05/28/2024] [Indexed: 08/18/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Brownfields consist of abandoned and disused sites, spanning many former purposes. Brownfields represent a heterogenous yet ubiquitous exposure for many Americans, which may contain hazardous wastes and represent urban blight. Neonates and pregnant individuals are often sensitive to subtle environmental exposures. We evaluate if residential exposure to lead (Pb) brownfields is associated with birth defects. METHODS Using North Carolina birth records from 2003 to 2015, we sampled 169,499 births within 10 km of a Pb brownfield with 3255 cardiovascular, central nervous, or external defects identified. Exposure was classified by binary specification of residing within 3 km of a Pb brownfield. We utilized multivariable logistic regression models adjusted for demographic covariates available from birth records and 2010 Census to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Effect measure modification was assessed by inclusion of interaction terms and stratification for the potential modifiers of race/ethnicity and diabetes status. RESULTS We observed positive associations between cardiovascular birth defects and residential proximity to Pb brownfields, OR (95%CI): 1.15 (1.04, 1.26), with suggestive positive associations for central nervous 1.16 (0.91, 1.47) and external defects 1.19 (0.88, 1.59). We did observe evidence of effect measure modification via likelihood ratio tests (LRT) for race/ethnicity for central nervous and external defect groups (LRT p values 0.08 and 0.02). We did observe modification by diabetes status for the cardiovascular group (LRT p value 0.08). CONCLUSIONS Our results from this analysis indicate that residential proximity to Pb brownfields is associated with cardiovascular birth defects with suggestive associations for central nervous and external defects. In-depth analyses of individual defects and other contaminants or brownfield site functions may reveal additional novel associations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erik D Slawsky
- UNC Gillings School of Public Health, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
- Oak Ridge Associated Universities at the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Anne M Weaver
- United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA
| | - Thomas J Luben
- United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA
| | - Kristen M Rappazzo
- United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA
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Pasetto R, Zona A, Marsili D, Buratti FM, Iavarone I, Soggiu ME, Testai E. Promotion of environmental public health and environmental justice in communities affected by large and long lasting industrial contamination: methods applied and lessons learned from the case study of Porto Torres (Italy). Front Public Health 2024; 12:1408127. [PMID: 39050598 PMCID: PMC11266294 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1408127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2024] [Accepted: 06/19/2024] [Indexed: 07/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction Communities affected by large scale and long lasting industrial contamination are often keen to understand whether their health has been impaired by such contamination. This requires answers that integrate environmental public health and environmental justice perspectives. At these sites, exposure scenarios from environmental contamination over time by multiple chemicals, often involving different environmental matrices, are complex and challenging to reconstruct. Methods An approach for describing the health of such communities in association with environmental contamination is presented, with the methods applied across the three domains of environmental contamination, population exposure and toxicology, environmental and social epidemiology, and environmental public health communication. The approach is described with examples from its application to the case study of Porto Torres, a town with a substantial industrially conditioned evolution. Results Activities in the field of environmental contamination, population exposure and toxicology focus on the collection and systematization of available contamination data, the identification of priority pollutants based on their toxicological profiles, the qualitative assessment of the likelihood of exposure for the population to priority pollutants and their known health effects. Environmental and social epidemiology methods are applied to describe the health profiles and socioeconomic conditions of the local population, taking into account multiple health outcomes from local information systems and considering specific diseases based on exposure and toxicological assessments. The environmental public health communication methods are directed to produce a communication plan and for its implementation through interaction with local institutional and social actors. The interpretation of health profiles benefits from a transdisciplinary analysis of the results. Discussion The proposed approach combines the needs of environmental public health and environmental justice allowing the integration of multidisciplinary knowledge to define recommendations for reducing and/or preventing hazardous environmental exposures and adverse health effects, stimulating the interactions between stakeholders, and making the study results more accessible to citizens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roberto Pasetto
- Environmental and Social Epidemiology Unit, Department of Environment and Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
- WHO Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health in Contaminated Sites, Rome, Italy
| | - Amerigo Zona
- Environmental and Social Epidemiology Unit, Department of Environment and Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
- WHO Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health in Contaminated Sites, Rome, Italy
| | - Daniela Marsili
- Environmental and Social Epidemiology Unit, Department of Environment and Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
- WHO Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health in Contaminated Sites, Rome, Italy
| | - Franca M. Buratti
- Mechanisms, Biomarkers and Models Unit, Department of Environment and Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Ivano Iavarone
- Environmental and Social Epidemiology Unit, Department of Environment and Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
- WHO Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health in Contaminated Sites, Rome, Italy
| | - Maria Eleonora Soggiu
- Exposure to Air, Soil Contaminants and Lifestyle Unit, Department of Environment and Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Emanuela Testai
- Mechanisms, Biomarkers and Models Unit, Department of Environment and Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
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Altug H, Ogurtsova K, Breyer-Kohansal R, Schiffers C, Ofenheimer A, Tzivian L, Hartl S, Hoffmann B, Lucht S, Breyer MK. Associations of long-term exposure to air pollution and noise with body composition in children and adults: Results from the LEAD general population study. ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL 2024; 189:108799. [PMID: 38865830 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2024.108799] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2023] [Revised: 04/30/2024] [Accepted: 06/02/2024] [Indexed: 06/14/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND While long-term air pollution and noise exposure has been linked to increasing cardiometabolic disease risk, potential effects on body composition remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the associations of long-term air pollution, noise and body composition. METHODS We used repeated data from the LEAD (Lung, hEart, sociAl, boDy) study conducted in Vienna, Austria. Body mass index (BMI; kg/m2), fat mass index (FMI; z-score), and lean mass index (LMI; z-score) were measured using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry at the first (t0; 2011-ongoing) and second (t1; 2017-ongoing) examinations. Annual particulate matter (PM10) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations were estimated with the GRAMM/GRAL model (2015-2021). Day-evening-night (Lden) and night-time (Lnight) noise levels from transportation were modeled for 2017 following the European Union Directive 2002/49/EC. Exposures were assigned to residential addresses. We performed analyses separately in children/adolescents and adults, using linear mixed-effects models with random participant intercepts and linear regression models for cross-sectional and longitudinal associations, respectively. Models were adjusted for co-exposure, lifestyle and sociodemographics. RESULTS A total of 19,202 observations (nt0 = 12,717, nt1 = 6,485) from participants aged 6-86 years (mean age at t0 = 41.0 years; 52.9 % female; mean PM10 = 21 µg/m3; mean follow-up time = 4.1 years) were analyzed. Among children and adolescents (age ≤ 18 years at first visit), higher PM10exposure was cross-sectionally associated with higher FMI z-scores (0.09 [95 % Confidence Interval (CI): 0.03, 0.16]) and lower LMI z-scores (-0.05 [95 % CI: -0.10, -0.002]) per 1.8 µg/m3. Adults showed similar trends in cross-sectional associations as children, though not reaching statistical significance. We observed no associations for noise exposures. Longitudinal analyses on body composition changes over time yielded positive associations for PM10, but not for other exposures. CONCLUSION Air pollution exposure, mainly PM10, was cross-sectionally and longitudinally associated with body composition in children/adolescents and adults. Railway/road-traffic noise exposures showed no associations in both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hicran Altug
- Institute for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Centre for Health and Society, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany.
| | - Katherine Ogurtsova
- Institute for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Centre for Health and Society, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Robab Breyer-Kohansal
- Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Lung Health, Vienna, Austria; Department of Respiratory and Pulmonary Diseases, Vienna Healthcare Group, Clinic Hietzing, Vienna, Austria
| | | | - Alina Ofenheimer
- Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Lung Health, Vienna, Austria; NUTRIM, School of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, the Netherlands
| | - Lilian Tzivian
- Institute for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Centre for Health and Society, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany; Institute of Clinical and Preventive Medicine, University of Latvia, Riga, Latvia
| | - Sylvia Hartl
- Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Lung Health, Vienna, Austria; Sigmund Freud University, Faculty of Medicine, Vienna, Austria
| | - Barbara Hoffmann
- Institute for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Centre for Health and Society, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Sarah Lucht
- Institute for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Centre for Health and Society, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany; Cardinal Health, Dublin, OH, USA
| | - Marie-Kathrin Breyer
- Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Lung Health, Vienna, Austria; Department of Respiratory and Pulmonary Diseases, Vienna Healthcare Group, Clinic Penzing, Vienna, Austria
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Osiecki K, Hussaini S, Sambanis A, Quinsey L, Liew C. Validating self-reported Toxic Release Inventory data using Benford's Law: investigating toxic chemical release hazards in floodplains. Front Public Health 2024; 12:1342510. [PMID: 38952724 PMCID: PMC11215073 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1342510] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2023] [Accepted: 05/15/2024] [Indexed: 07/03/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction Acute and long-term health impacts from flooding related toxic chemical releases are a significant local health concern and can disproportionately impact communities with vulnerable populations; reliable release data are needed to quantify this hazard. Methods In this paper, we analyze US Federal Emergency Management Agency designated floodplain data and US Environmental Protection Agency Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) data to determine if geographically manipulated databases adhere to Benford's Law. Results We investigated multiple variants and discovered pollution releases adhere to Benford's Law and tests which thereby validates the self-reported toxic release dataset. Discussion We find that Benford's Law applies to self-reported toxic chemical release and disposal data, indicating a lack of widespread data errors or manipulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristin Osiecki
- Center for Learning Innovation, University of Minnesota Rochester, Rochester, MN, United States
| | - Syed Hussaini
- Emergency Management and Resilience Planning Graduate Certificate Program, School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Apostolis Sambanis
- Emergency Management and Resilience Planning Graduate Certificate Program, School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Logan Quinsey
- Emergency Management and Resilience Planning Graduate Certificate Program, School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Chloe Liew
- Center for Learning Innovation, University of Minnesota Rochester, Rochester, MN, United States
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Molchan C, Zhang W, Fitzpatrick A, Mutic A. Clustering by chemicals: A novel examination of chemical pollutants and social vulnerability in children and adolescents. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2024; 250:118456. [PMID: 38342203 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2024.118456] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2023] [Revised: 01/23/2024] [Accepted: 02/08/2024] [Indexed: 02/13/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Inhaled air pollutants are environmental determinants of health with negative impacts on human health. Air pollution has been linked to the incidence and progression of disease, with its effects unequally distributed across the population. Children compared to adults are a highly vulnerable group and suffer disproportionately from systemic environmental inequities exacerbated by social determinants. OBJECTIVE To explore air pollution cluster patterns among 6- to 19-year-olds from the 2015-2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and examine chemical cluster associations with social vulnerability. METHODS NHANES data was extracted for 697 children and adolescents. Social vulnerability characteristics from questionnaires were assembled to construct a modified social vulnerability index (SVI). Thirty-four air pollutant exposure chemicals were measured in urine and available from the laboratory sub-sample A data. K-means clustering classified the sample into three groups: low, medium, and high chemical exposure groups. Logistic regression was used to examine associations between high chemical group membership and SVI after adjusting for age, biological sex, and BMI. Complex survey analysis was conducted using SAS v9.4 to reflect population effects. RESULTS Air pollution clusters revealed significant differences in mean concentrations between groups for 31 analytes with minimal distinction in mixture profiles. SVI scores differed significantly between the three groups (P = .002), and with each point increase in their SVI, the odds of a child being assigned to the highest-chemical exposure group increased by 11.55% (95% CI: 1.02-1.31), after adjustment. CONCLUSION Unsupervised clustering of environmental sub-sample specimens from NHANES provides an innovative, multi-pollutant model that can be used to explore exposure patterns in this population. Utilizing the modified SVI allows for the identification of children that may be highly susceptible to air pollution. It is imperative to interpret the research findings in light of historical structural and discriminatory inequalities to develop beneficial and sustainable solutions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carin Molchan
- Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Wenhui Zhang
- Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Anne Fitzpatrick
- Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Abby Mutic
- Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
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Weston WC, Bind MA, Cascio WE, Devlin RB, Diaz-Sanchez D, Ward-Caviness CK. Accelerated aging and altered subclinical response to ozone exposure in young, healthy adults. ENVIRONMENTAL EPIGENETICS 2024; 10:dvae007. [PMID: 38846065 PMCID: PMC11155485 DOI: 10.1093/eep/dvae007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2023] [Revised: 03/11/2024] [Accepted: 05/02/2024] [Indexed: 06/09/2024]
Abstract
Ozone exposure induces a myriad of adverse cardiopulmonary outcomes in humans. Although advanced age and chronic disease are factors that may exacerbate a person's negative response to ozone exposure, there are no molecular biomarkers of susceptibility. Here, we examine whether epigenetic age acceleration (EAA) is associated with responsiveness to short-term ozone exposure. Using data from a crossover-controlled exposure study (n = 17), we examined whether EAA, as measured in lung epithelial cells collected 24 h after clean air exposure, modifies the observed effect of ozone on autonomic function, cardiac electrophysiology, hemostasis, pulmonary function, and inflammation. EAA was assessed in lung epithelial cells extracted from bronchoalveolar lavage fluids, using the pan-tissue aging clock. We used two analytic approaches: (i) median regression to estimate the association between EAA and the estimated risk difference for subclinical responses to ozone and (ii) a block randomization approach to estimate EAA's effect modification of subclinical responses. For both approaches, we calculated Fisher-exact P-values, allowing us to bypass large sample size assumptions. In median regression analyses, accelerated epigenetic age modified associations between ozone and heart rate-corrected QT interval (QTc) ([Formula: see text]= 0.12, P-value = 0.007) and between ozone and C-reactive protein ([Formula: see text] = -0.18, P = 0.069). During block randomization, the directions of association remained consistent for QTc and C-reactive protein; however, the P-values weakened. Block randomization also revealed that responsiveness of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) to ozone exposure was modified by accelerated epigenetic aging (PAI-1 difference between accelerated aging-defined block groups = -0.54, P-value = 0.039). In conclusion, EAA is a potential biomarker for individuals with increased susceptibility to ozone exposure even among young, healthy adults.
