Download or read book Exposure to Ambient Air Pollution and Potential Biological Mechanisms Biomarkers in Minority Children with Asthma Living in the United States written by EUNICE YUJUNG LEE and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 83 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rationale: Exposure to ambient air pollution is a major environmental risk factor for chronic diseases such as asthma. Children with asthma can be even more susceptible to the effects of air pollution since their respiratory system is not fully developed and some of the air pollutants can trigger asthma attacks. Over the past decades, scientists and researchers recognized the need to improve our understanding in the biological response mechanisms. The exact underlying mechanisms linking air pollution to disease outcomes, however, are not clear. Objectives: The overarching aims of this thesis are to investigate the association between exposure to ambient air pollutants and adverse health effects among minority children and identify potential biological pathways from exposure to health end points by considering genetic ancestry and, asthma endotype (atopy) as effect modifiers of the relation between air pollution and telomere length. In Chapter 1, we investigated the association between ambient air pollutants and asthma exacerbations in urban minority children, as well as effect modification by atopy status and African ancestry. In Chapter 2, we conducted a pilot study to gather preliminary information about how telomere length varies in relation to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) exposure in children living in a highly polluted city. In Chapter 3, we examined the association between ambient air pollutants and telomere length in minority children to understand the potential damage caused by air pollution at the molecular level. Methods: In Chapter 1, air pollutant exposures were estimated based on residence using U.S. EPA monitoring data and inverse distance weighting. The associations between average daily exposures and asthma exacerbations were estimated by the incident rate ratio (IRR) from a negative binomial regression model. In Chapter 2, we selected asthmatic and non-asthmatic subjects based on their annual average PAH level and described patterns of telomere length, measured by using uniplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In Chapter 3, the annual average daily exposure to each of four air pollutants was examined in relation to telomere length. Results: In chapter 1, exposure to ambient O3 and NO2 were associated with asthma exacerbations. Results for PM2.5 were null. Exposure-response relationships were linear for O3 and NO2 among non-atopic subjects and inconsistent among atopic subjects. Effect modification by African genetic ancestry was present only for O3; the impact of exposure appeared to be larger for those with higher African ancestry. In chapter 2, we found an inverse linear relationship between PAH and telomere length in a small pilot study. In chapter 3, the association between ambient SO2 and telomere length was significantly negative, whereas results for PM2.5, NO2 and O3 were null. Conclusions: Our results provide further evidence that exposure to ambient air pollution is a serious environmental risk factor that causes adverse health outcomes among minority children.
Download or read book WHO Guidelines for Indoor Air Quality written by Elisabeth Heseltine and published by WHO Regional Office Europe. This book was released on 2009 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Microbial pollution is a key element of indoor air pollution. It is caused by hundreds of species of bacteria and fungi, in particular filamentous fungi (mould), growing indoors when sufficient moisture is available. This document provides a comprehensive review of the scientific evidence on health problems associated with building moisture and biological agents. The review concludes that the most important effects are increased prevalences of respiratory symptoms, allergies and asthma as well as perturbation of the immunological system. The document also summarizes the available information on the conditions that determine the presence of mould and measures to control their growth indoors. WHO guidelines for protecting public health are formulated on the basis of the review. The most important means for avoiding adverse health effects is the prevention (or minimization) of persistent dampness and microbial growth on interior surfaces and in building structures. [Ed.]
Download or read book National Air Quality and Emissions Trends Report written by and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Communities in Action written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2017-04-27 with total page 583 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.
Download or read book Waste Incineration and Public Health written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2000-10-21 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Incineration has been used widely for waste disposal, including household, hazardous, and medical wasteâ€"but there is increasing public concern over the benefits of combusting the waste versus the health risk from pollutants emitted during combustion. Waste Incineration and Public Health informs the emerging debate with the most up-to-date information available on incineration, pollution, and human healthâ€"along with expert conclusions and recommendations for further research and improvement of such areas as risk communication. The committee provides details on: Processes involved in incineration and how contaminants are released. Environmental dynamics of contaminants and routes of human exposure. Tools and approaches for assessing possible human health effects. Scientific concerns pertinent to future regulatory actions. The book also examines some of the social, psychological, and economic factors that affect the communities where incineration takes place and addresses the problem of uncertainty and variation in predicting the health effects of incineration processes.
