Pub Date : 2023-03-09DOI: 10.1088/2752-5309/acc2dc
Lara Schwarz, Rosana Aguilera, Javier Emmanuel Castillo Quiñones, L. C. Aguilar-Dodier, María Evarista Arellano García, T. Benmarhnia
2020 broke records for the most active fire year on the West Coast, resulting in the worst air quality observed in decades. Concurrently, the public health threat of COVID-19 caused over 1 million deaths in the United States (US) and Mexico in 2020 and 2021. Due to the effect of air pollution on respiratory diseases, wildfire-specific particulate matter is a hypothesized driver of COVID-19 severity and death. Capitalizing on wildfire smoke that hit the San Diego-Tijuana border region in September 2020, we applied synthetic control methods to explore its potential differential role in affecting COVID-19 mortality on both sides of the border. Daily data on COVID-19 cumulative deaths for US counties were obtained from the CDC COVID tracker and data for Mexican municipalities was obtained from the Mexican Secretary of Health. Counties and municipalities with wildfire smoke exposure were identified using the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration hazard mapping smoke product (HMS); a day where 90% of the area was covered by smoke was considered exposed for the main analyses. Unexposed counties/municipalities were considered as potential controls. The San Diego-Tijuana border region was covered by dense smoke by the 7th of September; 707 COVID-19 deaths had occurred in San Diego and 1367 in Tijuana. While a slight increase in cumulative mortality was observed in San Diego, no change was found in Tijuana; neither estimate indicated a strong precise effect of wildfire smoke on COVID-19 mortality. We hope this study will serve as an illustration of how border contexts can be used to investigate differential vulnerability to wildfire smoke for infectious diseases. Examining the interactive effect of COVID-19 and smoke can help in recognizing the implications of these dual health risks which will be increasingly important as wildfires become more frequent and severe in the context of climate change.
{"title":"The potential impact of wildfire smoke on COVID-19 cumulative deaths in the San Diego-Tijuana border region","authors":"Lara Schwarz, Rosana Aguilera, Javier Emmanuel Castillo Quiñones, L. C. Aguilar-Dodier, María Evarista Arellano García, T. Benmarhnia","doi":"10.1088/2752-5309/acc2dc","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/2752-5309/acc2dc","url":null,"abstract":"2020 broke records for the most active fire year on the West Coast, resulting in the worst air quality observed in decades. Concurrently, the public health threat of COVID-19 caused over 1 million deaths in the United States (US) and Mexico in 2020 and 2021. Due to the effect of air pollution on respiratory diseases, wildfire-specific particulate matter is a hypothesized driver of COVID-19 severity and death. Capitalizing on wildfire smoke that hit the San Diego-Tijuana border region in September 2020, we applied synthetic control methods to explore its potential differential role in affecting COVID-19 mortality on both sides of the border. Daily data on COVID-19 cumulative deaths for US counties were obtained from the CDC COVID tracker and data for Mexican municipalities was obtained from the Mexican Secretary of Health. Counties and municipalities with wildfire smoke exposure were identified using the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration hazard mapping smoke product (HMS); a day where 90% of the area was covered by smoke was considered exposed for the main analyses. Unexposed counties/municipalities were considered as potential controls. The San Diego-Tijuana border region was covered by dense smoke by the 7th of September; 707 COVID-19 deaths had occurred in San Diego and 1367 in Tijuana. While a slight increase in cumulative mortality was observed in San Diego, no change was found in Tijuana; neither estimate indicated a strong precise effect of wildfire smoke on COVID-19 mortality. We hope this study will serve as an illustration of how border contexts can be used to investigate differential vulnerability to wildfire smoke for infectious diseases. Examining the interactive effect of COVID-19 and smoke can help in recognizing the implications of these dual health risks which will be increasingly important as wildfires become more frequent and severe in the context of climate change.","PeriodicalId":72938,"journal":{"name":"Environmental research, health : ERH","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42293860","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-03-09DOI: 10.1088/2752-5309/acc2dd
D. Helldén, R. Ndejjo, Amanda Sturm, Ida Persson, R. Wanyenze, K. Ebi, M. Nilsson, T. Alfvén
Children are bearing and will continue to bear a high burden from climate change, through direct and indirect pathways. Climate change adaptation interventions are essential to limit the current and projected impacts of climate change on child health. However, the perspective of children and their health with regards to adaptation in research and policy is limited. Ensuring that adaptation interventions are context specific, consider interrelated barriers to implementation and leverage existing structures including multisectoral collaboration is vital. Further, a life-course perspective on child health and well-being could serve as a template for tailoring adaptation interventions to the specific vulnerabilities and needs of specific development periods of the child. A meaningful engagement of children and young persons in the design and implementation of adaptation interventions is essential to increase effectiveness and uptake. With climate change effecting millions of children worldwide, it is high time to put child health at the center of adaptation.