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Affiliation(s)
- William C Weston
- Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, US Environmental Protection Agency, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA
- US Department of Energy, Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, Oak Ridge, TN 37830, USA
| | - Marie Abèle Bind
- Biostatistics Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Wayne E Cascio
- Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, US Environmental Protection Agency, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA
| | - Robert B Devlin
- Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, US Environmental Protection Agency, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA
| | - David Diaz-Sanchez
- Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, US Environmental Protection Agency, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA
| | - Cavin K Ward-Caviness
- Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, US Environmental Protection Agency, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA
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Teyton A, Ndovu A, Baer RJ, Bandoli G, Benmarhnia T. Disparities in the impact of heat wave definitions on emergency department visits during the first year of life among preterm and full-term infants in California. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2024; 248:118299. [PMID: 38272297 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2024.118299] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2023] [Revised: 01/04/2024] [Accepted: 01/22/2024] [Indexed: 01/27/2024]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Heat waves will be aggravated due to climate change, making this a critical public health threat. However, heat wave definitions to activate alert systems can be ambiguous, highlighting the need to assess a range of definitions to identify those that contribute to the most adverse health outcomes. Additionally, children are highly susceptible to the impacts of heat waves, especially infants, despite the lack of focus on this subpopulation. We aimed to assess the relationship between 30 heat wave definitions and the first all-cause emergency department (ED) visits for California infants. We also examined modification of this relationship by preterm birth status and demographic characteristics to identify possible health disparities. METHODS Live-born, singleton deliveries from the Study of Outcomes in Mothers and Infants born in 2014-2018 were included. Thirty heat wave definitions were assessed based on temperature metrics (minimum/maximum temperatures), thresholds (90th; 92.5th; 95th; 97.5th; 99th percentiles), and duration (1-; 2-; 3-days). A time-stratified case-crossover design assessed heat wave impacts on ED visits using infants with a warm season ED visit (May-October) within the first year of life (n = 228,250). Effect modification by preterm birth status, age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, and delivery payment type was also investigated. RESULTS Infants demonstrated increased risk of an ED visit with exposure to all heat definitions. The 3-day minimum temperature 99th percentile definition had the highest adjusted odds ratio (AOR: 1.14; 95% CI: 1.05-1.23) for the total population. Term infants were more affected by some heat waves than preterm infants. Effect modification was additionally identified, such as by maternal education. DISCUSSION This study provides insight on the heat wave definitions that lead to adverse health outcomes and the identification of the most susceptible infants to these impacts, which has implications on heat-related interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anaïs Teyton
- Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA; School of Public Health, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Dr, San Diego, CA, 92182, USA; Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, 8885, Biological Grade, La Jolla, CA, 92037, USA.
| | - Allan Ndovu
- University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, 533 Parnassus Ave, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA
| | - Rebecca J Baer
- California Preterm Birth Initiative, University of California, San Francisco, 490 Illinois Street, Flr. 9 Box 2930, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA; Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA
| | - Gretchen Bandoli
- Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA; Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA
| | - Tarik Benmarhnia
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, 8885, Biological Grade, La Jolla, CA, 92037, USA
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Anwar A, De Ayreflor Reyes SR, John AA, Breiling E, O’Connor AM, Reis S, Shim JH, Shah AA, Srinivasan J, Farny NG. Nucleic Acid Aptamers Protect Against Lead (Pb(II)) Toxicity. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.03.28.587288. [PMID: 38585880 PMCID: PMC10996642 DOI: 10.1101/2024.03.28.587288] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/09/2024]
Abstract
Lead (Pb(II)) is a pervasive heavy metal toxin with many well-established negative effects on human health. Lead toxicity arises from cumulative, repeated environmental exposures. Thus, prophylactic strategies to protect against the bioaccumulation of lead could reduce lead-associated human pathologies. Here we show that DNA and RNA aptamers protect C. elegans from toxic phenotypes caused by lead. Reproductive toxicity, as measured by brood size assays, is prevented by co-feeding of animals with DNA or RNA aptamers. Similarly, lead-induced behavioral anomalies are also normalized by aptamer feeding. Further, cultured human HEK293 and primary murine osteoblasts are protected from lead toxicity by transfection with DNA aptamers. The osteogenic development, which is decreased by lead exposure, is maintained by prior transfection of lead-binding DNA aptamers. Aptamers may be an effective strategy for the protection of human health in the face of increasing environmental toxicants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Afreen Anwar
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA, 01609, USA
- Department of Biotechnology, Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University, Rajouri (J&K), India
| | | | - Aijaz Ahmad John
- Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
| | - Erik Breiling
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA, 01609, USA
| | - Abigail M. O’Connor
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA, 01609, USA
| | - Stephanie Reis
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA, 01609, USA
| | - Jae-Hyuck Shim
- Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
- Horae Gene Therapy Center, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
- Li Weibo Institute for Rare Diseases Research, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
| | - Ali Asghar Shah
- Department of Biotechnology, Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University, Rajouri (J&K), India
| | - Jagan Srinivasan
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA, 01609, USA
- Program in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA, 01609, USA
- Program in Neuroscience, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA, 01609, USA
| | - Natalie G. Farny
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA, 01609, USA
- Program in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA, 01609, USA
- Program in Neuroscience, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA, 01609, USA
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12
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Yalung JE, Shifman HP, Manning ER, Beck A, Bucuvalas J, Lai JC, Wadhwani SI. Ambient air pollution is associated with graft failure/death in pediatric liver transplant recipients. Am J Transplant 2024; 24:448-457. [PMID: 37898318 PMCID: PMC10922359 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajt.2023.10.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2023] [Revised: 09/28/2023] [Accepted: 10/12/2023] [Indexed: 10/30/2023]
Abstract
Children exposed to disproportionately higher levels of air pollution experience worse health outcomes. In this population-based, observational registry study, we examine the association between air pollution and graft failure/death in children following liver transplantation (LT) in the US. We modeled the associations between air pollution (PM2.5) levels localized to the patient's ZIP code at the time of transplant and graft failure or death using Cox proportional-hazards models in pediatric LT recipients aged <19 years in the US from 2005-2015. In univariable analysis, high neighborhood PM2.5 was associated with a 56% increased hazard of graft failure/death (HR: 1.56; 95% CI: 1.32, 1.83; P < .001). In multivariable analysis, high neighborhood PM2.5 was associated with a 54% increased risk of graft failure/death (HR: 1.54; 95% CI: 1.29, 1.83; P < .001) after adjusting for race as a proxy for racism, insurance status, rurality, and neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation. Children living in high air pollution neighborhoods have an increased risk of graft failure and death posttransplant, even after controlling for sociodemographic variables. Our findings add further evidence that air pollution contributes to adverse health outcomes for children posttransplant and lay the groundwork for future studies to evaluate underlying mechanisms linking PM2.5 to adverse LT outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jared E Yalung
- School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA; UC Berkeley-UCSF Joint Medical Program, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Holly P Shifman
- School of Medicine, Oakland University William Beaumont, Rochester, Michigan, USA
| | | | - Andrew Beck
- Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
| | - John Bucuvalas
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Hepatology, Mount Sinai Kravis Children's Hospital, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
| | - Jennifer C Lai
- Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA
| | - Sharad I Wadhwani
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
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13
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Patel J, Katapally TR, Khadilkar A, Bhawra J. The interplay between air pollution, built environment, and physical activity: Perceptions of children and youth in rural and urban India. Health Place 2024; 85:103167. [PMID: 38128264 DOI: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2023.103167] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2023] [Revised: 12/05/2023] [Accepted: 12/06/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023]
Abstract
The role of physical inactivity as a contributor to non-communicable disease risk in children and youth is widely recognized. Air pollution and the built environment can limit participation in physical activity and exacerbate non-communicable disease risk; however, the relationships between perceptions of air pollution, built environment, and health behaviours are not fully understood, particularly among children and youth in low and middle-income countries. Currently, there are no studies capturing how child and youth perceptions of air pollution and built environment are associated with physical activity in India, thus, this study investigated the association between perceived air pollution and built environment on moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) levels of Indian children and youth. Online surveys captured MVPA, perception of air pollution as a problem, built environment factors, as well as relevant sociodemographic characteristics from parents and children aged 5-17 years in partnership with 41 schools across 28 urban and rural locations during the Coronavirus disease lockdowns in 2021. After adjusting for age, gender, and location, a significant association was found between the perception of air pollution as a problem and MVPA levels (β = -18.365, p < 0.001). Similarly, the perception of a high crime rate was associated with lower MVPA levels (β = -23.383, p = 0.002). Reporting the presence of zebra crossings, pedestrian signals, or attractive natural sightings were associated with higher MVPA levels; however, this association varied across sociodemographic groups. These findings emphasize the importance of addressing air pollution and improving the built environment to facilitate outdoor active living, including active transportation, among children and youth - solutions that are particularly relevant not only for preventing non-communicable disease risk but also for climate change mitigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jamin Patel
- DEPtH Lab, Faculty of Health Sciences, Western University, London, Ontario, N6A 5B9, Canada; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, Ontario, N6A 3K7, Canada
| | - Tarun Reddy Katapally
- DEPtH Lab, Faculty of Health Sciences, Western University, London, Ontario, N6A 5B9, Canada; Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, Ontario, N6A 3K7, Canada; Children's Health Research Institute, Lawson Health Research Institute, 750 Base Line Road East, Suite 300, London, Ontario, N6C 2R5, Canada; Hirabai Cowasji Jehangir Medical Research Institute, Pune, Maharashtra, 411 001, India
| | - Anuradha Khadilkar
- Hirabai Cowasji Jehangir Medical Research Institute, Pune, Maharashtra, 411 001, India
| | - Jasmin Bhawra
- Hirabai Cowasji Jehangir Medical Research Institute, Pune, Maharashtra, 411 001, India; School of Occupational and Public Health, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Ontario, M5B 2K3, Canada.
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14
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Lee RJ, Tao Z, Prybutok S, Jang S, Dalaijamts C, Chiu WA, Newman G. Unseen Risk: Mapping Contamination Hazards to Enhance Risk Perception in Galena Park, Texas. CLIMATE RISK MANAGEMENT 2023; 41:100532. [PMID: 38298905 PMCID: PMC10830168 DOI: 10.1016/j.crm.2023.100532] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2024]
Abstract
As extreme weather events have become more frequently observed in recent decades, concerns about exposure to potential flood risk have increased, especially in underserved and socially vulnerable communities. Galena Park, Texas, is a socially vulnerable community that also confronts escalated physical vulnerabilities due to existing flood risks from Buffalo Bayou and the Houston Ship Channel as well as proximity to industrial facilities that emit chemical pollution. To better understand the underlying risks that Galena Park is facing, this research assesses and visualizes the existing contamination hazards associated with the chemical facilities within Galena Park. Through this process, we (1) compute the environmental, health, and physical hazards associated with industrial facilities, (2) spatially geocode the points of contamination sources and flood exposure, and (3) increase awareness of existing risk by visualizing and distributing related information using an ArcGIS Dashboard. The results indicate that there are 169 points of location from 127 industrial facilities, and 24 points were inducing potential chemicals. In total, 126 chemicals have potential physical, health, and environmental hazards. On average, each facility has 2.4 chemicals that could cause potential hazards with a range of zero to 57 chemicals. When examining the specific physical, health, and environmental risks associated with the chemicals, on average each facility has 14.6 types of risks associated with it. This includes, on average, 9.8 types of health hazards, 1.53 physical hazards, and 2.3 environmental hazards per facility. When analyzing the spatial relationship between the chemical exposure and the current flood risk using the Dashboard, it is noticeable that most of the industrial facilities are located in the south of Galena Park, near Buffalo Bayou, where a variety of industrial facilities are clustered. Through this study, we spatially mapped the existing risks in Galena Park that are not readily available to the community and risks that are not currently tangible or visible. The utility of ArcGIS Dashboards affords the opportunity to translate massive databases into digestible knowledge that can be shared and utilized within the community. This study also takes another step toward building community resilience by providing knowledge that can be used to prepare for and respond to disasters. Visualizing unseen risks and promoting awareness can enhance risk perception when supported by scientific knowledge. Further investigation is necessary to enhance preparedness behaviors, identify proper evacuation techniques and routes, and build community networks to comprehensively promote resilience to multi-hazard circumstances.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryun Jung Lee
- School of Architecture and Planning, College of Engineering and Integrated Design, The University of Texas at San Antonio, 501 W. César E. Chávez Blvd., San Antonio, TX 78207, USA
| | - Zhihan Tao
- School of Architecture, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Sara Prybutok
- School of Architecture, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Suji Jang
- Department of Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Chimeddulam Dalaijamts
- Department of Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Weihsueh A. Chiu
- Department of Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
- Interdisciplinary Faculty of Toxicology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
| | - Galen Newman
- School of Architecture, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
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Chakraborty J, Aun JJ. Social Inequities in Exposure to Traffic-Related Air and Noise Pollution at Public Schools in Texas. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2023; 20:5308. [PMID: 37047923 PMCID: PMC10094516 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20075308] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2023] [Revised: 03/21/2023] [Accepted: 03/24/2023] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
Although children are particularly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of vehicular pollution and spend significant portions of their time at school, previous studies have not examined or compared school-level social inequities in exposure to both traffic-related air and noise pollution in the same study area. We addressed this gap through a case study in Texas-the second-largest US state based on total population and number of children. Vehicular pollution exposure was measured using: (1) outdoor concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a widely used proxy for traffic-related air pollution; and (2) road noise estimates from the US Department of Transportation's National Transportation Noise Mapping Tool. These variables were linked to data on locations and sociodemographic characteristics of children enrolled in Texas public schools. We found children attending schools with the highest exposure to both NO2 and road noise (top 25%) were significantly more likely to be Black, Hispanic, and eligible for free/reduced lunches (socioeconomically deprived). Results from multivariable generalized estimating equations that control for spatial clustering and other relevant factors revealed that schools with greater NO2 exposure were significantly more likely to serve racial/ethnic minority and younger students, while schools with greater exposure to road noise were significantly more likely to serve socioeconomically deprived and older students. These findings underscore the urgent need to reduce both air pollution and noise exposure at school locations, especially in schools attended by higher proportions of socially disadvantaged children that are often additionally burdened with other challenges.
