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Zelasky S, Martin CL, Weaver C, Baxter LK, Rappazzo KM. Identifying groups of children's social mobility opportunity for public health applications using k-means clustering. Heliyon 2023; 9:e20250. [PMID: 37810086 PMCID: PMC10560027 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e20250] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2023] [Revised: 09/13/2023] [Accepted: 09/14/2023] [Indexed: 10/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Background The Opportunity Atlas project is a pioneering effort to trace social mobility and adulthood socioeconomic outcomes back to childhood residence. Half of the variation in adulthood socioeconomic outcomes was explainable by neighborhood-level socioeconomic characteristics during childhood. Clustering census tracts by Opportunity Atlas characteristics would allow for further exploration of variance in social mobility. Our objectives here are to identify and describe spatial clustering trends within Opportunity Atlas outcomes. Methods We utilized a k-means clustering machine learning approach with four outcome variables (individual income, incarceration rate, employment, and percent of residents living in a neighborhood with low levels of poverty) each given at five parental income levels (1st, 25th, 50th, 75th, and 100th percentiles of the national distribution) to create clusters of census tracts across the contiguous United States (US) and within each Environmental Protection Agency region. Results At the national level, the algorithm identified seven distinct clusters; the highest opportunity clusters occurred in the Northern Midwest and Northeast, and the lowest opportunity clusters occurred in rural areas of the Southwest and Southeast. For regional analyses, we identified between five to nine clusters within each region. PCA loadings fluctuate across parental income levels; income and low poverty neighborhood residence explain a substantial amount of variance across all variables, but there are differences in contributions across parental income levels for many components. Conclusions Using data from the Opportunity Atlas, we have taken four social mobility opportunity outcome variables each stratified at five parental income levels and created nationwide and EPA region-specific clusters that group together census tracts with similar opportunity profiles. The development of clusters that can serve as a combined index of social mobility opportunity is an important contribution of this work, and this in turn can be employed in future investigations of factors associated with children's social mobility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Zelasky
- Oak Ridge Associated Universities at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Chantel L. Martin
- Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 135 Dauer Drive, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Christopher Weaver
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, Research Triangle Park, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Lisa K. Baxter
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, Research Triangle Park, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Kristen M. Rappazzo
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Center for Public Health and Environmental Assessment, Research Triangle Park, Durham, NC, USA
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Jeon I, Chung H, Kim SH, Nam K. Use of clay and organic matter contents to predict soil pH vulnerability in response to acid or alkali spills. Heliyon 2023; 9:e17044. [PMID: 37484318 PMCID: PMC10361111 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e17044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2023] [Revised: 04/14/2023] [Accepted: 06/06/2023] [Indexed: 07/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Acid or alkali spills destroy the physicochemical properties of soils and cause irreversible damage to their ecological functions. This study examined changes in physicochemical properties (i.e., organic matter, clay content, and cation exchange capacity (CEC)) as well as pH buffering capacity (indicator of soil ecological function) of 20 field soils in response to the spills. Also, we identified the characteristics of soils vulnerable to the spills. Although the spills did not substantially change the clay content, organic matter decreased by approximately 50%, consequently resulting in a 41% decrease in pH buffering capacity. When we classified soils into three groups based on soil properties and pH buffering capacity, the extent of change in soil properties by spill differed by group. As the organic matter content increased or clay content decreased, the soil tended to be more vulnerable to spills in terms of the degree to which the soil function was changed. Considering that the protonation-deprotonation characteristics of clay sized fraction were not remarkably changed by the spills, this result was mainly attributed to the dissolution of organic matter. Together with the successful prediction of CEC and pH buffering capacity by multiple linear regression models using organic matter and clay content, our findings enable the easy classification of soils based on their vulnerability and site-specific management of areas with a high probability of spills.