{"title":"Climate change adaptation across the life-course - from pregnancy to adolescence – it’s time to advance the field of climate change and child health","authors":"D. Helldén, R. Ndejjo, Amanda Sturm, Ida Persson, R. Wanyenze, K. Ebi, M. Nilsson, T. Alfvén","doi":"10.1088/2752-5309/acc2dd","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/2752-5309/acc2dd","url":null,"abstract":"Children are bearing and will continue to bear a high burden from climate change, through direct and indirect pathways. Climate change adaptation interventions are essential to limit the current and projected impacts of climate change on child health. However, the perspective of children and their health with regards to adaptation in research and policy is limited. Ensuring that adaptation interventions are context specific, consider interrelated barriers to implementation and leverage existing structures including multisectoral collaboration is vital. Further, a life-course perspective on child health and well-being could serve as a template for tailoring adaptation interventions to the specific vulnerabilities and needs of specific development periods of the child. A meaningful engagement of children and young persons in the design and implementation of adaptation interventions is essential to increase effectiveness and uptake. With climate change effecting millions of children worldwide, it is high time to put child health at the center of adaptation.","PeriodicalId":72938,"journal":{"name":"Environmental research, health : ERH","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47318591","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-03-01DOI: 10.1088/2752-5309/ac78fa
Jennifer D Stowell, Yuantong Sun, Keith R Spangler, Chad W Milando, Aaron Bernstein, Kate R Weinberger, Shengzhi Sun, Gregory A Wellenius
High ambient temperatures have become more likely due to climate change and are linked to higher rates of heat-related illness, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, mental health disorders, and other diseases. To date, far fewer studies have examined the effects of high temperatures on children versus adults, and studies including children have seldom been conducted on a national scale. Compared to adults, children have behavioral and physiological differences that may give them differential heat vulnerability. We acquired medical claims data from a large database of commercially insured US children aged 0-17 from May to September (warm-season) 2016-2019. Daily maximum ambient temperature and daily mean relative humidity estimates were aggregated to the county level using the Parameter-elevation Relationships on Independent Slopes dataset, and extreme heat was defined as the 95th percentile of the county-specific daily maximum temperature distribution. Using a case-crossover design and temperature lags 0-5 days, we estimated the associations between extreme heat and cause-specific emergency department visits (ED) in children aged <18 years, using the median county-specific daily maximum temperature distribution as the reference. Approximately 1.2 million ED visits in children from 2489 US counties were available during the study period. The 95th percentile of warm-season temperatures ranged from 71 °F to 112 °F (21.7 °C to 44.4 °C). Comparing 95th to the 50th percentile, extreme heat was associated with higher rates of ED visits for heat-related illness; endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases; and otitis media and externa, but not for all-cause admissions. Subgroup analyses suggested differences by age, with extreme heat positively associated with heat-related illness for both the 6-12 year (odds ratio [OR]: 1.34, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.16, 1.56) and 13-17 year age groups (OR: 1.55, 95% CI: 1.37, 1.76). Among children with health insurance across the US, days of extreme heat were associated with higher rates of healthcare utilization. These results highlight the importance of individual and population-level actions to protect children and adolescents from extreme heat, particularly in the context of continued climate change.
