Environment international
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Environment international · Sep 2018
Short-term effects of airport-associated ultrafine particle exposure on lung function and inflammation in adults with asthma.
Exposure to ultrafine particles (UFP, particles with aerodynamic diameter < 100 nm) is associated with reduced lung function and airway inflammation in individuals with asthma. Recently, elevated UFP number concentrations (PN) from aircraft landing and takeoff activity were identified downwind of the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) but little is known about the health impacts of airport-related UFP exposure. ⋯ To our knowledge, our study is the first to demonstrate increased acute systemic inflammation following exposure to airport-related UFPs. Health effects associated with roadway traffic exposure were distinct. This study emphasizes the importance of multi-pollutant measurements and modeling techniques to disentangle sources of UFPs contributing to the complex urban air pollution mixture and to evaluate population health risks.
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Environment international · Jun 2018
Socioeconomic and ethnic inequalities in exposure to air and noise pollution in London.
Transport-related air and noise pollution, exposures linked to adverse health outcomes, varies within cities potentially resulting in exposure inequalities. Relatively little is known regarding inequalities in personal exposure to air pollution or transport-related noise. ⋯ Socioeconomic inequalities in air pollution exposure were different for modeled residential versus personal exposure, which has important implications for environmental justice and confounding in epidemiology studies. Exposure misclassification was dependent on several factors related to health, a potential source of bias in epidemiological studies. Quantile regression revealed that socioeconomic and ethnic inequalities in air pollution are often not uniform across the exposure distribution.
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Environment international · May 2018
Full-chain health impact assessment of traffic-related air pollution and childhood asthma.
Asthma is the most common chronic disease in children. Traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) may be an important exposure contributing to its development. In the UK, Bradford is a deprived city suffering from childhood asthma rates higher than national and regional averages and TRAP is of particular concern to the local communities. ⋯ This is the first study undertaking full-chain health impact assessment of TRAP and childhood asthma in a disadvantaged population with public concern about TRAP. It further adds to scarce literature exploring the impact of different exposure assessments. In conservative estimates, air pollution and TRAP are estimated to cause a large, but largely preventable, childhood asthma burden. Future progress with childhood asthma requires a move beyond the prevalent disease control-based approach toward asthma prevention.
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Environment international · Apr 2018
Associations of household renovation materials and periods with childhood asthma, in China: A retrospective cohort study.
Childhood asthma is prevalent in China. However, there is a lack of evidence on whether household renovation, including the materials used and the periods, are associated with the disease. ⋯ We confirmed that using cellulose based materials in home decoration and renovation, and adding new furniture during early childhood and pregnancy could be risk factors for childhood asthma. The association between household decoration during early childhood and childhood asthma may be stronger in the northern cities of China.
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Environment international · Feb 2018
A multi-country analysis on potential adaptive mechanisms to cold and heat in a changing climate.
Temporal variation of temperature-health associations depends on the combination of two pathways: pure adaptation to increasingly warmer temperatures due to climate change, and other attenuation mechanisms due to non-climate factors such as infrastructural changes and improved health care. Disentangling these pathways is critical for assessing climate change impacts and for planning public health and climate policies. We present evidence on this topic by assessing temporal trends in cold- and heat-attributable mortality risks in a multi-country investigation. ⋯ Our findings suggest a decrease in heat-mortality impacts over the past decades, well beyond those expected from a pure adaptation to changes in temperature due to the observed warming. This indicates that there is scope for the development of public health strategies to mitigate heat-related climate change impacts. In contrast, no clear conclusions were found for cold. Further investigations should focus on identification of factors defining these changes in susceptibility.