Environmental Epidemiology最新文献

{"title":"Does choice of outdoor heat metric affect heat-related epidemiologic analyses in the US Medicare population?","authors":"Keith R Spangler, Quinn H Adams, Jie Kate Hu, Danielle Braun, Kate R Weinberger, Francesca Dominici, Gregory A Wellenius","doi":"10.1097/EE9.0000000000000261","DOIUrl":"10.1097/EE9.0000000000000261","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Outdoor air temperature is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Other thermal indices theoretically confer greater physiological relevance by incorporating additional meteorological variables. However, the optimal metric for predicting excess deaths or hospitalizations owing to extreme heat among US Medicare beneficiaries remains unknown.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We calculated daily maximum, minimum, and mean outdoor air temperature (T), heat index (HI), wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT), and Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) for populous US counties and linked estimates with daily all-cause mortality and heat-related hospitalizations among Medicare beneficiaries (2006-2016). We fit distributed-lag nonlinear models for each metric and compared relative risks (RRs) at the 99th percentile.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Across all heat metrics, extreme heat was statistically significantly associated with elevated risks of morbidity and mortality. Associations were more pronounced for maximum daily values versus the corresponding minimum for the same metric. The starkest example was between HI_max (RR = 1.14; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.12, 1.15) and HI_min (RR = 1.10; 95% CI = 1.09, 1.11) for hospitalizations. When comparing RRs across heat metrics, we found no statistically significant differences within the minimum and maximum heat values (i.e., no significant differences between T_max/HI_max/WBGT_max/UTCI_max or between T_min/HI_min/WBGT_min/UTCI_min). We found similar relationships across the National Climate Assessment regions.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Among Medicare beneficiaries in populous US counties, daily maximum and mean values of outdoor heat are associated with greater RRs of heat-related morbidity and all-cause mortality versus minimum values of the same metric. The choice of heat metric (e.g., temperature versus HI) does not appear to substantively affect risk calculations in this population.</p>","PeriodicalId":11713,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Epidemiology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2023-07-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10402938/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10323911","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Within-city spatial variations in long-term average outdoor oxidant gas concentrations and cardiovascular mortality: Effect modification by oxidative potential in the Canadian Census Health and Environment Cohort.","authors":"Susannah Ripley, Dong Gao, Krystal J Godri Pollitt, Pascale S J Lakey, Manabu Shiraiwa, Marianne Hatzopoulou, Scott Weichenthal","doi":"10.1097/EE9.0000000000000257","DOIUrl":"10.1097/EE9.0000000000000257","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Health effects of oxidant gases may be enhanced by components of particulate air pollution that contribute to oxidative stress. Our aim was to examine if <i>within-city</i> spatial variations in the oxidative potential of outdoor fine particulate air pollution (PM_2.5) modify relationships between oxidant gases and cardiovascular mortality.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We conducted a retrospective cohort study of participants in the Canadian Census Health and Environment Cohort who lived in Toronto or Montreal, Canada, from 2002 to 2015. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate associations between outdoor concentrations of oxidant gases (O_<i>x</i>, a redox-weighted average of nitrogen dioxide and ozone) and cardiovascular deaths. Analyses were performed across strata of two measures of PM_2.5 oxidative potential and reactive oxygen species concentrations (ROS) adjusting for relevant confounding factors.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>PM_2.5 mass concentration showed little within-city variability, but PM_2.5 oxidative potential and ROS were more variable. Spatial variations in outdoor O_<i>x</i> were associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular mortality [HR per 5 ppb = 1.028, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.001, 1.055]. The effect of O_<i>x</i> on cardiovascular mortality was stronger above the median of each measure of PM_2.5 oxidative potential and ROS (e.g., above the median of glutathione-based oxidative potential: HR = 1.045, 95% CI: 1.009, 1.081; below median: HR = 1.000, 95% CI: 0.960, 1.043).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Within-city spatial variations in PM_2.5 oxidative potential may modify long-term cardiovascular health impacts of O_<i>x</i>. Regions with elevated O_<i>x</i> and PM_2.5 oxidative potential may be priority areas for interventions to decrease the population health impacts of outdoor air pollution.</p>","PeriodicalId":11713,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Epidemiology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2023-06-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/8e/e2/ee9-7-e257.PMC10403014.