Download or read book Clinical Handbook of Air Pollution Related Diseases written by Fabio Capello and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-02-21 with total page 677 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines in detail the clinical implications of those diseases that either are primarily triggered by air pollution or represent direct consequences of air pollutants. The aim is to provide medical practitioners with practical solutions to issues in diagnosis and treatment while simultaneously furnishing other interested parties with crucial information on the field. The book introduces the concept that air pollution-related diseases constitute a new class of pathologies. A wide range of conditions mainly attributable to air pollution are discussed, covering different body systems and pollution impacts in subsets of the population. In addition to presenting state of the art overviews of clinical aspects, the book carefully examines the implications of current knowledge for social and public health strategies aimed at disease prevention and prophylaxis. The Clinical Handbook of Air Pollution-Related Diseases will greatly assist doctors and healthcare workers when dealing with the consequences of air pollution in their everyday practice and will provide researchers, industry, and policymakers with valuable facts and insights.
Download or read book America s Children and the Environment written by U.s. Environmental Protection Agency and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2017-05-31 with total page 502 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "America's Children and the Environment (ACE)" is EPA's report presenting data on children's environmental health. ACE brings together information from a variety of sources to provide national indicators in the following areas: Environments and Contaminants, Biomonitoring, and Health. Environments and Contaminants indicators describe conditions in the environment, such as levels of air pollution. Biomonitoring indicators include contaminants measured in the bodies of children and women of child-bearing age, such as children's blood lead levels. Health indicators report the rates at which selected health outcomes occur among U.S. children, such as the annual percentage of children who currently have asthma. Accompanying each indicator is text discussing the relevance of the issue to children's environmental health and describing the data used in preparing the indicator. Wherever possible, the indicators are based on data sources that are updated in a consistent manner, so that indicator values may be compared over time.
Download or read book An Analysis of the Environmental Risk Factors of Childhood Asthma and Asthma like Symptoms written by Marc A. Parsons and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is known that a multitude of environmental factors are implicated in the incidence of asthma and asthma symptoms among children; however, previous research has provided inconsistent and/or insufficient evidence as to whether residing in a farming environment during childhood can lead to a reduced asthma risk in future life as predicted by the hygiene hypothesis. Similarly, observational and laboratory studies have shown that the risk of asthma attacks in asthmatic children is related to ambient air pollution exposure in childhood, but the evidence remains ambiguous as to whether air pollution can lead to de novo childhood asthma. In this thesis, individual-level data from the National Longitudinal Study of Children and Youth (NLSCY) were used to examine the relationships between farm residence during childhood and ambient air pollution levels, respectively, with the risk of asthma and asthmatic symptoms. Children resident in farming environments were found to have a significantly lower risk of asthma incidence compared to those residing in non-rural areas in the 14-year follow-up study. Further, higher levels of nitrogen dioxide exposure (NO2) were found to be positively related with an increased 12-month prevalence of asthma attacks in childhood. These findings add to the evidence that farm residence and, to a lesser extent, ambient air pollution exposure is related to childhood asthma and its symptoms. Further research into the biological and genetic mechanisms, which may explain these findings, is needed to better understand the complex relationship between the environment and asthma risk in childhood.
Download or read book WHO Guidelines for Indoor Air Quality written by and published by World Health Organization. This book was released on 2010 with total page 488 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents WHO guidelines for the protection of public health from risks due to a number of chemicals commonly present in indoor air. The substances considered in this review, i.e. benzene, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, naphthalene, nitrogen dioxide, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (especially benzo[a]pyrene), radon, trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene, have indoor sources, are known in respect of their hazardousness to health and are often found indoors in concentrations of health concern. The guidelines are targeted at public health professionals involved in preventing health risks of environmental exposures, as well as specialists and authorities involved in the design and use of buildings, indoor materials and products. They provide a scientific basis for legally enforceable standards.