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Affiliation(s)
- Inhyeong Jeon
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, South Korea
| | - Hyeonyong Chung
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, South Korea
| | - Sang Hyun Kim
- Water Cycle Research Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Seoul, 02792, South Korea
| | - Kyoungphile Nam
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, South Korea
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Bi J, D’Souza RR, Moss S, Senthilkumar N, Russell AG, Scovronick NC, Chang HH, Ebelt S. Acute Effects of Ambient Air Pollution on Asthma Emergency Department Visits in Ten U.S. States. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES 2023; 131:47003. [PMID: 37011135 PMCID: PMC10069759 DOI: 10.1289/ehp11661] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2022] [Revised: 02/05/2023] [Accepted: 03/02/2023] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Previous studies of short-term ambient air pollution exposure and asthma morbidity in the United States have been limited to a small number of cities and/or pollutants and with limited consideration of effects across ages. OBJECTIVES To estimate acute age group-specific effects of fine and coarse particulate matter (PM), major PM components, and gaseous pollutants on emergency department (ED) visits for asthma during 2005-2014 across the United States. METHODS We acquired ED visit and air quality data in regions surrounding 53 speciation sites in 10 states. We used quasi-Poisson log-linear time-series models with unconstrained distributed exposure lags to estimate site-specific acute effects of air pollution on asthma ED visits overall and by age group (1-4, 5-17, 18-49, 50-64, and 65+ y), controlling for meteorology, time trends, and influenza activity. We then used a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate pooled associations from site-specific associations. RESULTS Our analysis included 3.19 million asthma ED visits. We observed positive associations for multiday cumulative exposure to all air pollutants examined [e.g., 8-d exposure to PM2.5: rate ratio of 1.016 with 95% credible interval (CI) of (1.008, 1.025) per 6.3-μg/m3 increase, PM10-2.5: 1.014 (95% CI: 1.007, 1.020) per 9.6-μg/m3 increase, organic carbon: 1.016 (95% CI: 1.009, 1.024) per 2.8-μg/m3 increase, and ozone: 1.008 (95% CI: 0.995, 1.022) per 0.02-ppm increase]. PM2.5 and ozone showed stronger effects at shorter lags, whereas associations of traffic-related pollutants (e.g., elemental carbon and oxides of nitrogen) were generally stronger at longer lags. Most pollutants had more pronounced effects on children (<18 y old) than adults; PM2.5 had strong effects on both children and the elderly (>64 y old); and ozone had stronger effects on adults than children. CONCLUSIONS We reported positive associations between short-term air pollution exposure and increased rates of asthma ED visits. We found that air pollution exposure posed a higher risk for children and older populations. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP11661.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianzhao Bi
- Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Rohan R. D’Souza
- Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Shannon Moss
- Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Niru Senthilkumar
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Armistead G. Russell
- School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Noah C. Scovronick
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Howard H. Chang
- Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| | - Stefanie Ebelt
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
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Azimi P, Stephens B. A framework for estimating the US mortality burden of fine particulate matter exposure attributable to indoor and outdoor microenvironments. JOURNAL OF EXPOSURE SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENTAL EPIDEMIOLOGY 2020; 30:271-284. [PMID: 30518794 PMCID: PMC7039807 DOI: 10.1038/s41370-018-0103-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2018] [Revised: 09/25/2018] [Accepted: 11/12/2018] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
Exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is associated with increased mortality. Although epidemiology studies typically use outdoor PM2.5 concentrations as surrogates for exposure, the majority of PM2.5 exposure in the US occurs in microenvironments other than outdoors. We develop a framework for estimating the total US mortality burden attributable to exposure to PM2.5 of both indoor and outdoor origin in the primary non-smoking microenvironments in which people spend most of their time. The framework utilizes an exposure-response function combined with adjusted mortality effect estimates that account for underlying exposures to PM2.5 of outdoor origin that likely occurred in the original epidemiology populations from which effect estimates are derived. We demonstrate the framework using several different scenarios to estimate the potential magnitude and bounds of the US mortality burden attributable to total PM2.5 exposure across all non-smoking environments under a variety of assumptions. Our best estimates of the US mortality burden associated with total PM2.5 exposure in the year 2012 range from ~230,000 to ~300,000 deaths. Indoor exposure to PM2.5 of outdoor origin is typically the largest total exposure, accounting for ~40-60% of total mortality, followed by residential exposure to indoor PM2.5 sources, which also drives the majority of variability in each scenario.
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Affiliation(s)
- Parham Azimi
- Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Brent Stephens
- Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL, USA.