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10308307","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Associations between long-term aircraft noise exposure, cardiovascular disease, and mortality in US cohorts of female nurses.","authors":"Stephanie T Grady, Jaime E Hart, Francine Laden, Charlotte Roscoe, Daniel D Nguyen, Elizabeth J Nelson, Matthew Bozigar, Trang VoPham, JoAnn E Manson, Jennifer Weuve, Sara D Adar, John P Forman, Kathryn Rexrode, Jonathan I Levy, Junenette L Peters","doi":"10.1097/EE9.0000000000000259","DOIUrl":"10.1097/EE9.0000000000000259","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>There is limited research examining aircraft noise and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. The objective of this study was to investigate associations of aircraft noise with CVD among two US cohorts, the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) and Nurses' Health Study II (NHSII).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Between 1994 and 2014, we followed 57,306 NHS and 60,058 NHSII participants surrounding 90 airports. Aircraft noise was modeled above 44 A-weighted decibels (dB(A)) and linked to geocoded addresses. Based on exposure distributions, we dichotomized exposures at 50 dB(A) and tested sensitivity of this cut-point by analyzing aircraft noise as categories (<i><</i>45, 45-49, 50-54, ≥55) and continuously. We fit cohort-specific Cox proportional hazards models to estimate relationships between time-varying day-night average sound level (DNL) and CVD incidence and CVD and all-cause mortality, adjusting for fixed and time-varying individual- and area-level covariates. Results were pooled using random effects meta-analysis.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Over 20 years of follow-up, there were 4529 CVD cases and 14,930 deaths. Approximately 7% (n = 317) of CVD cases were exposed to DNL ≥50 dB(A). In pooled analyses comparing ≥50 with <50 dB(A), the adjusted hazard ratio for CVD incidence was 1.00 (95% confidence interval: 0.89, 1.12). The corresponding adjusted hazard ratio for all-cause mortality was 1.02 (95% confidence interval: 0.96, 1.09). Patterns were similar for CVD mortality in NHS yet underpowered.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Among participants in the NHS and NHSII prospective cohorts who generally experience low exposure to aircraft noise, we did not find adverse associations of aircraft noise with CVD incidence, CVD mortality, or all-cause mortality.</p>","PeriodicalId":11713,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Epidemiology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2023-06-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10402956/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9952062","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Maternal serum per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances during pregnancy and breastfeeding duration.","authors":"Chloe Friedman, Dana Dabelea, Alexander P Keil, John L Adgate, Deborah H Glueck, Antonia M Calafat, Anne P Starling","doi":"10.1097/EE9.0000000000000260","DOIUrl":"10.1097/EE9.0000000000000260","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are endocrine-disrupting chemicals that may affect breastfeeding duration. We examined associations between maternal PFAS concentrations during pregnancy and breastfeeding cessation. We investigated potential effect modification by parity status.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Among 555 women enrolled in the Healthy Start study (2009-2014), we quantified maternal serum concentrations of 5 PFAS during mid- to late-pregnancy (mean 27 weeks of gestation). Participants self-reported their breastfeeding practices through 18-24 months postnatally. Among all participants and stratified by parity, we estimated associations between maternal PFAS concentrations and breastfeeding discontinuation by 3 and 6 months, using Poisson regression, and breastfeeding duration, using Cox regression.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Median PFAS concentrations were similar to those in the general US population. Associations between PFAS and breastfeeding duration differed by parity status. After adjusting for covariates, among primiparous women, associations between PFAS and breastfeeding cessation by 3 and 6 months were generally null, with some inverse associations. Among multiparous women, there were positive associations between perfluorohexane sulfonate, perfluorooctane sulfonate, perfluorooctanoate (PFOA), and perfluorononanoate and breastfeeding cessation by 3 and 6 months. For example, per ln-ng/mL increase in PFOA, the risk ratio for breastfeeding discontinuation by 6 months was 1.45 (95% confidence interval, 1.18, 1.78). Hazard ratios reflected similar patterns between PFAS and breastfeeding duration.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Among primiparous women, we did not find evidence for associations between PFAS concentrations and breastfeeding duration. In contrast, among multiparous women, PFAS serum concentrations were generally inversely associated with breastfeeding duration, though estimates may be biased due to confounding by unmeasured previous breastfeeding.