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Landrigan PJ, Raps H, Cropper M, Bald C, Brunner M, Canonizado EM, Charles D, Chiles TC, Donohue MJ, Enck J, Fenichel P, Fleming LE, Ferrier-Pages C, Fordham R, Gozt A, Griffin C, Hahn ME, Haryanto B, Hixson R, Ianelli H, James BD, Kumar P, Laborde A, Law KL, Martin K, Mu J, Mulders Y, Mustapha A, Niu J, Pahl S, Park Y, Pedrotti ML, Pitt JA, Ruchirawat M, Seewoo BJ, Spring M, Stegeman JJ, Suk W, Symeonides C, Takada H, Thompson RC, Vicini A, Wang Z, Whitman E, Wirth D, Wolff M, Yousuf AK, Dunlop S. The Minderoo-Monaco Commission on Plastics and Human Health. Ann Glob Health 2023; 89:23. [PMID: 36969097 PMCID: PMC10038118 DOI: 10.5334/aogh.4056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 53.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2023] [Accepted: 02/14/2023] [Indexed: 03/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Plastics have conveyed great benefits to humanity and made possible some of the most significant advances of modern civilization in fields as diverse as medicine, electronics, aerospace, construction, food packaging, and sports. It is now clear, however, that plastics are also responsible for significant harms to human health, the economy, and the earth's environment. These harms occur at every stage of the plastic life cycle, from extraction of the coal, oil, and gas that are its main feedstocks through to ultimate disposal into the environment. The extent of these harms not been systematically assessed, their magnitude not fully quantified, and their economic costs not comprehensively counted. Goals The goals of this Minderoo-Monaco Commission on Plastics and Human Health are to comprehensively examine plastics' impacts across their life cycle on: (1) human health and well-being; (2) the global environment, especially the ocean; (3) the economy; and (4) vulnerable populations-the poor, minorities, and the world's children. On the basis of this examination, the Commission offers science-based recommendations designed to support development of a Global Plastics Treaty, protect human health, and save lives. Report Structure This Commission report contains seven Sections. Following an Introduction, Section 2 presents a narrative review of the processes involved in plastic production, use, and disposal and notes the hazards to human health and the environment associated with each of these stages. Section 3 describes plastics' impacts on the ocean and notes the potential for plastic in the ocean to enter the marine food web and result in human exposure. Section 4 details plastics' impacts on human health. Section 5 presents a first-order estimate of plastics' health-related economic costs. Section 6 examines the intersection between plastic, social inequity, and environmental injustice. Section 7 presents the Commission's findings and recommendations. Plastics Plastics are complex, highly heterogeneous, synthetic chemical materials. Over 98% of plastics are produced from fossil carbon- coal, oil and gas. Plastics are comprised of a carbon-based polymer backbone and thousands of additional chemicals that are incorporated into polymers to convey specific properties such as color, flexibility, stability, water repellence, flame retardation, and ultraviolet resistance. Many of these added chemicals are highly toxic. They include carcinogens, neurotoxicants and endocrine disruptors such as phthalates, bisphenols, per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), brominated flame retardants, and organophosphate flame retardants. They are integral components of plastic and are responsible for many of plastics' harms to human health and the environment.Global plastic production has increased almost exponentially since World War II, and in this time more than 8,300 megatons (Mt) of plastic have been manufactured. Annual production volume has grown from under 2 Mt in 1950 to 460 Mt in 2019, a 230-fold increase, and is on track to triple by 2060. More than half of all plastic ever made has been produced since 2002. Single-use plastics account for 35-40% of current plastic production and represent the most rapidly growing segment of plastic manufacture.Explosive recent growth in plastics production reflects a deliberate pivot by the integrated multinational fossil-carbon corporations that produce coal, oil and gas and that also manufacture plastics. These corporations are reducing their production of fossil fuels and increasing plastics manufacture. The two principal factors responsible for this pivot are decreasing global demand for carbon-based fuels due to increases in 'green' energy, and massive expansion of oil and gas production due to fracking.Plastic manufacture is energy-intensive and contributes significantly to climate change. At present, plastic production is responsible for an estimated 3.7% of global greenhouse gas emissions, more than the contribution of Brazil. This fraction is projected to increase to 4.5% by 2060 if current trends continue unchecked. Plastic Life Cycle The plastic life cycle has three phases: production, use, and disposal. In production, carbon feedstocks-coal, gas, and oil-are transformed through energy-intensive, catalytic processes into a vast array of products. Plastic use occurs in every aspect of modern life and results in widespread human exposure to the chemicals contained in plastic. Single-use plastics constitute the largest portion of current use, followed by synthetic fibers and construction.Plastic disposal is highly inefficient, with recovery and recycling rates below 10% globally. The result is that an estimated 22 Mt of plastic waste enters the environment each year, much of it single-use plastic and are added to the more than 6 gigatons of plastic waste that have accumulated since 1950. Strategies for disposal of plastic waste include controlled and uncontrolled landfilling, open burning, thermal conversion, and export. Vast quantities of plastic waste are exported each year from high-income to low-income countries, where it accumulates in landfills, pollutes air and water, degrades vital ecosystems, befouls beaches and estuaries, and harms human health-environmental injustice on a global scale. Plastic-laden e-waste is particularly problematic. Environmental Findings Plastics and plastic-associated chemicals are responsible for widespread pollution. They contaminate aquatic (marine and freshwater), terrestrial, and atmospheric environments globally. The ocean is the ultimate destination for much plastic, and plastics are found throughout the ocean, including coastal regions, the sea surface, the deep sea, and polar sea ice. Many plastics appear to resist breakdown in the ocean and could persist in the global environment for decades. Macro- and micro-plastic particles have been identified in hundreds of marine species in all major taxa, including species consumed by humans. Trophic transfer of microplastic particles and the chemicals within them has been demonstrated. Although microplastic particles themselves (>10 µm) appear not to undergo biomagnification, hydrophobic plastic-associated chemicals bioaccumulate in marine animals and biomagnify in marine food webs. The amounts and fates of smaller microplastic and nanoplastic particles (MNPs <10 µm) in aquatic environments are poorly understood, but the potential for harm is worrying given their mobility in biological systems. Adverse environmental impacts of plastic pollution occur at multiple levels from molecular and biochemical to population and ecosystem. MNP contamination of seafood results in direct, though not well quantified, human exposure to plastics and plastic-associated chemicals. Marine plastic pollution endangers the ocean ecosystems upon which all humanity depends for food, oxygen, livelihood, and well-being. Human Health Findings Coal miners, oil workers and gas field workers who extract fossil carbon feedstocks for plastic production suffer increased mortality from traumatic injury, coal workers' pneumoconiosis, silicosis, cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lung cancer. Plastic production workers are at increased risk of leukemia, lymphoma, hepatic angiosarcoma, brain cancer, breast cancer, mesothelioma, neurotoxic injury, and decreased fertility. Workers producing plastic textiles die of bladder cancer, lung cancer, mesothelioma, and interstitial lung disease at increased rates. Plastic recycling workers have increased rates of cardiovascular disease, toxic metal poisoning, neuropathy, and lung cancer. Residents of "fenceline" communities adjacent to plastic production and waste disposal sites experience increased risks of premature birth, low birth weight, asthma, childhood leukemia, cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lung cancer.During use and also in disposal, plastics release toxic chemicals including additives and residual monomers into the environment and into people. National biomonitoring surveys in the USA document population-wide exposures to these chemicals. Plastic additives disrupt endocrine function and increase risk for premature births, neurodevelopmental disorders, male reproductive birth defects, infertility, obesity, cardiovascular disease, renal disease, and cancers. Chemical-laden MNPs formed through the environmental degradation of plastic waste can enter living organisms, including humans. Emerging, albeit still incomplete evidence indicates that MNPs may cause toxicity due to their physical and toxicological effects as well as by acting as vectors that transport toxic chemicals and bacterial pathogens into tissues and cells.Infants in the womb and young children are two populations at particularly high risk of plastic-related health effects. Because of the exquisite sensitivity of early development to hazardous chemicals and children's unique patterns of exposure, plastic-associated exposures are linked to increased risks of prematurity, stillbirth, low birth weight, birth defects of the reproductive organs, neurodevelopmental impairment, impaired lung growth, and childhood cancer. Early-life exposures to plastic-associated chemicals also increase the risk of multiple non-communicable diseases later in life. Economic Findings Plastic's harms to human health result in significant economic costs. We estimate that in 2015 the health-related costs of plastic production exceeded $250 billion (2015 Int$) globally, and that in the USA alone the health costs of disease and disability caused by the plastic-associated chemicals PBDE, BPA and DEHP exceeded $920 billion (2015 Int$). Plastic production results in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions equivalent to 1.96 gigatons of carbon dioxide (CO2e) annually. Using the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) social cost of carbon metric, we estimate the annual costs of these GHG emissions to be $341 billion (2015 Int$).These costs, large as they are, almost certainly underestimate the full economic losses resulting from plastics' negative impacts on human health and the global environment. All of plastics' economic costs-and also its social costs-are externalized by the petrochemical and plastic manufacturing industry and are borne by citizens, taxpayers, and governments in countries around the world without compensation. Social Justice Findings The adverse effects of plastics and plastic pollution on human health, the economy and the environment are not evenly distributed. They disproportionately affect poor, disempowered, and marginalized populations such as workers, racial and ethnic minorities, "fenceline" communities, Indigenous groups, women, and children, all of whom had little to do with creating the current plastics crisis and lack the political influence or the resources to address it. Plastics' harmful impacts across its life cycle are most keenly felt in the Global South, in small island states, and in disenfranchised areas in the Global North. Social and environmental justice (SEJ) principles require reversal of these inequitable burdens to ensure that no group bears a disproportionate share of plastics' negative impacts and that those who benefit economically from plastic bear their fair share of its currently externalized costs. Conclusions It is now clear that current patterns of plastic production, use, and disposal are not sustainable and are responsible for significant harms to human health, the environment, and the economy as well as for deep societal injustices.The main driver of these worsening harms is an almost exponential and still accelerating increase in global plastic production. Plastics' harms are further magnified by low rates of recovery and recycling and by the long persistence of plastic waste in the environment.The thousands of chemicals in plastics-monomers, additives, processing agents, and non-intentionally added substances-include amongst their number known human carcinogens, endocrine disruptors, neurotoxicants, and persistent organic pollutants. These chemicals are responsible for many of plastics' known harms to human and planetary health. The chemicals leach out of plastics, enter the environment, cause pollution, and result in human exposure and disease. All efforts to reduce plastics' hazards must address the hazards of plastic-associated chemicals. Recommendations To protect human and planetary health, especially the health of vulnerable and at-risk populations, and put the world on track to end plastic pollution by 2040, this Commission supports urgent adoption by the world's nations of a strong and comprehensive Global Plastics Treaty in accord with the mandate set forth in the March 2022 resolution of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA).International measures such as a Global Plastics Treaty are needed to curb plastic production and pollution, because the harms to human health and the environment caused by plastics, plastic-associated chemicals and plastic waste transcend national boundaries, are planetary in their scale, and have disproportionate impacts on the health and well-being of people in the world's poorest nations. Effective implementation of the Global Plastics Treaty will require that international action be coordinated and complemented by interventions at the national, regional, and local levels.This Commission urges that a cap on global plastic production with targets, timetables, and national contributions be a central provision of the Global Plastics Treaty. We recommend inclusion of the following additional provisions:The Treaty needs to extend beyond microplastics and marine litter to include all of the many thousands of chemicals incorporated into plastics.The Treaty needs to include a provision banning or severely restricting manufacture and use of unnecessary, avoidable, and problematic plastic items, especially single-use items such as manufactured plastic microbeads.The Treaty needs to include requirements on extended producer responsibility (EPR) that make fossil carbon producers, plastic producers, and the manufacturers of plastic products legally and financially responsible for the safety and end-of-life management of all the materials they produce and sell.The Treaty needs to mandate reductions in the chemical complexity of plastic products; health-protective standards for plastics and plastic additives; a requirement for use of sustainable non-toxic materials; full disclosure of all components; and traceability of components. International cooperation will be essential to implementing and enforcing these standards.The Treaty needs to include SEJ remedies at each stage of the plastic life cycle designed to fill gaps in community knowledge and advance both distributional and procedural equity.This Commission encourages inclusion in the Global Plastic Treaty of a provision calling for exploration of listing at least some plastic polymers as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) under the Stockholm Convention.This Commission encourages a strong interface between the Global Plastics Treaty and the Basel and London Conventions to enhance management of hazardous plastic waste and slow current massive exports of plastic waste into the world's least-developed countries.This Commission recommends the creation of a Permanent Science Policy Advisory Body to guide the Treaty's implementation. The main priorities of this Body would be to guide Member States and other stakeholders in evaluating which solutions are most effective in reducing plastic consumption, enhancing plastic waste recovery and recycling, and curbing the generation of plastic waste. This Body could also assess trade-offs among these solutions and evaluate safer alternatives to current plastics. It could monitor the transnational export of plastic waste. It could coordinate robust oceanic-, land-, and air-based MNP monitoring programs.This Commission recommends urgent investment by national governments in research into solutions to the global plastic crisis. This research will need to determine which solutions are most effective and cost-effective in the context of particular countries and assess the risks and benefits of proposed solutions. Oceanographic and environmental research is needed to better measure concentrations and impacts of plastics <10 µm and understand their distribution and fate in the global environment. Biomedical research is needed to elucidate the human health impacts of plastics, especially MNPs. Summary This Commission finds that plastics are both a boon to humanity and a stealth threat to human and planetary health. Plastics convey enormous benefits, but current linear patterns of plastic production, use, and disposal that pay little attention to sustainable design or safe materials and a near absence of recovery, reuse, and recycling are responsible for grave harms to health, widespread environmental damage, great economic costs, and deep societal injustices. These harms are rapidly worsening.While there remain gaps in knowledge about plastics' harms and uncertainties about their full magnitude, the evidence available today demonstrates unequivocally that these impacts are great and that they will increase in severity in the absence of urgent and effective intervention at global scale. Manufacture and use of essential plastics may continue. However, reckless increases in plastic production, and especially increases in the manufacture of an ever-increasing array of unnecessary single-use plastic products, need to be curbed.Global intervention against the plastic crisis is needed now because the costs of failure to act will be immense.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philip J. Landrigan
- Global Observatory on Planetary Health, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, US
- Centre Scientifique de Monaco, Medical Biology Department, MC
| | - Hervé Raps
- Centre Scientifique de Monaco, Medical Biology Department, MC
| | - Maureen Cropper
- Economics Department, University of Maryland, College Park, US
| | - Caroline Bald
- Global Observatory on Planetary Health, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, US
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Patrick Fenichel
- Université Côte d’Azur
- Centre Hospitalier, Universitaire de Nice, FR
| | - Lora E. Fleming
- European Centre for Environment and Human Health, University of Exeter Medical School, UK
| | | | | | | | - Carly Griffin
- Global Observatory on Planetary Health, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, US
| | - Mark E. Hahn
- Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, US
- Woods Hole Center for Oceans and Human Health, US
| | - Budi Haryanto
- Department of Environmental Health, Universitas Indonesia, ID
- Research Center for Climate Change, Universitas Indonesia, ID
| | - Richard Hixson
- College of Medicine and Health, University of Exeter, UK
| | - Hannah Ianelli
- Global Observatory on Planetary Health, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, US
| | - Bryan D. James
- Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
- Department of Biology, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, US
| | | | - Amalia Laborde
- Department of Toxicology, School of Medicine, University of the Republic, UY
| | | | - Keith Martin
- Consortium of Universities for Global Health, US
| | - Jenna Mu
- Global Observatory on Planetary Health, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, US
| | | | - Adetoun Mustapha
- Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Lagos, Nigeria
- Lead City University, NG
| | - Jia Niu
- Department of Chemistry, Boston College, US
| | - Sabine Pahl
- University of Vienna, Austria
- University of Plymouth, UK
| | | | - Maria-Luiza Pedrotti
- Laboratoire d’Océanographie de Villefranche sur mer (LOV), Sorbonne Université, FR
| | | | | | - Bhedita Jaya Seewoo
- Minderoo Foundation, AU
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, AU
| | | | - John J. Stegeman
- Biology Department and Woods Hole Center for Oceans and Human Health, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, US
| | - William Suk
- Superfund Research Program, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, US
| | | | - Hideshige Takada
- Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry (LOG), Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, JP
| | | | | | - Zhanyun Wang
- Technology and Society Laboratory, WEmpa-Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials and Technology, CH
| | - Ella Whitman
- Global Observatory on Planetary Health, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, US
| | | | | | - Aroub K. Yousuf
- Global Observatory on Planetary Health, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, US
| | - Sarah Dunlop
- Minderoo Foundation, AU
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, AU
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17
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Payne-Sturges DC, Ballard E, Cory-Slechta DA, Thomas SB, Hovmand P. Making the invisible visible: Using a qualitative system dynamics model to map disparities in cumulative environmental stressors and children's neurodevelopment. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2023; 221:115295. [PMID: 36681143 PMCID: PMC9957960 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.115295] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2022] [Revised: 01/03/2023] [Accepted: 01/11/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The combined effects of multiple environmental toxicants and social stressor exposures are widely recognized as important public health problems, likely contributing to health inequities. However, US policy makers at state and federal levels typically focus on one stressor exposure at a time and have failed to develop comprehensive strategies to reduce multiple co-occurring exposures, mitigate cumulative risks and prevent harm. This research aimed to move from considering disparate environmental stressors in isolation to mapping the links between environmental, economic, social and health outcomes as a dynamic complex system using children's exposure to neurodevelopmental toxicants as an illustrative example. Such a model can be used to support a broad range of child developmental and environmental health policy stakeholders in improving their understanding of cumulative effects of multiple chemical, physical, biological and social environmental stressors as a complex system through a collaborative learning process. METHODS We used system dynamics (SD) group model building to develop a qualitative causal theory linking multiple interacting streams of social stressors and environmental neurotoxicants impacting children's neurodevelopment. A 2 1/2-day interactive system dynamics workshop involving experts across multiple disciplines was convened to develop the model followed by qualitative survey on system insights. RESULTS The SD causal map covered seven interconnected themes: environmental exposures, social environment, health status, education, employment, housing and advocacy. Potential high leverage intervention points for reducing disparities in children's cumulative neurotoxicant exposures and effects were identified. Workshop participants developed deeper level of understanding about the complexity of cumulative environmental health risks, increased their agreement about underlying causes, and enhanced their capabilities for integrating diverse forms of knowledge about the complex multi-level problem of cumulative chemical and non-chemical exposures. CONCLUSION Group model building using SD can lead to important insights to into the sociological, policy, and institutional mechanisms through which disparities in cumulative impacts are transmitted, resisted, and understood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Devon C Payne-Sturges
- Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, 255 Valley Drive, College Park, MD, 20742, USA.
