Environmental health perspectives
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Environ. Health Perspect. · Jan 2008
Asthmatic symptoms among pupils in relation to winter indoor and outdoor air pollution in schools in Taiyuan, China.
There are few studies on associations between children's respiratory heath and air pollution in schools in China. The industrial development and increased traffic may affect the indoor exposure to air pollutants in school environment. Moreover, there is a need to study respiratory effects of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) and emissions from new building materials in homes in China. ⋯ Indoor chemical air pollutants of mainly outdoor origin could be risk factors for pupils' respiratory symptoms at school, and home exposure to ETS and chemical emissions from new furniture could affect pupils' respiratory health.
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Environ. Health Perspect. · Oct 2007
A biomonitoring study of lead, cadmium, and mercury in the blood of New York city adults.
We assessed the extent of exposure to lead, cadmium, and mercury in the New York City (NYC) adult population. ⋯ Higher than national blood mercury exposure in NYC adults indicates a need to educate New Yorkers about how to choose fish and seafood to maximize health benefits while minimizing potential risks from exposure to mercury. Local biomonitoring can provide valuable information about environmental exposures.
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Environ. Health Perspect. · Aug 2007
Synergistic effects of traffic-related air pollution and exposure to violence on urban asthma etiology.
Disproportionate life stress and consequent physiologic alteration (i.e., immune dysregulation) has been proposed as a major pathway linking socioeconomic position, environmental exposures, and health disparities. Asthma, for example, disproportionately affects lower-income urban communities, where air pollution and social stressors may be elevated. ⋯ We found an association between traffic-related air pollution and asthma solely among urban children exposed to violence. Future studies should consider socially patterned susceptibility, common spatial distributions of social and physical environmental factors, and potential synergies among these. Prospective assessment of physical and social exposures may help determine causal pathways and critical exposure periods.