</p>","PeriodicalId":11713,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Epidemiology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2023-06-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/0d/e7/ee9-7-e260.PMC10402953.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9952069","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Association between wildfires and coccidioidomycosis incidence in California, 2000-2018: a synthetic control analysis.","authors":"Sophie Phillips, Isabel Jones, Gail Sondermyer-Cooksey, Alexander T Yu, Alexandra K Heaney, Bo Zhou, Abinash Bhattachan, Amanda K Weaver, Simon K Campo, Whitney Mgbara, Robert Wagner, John Taylor, Dennis Lettenmaier, Gregory S Okin, Seema Jain, Duc Vugia, Justin V Remais, Jennifer R Head","doi":"10.1097/EE9.0000000000000254","DOIUrl":"10.1097/EE9.0000000000000254","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The frequency and severity of wildfires in the Western United States have increased over recent decades, motivating hypotheses that wildfires contribute to the incidence of coccidioidomycosis, an emerging fungal disease in the Western United States with sharp increases in incidence observed since 2000. While coccidioidomycosis outbreaks have occurred among wildland firefighters clearing brush, it remains unknown whether fires are associated with an increased incidence among the general population.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We identified 19 wildfires occurring within California's highly endemic San Joaquin Valley between 2003 and 2015. Using geolocated surveillance records, we applied a synthetic control approach to estimate the effect of each wildfire on the incidence of coccidioidomycosis among residents that lived within a hexagonal buffer of 20 km radii surrounding the fire.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We did not detect excess cases due to wildfires in the 12 months (pooled estimated percent change in cases: 2.8%; 95% confidence interval [CI] = -29.0, 85.2), 13-24 months (7.9%; 95% CI = -27.3, 113.9), or 25-36 months (17.4%; 95% CI = -25.1, 157.1) following a wildfire. When examined individually, we detected significant increases in incidence following three of the 19 wildfires, all of which had relatively large adjacent populations, high transmission before the fire, and a burn area exceeding 5,000 acres.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>We find limited evidence that wildfires drive increases in coccidioidomycosis incidence among the general population. Nevertheless, our results raise concerns that large fires in regions with ongoing local transmission of <i>Coccidioides</i> may be associated with increases in incidence, underscoring the need for field studies examining <i>Coccidioides</i> spp. in soils and air pre- and post-wildfires.</p>","PeriodicalId":11713,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Epidemiology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2023-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/86/16/ee9-7-e254.PMC10402968.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9943339","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Prenatal organophosphate ester exposure and executive function in Norwegian preschoolers.","authors":"Amber M Hall, Alexander P Keil, Giehae Choi, Amanda M Ramos, David B Richardson, Andrew F Olshan, Chantel L Martin, Gro D Villanger, Ted Reichborn-Kjennerud, Pål Zeiner, Kristin R Øvergaard, Amrit K Sakhi, Cathrine Thomsen, Heidi Aase, Stephanie M Engel","doi":"10.1097/EE9.0000000000000251","DOIUrl":"10.1097/EE9.0000000000000251","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Organophosphate esters (OPEs) are ubiquitous chemicals, used as flame retardants and plasticizers. OPE usage has increased over time as a substitute for other controlled compounds. This study investigates the impact of prenatal OPE exposure on executive function (EF) in preschoolers.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We selected 340 preschoolers from the Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child Cohort Study. Diphenyl-phosphate (DPhP), di-n-butyl-phosphate (DnBP), bis(2-butoxyethyl) phosphate (BBOEP), and bis(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (BDCIPP) were measured in maternal urine. EF was measured using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functioning-Preschool (BRIEF-P) and the Stanford-Binet fifth edition (SB-5). EF scores were scaled so a higher score indicated worse performance. We estimated exposure-outcome associations and evaluated modification by child sex using linear regression.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Higher DnBP was associated with lower EF scores across multiple rater-based domains. Higher DPhP and BDCIPP were associated with lower SB-5 verbal working memory (β = 0.49, 95% CI = 0.12, 0.87; β = 0.53, 95% CI = 0.08, 1.02), and higher BBOEP was associated with lower teacher-rated inhibition (β = 0.34, 95% CI = 0.01, 0.63). DPhP was associated with lower parent-reported BRIEF-P measures in boys but not girls [inhibition: boys: 0.37 (95% CI = 0.03, 0.93); girls: -0.48 (95% CI = -1.27, 0.19); emotional control: boys: 0.44 (95% CI = -0.13, 1.26); girls: -0.83 (95% CI = -1.73, -0.00); working memory: boys: 0.49 (95% CI = 0.03, 1.08); girls: -0.40 (95% CI = -1.11, 0.36)]. Fewer sex interactions were observed for DnBP, BBOEP, and BDCIPP, with irregular patterns observed across EF domains.