| | - Ellis Ballard
- Brown School of Social Work and Director of the Social System Design Lab, Washington University, Campus Box 1196, One Brookings Dr., St. Louis, MO, 63130, USA
| | | | - Stephen B Thomas
- Department of Health Policy and Management and Director of Maryland Center for Health Equity, University of Maryland School of Public Health, 255 Valley Drive, College Park, MD, 20742, USA
| | - Peter Hovmand
- Center for Community Health Integration, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, OH, 44106-7136, USA
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18
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Oliva B, Som K. National-Scale Assessment of Environmental Justice Trends in Public School Proximity to Industrial Lead Sources. ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE (PRINT) 2022; 16:10.1089/env.2022.0028. [PMID: 36960345 PMCID: PMC10031512 DOI: 10.1089/env.2022.0028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Lead poisoning can severely affect neurological development in small children. Communities with environmental justice concerns often face higher levels of lead exposure via multiple routes of exposure. School-aged children can be exposed to lead at their schools through the deposition of lead emissions onto soil over time. METHOD Public school students' demographics in 'proximate schools;' those within 1.5 km of facilities with lead emissions were compared to other schools in their area. The average proximate emissions per student were calculated for different demographic groups in various geographic areas. RESULTS Schools in combined statistical areas within 1.5 km of lead facilities were found to be composed of significantly more Black (22%) and Hispanic (30%) students than other schools in the area (17% and 26% respectively). Meanwhile, schools close to lead sources tended to have smaller proportions of white students (37% in 'proximate schools', but 47% overall. When average emissions around students were calculated for a handful of combined statistical areas, inequality in lead exposure could be seen in almost every geographic area, across income and racial lines. DISCUSSION Students of color consistently faced the highest emissions in every area, though amounts, inequities, and at-risk populations differed throughout the different geographic areas. CONCLUSION The unique history of each location regarding immigration, discrimination, zoning laws, urban sprawl, and industrial past can contribute to this variety in inequities. These findings are not only consistent with environmental justice trends but also highlight other vulnerabilities for students like age and food security.
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Affiliation(s)
- Beatriz Oliva
- ORISE Research Participant, Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, Oak Ridge, TN
| | - Kushal Som
- US Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5, Chicago, IL
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19
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Wongta A, Sawang N, Tongjai P, Jatiket M, Hongsibsong S. The Assessment of Organophosphate Pesticide Exposure among School Children in Four Regions of Thailand: Analysis of Dialkyl Phosphate Metabolites in Students' Urine and Organophosphate Pesticide Residues in Vegetables for School Lunch. TOXICS 2022; 10:toxics10080434. [PMID: 36006115 PMCID: PMC9416577 DOI: 10.3390/toxics10080434] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2022] [Revised: 07/26/2022] [Accepted: 07/27/2022] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
In Thailand, pesticides containing organophosphates (OP) are frequently applied to crops to suppress insects. School children can be exposed to OPs on a daily basis, from food consumption to breathing and touching pesticides drifted near classrooms. Living in an agricultural area can also be one of the causes. As a result, it is important to monitor OPs residues in the food chain and biomarkers of exposure. The Gas Chromatography-Flame Photometric Detector method was employed to examine the relationship between OPs residue and DAPs (Diakly phosphate) in four targeted locations in Thailand, as well as to examine the residues of OPs in vegetable samples and DAPs in 395 school children's urine samples. Vegetables were found to contain at least one OP, with chlorpyrifos being the most prevalent. The OPs detected frequencies for Sakon Nakhon, Chiang Mai, Phang Nga, and Pathum Thani are 96.1%, 94%, 91.7%, and 83.3%, respectively. The overall centration level of OPs showed 0.3261 mg/kg, 0.0636 mg/kg, 0.0023 mg/kg, 0.0150 mg/kg, 0.2003 mg/kg, 0.0295 mg/kg, and 0.0034 mg/kg for diazinon, dimethoate, pirimiphos-methyl, chlorpyrifos, profenofos, ethion, and triazophos, respectively. Nearly 98% of school children were detected with at least one DAP. The overall level of dimethyl phosphate metabolites (5.258 µmole/mole creatinine) in urine samples is higher than diethyl phosphate metabolites (2.884 µmole/mole creatinine), especially in the case of Pathum Thani. Our findings show a consistent relationship between OPs in vegetables from wet markets and DAPs in urine samples of school children in various parts of Thailand.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anurak Wongta
- Environmental, Occupational and NCD Center of Excellent, Research Institute for Health Sciences, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand; (A.W.); (N.S.); (P.T.)
| | - Nootchakarn Sawang
- Environmental, Occupational and NCD Center of Excellent, Research Institute for Health Sciences, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand; (A.W.); (N.S.); (P.T.)
- Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand
| | - Phanika Tongjai
- Environmental, Occupational and NCD Center of Excellent, Research Institute for Health Sciences, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand; (A.W.); (N.S.); (P.T.)
- School of Health Science Research, Research Institute for Health Sciences, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand
| | | | - Surat Hongsibsong
- Environmental, Occupational and NCD Center of Excellent, Research Institute for Health Sciences, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand; (A.W.); (N.S.); (P.T.)
- School of Health Science Research, Research Institute for Health Sciences, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand
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20
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Xue J, Zartarian V, Tornero-Velez R, Stanek LW, Poulakos A, Walts A, Triantafillou K, Suero M, Grokhowsky N. A Generalizable Evaluated Approach, Applying Advanced Geospatial Statistical Methods, to Identify High Lead Exposure Locations at Census Tract Scale: Michigan Case Study. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES 2022; 130:77004. [PMID: 35894594 PMCID: PMC9327739 DOI: 10.1289/ehp9705] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2021] [Revised: 05/24/2022] [Accepted: 06/13/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Despite great progress in reducing environmental lead (Pb) levels, many children in the United States are still being exposed. OBJECTIVE Our aim was to develop a generalizable approach for systematically identifying, verifying, and analyzing locations with high prevalence of children's elevated blood Pb levels (EBLLs) and to assess available Pb models/indices as surrogates, using a Michigan case study. METHODS We obtained ∼1.9 million BLL test results of children <6 years of age in Michigan from 2006-2016; we then evaluated them for data representativeness by comparing two percentage EBLL (%EBLL) rates (number of children tested with EBLL divided by both number of children tested and total population). We analyzed %EBLLs across census tracts over three time periods and between two EBLL reference values (≥5 vs. ≥10μg/dL) to evaluate consistency. Locations with high %EBLLs were identified by a top 20 percentile method and a Getis-Ord Gi* geospatial cluster "hotspot" analysis. For the locations identified, we analyzed convergences with three available Pb exposure models/indices based on old housing and sociodemographics. RESULTS Analyses of 2014-2016 %EBLL data identified 11 Michigan locations via cluster analysis and 80 additional locations via the top 20 percentile method and their associated census tracts. Data representativeness and consistency were supported by a 0.93 correlation coefficient between the two EBLL rates over 11 y, and a Kappa score of ∼0.8 of %EBLL hotspots across the time periods (2014-2016) and reference values. Many EBLL hotspot locations converge with current Pb exposure models/indices; others diverge, suggesting additional Pb sources for targeted interventions. DISCUSSION This analysis confirmed known Pb hotspot locations and revealed new ones at a finer geographic resolution than previously available, using advanced geospatial statistical methods and mapping/visualization. It also assessed the utility of surrogates in the absence of blood Pb data. This approach could be applied to other states to inform Pb mitigation and prevention efforts. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP9705.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianping Xue
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Office of Research and Development, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA
| | - Valerie Zartarian
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Office of Research and Development, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA
| | - Rogelio Tornero-Velez
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Office of Research and Development, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA
| | - Lindsay W. Stanek
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Office of Research and Development, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA
| | - Antonios Poulakos
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Office of Research and Development, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA
- LinTech Global, Inc., Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Alan Walts
- U.S. EPA, Region 5, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | | | | | - Nicholas Grokhowsky
- Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA
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21
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Chakraborty J. Children's exposure to vehicular pollution: Environmental injustice in Texas, USA. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2022; 204:112008. [PMID: 34492280 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2021.112008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2021] [Revised: 08/24/2021] [Accepted: 09/02/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Distributive environmental justice research on children's exposure to vehicular pollution is underdeveloped and few empirical studies have been conducted in the US. This study seeks to address this gap by examining if socially disadvantaged children are disproportionately located in public school districts burdened by higher vehicular pollution in Texas-the second largest US state based on population size. Vehicular pollution exposure is measured using two variables: (1) an index developed by the US Environmental Protection Agency that combines traffic proximity and volume; and (2) outdoor concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a widely used proxy for traffic-related air pollution. These variables are linked to school district level data on socio-demographic characteristics of children obtained from the latest American Community Survey. Statistical analysis is based on multivariable generalized estimating equations that account for spatial clustering of school districts. Results reveal significantly greater traffic proximity and NO2 exposure in Texas school districts with higher percentages of children, after controlling for clustering, population density, and other socio-demographic factors. Districts exposed to higher levels of traffic proximity and NO2 exposure also contain significantly greater proportions of racial/ethnic minority, foreign-born, disabled, and socioeconomically vulnerable children. These findings highlight the urgent need to develop mitigation strategies for reducing vehicular pollution exposure, especially in districts with higher proportions of socially disadvantaged students that could be additionally burdened with limited resources. School districts represent a policy relevant analytic unit since school district boards can act as advocates for the environmental health of children and implement mitigation strategies for reducing pollution exposure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jayajit Chakraborty
- Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Texas at El Paso, 500 West University Avenue, El Paso, TX, 79968, USA.
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22
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Slawsky ED, Weaver AM, Luben TJ, Rappazzo KM. A cross-sectional study of brownfields and birth defects. Birth Defects Res 2022; 114:197-207. [PMID: 35182113 PMCID: PMC10867712 DOI: 10.1002/bdr2.1992] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2021] [Revised: 02/09/2022] [Accepted: 02/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Brownfields are a multitude of abandoned and disused sites, spanning many former purposes. Brownfields represent a heterogenous yet ubiquitous exposure for many Americans, which may contain hazardous wastes and represent urban blight. Neonates and pregnant individuals are often sensitive to subtle environmental exposures. We evaluate whether residential brownfield exposure is associated with birth defects. METHODS Using North Carolina birth records from 2003 to 2015, we sampled 753,195 births with 39,495 defects identified. We examined defect groups and 30 distinct phenotypes. Number of brownfields within 2,000 m of the residential address at birth was summed. We utilized mixed effects multivariable logistic regression models adjusted for demographic and environmental covariates available from birth records, 2010 Census, and EPA's Environmental Quality Index to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS We observed positive associations between cardiovascular and external defect groups (OR [95% CI]: 1.07 [1.02-1.13] and 1.17 [1.01-1.35], respectively) and any brownfield exposure. We also observed positive associations with atrial septal and ventricular septal defects (1.08 [1.01-1.16] and 1.15 [1.03-1.28], respectively), congenital cataracts (1.38 [0.98-1.96]), and an inverse association with gastroschisis (0.74 [0.58-0.94]). Effect estimates for several additional defects were positive, though we observed null associations for most group and individual defects. Additional analyses indicated an exposure-response relationship for several defects across levels of brownfield exposure. CONCLUSIONS Our results indicate that residential proximity to brownfields is associated with birth defects, especially cardiovascular and external defects. In-depth analyses of individual defects and specific contaminants or brownfield sites may reveal additional novel associations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erik D. Slawsky
- Oak Ridge Associated Universities at the US Environmental Protection Agency, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Anne M. Weaver
- United States Environmental Protection Agency, RTP, North Carolina, USA
| | - Thomas J. Luben
- United States Environmental Protection Agency, RTP, North Carolina, USA
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23
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Nematollahi MJ, Zarei F, Keshavarzi B, Zarei M, Moore F, Busquets R, Kelly FJ. Microplastic occurrence in settled indoor dust in schools. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 807:150984. [PMID: 34656573 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.150984] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2021] [Revised: 10/11/2021] [Accepted: 10/11/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
This study examines for the first time the characteristics and human exposure of microplastics (MPs) in settled indoor dust in schools. An average of 195 MPs·g-1 of dust were detected in settled indoor composite dust samples from 28 schools in Shiraz. White-transparent microfibres with lengths 500-1000 μm were the most abundant type of MP found among the samples examined. Polyethylene terephthalate and polypropylene MPs were dominant across all types of MP found including microfibres. MPs had generally smooth morphology with sharp or regular edges which could have been released to the environment as primary MPs. Among all sampling sites, higher concentrations of MPs were found in the south and centre of the city. These were areas affected by high population density, high traffic load and high presence of industrial units and workshops. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) showed a positive strong correlation between sampling sites and MP physical characteristics. The PCA plots revealed that MP sheets and fragments were prevalent in sites in the North of Shiraz, whereas microfibres were mainly associated with sites in the South. The levels of MPs in the South of Shiraz were greater than in the rest of the country and the wind direction and topography were found to be important factors affecting the MP distribution observed. Compared to other population groups, elementary school students had relatively high exposure risk to MPs. This study reveals that microfibres are widespread in Shiraz' schools and pose a high exposure risk to MPs for young students.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Fatemeh Zarei
- Department of Earth Sciences, College of Sciences, Shiraz University, 71454 Shiraz, Iran
| | - Behnam Keshavarzi
- Department of Earth Sciences, College of Sciences, Shiraz University, 71454 Shiraz, Iran.
| | - Mehdi Zarei
- Department of Earth Sciences, College of Sciences, Shiraz University, 71454 Shiraz, Iran
| | - Farid Moore
- Department of Earth Sciences, College of Sciences, Shiraz University, 71454 Shiraz, Iran
| | - Rosa Busquets
- School of Life Sciences, Pharmacy and Chemistry, Kingston University, Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey KT1 2EE, UK
| | - Frank J Kelly
- MRC Centre for Environment and Health, Imperial College London, London, UK; NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Environmental Exposures and Health, Imperial College London, London, UK
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24
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Okoniewski W, Sundaram M, Chaves-Gnecco D, McAnany K, Cowden JD, Ragavan M. Culturally Sensitive Interventions in Pediatric Primary Care Settings: A Systematic Review. Pediatrics 2022; 149:184573. [PMID: 35098300 PMCID: PMC9645707 DOI: 10.1542/peds.2021-052162] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/28/2021] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
CONTEXT Culturally sensitive interventions in the pediatric primary care setting may help reduce health disparities. Less is known on the development of these interventions, their target groups, and their feasibility, acceptability, and impact on health outcomes. OBJECTIVE We conducted a systematic review to describe culturally sensitive interventions developed for the pediatric primary care setting. DATA SOURCES PubMed, Web of Science, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and PsycInfo (January 2000 to July 2020). STUDY SELECTION Studies were eligible for inclusion if they were (1) original research on an intervention with an evaluation, (2) within a pediatric primary care setting, (3) not limited to education for providers, (4) not limited to interpreter use, and (5) based in the United States. DATA EXTRACTION The following were extracted: study topic, study design, intervention, cultural sensitivity strategies and terminology, setting, target group, sample size, feasibility, acceptability, and health outcomes. RESULTS Twenty-five studies described 23 interventions targeting a variety of health topics. Multiple cultural sensitivity strategies were used, most commonly sociocultural (83%). Most interventions (57%) were focused on Hispanic/Latino families. Interventions were generally reported as being feasible and acceptable; some also changed health outcomes. LIMITATIONS Small samples and heterogenous methods subject to bias were used. Relevant articles may have been missed because of the variety of terms used to describe cultural sensitivity. CONCLUSIONS The included articles provide preliminary evidence that culturally sensitive interventions can be feasible and effective and may help eliminate disparities for patients from communities with barriers to equitable care.