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Baxter LK, Dionisio K, Pradeep P, Rappazzo K, Neas L. Human exposure factors as potential determinants of the heterogeneity in city-specific associations between PM 2.5 and mortality. JOURNAL OF EXPOSURE SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENTAL EPIDEMIOLOGY 2019; 29:557-567. [PMID: 30310133 PMCID: PMC6643264 DOI: 10.1038/s41370-018-0080-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2017] [Revised: 08/27/2018] [Accepted: 09/17/2018] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
Multi-city population-based epidemiological studies of short-term fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposures and mortality have observed heterogeneity in risk estimates between cities. Factors affecting exposures, such as pollutant infiltration, which are not captured by central-site monitoring data, can differ between communities potentially explaining some of this heterogeneity. This analysis evaluates exposure factors as potential determinants of the heterogeneity in 312 core-based statistical areas (CBSA)-specific associations between PM2.5 and mortality using inverse variance weighted linear regression. Exposure factor variables were created based on data on housing characteristics, commuting patterns, heating fuel usage, and climatic factors from national surveys. When survey data were not available, air conditioning (AC) prevalence was predicted utilizing machine learning techniques. Across all CBSAs, there was a 0.95% (Interquartile range (IQR) of 2.25) increase in non-accidental mortality per 10 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5 and significant heterogeneity between CBSAs. CBSAs with larger homes, more heating degree days, a higher percentage of home heating with oil had significantly (p < 0.05) higher health effect estimates, while cities with more gas heating had significantly lower health effect estimates. While univariate models did not explain much of heterogeneity in health effect estimates (R2 < 1%), multivariate models began to explain some of the observed heterogeneity (R2 = 13%).
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa K Baxter
- National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Office of Research and Development, Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27711, USA.
| | - Kathie Dionisio
- National Exposure Research Laboratory, Office of Research and Development, Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27711, USA
| | - Prachi Pradeep
- National Center for Computational Toxicology, Office of Research and Development, Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27711, USA
- Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, Oak Ridge, TN, USA
| | - Kristen Rappazzo
- National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Office of Research and Development, Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27711, USA
| | - Lucas Neas
- National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Office of Research and Development, Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27711, USA
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Wang Y, Wang H, Chang S, Liu M. Higher-order Network Analysis of Fine Particulate Matter (PM 2.5) Transport in China at City Level. Sci Rep 2017; 7:13236. [PMID: 29038572 PMCID: PMC5643331 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-13614-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2017] [Accepted: 09/25/2017] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Specification of PM 2.5 transmission characteristics is important for pollution control and policymaking. We apply higher-order organization of complex networks to identify major potential PM 2.5 contributors and PM 2.5 transport pathways of a network of 189 cities in China. The network we create in this paper consists of major cities in China and contains information on meteorological conditions of wind speed and wind direction, data on geographic distance, mountains, and PM 2.5 concentrations. We aim to reveal PM 2.5 mobility between cities in China. Two major conclusions are revealed through motif analysis of complex networks. First, major potential PM 2.5 pollution contributors are identified for each cluster by one motif, which reflects movements from source to target. Second, transport pathways of PM 2.5 are revealed by another motif, which reflects transmission routes. To our knowledge, this is the first work to apply higher-order network analysis to study PM 2.5 transport.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yufang Wang
- Department of Statistics, Tianjin University of Finance and Economics, Tianjin, 300222, China.
- Coordinated Innovation Center for Computable Modeling in Management Science, Tianjin University of Finance and Economics, Tianjin, 300222, China.
| | - Haiyan Wang
- School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences, Arizona State University, AZ, 85069, USA
| | - Shuhua Chang
- Coordinated Innovation Center for Computable Modeling in Management Science, Tianjin University of Finance and Economics, Tianjin, 300222, China.