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>We found some evidence prenatal OPE exposure may impact EF in preschoolers and variation in associations by sex.</p>","PeriodicalId":11713,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Epidemiology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2023-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/4c/d3/ee9-7-e251.PMC10256412.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9673681","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Examining the Relationship Between Extreme Temperature, Microclimate Indicators, and Gestational Diabetes Mellitus in Pregnant Women Living in Southern California.","authors":"Anais Teyton,&nbsp;Yi Sun,&nbsp;John Molitor,&nbsp;Jiu-Chiuan Chen,&nbsp;David Sacks,&nbsp;Chantal Avila,&nbsp;Vicki Chiu,&nbsp;Jeff Slezak,&nbsp;Darios Getahun,&nbsp;Jun Wu,&nbsp;Tarik Benmarhnia","doi":"10.1097/EE9.0000000000000252","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1097/EE9.0000000000000252","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Few studies have assessed extreme temperatures' impact on gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). We examined the relation between GDM risk with weekly exposure to extreme high and low temperatures during the first 24 weeks of gestation and assessed potential effect modification by microclimate indicators.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We utilized 2008-2018 data for pregnant women from Kaiser Permanente Southern California electronic health records. GDM screening occurred between 24 and 28 gestational weeks for most women using the Carpenter-Coustan criteria or the International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups criteria. Daily maximum, minimum, and mean temperature data were linked to participants' residential address. We utilized distributed lag models, which assessed the lag from the first to the corresponding week, with logistic regression models to examine the exposure-lag-response associations between the 12 weekly extreme temperature exposures and GDM risk. We used the relative risk due to interaction (RERI) to estimate the additive modification of microclimate indicators on the relation between extreme temperature and GDM risk.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>GDM risks increased with extreme low temperature during gestational weeks 20--24 and with extreme high temperature at weeks 11-16. Microclimate indicators modified the influence of extreme temperatures on GDM risk. For example, there were positive RERIs for high-temperature extremes and less greenness, and a negative RERI for low-temperature extremes and increased impervious surface percentage.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>Susceptibility windows to extreme temperatures during pregnancy were observed. Modifiable microclimate indicators were identified that may attenuate temperature exposures during these windows, which could in turn reduce the health burden from GDM.</p>","PeriodicalId":11713,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Epidemiology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10256373/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9673678","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"An Examination of the Joint Effect of the Social Environment and Air Pollution on Dementia Among US Older Adults.","authors":"Sindana D Ilango, Cindy S Leary, Emily Ritchie, Erin O Semmens, Christina Park, Annette L Fitzpatrick, Joel D Kaufman, Anjum Hajat","doi":"10.1097/EE9.0000000000000250","DOIUrl":"10.1097/EE9.0000000000000250","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Evidence suggests exposure to air pollution increases the risk of dementia. Cognitively stimulating activities and social interactions, made available through the social environment, may slow cognitive decline. We examined whether the social environment buffers the adverse effect of air pollution on dementia in a cohort of older adults.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This study draws from the Ginkgo Evaluation of Memory Study. Participants aged 75 years and older were enrolled between 2000 and 2002 and evaluated for dementia semi-annually through 2008. Long-term exposure to particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide was assigned from spatial and spatiotemporal models. Census tract-level measures of the social environment and individual measures of social activity were used as measures of the social environment. We generated Cox proportional hazard models with census tract as a random effect and adjusted for demographic and study visit characteristics. Relative excess risk due to interaction was estimated as a qualitative measure of additive interaction.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>This study included 2,564 individuals. We observed associations between increased risk of dementia and fine particulate matter (µg/m³), coarse particulate matter (µg/m³), and nitrogen dioxide (ppb); HRs per 5 unit increase were 1.55 (1.01, 2.18), 1.31 (1.07, 1.60), and 1.18 (1.02, 1.37), respectively. We found no evidence of additive interaction between air pollution and the neighborhood social environment.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>We found no consistent evidence to suggest a synergistic effect between exposure to air pollution and measures of the social environment. Given the many qualities of the social environment that may reduce dementia pathology, further examination is encouraged.