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Affiliation(s)
- William Okoniewski
- School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital, Allentown, Pennsylvania,Address correspondence to William Okoniewski, MD, Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital, 1200 S Cedar Crest Blvd, Allentown, PA 18105. E-mail:
| | | | | | - Katie McAnany
- Division of General Academic Pediatrics, Children’s Mercy Kansas City, Kansas City, Missouri
| | - John D. Cowden
- Division of General Academic Pediatrics,Division of General Academic Pediatrics, Children’s Mercy Kansas City, Kansas City, Missouri
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Rumph JT, Stephens VR, Martin JL, Brown LK, Thomas PL, Cooley A, Osteen KG, Bruner-Tran KL. Uncovering Evidence: Associations between Environmental Contaminants and Disparities in Women's Health. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 19:ijerph19031257. [PMID: 35162279 PMCID: PMC8835285 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19031257] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2021] [Revised: 12/29/2021] [Accepted: 01/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Over the years, industrial accidents and military actions have led to unintentional, large-scale, high-dose human exposure to environmental contaminants with endocrine-disrupting action. These historical events, in addition to laboratory studies, suggest that exposure to toxicants such as dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls negatively impact the reproductive system and likely influence the development of gynecologic diseases. Although high-level exposure to a single toxicant is rare, humans living in industrialized countries are continuously exposed to a complex mixture of manmade and naturally produced endocrine disruptors, including persistent organic pollutants and heavy metals. Since minorities are more likely to live in areas with known environmental contamination; herein, we conducted a literature review to identify potential associations between toxicant exposure and racial disparities in women's health. Evidence within the literature suggests that the body burden of environmental contaminants, especially in combination with inherent genetic variations, likely contributes to previously observed racial disparities in women's health conditions such as breast cancer, endometriosis, polycystic ovarian syndrome, uterine fibroids, and premature birth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jelonia T. Rumph
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Physiology, Meharry Medical College, Nashville, TN 37208, USA; (J.T.R.); (J.L.M.); (L.K.B.); (P.L.T.); (A.C.)
- Women’s Reproductive Health Research Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA; (V.R.S.); (K.G.O.)
- Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Victoria R. Stephens
- Women’s Reproductive Health Research Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA; (V.R.S.); (K.G.O.)
- Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Joanie L. Martin
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Physiology, Meharry Medical College, Nashville, TN 37208, USA; (J.T.R.); (J.L.M.); (L.K.B.); (P.L.T.); (A.C.)
| | - LaKendria K. Brown
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Physiology, Meharry Medical College, Nashville, TN 37208, USA; (J.T.R.); (J.L.M.); (L.K.B.); (P.L.T.); (A.C.)
| | - Portia L. Thomas
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Physiology, Meharry Medical College, Nashville, TN 37208, USA; (J.T.R.); (J.L.M.); (L.K.B.); (P.L.T.); (A.C.)
| | - Ayorinde Cooley
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Physiology, Meharry Medical College, Nashville, TN 37208, USA; (J.T.R.); (J.L.M.); (L.K.B.); (P.L.T.); (A.C.)
| | - Kevin G. Osteen
- Women’s Reproductive Health Research Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA; (V.R.S.); (K.G.O.)
- Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
- VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System, Nashville, TN 37208, USA
| | - Kaylon L. Bruner-Tran
- Women’s Reproductive Health Research Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA; (V.R.S.); (K.G.O.)
- Correspondence:
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26
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Bather JR, Williams PL, Broadwell C, Smith R, Patel K, Garvie PA, Karalius B, Kacanek D, Mellins CA, Malee K. Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Longitudinal Emotional-Behavioral Functioning Among Youth Born to Women Living With HIV. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr 2021; 87:889-898. [PMID: 33675617 PMCID: PMC8192436 DOI: 10.1097/qai.0000000000002665] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2020] [Accepted: 02/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Youth with perinatal HIV exposure have demonstrated high rates of emotional-behavioral problems. Few studies have longitudinally examined racial/ethnic disparities in such functioning across adolescence, a critical time for targeting prevention/intervention efforts. SETTING The Pediatric HIV/AIDS Cohort Study Adolescent Master Protocol is one of the largest US-based cohort studies of youth with perinatal HIV (YPHIV) infection or HIV exposed but uninfected (YPHEU). METHODS Youth and caregivers individually completed the Behavior Assessment System for Children, second edition, every 2 years between ages 7 and 19 years. We used adjusted mixed-effects models to evaluate whether mean youth-reported emotional concerns and caregiver-reported behavioral concerns differed by race/ethnicity. We used group-based trajectory models to identify groups having similar emotional-behavioral trajectories, followed by multinomial models to determine which factors predicted group membership. RESULTS Three hundred ninety-one YPHIV and 209 YPHEU (7% White non-Hispanic, 21% White Hispanic, 66% Black non-Hispanic, and 6% Black Hispanic) completed a median of 4 assessments over follow-up. Adjusted models showed more caregiver-reported behavioral concerns for Black non-Hispanic YPHEU than for Black non-Hispanic YPHIV, White Hispanic YPHIV, and White Hispanic YPHEU, particularly later in adolescence. Race/ethnicity did not predict membership in subgroups of youth-reported emotional or caregiver-reported behavioral functioning identified using group-based trajectory models. However, factors predicting membership in vulnerable youth-reported emotional and caregiver-reported behavioral groups included experiencing a stressful life event and living with a caregiver who was married or screened positive for a psychiatric condition. CONCLUSIONS Our study revealed that Black non-Hispanic YPHEU are a vulnerable subgroup. Contributing factors that could inform interventions include the caregiver's health, household characteristics, and psychiatric status.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Paige L Williams
- Departments of Biostatistics
- Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA
| | - Carly Broadwell
- Center for Biostatistics in AIDS Research, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA
| | - Renee Smith
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
| | - Kunjal Patel
- Center for Biostatistics in AIDS Research, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA
| | - Patricia A Garvie
- Research Department, Children's Diagnostic & Treatment Center, Fort Lauderdale, FL
| | - Brad Karalius
- Center for Biostatistics in AIDS Research, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA
| | - Deborah Kacanek
- Center for Biostatistics in AIDS Research, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA
| | - Claude A Mellins
- Department of Psychiatry, HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies, New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY; and
| | - Kathleen Malee
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL
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Mendoza DL, Benney TM, Boll S. Long-term analysis of the relationships between indoor and outdoor fine particulate pollution: A case study using research grade sensors. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2021; 776:145778. [PMID: 33647662 PMCID: PMC9753328 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145778] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/26/2020] [Revised: 02/03/2021] [Accepted: 02/05/2021] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
The growing concern of air quality and its associated health-related impacts has led to increased awareness of pollutant exposure. Most human populations spend the majority of their time indoors and the COVID-19 pandemic has likely exacerbated this behavior. While significant amounts of research have focused on outdoor air quality, to date there have been no studies that examined simultaneous long-term trends on indoor and outdoor air quality on a site using research-grade sensors. We measured fine particulate matter (PM2.5) for a year using sensors located on the rooftop, air handling room, and indoor office space in a building and captured the impacts of three types of regularly occurring elevated pollution events: wintertime atmospheric inversions, wildfires, and fireworks. The events had different magnitudes and durations, and infiltration rates varied for each event leading to dissimilar indoor air pollution levels. The building's air handling unit and different environmental conditions (lower indoor humidity and temperature during the winter) combined to reduce indoor pollution from inversion events however, particulate matter from wildfires and fireworks infiltrated at higher rates. Together, this suggests possible intervention strategies, such as ventilation rates and filter upgrades, that could be used to mitigate contaminant intrusion during elevated pollution events. This year-long study illustrates an array of ways that elevated pollution events interact with the protective effects that buildings have against air pollution for its occupants. Furthermore, we show that outdoor air pollution is an important variable to consider when studying indoor air quality as contaminant infiltration is strongly dependent on the specific pollution source.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel L Mendoza
- Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Utah, 135 S 1460 E, Room 819, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA; Department of City & Metropolitan Planning, University of Utah, 375 S 1530 E, Suite 220, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, USA; University of Utah School of Medicine, Pulmonary Division, 26 N 1900 E, Salt Lake City, UT 84132, USA.
| | - Tabitha M Benney
- Department of Political Science, University of Utah, 260 S Central Campus Drive, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
| | - Sarah Boll
- State of Utah, Division of Facilities Construction and Management, 4315 S 2700 W, Floor 3, Salt Lake City, UT 84129, USA
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Abstract
Pregnancy and early childhood are periods with high plasticity in neurological development. Environmental perturbations during these sensitive windows can have lifelong developmental consequences. This review summarizes key findings relevant to the effects of air pollution on neurological development. Mounting evidence suggests that exposure to air pollution, both during pregnancy and childhood, is associated with childhood developmental outcomes ranging from changes in brain structures to subclinical deficits in developmental test scores, and, ultimately, developmental disorders such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorders or autism spectrum disorders. Although the biological mechanisms of effects remain to be elucidated, multiple pathways are probably involved and include oxidative stress, inflammation, and/or endocrine disruption. Given the alarming global increase in developmental disorders in recent years, and increased human exposures to pollution, it is critical to reduce personal and community-level exposures through tight collaboration of interdisciplinary and multi-level bodies including community partners, physicians, industry partners, policy makers, public health practitioners, and researchers. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: Exposure to air pollution is associated with a range of childhood developmental complications. Biological mechanisms may include oxidative stress, inflammation, and endocrine disruption.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandie Ha
- Department of Public Health, School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts, Health Science Research Institute, University of California, Merced, CA, USA
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Marja SL, Suvi A. Cultural competence learning of the health care students using simulation pedagogy: An integrative review. Nurse Educ Pract 2021; 52:103044. [PMID: 33866235 DOI: 10.1016/j.nepr.2021.103044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2020] [Revised: 03/07/2021] [Accepted: 03/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
The objective of this literature review was to identify the current evidence available on the learning of cultural competence among health care students using simulation pedagogy. An integrative literature review was conducted systematically. The CINAHL, PubMed and ERIC databases were searched for articles published between 2009 and 2019, resulting in including 17 articles in the review. The data were analyzed using descriptive synthesis. The participants of most of the studies were nursing students. The used simulation methods included low- and high-fidelity simulations, standardized patients, virtual and video-streamed simulations and role-play. The educational contents involved assessing advanced communication skills or focusing on patients' socioeconomic, cultural and environmental needs in care. The learning outcomes included knowledge of cultural competence, culturally competent communication skills, culturally competent nursing skills, self-awareness of cultural diversity and self-efficacy in diverse cultural situations. A variety of simulation methods has been used in the cultural competence education and produced several learning outcomes, including an improved understanding of cross-cultural communication and encouragement to discuss various culturally bound health issues. Further research is needed to find an effective combination of teaching methods using innovative ways to foster learning cultural competence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silén-Lipponen Marja
- Savonia University of Applied Sciences, Unit of Health Care, Kuopio P.O. Box 6, FI-70201 Kuopio, Finland.
| | - Aura Suvi
- Savonia University of Applied Sciences, Unit of Health Care, Kuopio P.O. Box 6, FI-70201 Kuopio, Finland
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Payne-Sturges DC, Cory-Slechta DA, Puett RC, Thomas SB, Hammond R, Hovmand PS. Defining and Intervening on Cumulative Environmental Neurodevelopmental Risks: Introducing a Complex Systems Approach. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES 2021; 129:35001. [PMID: 33688743 PMCID: PMC7945198 DOI: 10.1289/ehp7333] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2020] [Revised: 02/05/2021] [Accepted: 02/10/2021] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The combined effects of multiple environmental toxicants and social stressor exposures are widely recognized as important public health problems contributing to health inequities. However cumulative environmental health risks and impacts have received little attention from U.S. policy makers at state and federal levels to develop comprehensive strategies to reduce these exposures, mitigate cumulative risks, and prevent harm. An area for which the inherent limitations of current approaches to cumulative environmental health risks are well illustrated is children's neurodevelopment, which exhibits dynamic complexity of multiple interdependent and causally linked factors and intergenerational effects. OBJECTIVES We delineate how a complex systems approach, specifically system dynamics, can address shortcomings in environmental health risk assessment regarding exposures to multiple chemical and nonchemical stressors and reshape associated public policies. DISCUSSION Systems modeling assists in the goal of solving problems by improving the "mental models" we use to make decisions, including regulatory and policy decisions. In the context of disparities in children's cumulative exposure to neurodevelopmental stressors, we describe potential policy insights about the structure and behavior of the system and the types of system dynamics modeling that would be appropriate, from visual depiction (i.e., informal maps) to formal quantitative simulation models. A systems dynamics framework provides not only a language but also a set of methodological tools that can more easily operationalize existing multidisciplinary scientific evidence and conceptual frameworks on cumulative risks. Thus, we can arrive at more accurate diagnostic tools for children's' environmental health inequities that take into consideration the broader social and economic environment in which children live, grow, play, and learn. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP7333.