Download or read book Study on the Effect of Air Pollutant Exposure on Synthesis of IGE in Asthmatic Children written by Xia Lin and published by Open Dissertation Press. This book was released on 2017-01-27 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This dissertation, "Study on the Effect of Air Pollutant Exposure on Synthesis of IgE in Asthmatic Children" by Xia, Lin, 林夏, was obtained from The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) and is being sold pursuant to Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License. The content of this dissertation has not been altered in any way. We have altered the formatting in order to facilitate the ease of printing and reading of the dissertation. All rights not granted by the above license are retained by the author. Abstract: Objective Large quantities of epidemiological studies manifest that indoor and outdoor air pollutants may trigger and aggravate asthma symptoms, whose mechanism, however, has not been completely made clear yet. As shown by the result of the experiment in which in-vitro cells and animals are exposed to high-density air pollution, the triggering effect of air pollution on asthma is associated with inflammatory reaction, IgE expression and regulation pathways. However, there is a lack of evidence from population studies to support that association. This study plans to conduct continuous monitoring over indoor and outdoor air pollutants facing the asthmatic children from Beijing with a view to carry out an overall assessment of their exposure to air pollutants. Meanwhile, biomarkers which are directly reflecting airway inflammation as well as the signal molecules which are related to IgE expression and regulation are monitored. The next step is to establish an exposure-effect relationship to explore the trigger effect of air pollutants on childhood asthma. Methods 1. Questionnaires were used to collect general information (including age, drug use, indoor home decoration, passive smoking, diet during the study, indoor mildew, allergic history, history of diseases and family heredity history) in 60 asthmatic children (males, Han nationality, aged 5 to 14 years)from Beijing who were recruited into this study. 2. A comprehensive evaluation was conducted on their exposure levels of air pollutants by continuous monitoring of indoor PM2.5, black carbon, benzene, toluene, xylene and formaldehyde in their houses and collecting monitoring data with respect to PM2.5, PM10, NO2and SO2at air quality monitoring sites near their houses. Benzene, toluene and xylene were measured by two-stage thermal desorption-gas chromatography (GC), formaldehyde by AHMT spectrophotometry, mass concentration of PM2.5by gravimetric method, black carbon in PM2.5by multi-wavelength absorption spectroscopy. The concentration data of ambient outdoor air pollutants were available from the real-time air quality publishing platform of Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center. 3. Exhaled FeNO of asthmatic children were taken as biomarkers reflecting their airway inflammation. FeNO was measured by electrochemical method (off-line monitoring). 4. Trigger effect of air pollution on IgE signaling pathway of asthmatic children was investigated by determining signal molecules of two signaling pathways related to IgE expression and regulation in peripheral serum. Signal molecules were determined by ELISA. 5. Confounding factors were controlled by stratification analysis and multiple linear regression model, and a comprehensive analysis was conducted of the triggering effect of air pollution on children asthma. Results 1. During the research, as for subjects, concentrations of indoor PM2.5, BC, formaldehyde, benzene, toluene, m-, p-and o-xylenes were 55.329.9 μg/m3, 3.81.4 μg/m3,62.242.7 μg/m3, 13.115.9 μg/m3, 18.716.7 μg/m3, 7.97.9 μg/m3and 3.15.0 μg/m3, respectively. The7-day weighted average concentrations of outdoor PM2.5, PM10, SO2and NO2were 101.387.6μg/m3, 152.888.4μg/m3, 48.639.8 μg/m3and 63.127.7μg/m3, respectively. There was a significant correlation between 7-day weighted average concentrations of indoor and outdoor PM2.5 simultaneo
Download or read book Ambient Air Pollution Exposure and the Incidence of Related Health Effects Among Racial written by and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 30 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Differences among racial and ethnic groups in morbidity and mortality rates for diseases, including diseases with environmental causes, have been extensively documented. However, documenting the linkages between environmental contaminants, individual exposures, and disease incidence has been hindered by difficulties in measuring exposure for the population in general and for minority populations in particular. After briefly discussing research findings on associations of common air pollutants with disease incidence, the authors summarize recent studies of radial/ethnic subgroup differences in incidence of these diseases in the US. They then present evidence of both historic and current patterns of disproportionate minority group exposure to air pollution as measured by residence in areas where ambient air quality standards are violated. The current indications of disproportionate potential exposures of minority and low-income populations to air pollutants represent the continuation of a historical trend. The evidence of linkage between disproportionate exposure to air pollution of racial/ethnic minorities and low-income groups and their higher rates of some air pollution-related diseases is largely circumstantial. Differences in disease incidence and mortality rates among racial/ethnic groups are discussed for respiratory diseases, cancers, and lead poisoning. Pollutants of concern include CO, Pb, SO2, O3, and particulates.