{"title":"Warm-season temperatures and emergency department visits among children with health insurance.","authors":"Jennifer D Stowell, Yuantong Sun, Keith R Spangler, Chad W Milando, Aaron Bernstein, Kate R Weinberger, Shengzhi Sun, Gregory A Wellenius","doi":"10.1088/2752-5309/ac78fa","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/2752-5309/ac78fa","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>High ambient temperatures have become more likely due to climate change and are linked to higher rates of heat-related illness, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, mental health disorders, and other diseases. To date, far fewer studies have examined the effects of high temperatures on children versus adults, and studies including children have seldom been conducted on a national scale. Compared to adults, children have behavioral and physiological differences that may give them differential heat vulnerability. We acquired medical claims data from a large database of commercially insured US children aged 0-17 from May to September (warm-season) 2016-2019. Daily maximum ambient temperature and daily mean relative humidity estimates were aggregated to the county level using the Parameter-elevation Relationships on Independent Slopes dataset, and extreme heat was defined as the 95th percentile of the county-specific daily maximum temperature distribution. Using a case-crossover design and temperature lags 0-5 days, we estimated the associations between extreme heat and cause-specific emergency department visits (ED) in children aged <18 years, using the median county-specific daily maximum temperature distribution as the reference. Approximately 1.2 million ED visits in children from 2489 US counties were available during the study period. The 95th percentile of warm-season temperatures ranged from 71 °F to 112 °F (21.7 °C to 44.4 °C). Comparing 95th to the 50th percentile, extreme heat was associated with higher rates of ED visits for heat-related illness; endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases; and otitis media and externa, but not for all-cause admissions. Subgroup analyses suggested differences by age, with extreme heat positively associated with heat-related illness for both the 6-12 year (odds ratio [OR]: 1.34, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.16, 1.56) and 13-17 year age groups (OR: 1.55, 95% CI: 1.37, 1.76). Among children with health insurance across the US, days of extreme heat were associated with higher rates of healthcare utilization. These results highlight the importance of individual and population-level actions to protect children and adolescents from extreme heat, particularly in the context of continued climate change.</p>","PeriodicalId":72938,"journal":{"name":"Environmental research, health : ERH","volume":"1 1","pages":"015002"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9623446/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10375213","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}
Pub Date : 2023-02-14DOI: 10.1088/2752-5309/acbbe6
Daniel J. Smith, Elizabeth Mizelle, Sharon L. Leslie, Grace X Li, Sheila Stone, P. Stauffer, Anna R. Smith, Gianna Lewis, E. L. Rodden, R. McDermott-Levy, Lisa M. Thompson
Climate change, the greatest public health threat of the 21st century, will uniquely affect rural areas that are geographically isolated and experience greater health inequities. This systematic review describes and evaluates interventions to lessen the effects of climate change on human health in the rural United States, including interventions on air pollution, vector ecology, water quality, severe weather, extreme heat, allergens, and water and food supply. Searches were constructed based on the eight domains of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Framework “Impact of Climate Change on Human Health.” Searches were conducted in EBSCO Environment Complete, EBSCO GreenFILE, Embase.com, MEDLINE via PubMed, and Web of Science. Duplicate citations were removed, abstracts were screened for initial inclusion, and full texts were screened for final inclusion. Pertinent data were extracted and synthesized across the eight domains. Article quality was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. Of 8471 studies screened, 297 were identified for full text review, and a total 49 studies were included in this review. Across the domains, 34 unique interventions addressed health outcomes due to air pollution (n = 8), changes in vector ecology (n = 6), water quality (n = 5), severe weather (n = 3), extreme heat (n = 2) increasing allergens (n = 1), water and food supply (n = 1), and across multiple CDC domains (n = 8). Participatory action research methodology was commonly used and strived to mobilize/empower communities to tackle climate change. Our review identified three randomized controlled trials, with two of these three published in the last five years. While original research on the impact of climate change on health has increased in the past decade, randomized control trials may not be ethical, cost effective, or feasible. There is a need for time-efficient and high-quality scholarship that investigates intervention efficacy and effectiveness for reducing health impacts of climate change upon rural populations.