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Affiliation(s)
- Devon C. Payne-Sturges
- Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of UMD Public Health, College Park, Maryland, USA
| | | | - Robin C. Puett
- Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of UMD Public Health, College Park, Maryland, USA
| | - Stephen B. Thomas
- Department of Health Policy and Management and Maryland Center for Health Equity, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, Maryland, USA
| | - Ross Hammond
- Brown School of Social Work, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
- Center on Social Dynamics and Policy, The Brookings Institution, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Peter S. Hovmand
- Center for Community Health Integration, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
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Carranza-Lopez L, Alvarez-Ortega N, Caballero-Gallardo K, Gonzalez-Montes A, Olivero-Verbel J. Biomonitoring of Lead Exposure in Children from Two Fishing Communities at Northern Colombia. Biol Trace Elem Res 2021; 199:850-860. [PMID: 32488615 DOI: 10.1007/s12011-020-02207-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2020] [Accepted: 05/17/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Lead (Pb) exposure is a growing concern in developing countries, especially in vulnerable children. The objective of this study was to evaluate blood lead levels (BLL) in children from two fishing populations at Northern Colombia, Loma de Arena and Tierrabomba, as well as their association with morphometric parameters, markers of hematological status, liver function, and mRNA expression of genes related to Pb toxicity. A total of 198 blood samples were collected from participants aged 5-16 years old. The mean (± standard error) BLL for the studied sample was 3.6 ± 0.3 μg/dL, and the 97.5th percentile was 21.0 μg/dL. The participants of Loma de Arena and Tierrabomba presented BLL of 3.9 ± 0.5 and 2.9 ± 0.3 μg/dL, respectively. Children born preterm had greater BLL than those born at full term. Boys had greater BLL than girls, which also occurred for participants between 12 and 16 years old, compared with those aged 5-11 years old. The BLL were negatively correlated with body mass index in children from Loma de Arena, but an opposite behavior was observed for Tierrabomba. In Loma de Arena, the mRNA expression of interferon gamma, a pro-inflammatory cytokine, increased with the BLL, but that of δ-aminolevulinic acid dehydrogenase, a sensor for Pb poisoning, decreased. In Tierrabomba, gene expression did not change with BLL. These results show that in fishing communities, lead exposure promotes different health impacts depending on age, sex, and other site-specific factors. In any case, appropriate educational and intervention programs should be carried out to minimize Pb exposure in children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liliana Carranza-Lopez
- Environmental and Computational Chemistry Group, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zaragocilla Campus, University of Cartagena, Cartagena, 130015, Colombia
- Medicine and Biotechnology Research Group, School of Health Sciences, Bacteriology Program, Universidad Libre Seccional Barranquilla, Barranquilla, 080016, Colombia
| | - Neda Alvarez-Ortega
- Environmental and Computational Chemistry Group, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zaragocilla Campus, University of Cartagena, Cartagena, 130015, Colombia
| | - Karina Caballero-Gallardo
- Environmental and Computational Chemistry Group, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zaragocilla Campus, University of Cartagena, Cartagena, 130015, Colombia
| | - Audreis Gonzalez-Montes
- Environmental and Computational Chemistry Group, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zaragocilla Campus, University of Cartagena, Cartagena, 130015, Colombia
| | - Jesus Olivero-Verbel
- Environmental and Computational Chemistry Group, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zaragocilla Campus, University of Cartagena, Cartagena, 130015, Colombia.
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Levin R, Zilli Vieira CL, Rosenbaum MH, Bischoff K, Mordarski DC, Brown MJ. The urban lead (Pb) burden in humans, animals and the natural environment. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2021; 193:110377. [PMID: 33129862 PMCID: PMC8812512 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2020.110377] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2020] [Revised: 10/14/2020] [Accepted: 10/15/2020] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Centuries of human activities, particularly housing and transportation practices from the late 19th century through the 1980's, dispersed hundreds of millions of tons of lead into our urban areas. The urban lead burden is evident among humans, wild and domesticated animals, and plants. Animal lead exposures closely mirror and often exceed the lead exposure patterns of their human partners. Some examples: Pigeons in New York City neighborhoods mimicked the lead exposures of neighborhood children, with more contaminated areas associated with higher exposures in both species. Also, immediately following the lead in drinking water crisis in Flint MI in 2015, blood lead levels in pet dogs in Flint were 4 times higher than in surrounding towns. And combining lead's neurotoxicity with urban stress results in well-characterized aggressive behaviors across multiple species. Lead pollution is not distributed evenly across urban areas. Although average US pediatric lead exposures have declined by 90% since the 1970s, there remain well defined neighborhoods where children continue to have toxic lead exposures; animals are poisoned there, too. Those neighborhoods tend to have disproportionate commercial and industrial lead activity; a history of dense traffic; older and deteriorating housing; past and operating landfills, dumps and hazardous waste sites; and often lead contaminated drinking water. The population there tends to be low income and minority. Urban wild and domesticated animals bear that same lead burden. Soil, buildings, dust and even trees constitute huge lead repositories throughout urban areas. Until and unless we begin to address the lead repositories in our cities, the urban lead burden will continue to impose enormous costs distributed disproportionately across the domains of the natural environment. Evidence-based research has shown the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of some US public policies to prevent or reduce these exposures. We end with a series of recommendations to manage lead-safe urban environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ronnie Levin
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, 02215, USA.
| | - Carolina L Zilli Vieira
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, 02215, USA.
| | - Marieke H Rosenbaum
- Department of Infectious Disease and Global Health, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, North Grafton, MA, 01536, USA.
| | - Karyn Bischoff
- New York State Animal Health Diagnostic Center, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA.
| | | | - Mary Jean Brown
- Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, 02215, USA.
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Mathiarasan S, Hüls A. Impact of Environmental Injustice on Children's Health-Interaction between Air Pollution and Socioeconomic Status. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2021; 18:ijerph18020795. [PMID: 33477762 PMCID: PMC7832299 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18020795] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2020] [Revised: 01/14/2021] [Accepted: 01/15/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Air pollution disproportionately affects marginalized populations of lower socioeconomic status. There is little literature on how socioeconomic status affects the risk of exposure to air pollution and associated health outcomes, particularly for children’s health. The objective of this article was to review the existing literature on air pollution and children’s health and discern how socioeconomic status affects this association. The concept of environmental injustice recognizes how underserved communities often suffer from higher air pollution concentrations in addition to other underlying risk factors for impaired health. This exposure then exerts larger effects on their health than it does in the average population, affecting the whole body, including the lungs and the brain. Children, whose organs and mind are still developing and who do not have the means of protecting themselves or creating change, are the most vulnerable to the detrimental effects of air pollution and environmental injustice. The adverse health effects of air pollution and environmental injustice can harm children well into adulthood and may even have transgenerational effects. There is an urgent need for action in order to ensure the health and safety of future generations, as social disparities are continuously increasing, due to social discrimination and climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sahana Mathiarasan
- Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA;
| | - Anke Hüls
- Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA;
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
- Correspondence:
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Abstract
The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has dramatically altered the health and well-being of children, particularly as they have been isolated indoors and in their homes as a result of social distancing measures. In this article, we describe several of the environmental threats that are affecting the health of children during the pandemic. These include increased exposure to household cleaning products, chemicals and lead in dust, indoor air pollutants, screen time, family stress, and firearms, as well as decreased availability of food, social supports, and routine childhood screenings. Importantly, many of these threats disproportionately affect children of racial or ethnic minorities or who have low socioeconomic status. Pediatric health care providers will need to screen and treat children and counsel their parents and/or other caregivers during well-child visits with an eye for these new or worsened environmental threats. [Pediatr Ann. 2020;49(12):e537-e542.].
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Mendoza DL, Pirozzi CS, Crosman ET, Liou TG, Zhang Y, Cleeves JJ, Bannister SC, Anderegg WRL, Robert P. Impact of low-level fine particulate matter and ozone exposure on absences in K-12 students and economic consequences. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS : ERL [WEB SITE] 2020; 15:114052. [PMID: 36284641 PMCID: PMC9590406 DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/abbf7a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
High air pollution levels are associated with school absences. However, low level pollution impacts on individual school absences are under-studied. Understanding the variability of pollution at individual schools within an urban region could improve school recess decisions, better identify local pollution sources, and improve local economic impact assessments by providing granular information relevant to specific schools. We modelled PM2.5 and ozone concentrations at 36 schools from July 2015 to June 2018 using data from a dense, research grade regulatory sensor network. We determined exposures and daily absences at each school. We used a generalized estimating equations model to retrospectively estimate rate ratios for association between outdoor pollutant concentrations and school absences. We estimated lost school revenue, productivity, and family economic burden. PM2.5 and ozone concentrations and absence rates vary across the School District. Pollution exposure was associated with a rate ratio as high as 1.02 absences per μg m-3 and 1.01 per ppb increase for PM2.5 and ozone, respectively. Significantly, even PM2.5 and ozone exposure below the air quality index breakpoints for good air quality (<12.1 μg m-3 and <55 ppb, respectively) was associated with positive rate ratios of absences: 1.04 per μg m-3 and 1.01 per ppb increase, respectively. Granular local measurements enabled demonstration of air pollution impacts that varied between schools and were undetectable with averaged pollution levels. Reducing pollution by 50% would save $426000 per year districtwide. Pollution reduction benefits would be greatest in schools located in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas. Heterogeneity in exposure, disproportionately affecting socioeconomically disadvantaged schools, points to the need for fine resolution exposure estimation. The economic cost of absences associated with air pollution is substantial even excluding indirect costs such as hospital visits and medication. These findings may help elucidate the differential burden on individual schools and inform local decisions about recess and regulatory considerations for localized pollution sources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel L Mendoza
- Division of Respiratory, Critical Care and Occupational Pulmonary Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Utah, 26 North 1900 East, Salt Lake City, UT 84132, United States of America
- Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Utah, 135 S 1460 E, RM 819, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, United States of America
| | - Cheryl S Pirozzi
- Division of Respiratory, Critical Care and Occupational Pulmonary Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Utah, 26 North 1900 East, Salt Lake City, UT 84132, United States of America
| | - Erik T Crosman
- Department of Life, Earth, and Environmental Sciences, West Texas A&M University, Happy State Bank Academic & Research Building, Suite 262, Canyon, TX 79016, United States of America
| | - Theodore G Liou
- Division of Respiratory, Critical Care and Occupational Pulmonary Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Utah, 26 North 1900 East, Salt Lake City, UT 84132, United States of America
- Center for Quantitative Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, United States of America
| | - Yue Zhang
- Division of Epidemiology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Utah School of Medicine, 295 Chipeta Way, Salt Lake City, UT 84132, United States of America
| | - Jessica J Cleeves
- Center for Science and Mathematics Education, University of Utah, 155 S 1452 E, RM 452, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, United States of America
| | - Stephen C Bannister
- Department of Economics, University of Utah, 260 Central Campus Drive, RM 4100, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, United States of America
| | - William R L Anderegg
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, 257 S 1400 E, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, United States of America
| | - Paine Robert
- Division of Respiratory, Critical Care and Occupational Pulmonary Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Utah, 26 North 1900 East, Salt Lake City, UT 84132, United States of America
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Rodriguez-Villamizar LA, Moreno-Corzo FE, Valbuena-Garcia AM, Uribe Pérez CJ, Brome Bohórquez MR, García García HI, Bravo LE, Ortiz Martínez RG, Niederbacher Velásquez J, Osornio-Vargas AR. Childhood Leukemia in Small Geographical Areas and Proximity to Industrial Sources of Air Pollutants in Three Colombian Cities. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2020; 17:E7925. [PMID: 33137878 PMCID: PMC7662935 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17217925] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2020] [Revised: 10/24/2020] [Accepted: 10/24/2020] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Acute leukemia is the most common childhood cancer and has been associated with exposure to environmental carcinogens. This study aimed to identify clusters of acute childhood leukemia (ACL) cases and analyze their relationship with proximity to industrial sources of air pollution in three capital cities in Colombia during 2000-2015. Incident ACL cases were obtained from the population cancer registries for the cities of Bucaramanga, Cali, and Medellín. The inventory of industrial sources of emissions to the air was obtained from the regional environmental authorities and industrial conglomerates were identified. The Kulldorf's circular scan test was used to detect city clusters and to identify clusters around industrial conglomerates. Multivariable spatial modeling assessed the effect of distance and direction from the industrial conglomerates controlling for socioeconomic status. We identified industrials sectors within a buffer of 1 km around industrial conglomerates related to the ACL clusters. Incidence rates showed geographical heterogeneity with low spatial autocorrelation within cities. The spatio-temporal tests identified one cluster in each city. The industries located within 1 km around the ACL clusters identified in the three cities represent different sectors. Exposure to air pollution from industrial sources might be contributing to the incidence of ACL cases in urban settings in Colombia.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Feisar Enrique Moreno-Corzo
- Public Health Observatory of Santander, Fundación Oftalmológica de Santander, Floridablanca 681003, Colombia; (F.E.M.-C.); (R.G.O.M.)
| | - Ana María Valbuena-Garcia
- Department of Public Health, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Bucaramanga 680002, Colombia;
- Cuenta de Alto Costo, Fondo Colombiano de Enfermedades de Alto Costo, Bogotá 110111, Colombia
| | - Claudia Janeth Uribe Pérez
- Population Based Cancer Registry of the Metropolitan Area of Bucaramanga, Universidad Autónoma de Bucaramanga, Bucaramanga 681003, Colombia;
| | | | | | - Luis Eduardo Bravo
- Population Based Cancer Registry of Cali, Universidad del Valle, Cali 760043, Colombia;
| | - Rafael Gustavo Ortiz Martínez
- Public Health Observatory of Santander, Fundación Oftalmológica de Santander, Floridablanca 681003, Colombia; (F.E.M.-C.); (R.G.O.M.)
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Development of Vulnerability Assessment Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction at Three Levels of Geopolitical Units in the Philippines. SUSTAINABILITY 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/su12218815] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
This study developed a comprehensive framework for vulnerability assessment as a tool to measure vulnerability at three levels of geopolitical units in the Philippines. This is a comprehensive multi-disaster framework that can provide information to a decentralized type of government system like the Philippines. The vulnerability assessment framework (VAF) that has been developed was anchored upon the IPCC model and used the integration of community-based monitoring system (CBMS) data, expert inputs, and a series of community-based activities such as consultative fora, focus group discussions, workshops, and risk reduction immersion activities. The developed VAF for the assessment of vulnerability indices (VIs) is a system framework composed of a vulnerability scoping diagram (VSD) and an expanded vulnerability assessment model (VAM). The VSD is composed of three dimensions (e.g., exposure, sensitivity, resiliency), seven identified hazards, with 26, 27, and 29 sub-indicators for household, barangay, and municipal levels, respectively. Measuring vulnerability can be an effective strategy for assessing the potential impact/s of natural disasters on society. The continuous occurrence of natural disasters in the Philippines requires enhancement of public understanding of vulnerability. This would provide transparent understanding and enhance community competency leading to the development of methodologies and tools to assess various factors and indicators of vulnerability. The information extracted from using the VAF and VSD are helpful to the local government units, especially in preparing budgets, strategies, and programs for disaster risk reduction.
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Mullen C, Grineski S, Collins T, Xing W, Whitaker R, Sayahi T, Becnel T, Goffin P, Gaillardon PE, Meyer M, Kelly K. Patterns of distributive environmental inequity under different PM 2.5 air pollution scenarios for Salt Lake County public schools. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2020; 186:109543. [PMID: 32348936 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2020.109543] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2019] [Revised: 04/15/2020] [Accepted: 04/15/2020] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
Previous studies have cataloged social disparities in air pollution exposure in US public schools with respect to race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status. These studies rely upon chronic, averaged measures of air pollution, which fosters a static conception of exposure disparities. This paper examines PM2.5 exposure disparities in Salt Lake County (SLC), Utah public schools under three different PM2.5 scenarios-relatively clean air, a moderate winter persistent cold air pool (PCAP), and a major winter PCAP-with respect to race/ethnicity, economic deprivation, student age, and school type. We pair demographic data for SLC schools (n = 174) with modelled PM2.5 values, obtained from a distributed network of sensors placed through a community-university partnership. Results from generalized estimating equations controlling for school district clustering and other covariates reveal that patterns of social inequality vary under different PM2.5 pollution scenarios. Charter schools and schools serving economically deprived students experienced disproportionate exposure during relatively clean air and moderate PM2.5 PCAP conditions, but those inequalities attenuated under major PCAP conditions. Schools with higher proportions of racial/ethnic minority students were unequally exposed under all PM2.5 pollution scenarios, reflecting the robustness of racial/ethnic disparities in exposure. The findings speak to the need for policy changes to protect school-aged children from environmental harm in SLC and elsewhere.