Download or read book Outdoor Air Pollution written by IARC Working Group on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans and published by IARC Monographs on the Evaluat. This book was released on 2016 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This publication represents the views and expert opinions of an IARC Working Group on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risk to Humans, which met in Lyon, 8-15 October 2013."
Download or read book Environmental Epigenetics written by L. Joseph Su and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-05-18 with total page 327 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the toxicological and health implications of environmental epigenetics and provides knowledge through an interdisciplinary approach. Included in this volume are chapters outlining various environmental risk factors such as phthalates and dietary components, life states such as pregnancy and ageing, hormonal and metabolic considerations and specific disease risks such as cancer cardiovascular diseases and other non-communicable diseases. Environmental Epigenetics imparts integrative knowledge of the science of epigenetics and the issues raised in environmental epidemiology. This book is intended to serve both as a reference compendium on environmental epigenetics for scientists in academia, industry and laboratories and as a textbook for graduate level environmental health courses. Environmental Epigenetics imparts integrative knowledge of the science of epigenetics and the issues raised in environmental epidemiology. This book is intended to serve both as a reference compendium on environmental epigenetics for scientists in academia, industry and laboratories and as a textbook for graduate level environmental health courses.
Download or read book Application of Causal Inference Methods to Estimate Single Pollutant and Multi Pollutant Health Effects in Asthmatic Children in Fresno California written by Jonathan Maclean Snowden and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The methodological challenges associated with conducting research on air pollution mixtures are well-known: correlated co-pollutants result in unstable effect estimates and large standard errors, hindering the assignment of causality to any one exposure. There is still relatively little research in the growing multi-pollutant literature that is focused on the mixture itself as the unit of analysis. In this dissertation, I implement a statistical method from the causal inference literature to estimate the effects of ambient air pollution, as single pollutants and in a two-pollutant mixture. I analyze the effects of single-pollutant and multi-pollutant summertime ambient air pollution exposures on pulmonary function in a cohort of children with asthma living in Fresno, California. I employ a technique from the causal inference literature, the Population Intervention Model (PIM), to describe the health effects that would result from several hypothetical interventions that involve lowering concentrations of ambient air pollution. By describing the health effects of the ambient air pollutants in these terms, this approach estimates results that are relevant to real-world policy questions. Furthermore, this analytical approach permits the calculation of air pollution health effects that correspond to multiple pollutants dynamically changing within a mixture, as ambient air pollution is actually experienced by people. I interpret each of these health effects according to whether it reflects a realistic, or even a possible, exposure scenario during the study period and in the region where data were collected. I achieve this through an examination of the individual and joint distributions of the pollutants under study. This dissertation contains several analyses, corresponding to single- and multi-pollutant exposure regimens. In the first analysis, I analyze the effects of ambient summertime NO2 on FEF25-75 in a single-pollutant approach that demonstrates the methodological approach. All analyses use central-site exposure data, assigning all subjects on a given study day the same air pollution exposure values. Ambient PM10-2.5 is analyzed throughout as a summertime pollutant of secondary interest, both in a single-pollutant PM10-2.5 analysis, and in a mixture analysis. For the multi-pollutant mixture analysis, I extend the Population Intervention Model framework demonstrated in the single-pollutant analyses to a two-pollutant summer analysis of ambient NO2 and PM10-2.5, estimating health effects associated with an intervention that dynamically alters levels of one or both pollutants. In this two-pollutant analysis, I estimate the effects of lowering levels of one co-pollutant while "controlling for" the other (i.e., holding it at observed levels), as well as the effects of a joint intervention that decreases levels of both pollutants. The Background chapter presents a brief history of air pollution epidemiology and policy, and reviews the epidemiologic and statistical research upon which this dissertation builds. The Methods chapter describes the data collection protocol of the Fresno Asthmatic Children's Environment Study (FACES), the theoretical basis for the chosen methodological