{"title":"Intervention studies to reduce the impact of climate change on health in rural communities in the United States: a systematic review","authors":"Daniel J. Smith, Elizabeth Mizelle, Sharon L. Leslie, Grace X Li, Sheila Stone, P. Stauffer, Anna R. Smith, Gianna Lewis, E. L. Rodden, R. McDermott-Levy, Lisa M. Thompson","doi":"10.1088/2752-5309/acbbe6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/2752-5309/acbbe6","url":null,"abstract":"Climate change, the greatest public health threat of the 21st century, will uniquely affect rural areas that are geographically isolated and experience greater health inequities. This systematic review describes and evaluates interventions to lessen the effects of climate change on human health in the rural United States, including interventions on air pollution, vector ecology, water quality, severe weather, extreme heat, allergens, and water and food supply. Searches were constructed based on the eight domains of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Framework “Impact of Climate Change on Human Health.” Searches were conducted in EBSCO Environment Complete, EBSCO GreenFILE, Embase.com, MEDLINE via PubMed, and Web of Science. Duplicate citations were removed, abstracts were screened for initial inclusion, and full texts were screened for final inclusion. Pertinent data were extracted and synthesized across the eight domains. Article quality was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. Of 8471 studies screened, 297 were identified for full text review, and a total 49 studies were included in this review. Across the domains, 34 unique interventions addressed health outcomes due to air pollution (n = 8), changes in vector ecology (n = 6), water quality (n = 5), severe weather (n = 3), extreme heat (n = 2) increasing allergens (n = 1), water and food supply (n = 1), and across multiple CDC domains (n = 8). Participatory action research methodology was commonly used and strived to mobilize/empower communities to tackle climate change. Our review identified three randomized controlled trials, with two of these three published in the last five years. While original research on the impact of climate change on health has increased in the past decade, randomized control trials may not be ethical, cost effective, or feasible. There is a need for time-efficient and high-quality scholarship that investigates intervention efficacy and effectiveness for reducing health impacts of climate change upon rural populations.","PeriodicalId":72938,"journal":{"name":"Environmental research, health : ERH","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48652620","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-26DOI: 10.1088/2752-5309/acb663
L. Edwards, P. Wilkinson, G. Rutter, Leslie Iverson, A. Milojevic
Air purifiers (APs) and home sealing are interventions used to help protect U.S. diplomats against particle pollution in the home when working in polluted cities. We investigated the effect of these interventions on home indoor and personal PM2.5 exposure in Kathmandu, Nepal. Twenty-one participants underwent repeated 48 hour personal monitoring before and after intervention. We analyzed these measurements by microenvironment. Indoor-outdoor ratios (I/O) using the home indoor PM2.5 values were calculated in order to assess the air filtration capacity at home in light of increasing outdoor PM2.5 post-intervention. To quantify the effect of intervention on home indoor PM2.5, we conducted a meta-analysis of the results of dwelling-by-dwelling regression of indoor-on-outdoor (I/O) PM2.5 concentrations. On average, adding high-capacity APs and home sealing led to a 15% decrease in PM2.5 measured at home, excluding cooking periods, with a mean (standard deviation) of 7.5 (6.4) μg m−3 pre- to 6.4 (8.1) μg m−3 post-intervention despite a 57% increase in outdoor PM2.5, from 43.8 (30.8) μg m−3 pre- to 68.9 (40.7) μg m−3 post-intervention. Overall mean personal exposure fell by 36% from 15.2 (10.6) μg m−3 to 9.8 (8.7) μg m−3. I/O ratios decreased as outdoor PM2.5 strata increased; when outdoor PM2.5 < 25 μg m−3 the I/O decreased from 0.38 pre- to 0.12 post-intervention and when outdoor PM2.5 was 101–200 μg m−3 the I/O decreased from 0.12 pre- to 0.07 post-intervention. The mean regression slope of indoor-on-outdoor PM2.5 decreased from 0.13 (95% CI 0.09, 0.17) in pre-intervention dwellings to 0.07 (0.04, 0.10) post-intervention. I/O ratios showed a weak negative (not statistically significant) inverse association with air changes per hour at home. In the high pollution environment of Kathmandu, APs with home sealing provide substantial protection against ambient PM2.5 in the home environment, including during periods when outdoor PM2.5 concentration was above 100 μg m−3.
{"title":"Impact of mitigation measures to improve home indoor air quality in Kathmandu, Nepal","authors":"L. Edwards, P. Wilkinson, G. Rutter, Leslie Iverson, A. Milojevic","doi":"10.1088/2752-5309/acb663","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/2752-5309/acb663","url":null,"abstract":"Air purifiers (APs) and home sealing are interventions used to help protect U.S. diplomats against particle pollution in the home when working in polluted cities. We investigated the effect of these interventions on home indoor and personal PM2.5 exposure in Kathmandu, Nepal. Twenty-one participants underwent repeated 48 hour personal monitoring before and after intervention. We analyzed these measurements by microenvironment. Indoor-outdoor ratios (I/O) using the home indoor PM2.5 values were calculated in order to assess the air filtration capacity at home in light of increasing outdoor PM2.5 post-intervention. To quantify the effect of intervention on home indoor PM2.5, we conducted a meta-analysis of the results of dwelling-by-dwelling regression of indoor-on-outdoor (I/O) PM2.5 concentrations. On average, adding high-capacity APs and home sealing