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Affiliation(s)
- Casey Mullen
- Department of Sociology, University of Utah, 380 S 1530 E, Rm. 301, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, United States
| | - Sara Grineski
- Department of Sociology, University of Utah, 380 S 1530 E, Rm. 301, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, United States.
| | - Timothy Collins
- Department of Geography, University of Utah, 260 Central Campus Dr., Rm. 4625, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, United States
| | - Wei Xing
- Scientific Computing and Imagining Institute, University of Utah, 72 Central Campus Dr., Rm. 3750, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, United States
| | - Ross Whitaker
- Scientific Computing and Imagining Institute, University of Utah, 72 Central Campus Dr., Rm. 3750, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, United States; School of Computing, University of Utah, 50 S. Central Campus Dr., Rm. 3190, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, United States
| | - Tofigh Sayahi
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Utah, 3290 MEB, 50 S. Central Campus Dr., Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, United States
| | - Tom Becnel
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Utah; 50 S. Central Campus Dr., MEB Rm. 2110, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, United States
| | - Pascal Goffin
- Scientific Computing and Imagining Institute, University of Utah, 72 Central Campus Dr., Rm. 3750, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, United States
| | - Pierre-Emmanuel Gaillardon
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Utah; 50 S. Central Campus Dr., MEB Rm. 2110, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, United States
| | - Miriah Meyer
- Scientific Computing and Imagining Institute, University of Utah, 72 Central Campus Dr., Rm. 3750, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, United States; School of Computing, University of Utah, 50 S. Central Campus Dr., Rm. 3190, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, United States
| | - Kerry Kelly
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Utah, 3290 MEB, 50 S. Central Campus Dr., Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, United States
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Occurrence of trace metals in fish from South Italy: Assessment risk to consumer’s health. J Food Compost Anal 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jfca.2020.103487] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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A Framework to Classify Environmental Inequity in Absolute and Relative Terms, and Its Application in Beijing. SUSTAINABILITY 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/su12114757] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Although reducing environmental inequities is widely recognized as an essential step towards sustainable cities, decision-makers frequently lack the tools to identify inequity distribution patterns and designing effective intervention policies. This study seeks to present a framework that can help decision-making processes by classifying environmental inequity districts in multiple perspectives, especially in absolute and relative terms. This framework includes four steps: (A) variable selection, (B) data normalization, (C) ranking indicators, (D) summarizing inequity classification, which then assign results to selected areas. The framework aims to classify and compare environmental inequities in multiple perspectives, and can be applied in various environmental problems, with advantages such as high acceptability and clear comprehensibility. To show the potential use of this framework, a case application in Beijing, China, was conducted to evaluate the environmental inequity of air pollution. The results suggest that decision-makers should focus on the central urban area and some southern regions of Beijing to implement various improvement policies. Based on the results from Beijing, how the framework can be used to help decision-makers, the future roles of this framework with the government and the public, as well as the framework’s limitations are further discussed.
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Combined neurodevelopmental exposure to deltamethrin and corticosterone is associated with Nr3c1 hypermethylation in the midbrain of male mice. Neurotoxicol Teratol 2020; 80:106887. [PMID: 32348866 DOI: 10.1016/j.ntt.2020.106887] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2020] [Revised: 04/10/2020] [Accepted: 04/21/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders and manifests inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity symptoms in childhood that can last throughout life. Genetic and environmental studies implicate the dopamine system in ADHD pathogenesis. Work from our group and that of others indicates that deltamethrin insecticide and stress exposure during neurodevelopment leads to alterations in dopamine function, and we hypothesized that exposure to both of these factors together would lead to synergistic effects on DNA methylation of key genes within the midbrain, a highly dopaminergic region, that could contribute to these findings. Through targeted next-generation sequencing of a panel of cortisol and dopamine pathway genes, we observed hypermethylation of the glucocorticoid receptor gene, Nr3c1, in the midbrain of C57/BL6N males in response to dual deltamethrin and corticosterone exposures during development. This is the first description of DNA methylation studies of Nr3c1 and key dopaminergic genes within the midbrain in response to a pyrethroid insecticide, corticosterone, and these two exposures together. Our results provide possible connections between environmental exposures that impact the dopamine system and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis via changes in DNA methylation and provides new information about the presence of epigenetic effects in adulthood after exposure during neurodevelopment.
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Nguyen VK, Kahana A, Heidt J, Polemi K, Kvasnicka J, Jolliet O, Colacino JA. A comprehensive analysis of racial disparities in chemical biomarker concentrations in United States women, 1999-2014. ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL 2020; 137:105496. [PMID: 32113086 PMCID: PMC7137529 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2020.105496] [Citation(s) in RCA: 70] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2019] [Revised: 01/09/2020] [Accepted: 01/14/2020] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Stark racial disparities in disease incidence among American women remain a persistent public health challenge. These disparities likely result from complex interactions between genetic, social, lifestyle, and environmental risk factors. The influence of environmental risk factors, such as chemical exposure, however, may be substantial and is poorly understood. OBJECTIVES We quantitatively evaluated chemical-exposure disparities by race/ethnicity, life stage, and time in United States (US) women (n = 38,080) by using biomarker data for 143 chemicals from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999-2014. METHODS We applied a series of survey-weighted, generalized linear models using data from the entire NHANES women population along with cycle and age-group stratified subpopulations. The outcome was chemical biomarker concentration, and the main predictor was race/ethnicity with adjustment for age, socioeconomic status, smoking habits, and NHANES cycle. RESULTS Compared to non-Hispanic White women, the highest disparities were observed for non-Hispanic Black, Mexican American, Other Hispanic, and Other Race/Multi-Racial women with higher levels of pesticides and their metabolites, including 2,5-dichlorophenol, o,p'-DDE, beta-hexachlorocyclohexane, and 2,4-dichlorophenol, along with personal care and consumer product compounds, including parabens and monoethyl phthalate, as well as several metals, such as mercury and arsenic. Moreover, for Mexican American, Other Hispanic, and non-Hispanic black women, there were several exposure disparities that persisted across age groups, such as higher 2,4- and 2,5-dichlorophenol concentrations. Exposure levels for methyl and propyl parabens, however, were the highest in non-Hispanic black compared to non-Hispanic white children with average differences exceeding 4-fold. Exposure disparities for methyl and propyl parabens are increasing over time in Other Race/Multi-Racial women while fluctuating for non-Hispanic Black, Mexican American, and Other Hispanic. Cotinine levels are among the highest in Non-Hispanic White women compared to Mexican American and Other Hispanic women with disparities plateauing and increasing, respectively. DISCUSSION We systematically evaluated differences in chemical exposures across women of various race/ethnic groups and across age groups and time. Our findings could help inform chemical prioritization in designing epidemiological and toxicological studies. In addition, they could help guide public health interventions to reduce environmental and health disparities across populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vy Kim Nguyen
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, Medical School, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Adam Kahana
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Julien Heidt
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Katelyn Polemi
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Jacob Kvasnicka
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Olivier Jolliet
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Center for Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Justin A Colacino
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Center for Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Nutritional Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
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Windham GC, Soriano JW, Dobraca D, Sosnoff CS, Hiatt RA, Kushi LH. Environmental Tobacco Smoke Exposure in Relation to Family Characteristics, Stressors and Chemical Co-Exposures in California Girls. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2019; 16:ijerph16214208. [PMID: 31671594 PMCID: PMC6862570 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph16214208] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2019] [Revised: 10/25/2019] [Accepted: 10/28/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Childhood environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure is a risk factor for adverse health outcomes and may disproportionately burden lower socioeconomic status groups, exacerbating health disparities. We explored associations of demographic factors, stressful life events, and chemical co-exposures, with cotinine levels, among girls in the CYGNET Study. Data were collected from families of girls aged 6–8 years old in Northern California, through clinic exams, questionnaires and biospecimens (n = 421). Linear regression and factor analysis were conducted to explore predictors of urinary cotinine and co-exposure body burdens, respectively. In unadjusted models, geometric mean cotinine concentrations were higher among Black (0.59 ug/g creatinine) than non-Hispanic white (0.27), Asian (0.32), or Hispanic (0.34) participants. Following adjustment, living in a rented home, lower primary caregiver education, and lack of two biologic parents in the home were associated with higher cotinine concentrations. Girls who experienced parental separation or unemployment in the family had higher unadjusted cotinine concentrations. Higher cotinine was also associated with higher polybrominated diphenyl ether and metals concentrations. Our findings have environmental justice implications as Black and socio-economically disadvantaged young girls experienced higher ETS exposure, also associated with higher exposure to other chemicals. Efforts to reduce ETS and co-exposures should account for other disparity-related factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gayle C Windham
- Environmental Health Investigations Branch, CA Department of Public Health, 850 Marina Bay Parkway, Richmond, CA 94804, USA.
| | - Jasmine W Soriano
- Sequoia Foundation, 2166 Avenida de la Playa, Suite D, La Jolla, San Diego, CA 92037, USA.
| | - Dina Dobraca
- Environmental Health Investigations Branch, CA Department of Public Health, 850 Marina Bay Parkway, Richmond, CA 94804, USA.
| | - Connie S Sosnoff
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Hwy NE, Atlanta, GA 30341, USA.
| | - Robert A Hiatt
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, 550 16th Street, 2nd floor, Box #0560, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
| | - Lawrence H Kushi
- Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, 2000 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94612, USA.
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Swope CB, Hernández D. Housing as a determinant of health equity: A conceptual model. Soc Sci Med 2019; 243:112571. [PMID: 31675514 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112571] [Citation(s) in RCA: 151] [Impact Index Per Article: 30.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2019] [Revised: 07/14/2019] [Accepted: 09/24/2019] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Housing is a major pathway through which health disparities emerge and are sustained over time. However, no existing unified conceptual model has comprehensively elucidated the relationship between housing and health equity with attention to the full range of harmful exposures, their cumulative burden and their historical production. We synthesized literature from a diverse array of disciplines to explore the varied aspects of the relationship between housing and health and developed an original conceptual model highlighting these complexities. This holistic conceptual model of the impact of housing on health disparities illustrates how structural inequalities shape unequal distribution of access to health-promoting housing factors, which span four pillars: 1) cost (housing affordability); 2) conditions (housing quality); 3) consistency (residential stability); and 4) context (neighborhood opportunity). We further demonstrate that these four pillars can lead to cumulative burden by interacting with one another and with other structurally-rooted inequalities to produce and reify health disparities. We conclude by offering a comprehensive vision for healthy housing that situates housing's impact on health through a historical and social justice lens, which can help to better design policies and interventions that use housing to promote health equity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolyn B Swope
- Sociomedical Sciences Department, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Diana Hernández
- Sociomedical Sciences Department, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA
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Grineski SE, Collins T. Lifetime cancer risks from hazardous air pollutants in US public school districts. J Epidemiol Community Health 2019; 73:854-860. [DOI: 10.1136/jech-2018-211832] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2018] [Revised: 05/20/2019] [Accepted: 05/25/2019] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
BackgroundChildren are sensitive to the health impacts of environmental contaminants, but research assessing outdoor environmental exposures for children and schools is underdeveloped. There are no national-level studies examining geographical and social disparities in air pollution exposure for children in school districts. Focusing on school districts is important because they are meaningful decision-making entities for schools.MethodsUsing data from the National Air Toxics Assessment, we spatially reallocated lifetime cancer risk (LCR) from hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) within US school district boundaries, and paired those estimates with school district level sociodemographic measures obtained through the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series National Historic Geographic Information System. We employed local Moran’s I to identify district-level hotpots and generalised estimating equations (GEEs) to quantify risk disparities.ResultsWe identified hotspots of elevated LCR from all sources of HAPs (called ‘total’). A regional hotspot extends throughout the southeastern USA and smaller regional hotspots are present in southern Arizona, southern California and in California’s central valley. School districts with higher proportions of children, children with disabilities, foreign-born children, black children and multiracial/other race children, and lower proportions of Native American children, had greater total LCR (p<0.001). The effect of poverty on total LCR (p<0.001) was nonlinear; the lowest and highest poverty districts had lower total LCR.ConclusionsGeographical and social disparities in LCR across US school districts may be affecting children’s health and future potential. This new knowledge can inform policy changes, as school districts can advocate for the environmental health of children.
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Vester AI, Chen M, Marsit CJ, Caudle WM. A Neurodevelopmental Model of Combined Pyrethroid and Chronic Stress Exposure. TOXICS 2019; 7:toxics7020024. [PMID: 31052489 PMCID: PMC6630986 DOI: 10.3390/toxics7020024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2019] [Revised: 04/26/2019] [Accepted: 04/30/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders of childhood and previous studies indicate the dopamine system plays a major role in ADHD pathogenesis. Two environmental exposures independently associated with dopaminergic dysfunction and ADHD risk include exposure to deltamethrin, a pyrethroid insecticide, and chronic stress. We hypothesized that combined neurodevelopmental exposure to both deltamethrin and corticosterone (CORT), the major stress hormone in rodents, would result in additive changes within the dopamine system. To study this, we developed a novel dual exposure paradigm and exposed pregnant C57BL/6 dams to 3 mg/kg deltamethrin through gestation and weaning, and their offspring to 25 μg/mL CORT dissolved in the drinking water through adulthood. Midbrain RNA expression as well as striatal and cortical protein expression of key dopaminergic components were investigated, in addition to ADHD-like behavioral tasks and electrochemical dopamine dynamics via fast-scan cyclic voltammetry. Given the well-described sexual dimorphism of ADHD, males and females were assessed separately. Males exposed to deltamethrin had significantly decreased midbrain Pitx3 expression, decreased cortical tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) expression, increased activity in the Y maze, and increased dopamine uptake rate in the dorsal striatum. These effects did not occur in males exposed to CORT only, or in males exposed to both deltamethrin and CORT, suggesting that CORT may attenuate these effects. Additionally, deltamethrin- and CORT-exposed females did not display these dopaminergic features, which indicates these changes are sex-specific. Our results show dopaminergic changes from the RNA through the functional level. Moreover, these data illustrate the importance of testing multiple environmental exposures together to better understand how combined exposures that occur in certain vulnerable populations could affect similar neurodevelopmental systems, as well as the importance of studying sex differences of these alterations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aimée I Vester
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA.
| | - Merry Chen
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA.
| | - Carmen J Marsit
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA.
| | - W Michael Caudle
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA.