approach, and the details of the statistical methods employed in these analyses. In the Results section, I describe the characteristics of the FACES study sample, provide tabular and graphical descriptions of the distribution of ambient air pollution in the study, and present the results of the single- and multi-pollutant PIM analyses. In the Discussion section, I provide interpretation of the effects estimated in these various analyses, and refer back to the single- and multi-pollutant exposure distributions to situate the various health effects in appropriate context, and to speculate on potential sources of bias. All health effects calculated in these analyses were estimated relatively imprecisely; however, comparison of the magnitude and direction of the risk differences across analyses demonstrates patterns and provides information about the respiratory effects of the pollutants analyzed in this study. Furthermore, consideration of the individual and joint distributions of the two exposures yields key insight that guides the interpretation of these findings, especially as relates to parameter identifiability. In this analysis, there is ample evidence that the types of air pollution profiles described by two interventions are not realistic given the observed data, and furthermore that there is not support in the data to estimate health effects for these interventions. These parameters were defined to be comparable to standard practice in the multi-pollutant literature. The finding that they were not identifiable in the FACES data argues against giving weight to these specific findings, and also raises broader questions about parameters of this type: large, isolated single-pollutant concentration changes in a multi-pollutant exposure regimen. The work presented here emphasizes that such parameters should be scrutinized for positivity and data support before commencing analysis, regardless of the analytical approach chosen.
Download or read book Toxicological Profile for Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons written by and published by . This book was released on 1995 with total page 500 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Impact of Air Pollution on Health Economy Environment and Agricultural Sources written by Mohamed Khallaf and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2011-09-26 with total page 459 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book aims to strengthen the knowledge base dealing with Air Pollution. The book consists of 21 chapters dealing with Air Pollution and its effects in the fields of Health, Environment, Economy and Agricultural Sources. It is divided into four sections. The first one deals with effect of air pollution on health and human body organs. The second section includes the Impact of air pollution on plants and agricultural sources and methods of resistance. The third section includes environmental changes, geographic and climatic conditions due to air pollution. The fourth section includes case studies concerning of the impact of air pollution in the economy and development goals, such as, indoor air pollution in México, indoor air pollution and millennium development goals in Bangladesh, epidemiologic and economic impact of natural gas on indoor air pollution in Colombia and economic growth and air pollution in Iran during development programs. In this book the authors explain the definition of air pollution, the most important pollutants and their different sources and effects on humans and various fields of life. The authors offer different solutions to the problems resulting from air pollution.
Download or read book Science and Decisions written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2009-03-24 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Risk assessment has become a dominant public policy tool for making choices, based on limited resources, to protect public health and the environment. It has been instrumental to the mission of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as well as other federal agencies in evaluating public health concerns, informing regulatory and technological decisions, prioritizing research needs and funding, and in developing approaches for cost-benefit analysis. However, risk assessment is at a crossroads. Despite advances in the field, risk assessment faces a number of significant challenges including lengthy delays in making complex decisions; lack of data leading to significant uncertainty in risk assessments; and many chemicals in the marketplace that have not been evaluated and emerging agents requiring assessment. Science and Decisions makes practical scientific and technical recommendations to address these challenges. This book is a complement to the widely used 1983 National Academies book, Risk Assessment in the Federal Government (also known as the Red Book). The earlier book established a framework for the concepts and conduct of risk assessment that has been adopted by numerous expert committees, regulatory agencies, and public health institutions. The new book embeds these concepts within a broader framework for risk-based decision-making. Together, these are essential references for those working in the regulatory and public health fields.