</p>","PeriodicalId":11713,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Epidemiology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2023-05-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/c3/48/ee9-7-e250.PMC10256342.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9967601","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Prenatal Ambient Air Pollutant Mixture Exposure and Early School-age Lung Function.","authors":"Hsiao-Hsien Leon Hsu, Ander Wilson, Joel Schwartz, Itai Kloog, Robert O Wright, Brent A Coull, Rosalind J Wright","doi":"10.1097/EE9.0000000000000249","DOIUrl":"10.1097/EE9.0000000000000249","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Research linking prenatal ambient air pollution with childhood lung function has largely considered one pollutant at a time. Real-life exposure is to mixtures of pollutants and their chemical components; not considering joint effects/effect modification by co-exposures contributes to misleading results.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Analyses included 198 mother-child dyads recruited from two hospitals and affiliated community health centers in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Daily prenatal pollutant exposures were estimated using satellite-based hybrid chemical-transport models, including nitrogen dioxide(NO₂), ozone(O₃), and fine particle constituents (elemental carbon [EC], organic carbon [OC], nitrate [NO₃ ^-], sulfate [SO₄ ^2-], and ammonium [NH₄ ⁺]). Spirometry was performed at age 6.99 ± 0.89 years; forced expiratory volume in 1s (FEV₁), forced vital capacity (FVC), and forced mid-expiratory flow (FEF_25-75) z-scores accounted for age, sex, height, and race/ethnicity. We examined associations between weekly-averaged prenatal pollution mixture levels and outcomes using Bayesian Kernel Machine Regression-Distributed Lag Models (BKMR-DLMs) to identify susceptibility windows for each component and estimate a potentially complex mixture exposure-response relationship including nonlinear effects and interactions among exposures. We also performed linear regression models using time-weighted-mixture component levels derived by BKMR-DLMs adjusting for maternal age, education, perinatal smoking, and temperature.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Most mothers were Hispanic (63%) or Black (21%) with ≤12 years of education (67%). BKMR-DLMs identified a significant effect for O₃ exposure at 18-22 weeks gestation predicting lower FEV₁/FVC. Linear regression identified significant associations for O_3, NH₄ ⁺, and OC with decreased FEV₁/FVC, FEV₁, and FEF_25-75, respectively. There was no evidence of interactions among pollutants.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>In this multi-pollutant model, prenatal O₃, OC, and NH₄ ⁺ were most strongly associated with reduced early childhood lung function.</p>","PeriodicalId":11713,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Epidemiology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2023-04-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/77/46/ee9-7-e249.PMC10097575.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9309543","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"It's electric! An environmental equity perspective on the lifecycle of our energy sources.","authors":"Mary D Willis, Lara J Cushing, Jonathan J Buonocore, Nicole C Deziel, Joan A Casey","doi":"10.1097/EE9.0000000000000246","DOIUrl":"10.1097/EE9.0000000000000246","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Energy policy decisions are driven primarily by economic and reliability considerations, with limited consideration given to public health, environmental justice, and climate change. Moreover, epidemiologic studies relevant for public policy typically focus on immediate public health implications of activities related to energy procurement and generation, considering less so health equity or the longer-term health consequences of climate change attributable to an energy source. A more integrated, collective consideration of these three domains can provide more robust guidance to policymakers, communities, and individuals. Here, we illustrate how these domains can be evaluated with respect to natural gas as an energy source. Our process began with a detailed overview of all relevant steps in the process of extracting, producing, and consuming natural gas. We synthesized existing epidemiologic and complementary evidence of how these processes impact public health, environmental justice, and climate change. We conclude that, in certain domains, natural gas looks beneficial (e.g., economically for some), but when considered more expansively, through the life cycle of natural gas and joint lenses of public health, environmental justice, and climate change, natural gas is rendered an undesirable energy source in the United States. A holistic climate health equity framework can inform how we value and deploy different energy sources in the service of public health.</p>","PeriodicalId":11713,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Epidemiology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2023-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/6c/35/ee9-7-e246.PMC10097546.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9704203","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}