- Center for Neurodegenerative Disease, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
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Payne-Sturges DC, Marty MA, Perera F, Miller MD, Swanson M, Ellickson K, Cory-Slechta DA, Ritz B, Balmes J, Anderko L, Talbott EO, Gould R, Hertz-Picciotto I. Healthy Air, Healthy Brains: Advancing Air Pollution Policy to Protect Children's Health. Am J Public Health 2019; 109:550-554. [PMID: 30789769 PMCID: PMC6417586 DOI: 10.2105/ajph.2018.304902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/24/2018] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Evidence is growing on the adverse neurodevelopmental effects of exposure to combustion-related air pollution. Project TENDR (Targeting Environmental Neurodevelopmental Risks), a unique collaboration of leading scientists, health professionals, and children's and environmental health advocates, has identified combustion-related air pollutants as critical targets for action to protect healthy brain development. We present policy recommendations for maintaining and strengthening federal environmental health protections, advancing state and local actions, and supporting scientific research to inform effective strategies for reducing children's exposures to combustion-related air pollution. Such actions not only would improve children's neurological development but also would have the important co-benefit of climate change mitigation and further improvements in other health conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Devon C Payne-Sturges
- Devon C. Payne-Sturges is with the Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park. Melanie A. Marty is with the Department of Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Davis. Frederica Perera is with the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health, Columbia University, New York, NY. Mark D. Miller and John Balmes are with the Division of Occupational Environmental Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. Maureen Swanson is with the Learning Disabilities Association of America, Pittsburgh, PA. Kristie Ellickson is with the Minnesota State Pollution Control Agency, Saint Paul. Deborah A. Cory-Slechta is with the University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY. Beate Ritz is with the Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles. Laura Anderko is with the School of Nursing and Health Studies, Georgetown University, Washington, DC. Evelyn O. Talbott is with the School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh. Robert Gould is with the School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. Irva Hertz-Picciotto is with the Department of Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine; the MIND Institute; and the Children's Center for Environmental Health, University of California, Davis
| | - Melanie A Marty
- Devon C. Payne-Sturges is with the Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park. Melanie A. Marty is with the Department of Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Davis. Frederica Perera is with the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health, Columbia University, New York, NY. Mark D. Miller and John Balmes are with the Division of Occupational Environmental Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. Maureen Swanson is with the Learning Disabilities Association of America, Pittsburgh, PA. Kristie Ellickson is with the Minnesota State Pollution Control Agency, Saint Paul. Deborah A. Cory-Slechta is with the University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY. Beate Ritz is with the Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles. Laura Anderko is with the School of Nursing and Health Studies, Georgetown University, Washington, DC. Evelyn O. Talbott is with the School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh. Robert Gould is with the School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. Irva Hertz-Picciotto is with the Department of Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine; the MIND Institute; and the Children's Center for Environmental Health, University of California, Davis
| | - Frederica Perera
- Devon C. Payne-Sturges is with the Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park. Melanie A. Marty is with the Department of Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Davis. Frederica Perera is with the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health, Columbia University, New York, NY. Mark D. Miller and John Balmes are with the Division of Occupational Environmental Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. Maureen Swanson is with the Learning Disabilities Association of America, Pittsburgh, PA. Kristie Ellickson is with the Minnesota State Pollution Control Agency, Saint Paul. Deborah A. Cory-Slechta is with the University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY. Beate Ritz is with the Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles. Laura Anderko is with the School of Nursing and Health Studies, Georgetown University, Washington, DC. Evelyn O. Talbott is with the School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh. Robert Gould is with the School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. Irva Hertz-Picciotto is with the Department of Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine; the MIND Institute; and the Children's Center for Environmental Health, University of California, Davis
| | - Mark D Miller
- Devon C. Payne-Sturges is with the Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park. Melanie A. Marty is with the Department of Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Davis. Frederica Perera is with the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health, Columbia University, New York, NY. Mark D. Miller and John Balmes are with the Division of Occupational Environmental Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. Maureen Swanson is with the Learning Disabilities Association of America, Pittsburgh, PA. Kristie Ellickson is with the Minnesota State Pollution Control Agency, Saint Paul. Deborah A. Cory-Slechta is with the University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY. Beate Ritz is with the Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles. Laura Anderko is with the School of Nursing and Health Studies, Georgetown University, Washington, DC. Evelyn O. Talbott is with the School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh. Robert Gould is with the School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. Irva Hertz-Picciotto is with the Department of Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine; the MIND Institute; and the Children's Center for Environmental Health, University of California, Davis
| | - Maureen Swanson
- Devon C. Payne-Sturges is with the Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park. Melanie A. Marty is with the Department of Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Davis. Frederica Perera is with the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health, Columbia University, New York, NY. Mark D. Miller and John Balmes are with the Division of Occupational Environmental Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. Maureen Swanson is with the Learning Disabilities Association of America, Pittsburgh, PA. Kristie Ellickson is with the Minnesota State Pollution Control Agency, Saint Paul. Deborah A. Cory-Slechta is with the University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY. Beate Ritz is with the Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles. Laura Anderko is with the School of Nursing and Health Studies, Georgetown University, Washington, DC. Evelyn O. Talbott is with the School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh. Robert Gould is with the School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. Irva Hertz-Picciotto is with the Department of Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine; the MIND Institute; and the Children's Center for Environmental Health, University of California, Davis
| | - Kristie Ellickson
- Devon C. Payne-Sturges is with the Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park. Melanie A. Marty is with the Department of Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Davis. Frederica Perera is with the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health, Columbia University, New York, NY. Mark D. Miller and John Balmes are with the Division of Occupational Environmental Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. Maureen Swanson is with the Learning Disabilities Association of America, Pittsburgh, PA. Kristie Ellickson is with the Minnesota State Pollution Control Agency, Saint Paul. Deborah A. Cory-Slechta is with the University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY. Beate Ritz is with the Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles. Laura Anderko is with the School of Nursing and Health Studies, Georgetown University, Washington, DC. Evelyn O. Talbott is with the School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh. Robert Gould is with the School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. Irva Hertz-Picciotto is with the Department of Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine; the MIND Institute; and the Children's Center for Environmental Health, University of California, Davis
| | - Deborah A Cory-Slechta
- Devon C. Payne-Sturges is with the Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park. Melanie A. Marty is with the Department of Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Davis. Frederica Perera is with the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health, Columbia University, New York, NY. Mark D. Miller and John Balmes are with the Division of Occupational Environmental Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. Maureen Swanson is with the Learning Disabilities Association of America, Pittsburgh, PA. Kristie Ellickson is with the Minnesota State Pollution Control Agency, Saint Paul. Deborah A. Cory-Slechta is with the University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY. Beate Ritz is with the Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles. Laura Anderko is with the School of Nursing and Health Studies, Georgetown University, Washington, DC. Evelyn O. Talbott is with the School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh. Robert Gould is with the School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. Irva Hertz-Picciotto is with the Department of Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine; the MIND Institute; and the Children's Center for Environmental Health, University of California, Davis
| | - Beate Ritz
- Devon C. Payne-Sturges is with the Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park. Melanie A. Marty is with the Department of Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Davis. Frederica Perera is with the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health, Columbia University, New York, NY. Mark D. Miller and John Balmes are with the Division of Occupational Environmental Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. Maureen Swanson is with the Learning Disabilities Association of America, Pittsburgh, PA. Kristie Ellickson is with the Minnesota State Pollution Control Agency, Saint Paul. Deborah A. Cory-Slechta is with the University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY. Beate Ritz is with the Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles. Laura Anderko is with the School of Nursing and Health Studies, Georgetown University, Washington, DC. Evelyn O. Talbott is with the School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh. Robert Gould is with the School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. Irva Hertz-Picciotto is with the Department of Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine; the MIND Institute; and the Children's Center for Environmental Health, University of California, Davis
| | - John Balmes
- Devon C. Payne-Sturges is with the Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park. Melanie A. Marty is with the Department of Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Davis. Frederica Perera is with the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health, Columbia University, New York, NY. Mark D. Miller and John Balmes are with the Division of Occupational Environmental Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. Maureen Swanson is with the Learning Disabilities Association of America, Pittsburgh, PA. Kristie Ellickson is with the Minnesota State Pollution Control Agency, Saint Paul. Deborah A. Cory-Slechta is with the University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY. Beate Ritz is with the Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles. Laura Anderko is with the School of Nursing and Health Studies, Georgetown University, Washington, DC. Evelyn O. Talbott is with the School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh. Robert Gould is with the School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. Irva Hertz-Picciotto is with the Department of Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine; the MIND Institute; and the Children's Center for Environmental Health, University of California, Davis
| | - Laura Anderko
- Devon C. Payne-Sturges is with the Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park. Melanie A. Marty is with the Department of Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Davis. Frederica Perera is with the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health, Columbia University, New York, NY. Mark D. Miller and John Balmes are with the Division of Occupational Environmental Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. Maureen Swanson is with the Learning Disabilities Association of America, Pittsburgh, PA. Kristie Ellickson is with the Minnesota State Pollution Control Agency, Saint Paul. Deborah A. Cory-Slechta is with the University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY. Beate Ritz is with the Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles. Laura Anderko is with the School of Nursing and Health Studies, Georgetown University, Washington, DC. Evelyn O. Talbott is with the School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh. Robert Gould is with the School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. Irva Hertz-Picciotto is with the Department of Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine; the MIND Institute; and the Children's Center for Environmental Health, University of California, Davis
| | - Evelyn O Talbott
- Devon C. Payne-Sturges is with the Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park. Melanie A. Marty is with the Department of Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Davis. Frederica Perera is with the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health, Columbia University, New York, NY. Mark D. Miller and John Balmes are with the Division of Occupational Environmental Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. Maureen Swanson is with the Learning Disabilities Association of America, Pittsburgh, PA. Kristie Ellickson is with the Minnesota State Pollution Control Agency, Saint Paul. Deborah A. Cory-Slechta is with the University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY. Beate Ritz is with the Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles. Laura Anderko is with the School of Nursing and Health Studies, Georgetown University, Washington, DC. Evelyn O. Talbott is with the School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh. Robert Gould is with the School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. Irva Hertz-Picciotto is with the Department of Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine; the MIND Institute; and the Children's Center for Environmental Health, University of California, Davis
| | - Robert Gould
- Devon C. Payne-Sturges is with the Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park. Melanie A. Marty is with the Department of Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Davis. Frederica Perera is with the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health, Columbia University, New York, NY. Mark D. Miller and John Balmes are with the Division of Occupational Environmental Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. Maureen Swanson is with the Learning Disabilities Association of America, Pittsburgh, PA. Kristie Ellickson is with the Minnesota State Pollution Control Agency, Saint Paul. Deborah A. Cory-Slechta is with the University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY. Beate Ritz is with the Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles. Laura Anderko is with the School of Nursing and Health Studies, Georgetown University, Washington, DC. Evelyn O. Talbott is with the School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh. Robert Gould is with the School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. Irva Hertz-Picciotto is with the Department of Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine; the MIND Institute; and the Children's Center for Environmental Health, University of California, Davis
| | - Irva Hertz-Picciotto
- Devon C. Payne-Sturges is with the Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park. Melanie A. Marty is with the Department of Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Davis. Frederica Perera is with the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health, Columbia University, New York, NY. Mark D. Miller and John Balmes are with the Division of Occupational Environmental Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. Maureen Swanson is with the Learning Disabilities Association of America, Pittsburgh, PA. Kristie Ellickson is with the Minnesota State Pollution Control Agency, Saint Paul. Deborah A. Cory-Slechta is with the University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY. Beate Ritz is with the Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles. Laura Anderko is with the School of Nursing and Health Studies, Georgetown University, Washington, DC. Evelyn O. Talbott is with the School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh. Robert Gould is with the School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. Irva Hertz-Picciotto is with the Department of Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine; the MIND Institute; and the Children's Center for Environmental Health, University of California, Davis
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48
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Amiri A, Zhao S. Environmental justice screening tools: Implications for nursing. Public Health Nurs 2019; 36:411-421. [PMID: 30767259 DOI: 10.1111/phn.12593] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2018] [Revised: 12/14/2018] [Accepted: 01/17/2019] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Environmental justice (EJ) means socially and economically disadvantaged communities and citizens are entitled to an equally clean environment and resources to enjoy. EJ communities are mostly located close to polluters such as Superfund sites, coal-fired power plants and landfills and are more likely to be exposed to higher levels of environmental hazards than the U.S. population on average. It is often a difficult task to identify EJ communities and the environmental hazards in the communities without using specific EJ screening tools. Therefore, the goal of this manuscript is to introduce public health nurses to map-based EJ screening tools. This will help public health nurses to identify EJ communities and take appropriate actions. Public Health Nurses can also use other relevant web sites, such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and Toxicology Data Network (TOXNET) as resources concerning potential health effects of pollutants. Using the provided tools in this paper, nurses should be able to identify EJ communities and be united to recognize barriers of EJ communities and become promoters for EJ advocacy in practice, leadership and education.
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Affiliation(s)
- Azita Amiri
- College of Nursing, The University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, Alabama
| | - Shuang Zhao
- Department of Political Science, Department of Atmospheric Science, The University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, Alabama
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49
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Amiri A, Zhao S. Working with an environmental justice community: Nurse observation, assessment, and intervention. Nurs Forum 2019; 54:270-279. [PMID: 30690745 DOI: 10.1111/nuf.12327] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2018] [Revised: 01/11/2019] [Accepted: 01/13/2019] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Environmental justice (EJ) is the concept that all people and communities, regardless of their race and socioeconomic status, are entitled to enjoy an equally clean environment and resources. Communities where residents face environmental injustice and a higher risk of being exposed to environmental hazards due to their race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status are called EJ communities. The purpose of this manuscript is to provide an example of nurses' involvement in observation, assessment, and intervention of an EJ community using a community-based participatory research (CBPR) model. Utilizing a multistage CBPR approach along with a mixed methods design, the project was carried out in three stages. Within the three stages, we conducted a thorough observation of the community, identified possible environmental issues, and collected health data and drinking water samples. Citizens' complaints included coal ash, failed sewer system, health issues, including kidney disorders and neuropathy. Drinking water samples (n = 59) showed lead levels higher than the health limits in 10.4% of samples. We intervened based on our short-term goal, reducing citizens' exposure to lead by education, and our long-term goal, reducing disparities, and exposures. We recommend that nurses increase their knowledge about EJ communities and environmental exposures and their health effects and be advocates for EJ communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Azita Amiri
- College of Nursing, The University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, Alabama
| | - Shuang Zhao
- Department of Political Science, University of Alabama Huntsville, Huntsville, Alabama.,Department of Atmospheric Science, University of Alabama Huntsville, Huntsville, Alabama
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50
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Grineski SE, Collins TW. Geographic and social disparities in exposure to air neurotoxicants at U.S. public schools. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2018; 161:580-587. [PMID: 29245126 PMCID: PMC5760180 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2017.11.047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2017] [Revised: 11/20/2017] [Accepted: 11/28/2017] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
Children are especially vulnerable to the health and developmental impacts of environmental hazards and they spend significant portions of their days at school. Yet there are no national-level studies examining school-level environmental inequalities and few have examined disparate exposure to neurological air toxicants, even though chronic exposure to air pollution impacts children's brain functioning. We paired information about the geographic locations and demographics of each public school in the US with air neurotoxicant exposure estimates pertaining to 24 known neurotoxicants included in the US Environmental Protection Agency's National Air Toxics Assessment. Using bivariate and multivariate statistics, we tested for environmental injustices in air neurotoxicant exposure at 84,969 US public schools. Metropolitan New York City (EPA Region 2) is the geographic region most burdened by air neurotoxicant exposures at schools since one-third of all schools in that region are in the top 10% (at "high risk") for ambient neurotoxicant exposure among all schools nationwide. Students attending "high risk" public schools nationwide are significantly more likely to be eligible for free/reduced price meals, and to be Hispanic, black, or Asian/Pacific Islander (API). They are significantly less likely to be white or of another race. In a multivariate generalized estimating equation controlling for school district effects, schools with greater proportions of Hispanic, black, and API students, schools with higher enrollment, and schools located in more urban (vs. rural) counties face greater risks. Schools serving the youngest students (e.g., pre-kindergarten) have greater levels of risk than schools serving older students. Across all analyses, this study shows that racial/ethnic minority children are bearing the brunt of air neurotoxicant exposures at school, which may be unequally impacting their school performance and future potential.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara E Grineski
- Department of Sociology, University of Utah, 200 Presidents Circle, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA.
| | - Timothy W Collins
- Department of Geography, University of Utah, 200 Presidents Circle, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA.
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