| | - Maoxing Liu
- Department of Mathematics, North University of China, Shanxi, 030051, China
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Baxter LK, Crooks JL, Sacks JD. Influence of exposure differences on city-to-city heterogeneity in PM 2.5-mortality associations in US cities. Environ Health 2017; 16:1. [PMID: 28049482 PMCID: PMC5209854 DOI: 10.1186/s12940-016-0208-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2016] [Accepted: 12/23/2016] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Multi-city population-based epidemiological studies have observed heterogeneity between city-specific fine particulate matter (PM2.5)-mortality effect estimates. These studies typically use ambient monitoring data as a surrogate for exposure leading to potential exposure misclassification. The level of exposure misclassification can differ by city affecting the observed health effect estimate. METHODS The objective of this analysis is to evaluate whether previously developed residential infiltration-based city clusters can explain city-to-city heterogeneity in PM2.5 mortality risk estimates. In a prior paper 94 cities were clustered based on residential infiltration factors (e.g. home age/size, prevalence of air conditioning (AC)), resulting in 5 clusters. For this analysis, the association between PM2.5 and all-cause mortality was first determined in 77 cities across the United States for 2001-2005. Next, a second stage analysis was conducted evaluating the influence of cluster assignment on heterogeneity in the risk estimates. RESULTS Associations between a 2-day (lag 0-1 days) moving average of PM2.5 concentrations and non-accidental mortality were determined for each city. Estimated effects ranged from -3.2 to 5.1% with a pooled estimate of 0.33% (95% CI: 0.13, 0.53) increase in mortality per 10 μg/m3 increase in PM2.5. The second stage analysis determined that cluster assignment was marginally significant in explaining the city-to-city heterogeneity. The health effects estimates in cities with older, smaller homes with less AC (Cluster 1) and cities with newer, smaller homes with a large prevalence of AC (Cluster 3) were significantly lower than the cluster consisting of cities with older, larger homes with a small percentage of AC. CONCLUSIONS This is the first study that attempted to examine whether multiple exposure factors could explain the heterogeneity in PM2.5-mortality associations. The results of this study were found to explain a small portion (6%) of this heterogeneity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa K. Baxter
- National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, United States Environmental Protection Agency, 109 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711 USA
| | - James L. Crooks
- National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, United States Environmental Protection Agency, 109 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711 USA
- Present address: Division of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics and Department of Biomedical Research, National Jewish Health, 1400 Jackson St., Denver, CO 80206 USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Colorado School of Public Health, 13001 E. 7th Place, Aurora, CO 80045 USA
| | - Jason D. Sacks
- National Center for Environmental Assessment, United States Environmental Protection Agency, 109 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711 USA
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Chen T, He J, Lu X, She J, Guan Z. Spatial and Temporal Variations of PM2.5 and Its Relation to Meteorological Factors in the Urban Area of Nanjing, China. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2016; 13:ijerph13090921. [PMID: 27649227 PMCID: PMC5036754 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph13090921] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2016] [Revised: 08/28/2016] [Accepted: 09/05/2016] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The serious air pollution problem has aroused widespread public concerns in China. Nanjing city, as one of the famous cities of China, is faced with the same situation. This research aims to investigate spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and the influence of weather factors on PM2.5 in Nanjing using Spearman-Rank analysis and the Complete Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition with Adaptive Noise (CEEMDAN) method. Hourly PM2.5 observation data and daily meteorological data were collected from 1 April 2013 to 31 December 2015. The spatial distribution result shows that the Maigaoqiao site suffered the most serious pollution. Daily PM2.5 concentrations in Nanjing varied from 7.3 μg/m³ to 336.4 μg/m³. The highest concentration was found in winter and the lowest in summer. The diurnal variation of PM2.5 increased greatly from 6 to 10 a.m. and after 6 p.m., while the concentration exhibited few variations in summer. In addition, the concentration was slightly higher on weekends compared to weekdays. PM2.5 was found to exhibit a reversed relation with wind speed, relative humidity, and precipitation. Although temperature had a positive association with PM2.5 in most months, a negative correlation was observed during the whole period. Additionally, a high concentration was mainly brought with the wind with a southwest direction and several relevant factors are discussed to explain the difference of the impacts of diverse wind directions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tao Chen
- Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science and Technology, School of Geographic and Oceanographic Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China.
| | - Jun He
- Nanjing Information Center, Nanjing 210019, China.
| | - Xiaowei Lu
- School of the Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China.
| | - Jiangfeng She
- Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science and Technology, School of Geographic and Oceanographic Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China.
| | - Zhongqing Guan
- Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science and Technology, School of Geographic and Oceanographic Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China.
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