led to a 15% decrease in PM2.5 measured at home, excluding cooking periods, with a mean (standard deviation) of 7.5 (6.4) μg m−3 pre- to 6.4 (8.1) μg m−3 post-intervention despite a 57% increase in outdoor PM2.5, from 43.8 (30.8) μg m−3 pre- to 68.9 (40.7) μg m−3 post-intervention. Overall mean personal exposure fell by 36% from 15.2 (10.6) μg m−3 to 9.8 (8.7) μg m−3. I/O ratios decreased as outdoor PM2.5 strata increased; when outdoor PM2.5 < 25 μg m−3 the I/O decreased from 0.38 pre- to 0.12 post-intervention and when outdoor PM2.5 was 101–200 μg m−3 the I/O decreased from 0.12 pre- to 0.07 post-intervention. The mean regression slope of indoor-on-outdoor PM2.5 decreased from 0.13 (95% CI 0.09, 0.17) in pre-intervention dwellings to 0.07 (0.04, 0.10) post-intervention. I/O ratios showed a weak negative (not statistically significant) inverse association with air changes per hour at home. In the high pollution environment of Kathmandu, APs with home sealing provide substantial protection against ambient PM2.5 in the home environment, including during periods when outdoor PM2.5 concentration was above 100 μg m−3.","PeriodicalId":72938,"journal":{"name":"Environmental research, health : ERH","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43309359","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-10DOI: 10.1088/2752-5309/ac9748
K. Maciaszek, S. Gillies, S. Kawichai, T. Prapamontol, Teetawat Santijitpakdee, Wissanupong Kliengchuay, Narut Sahanavin, W. Mueller, S. Vardoulakis, Pawitrabhorn Samutrtai, J. Cherrie, David M. Brown, Kraichat Tantrakarnapa, H. Johnston
Chiang Mai (Thailand) experiences severe haze pollution in the dry season (December–April) each year mainly due to local and regional biomass burning (e.g. of agricultural land). A major component of the haze is airborne particulate matter (PM). During haze events, biomass burning is likely to be the dominant source of PM emissions, and at other times emissions from traffic dominate. The hazard of traffic derived PM has been extensively investigated previously but there are uncertainties regarding the toxicity of PM emitted from biomass burning. The toxicity of PM10 samples collected during and after haze events in Chiang Mai in 2020 was compared in vitro in J774.1 macrophages as they are responsible for the clearance of inhaled particles. Diesel exhaust particles and ultrafine carbon black were included as benchmark particles as they have been commonly used as a surrogate for PM. Cytotoxicity was evaluated 24 h post exposure at concentrations of 3.9–125 µg ml−1. Cytokine production (tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-6, IL-1β, macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP-2)) was assessed and cell morphology visualised using light and scanning electron microscopy. The hydrodynamic diameter, zeta potential and endotoxin content of all particles was assessed as well as the metal content of PM samples. All particles induced a concentration dependent decrease in cell viability and increased TNF-α and MIP-2 production. Only PM samples stimulated IL-6 production and only non-haze PM caused IL-1β production. No change in IL-10 production was detected for any particle. PM samples and DEP caused vacuole formation in cells. The concentrations of endotoxin and metals were highest in non-haze PM, which may explain why it induced the greatest inflammatory response. As non-haze PM was more toxic than haze PM, our results indicate that the source of PM emissions can influence its toxic potency and more specifically, that PM emitted from biomass burning may be less toxic than PM emitted from traffic.
{"title":"In vitro assessment of the pulmonary toxicity of particulate matter emitted during haze events in Chiang Mai, Thailand via investigation of macrophage responses","authors":"K. Maciaszek, S. Gillies, S. Kawichai, T. Prapamontol, Teetawat Santijitpakdee, Wissanupong Kliengchuay, Narut Sahanavin, W. Mueller, S. Vardoulakis, Pawitrabhorn Samutrtai, J. Cherrie, David M. Brown, Kraichat Tantrakarnapa, H. Johnston","doi":"10.1088/2752-5309/ac9748","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/2752-5309/ac9748","url":null,"abstract":"Chiang Mai (Thailand) experiences severe haze pollution in the dry season (December–April) each year mainly due to local and regional biomass burning (e.g. of agricultural land). A major component of the haze is airborne particulate matter (PM). During haze events, biomass burning is likely to be the dominant source of PM emissions, and at other times emissions from traffic dominate. The hazard of traffic derived PM has been extensively investigated previously but there are uncertainties regarding the toxicity of PM emitted from biomass burning. The toxicity of PM10 samples collected during and after haze events in Chiang Mai in 2020 was compared in vitro in J774.1 macrophages as they are responsible for the clearance of inhaled particles. Diesel exhaust particles and ultrafine carbon black were included as benchmark particles as they have been commonly used as a surrogate for PM. Cytotoxicity was evaluated 24 h post exposure at concentrations of 3.9–125 µg ml−1. Cytokine production (tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-6, IL-1β, macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP-2)) was assessed and cell morphology visualised using light and scanning electron microscopy. The hydrodynamic diameter, zeta potential and endotoxin content of all particles was assessed as well as the metal content of PM samples. All particles induced a concentration dependent decrease in cell viability and increased TNF-α and MIP-2 production. Only PM samples stimulated IL-6 production and only non-haze PM caused IL-1β production. No change in IL-10 production was detected for any particle. PM samples and DEP caused vacuole formation in cells. The concentrations of endotoxin and metals were highest in non-haze PM, which may explain why it induced the greatest inflammatory response. As non-haze PM was more toxic than haze PM, our results indicate that the source of PM emissions can influence its toxic potency and more specifically, that PM emitted from biomass burning may be less toxic than PM emitted from traffic.","PeriodicalId":72938,"journal":{"name":"Environmental research, health : ERH","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45418016","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-11-15DOI: 10.1088/2752-5309/aca2d2
