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Gao D, Esenther S, Minet L, De Jesus A, Hudson S, Leaderer B, Hatzopoulou M, Godri Pollitt KJ. Assessment of children's personal and land use regression model-estimated exposure to NO 2 in Springfield, Massachusetts. Sci Total Environ 2023:164681. [PMID: 37302586 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164681] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2023] [Revised: 05/21/2023] [Accepted: 06/03/2023] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Ambient nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is derived from tailpipe vehicle emission and is linked with various of health outcomes. Personal exposure monitoring is crucial for accurate assessment of the associated disease risks. This study aimed to evaluate the utility of a wearable air pollutant sampler in determining the personal NO2 exposure of school children for comparison with a model-based personal exposure assessment. We employed cost-effective, wearable passive samplers to directly measure personal exposure of 25 children (aged 12-13 years) in Springfield, MA to NO2 over a five-day period in winter 2018. NO2 levels were additionally measured at 40 outdoor sites in the same region using stationary passive samplers. A land use regression (LUR) model was developed based on the ambient NO2 measures, with a good prediction performance (R2 = 0.72) using road lengths, distance to highway, and institutional land area as predictor variables. Time-weighted averages (TWA), which incorporated the time-activity patterns of participants and LUR-derived estimates in children's primary microenvironments (homes, the school and commute paths), were calculated as an indirect measure of personal NO2 exposure. Results indicated that the conventional residence-based exposure estimate approach, often used in epidemiological studies, differed from the direct personal exposure and could overestimate the personal exposure by up to 109 %. TWA improved personal NO2 exposure estimates by accounting for the time activity patterns of individuals, a difference of 5.4 % ± 34.2 % was found for exposures compared to wristband measurements. Nevertheless, the personal wristband measurements exhibited a large variability due to the potential contributions from indoor and in-vehicle NO2 sources. The findings suggest that exposure to NO2 can be highly personalized based on individual activities and contact with pollutants in specific microenvironments, reaffirming the importance of measuring personal exposure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dong Gao
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Sarah Esenther
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Laura Minet
- Department of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering and Computer Science, University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada
| | - Alexander De Jesus
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, United States; Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts, Springfield, MA, United States
| | - Sarita Hudson
- Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts, Springfield, MA, United States
| | - Brian Leaderer
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, United States; Yale Center for Perinatal, Pediatric, and Environmental Epidemiology, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Marianne Hatzopoulou
- Department of Civil and Mineral Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Krystal J Godri Pollitt
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, United States; Yale Center for Perinatal, Pediatric, and Environmental Epidemiology, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, United States.
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Esenther S, Schlick K, Jossart C, Wang N, Dubrow R, Pascucilla M. Improving Water Quality in the Short Beach Neighborhood of Branford, Connecticut, 2019-A Citizen Science Project. Am J Public Health 2022; 112:1261-1264. [PMID: 35797504 PMCID: PMC9382176 DOI: 10.2105/ajph.2022.306943] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
We initiated a collaboration between local government, academia, and citizen scientists to investigate high frequencies of elevated Escherichia coli bacteria levels in the coastal Short Beach neighborhood of Branford, Connecticut. Citizen scientist involvement enabled collection of short-duration postprecipitation outfall flow water samples (mean E. coli level = 4930 most probable number per 100 mL) and yielded insights into scientific collaboration with local residents. A records review and sanitary questionnaire identified aging properties with septic systems (3.3%) and holding tanks (0.6%) as potential sources of the E. coli contamination. (Am J Public Health. 2022;112(9):1261-1264. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2022.306943).
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Esenther
- Sarah Esenther, Christopher Jossart, Ningjing Wang, and Robert Dubrow are with the School of Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, CT. Katie Schlick is with the Yale College Environmental Studies Program, Yale University. Michael Pascucilla is with the East Shore District Health Department, Branford, CT
| | - Katie Schlick
- Sarah Esenther, Christopher Jossart, Ningjing Wang, and Robert Dubrow are with the School of Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, CT. Katie Schlick is with the Yale College Environmental Studies Program, Yale University. Michael Pascucilla is with the East Shore District Health Department, Branford, CT
| | - Christopher Jossart
- Sarah Esenther, Christopher Jossart, Ningjing Wang, and Robert Dubrow are with the School of Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, CT. Katie Schlick is with the Yale College Environmental Studies Program, Yale University. Michael Pascucilla is with the East Shore District Health Department, Branford, CT
| | - Ningjing Wang
- Sarah Esenther, Christopher Jossart, Ningjing Wang, and Robert Dubrow are with the School of Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, CT. Katie Schlick is with the Yale College Environmental Studies Program, Yale University. Michael Pascucilla is with the East Shore District Health Department, Branford, CT
| | - Robert Dubrow
- Sarah Esenther, Christopher Jossart, Ningjing Wang, and Robert Dubrow are with the School of Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, CT. Katie Schlick is with the Yale College Environmental Studies Program, Yale University. Michael Pascucilla is with the East Shore District Health Department, Branford, CT
| | - Michael Pascucilla
- Sarah Esenther, Christopher Jossart, Ningjing Wang, and Robert Dubrow are with the School of Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, CT. Katie Schlick is with the Yale College Environmental Studies Program, Yale University. Michael Pascucilla is with the East Shore District Health Department, Branford, CT
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