M. Shepley, Rebecca L Ames, R. Leitão, Gloria Coleman
Background. The positive impact of greenspace on human health has been well documented, including several literature reviews and meta-analyses that have examined the broad benefits of nature connections. Researchers have also examined the relationship between nature and crime reduction and identified potential mechanisms underlying this outcome, such as the physiological impact of nature, lowered temperatures due to a reduction in the heat island effect, and places for community interaction. However, a critical shortcoming of this study is the lack of deep community involvement in the research process. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is critical to ensuring that the findings are meaningful to communities and translatable. This study expands on recent literature reviews on greenspace outcomes by focusing on community-engaged research (CER). By gathering and summarizing studies on this topic, we address two subjects: (a) strategies that can be used to improve community engagement, and (b) environmental factors that impact community outcomes in greenspace settings. Methods. To explore these issues, we used a modified version of Arksey and O’Malley’s framework for a structured literature review, employing the Web of Science, EbscoHost, Scopus, ProQuest Global, and Google Scholar databases. Results. We retrieved 772 publications using permutations of keywords related to violent crime, greenspaces, and CBPR. After eliminating duplicates, the reviewers worked in parallel to evaluate 700 titles and abstracts and identified 51 potentially relevant papers, ten of which met the requirements for inclusion in this analysis. Discussion. Based on the studies explored in this literature review, we identified the following strategies for improving CER: building partnerships, facilitating power-sharing, utilizing community-specific indicators of success, embracing perspectives of communities of color, and empowering community researchers. In the sample of studies described here, the factors contributing to the relationship between greenspace and violent crime were maintenance, activity programming, green interventions, and community involvement.
背景绿地对人类健康的积极影响已经得到了充分的证明,包括几篇文献综述和荟萃分析,这些文献和分析考察了自然联系的广泛好处。研究人员还研究了自然与减少犯罪之间的关系,并确定了这一结果的潜在机制,如自然的生理影响、由于热岛效应的减少而降低的温度,以及社区互动的场所。然而,这项研究的一个关键缺点是缺乏深入的社区参与研究过程。基于社区的参与性研究(CBPR)对于确保研究结果对社区有意义和可翻译性至关重要。这项研究通过关注社区参与研究(CER),扩展了最近关于绿地结果的文献综述。通过收集和总结关于这一主题的研究,我们讨论了两个主题:(a)可用于提高社区参与度的策略,以及(b)在绿地环境中影响社区结果的环境因素。方法。为了探讨这些问题,我们使用了Arksey和O'Malley框架的修改版本进行结构化文献综述,使用了Web of Science、EbscoHost、Scopus、ProQuest Global和Google Scholar数据库。后果我们使用与暴力犯罪、绿地和CBPR相关的关键词排列检索了772篇出版物。在消除重复后,评审人员同时评估了700篇标题和摘要,并确定了51篇潜在的相关论文,其中10篇符合纳入本分析的要求。讨论根据本文献综述中探讨的研究,我们确定了以下改善CER的策略:建立伙伴关系,促进权力共享,利用特定社区的成功指标,接受有色人种社区的观点,并赋予社区研究人员权力。在这里描述的研究样本中,促成绿地与暴力犯罪之间关系的因素是维护、活动规划、绿色干预和社区参与。
{"title":"Community-based participatory research on the impact of greenspace on violent crime","authors":"M. Shepley, Rebecca L Ames, R. Leitão, Gloria Coleman","doi":"10.1088/2752-5309/aca2d2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/2752-5309/aca2d2","url":null,"abstract":"Background. The positive impact of greenspace on human health has been well documented, including several literature reviews and meta-analyses that have examined the broad benefits of nature connections. Researchers have also examined the relationship between nature and crime reduction and identified potential mechanisms underlying this outcome, such as the physiological impact of nature, lowered temperatures due to a reduction in the heat island effect, and places for community interaction. However, a critical shortcoming of this study is the lack of deep community involvement in the research process. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is critical to ensuring that the findings are meaningful to communities and translatable. This study expands on recent literature reviews on greenspace outcomes by focusing on community-engaged research (CER). By gathering and summarizing studies on this topic, we address two subjects: (a) strategies that can be used to improve community engagement, and (b) environmental factors that impact community outcomes in greenspace settings. Methods. To explore these issues, we used a modified version of Arksey and O’Malley’s framework for a structured literature review, employing the Web of Science, EbscoHost, Scopus, ProQuest Global, and Google Scholar databases. Results. We retrieved 772 publications using permutations of keywords related to violent crime, greenspaces, and CBPR. After eliminating duplicates, the reviewers worked in parallel to evaluate 700 titles and abstracts and identified 51 potentially relevant papers, ten of which met the requirements for inclusion in this analysis. Discussion. Based on the studies explored in this literature review, we identified the following strategies for improving CER: building partnerships, facilitating power-sharing, utilizing community-specific indicators of success, embracing perspectives of communities of color, and empowering community researchers. In the sample of studies described here, the factors contributing to the relationship between greenspace and violent crime were maintenance, activity programming, green interventions, and community involvement.","PeriodicalId":72938,"journal":{"name":"Environmental research, health : ERH","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46099766","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-11-01DOI: 10.1088/2752-5309/ac97b5
Morag Bell
Environmental Research: Health is a new open access, interdisciplinary journal devoted to addressing important global challenges at the interface of the environment and health in ways that bridge scientific progress and assessment with efforts relating to impact and future risks, resilience, mitigation, adaptation, security and solutions in the broadest sense. While progress has been made in many areas of environmental health, many problems remain and are in fact rising, with increasing threats from climate change and growing disparities in the health burdens of environmental conditions. Although many disciplinary and some broader journals exist, Environmental Research: Health functions at the intersection of science and solutions, which necessitates contributions from multiple disciplines, often working collaboratively, to provide science to better inform decisions from the local to global levels. The journal welcomes contributions from all research methodologies, including qualitative, quantitative, experimental, theoretical and applied approaches, including work on exposure assessment, implementation studies, policy analysis, and health assessment. Through open access, all science published in the journal will be made available free of charge to everyone. The inaugural Editorial Board spans experts from many fields including medicine, epidemiology, architecture, environmental engineering, statistics, and more. Environmental Research: Health aims to facilitate high caliber scientific evidence on how environmental conditions can harm or improve health to allow decision-makers from community groups to national and international leaders to make the best choices to improve health and the environment.
{"title":"Introducing Environmental Research: Health—a new journal devoted to addressing important global challenges at the interface of the environment and public health","authors":"Morag Bell","doi":"10.1088/2752-5309/ac97b5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/2752-5309/ac97b5","url":null,"abstract":"Environmental Research: Health is a new open access, interdisciplinary journal devoted to addressing important global challenges at the interface of the environment and health in ways that bridge scientific progress and assessment with efforts relating to impact and future risks, resilience, mitigation, adaptation, security and solutions in the broadest sense. While progress has been made in many areas of environmental health, many problems remain and are in fact rising, with increasing threats from climate change and growing disparities in the health burdens of environmental conditions. Although many disciplinary and some broader journals exist, Environmental Research: Health functions at the intersection of science and solutions, which necessitates contributions from multiple disciplines, often working collaboratively, to provide science to better inform decisions from the local to global levels. The journal welcomes contributions from all research methodologies, including qualitative, quantitative, experimental, theoretical and applied approaches, including work on exposure assessment, implementation studies, policy analysis, and health assessment. Through open access, all science published in the journal will be made available free of charge to everyone. The inaugural Editorial Board spans experts from many fields including medicine, epidemiology, architecture, environmental engineering, statistics, and more. Environmental Research: Health aims to facilitate high caliber scientific evidence on how environmental conditions can harm or improve health to allow decision-makers from community groups to national and international leaders to make the best choices to improve health and the environment.","PeriodicalId":72938,"journal":{"name":"Environmental research, health : ERH","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48954735","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-10-14DOI: 10.1088/2752-5309/ac9a65
Luis Sarmiento
This article proposes an inverted U-shape relationship between air pollution and criminal behavior. Exposure increases criminality by raising criminals’ taste for risk and violent behavior while also reducing it by changing the number of felons and crime opportunities in the market through exacerbated morbidity and avoidance behavior. I illustrate both mechanisms with an expected utility model of the decision to delict and a simplified search and matching frictions model between criminals and crime opportunities. Linear, quadratic, and nonparametric Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood estimator panel models confirm this bell-shaped relationship for Mexico City and New York, suggesting that the linear association between pollution and criminality uncovered by late studies may be better estimated with nonlinear models.
{"title":"The nonlinear effects of air pollution on criminal behavior: evidence from Mexico City and New York","authors":"Luis Sarmiento","doi":"10.1088/2752-5309/ac9a65","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/2752-5309/ac9a65","url":null,"abstract":"This article proposes an inverted U-shape relationship between air pollution and criminal behavior. Exposure increases criminality by raising criminals’ taste for risk and violent behavior while also reducing it by changing the number of felons and crime opportunities in the market through exacerbated morbidity and avoidance behavior. I illustrate both mechanisms with an expected utility model of the decision to delict and a simplified search and matching frictions model between criminals and crime opportunities. Linear, quadratic, and nonparametric Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood estimator panel models confirm this bell-shaped relationship for Mexico City and New York, suggesting that the linear association between pollution and criminality uncovered by late studies may be better estimated with nonlinear models.","PeriodicalId":72938,"journal":{"name":"Environmental research, health : ERH","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44935455","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-09-20DOI: 10.1088/2752-5309/ac9329
Jiyoun Son, M. Bell
Health consequences of intensive livestock industry and implications for environmental justice are of great concern in Iowa, USA, which has an extensive history of animal feeding operations (AFOs). We examined disparities in exposure to AFOs including concentrated AFOs (CAFOs) with several environmental justice metrics and considered exposure intensity based on animal units (AUs). Using data on permitted AFOs from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, we evaluated environmental disparities by multiple environmental justice metrics (e.g. race/ethnicity, socio-economic status (SES), income inequality (Gini index), racial isolation, and educational isolation) using 2010 Census tract-level variables. We used an exposure metric incorporating the density and intensity as the sum of AUs within each Census tract. We investigated exposure disparities by comparing distributions of environmental justice metrics based on operation type (e.g. confinement, open feedlot, large CAFOs), animal type, and Census tract-level AFOs exposure intensity categories (i.e. from low exposure (quartile 1) to high exposure (quartile 4)). AFOs in Iowa were located in areas with lower percentages of racial/ethnic minority persons and high SES communities. For example, the percent of the population that is non-Hispanic Black was over 9 times higher in Census tracts without AFOs than tracts with AFOs (5.14% vs. 0.55%). However, when we considered AFO exposure intensity within the areas having AFO exposure, areas with higher AFO exposure had higher percentages of racial/ethnic minority persons (e.g. Hispanic) and low SES communities (e.g. higher educational isolation) compared to areas with lower AFO exposure. Findings by AFO type (e.g. large CAFO, medium CAFO) showed similar patterns of the distribution of environmental justice metrics as the findings for AFOs overall. We identified complex disparities with higher exposure to non-disadvantaged subpopulations when considering areas with versus without AFOs, but higher exposure to disadvantaged communities within areas with AFOs.
{"title":"Exposure to animal feeding operations including concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and environmental justice in Iowa, USA","authors":"Jiyoun Son, M. Bell","doi":"10.1088/2752-5309/ac9329","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1088/2752-5309/ac9329","url":null,"abstract":"Health consequences of intensive livestock industry and implications for environmental justice are of great concern in Iowa, USA, which has an extensive history of animal feeding operations (AFOs). We examined disparities in exposure to AFOs including concentrated AFOs (CAFOs) with several environmental justice metrics and considered exposure intensity based on animal units (AUs). Using data on permitted AFOs from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, we evaluated environmental disparities by multiple environmental justice metrics (e.g. race/ethnicity, socio-economic status (SES), income inequality (Gini index), racial isolation, and educational isolation) using 2010 Census tract-level variables. We used an exposure metric incorporating the density and intensity as the sum of AUs within each Census tract. We investigated exposure disparities by comparing distributions of environmental justice metrics based on operation type (e.g. confinement, open feedlot, large CAFOs), animal type, and Census tract-level AFOs exposure intensity categories (i.e. from low exposure (quartile 1) to high exposure (quartile 4)). AFOs in Iowa were located in areas with lower percentages of racial/ethnic minority persons and high SES communities. For example, the percent of the population that is non-Hispanic Black was over 9 times higher in Census tracts without AFOs than tracts with AFOs (5.14% vs. 0.55%). However, when we considered AFO exposure intensity within the areas having AFO exposure, areas with higher AFO exposure had higher percentages of racial/ethnic minority persons (e.g. Hispanic) and low SES communities (e.g. higher educational isolation) compared to areas with lower AFO exposure. Findings by AFO type (e.g. large CAFO, medium CAFO) showed similar patterns of the distribution of environmental justice metrics as the findings for AFOs overall. We identified complex disparities with higher exposure to non-disadvantaged subpopulations when considering areas with versus without AFOs, but higher exposure to disadvantaged communities within areas with AFOs.","PeriodicalId":72938,"journal":{"name":"Environmental research, health : ERH","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47045539","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}