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2007 Progress Report: Oxygenated Urban Air Toxics and Asthma Variability in Middle School Children: A Panel Study (ATAC–Air Toxics and Asthma in Children)

EPA Grant Number: R828678C005
Subproject: this is subproject number 005 , established and managed by the Center Director under grant R824834
(EPA does not fund or establish subprojects; EPA awards and manages the overall grant for this center).
Center: Mickey Leland National Urban Air Toxics Research Center (NUATRC)
Center Director: Beskid, Craig
Title: Oxygenated Urban Air Toxics and Asthma Variability in Middle School Children: A Panel Study (ATAC–Air Toxics and Asthma in Children)
Investigators: Delclos, George , Abramson, Stuart , Hanania, Nicola , Lai, Dejian , Morandi, Maria T. , Sockrider, Marianna , Stock, Tom
Institution: University of Texas at Houston , Baylor College of Medicine
EPA Project Officer: Stacey Katz/Gail Robarge,
Project Period: December 6, 2001 through December 6, 2004 (Extended to December 6, 2005)
Project Period Covered by this Report: December 6, 2007 through December 6, 2008
RFA: Mickey Leland National Urban Air Toxics Research Center (NUATRC) (1997)
Research Category: Air Quality and Air Toxics , Targeted Research

Description:

Objective:

The objective of this project was to conduct a prospective, pilot panel study to investigate the association between exposure to oxygenated air toxics (total carbonyl concentration) and asthma health outcomes among labile, persistent asthmatic middle school children in Houston, using a repeated measures design over a 12-month period. The study population was labile, persistent asthmatics on the basis that they were likely to manifest greater variability in health outcomes following exposure to airborne stimuli. The study design is one of repeated measures of health outcomes and relevant exposure variables over time, in which each participant serves as her/his own control. Four 1-week measurement periods, for each of the main independent (exposure) and dependent (health outcome) variables were to be performed over a 12-month observation period. Repeated measurements of established confounder variables were also to be performed serially over the 12-month period.

Progress Summary:

Results from the first-pass analysis of this pilot panel study suggest that exposure to total carbonyls at concentrations found in usual microenvironments does not adversely affect the short-term indicators of asthma variability in children. On the other hand, significant and plausible associations between daily maximum personal ozone exposure and both physiologic and clinical indicators of increased asthma variability were found that were consistent in both the aggregate and individual regression models. Most of these effects were seen in the first two days from the start of ozone exposure (lag 0 and lag 1). This pattern was more consistently demonstrated when personal carbonyl exposure was estimated using models that incorporated daily deviation from the 10-day mean and daily maximum hourly personal ozone estimates.

The ozone-related findings suggest that the adverse impacts of ozone on asthma are detectable as early as the same day of the exposure, and may carry over into the next day or two. In addition, there was a subset of asthmatic children that was more susceptible to the effects of ozone, although no clear-cut differences in profile from other children were observed. Some limited adverse effects of PM2.5 on physiologic, but not clinical, measures of asthma were suggested, but showed an inconsistent pattern that is difficult to interpret meaningfully.

Overall, based on the aggregate personal exposure models, and after adjusting for aldehyde and particulate matter concentrations, for each 30 ppb change in daily maximum hourly personal ozone concentration, on average there was a 3.75 L/min decrease in next day (lag 1) morning PEF, a 1.23 percentage point increase in next day (lag 1) overnight PEF amplitude and a 2.44% decrease in FEV1 throughout that day, in association with increases in asthma symptoms and rescue medication use.

Daily personal ozone and personal aldehyde exposures showed a negative correlation when the censored, but not the uncensored, carbonyl values were used; the reasons are unclear. There are multiple indoor sources of aldehydes (Liu et al, 2006), and Americans spend over 90% of their time indoors. The association between ozone and aldehydes could possibly be explained by a combination of factors, although differential measurements of aldehyde exposure, by night and day (not available in this study) would be needed to further explore this issue. Possible explanations could include:

Conclusions:

Results from this pilot panel study suggest that exposure to total carbonyls at concentrations found in usual microenvironments does not adversely affect the short-term course of asthma in children, and are not as important as ozone and particulate matter in altering physiologic and clinical markers of asthma in children.

Journal Articles:

No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 2 publications for this subproject

Supplemental Keywords:

 , HUMAN HEALTH, POLLUTANTS/TOXICS, ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION, Air, Scientific Discipline, Health, RFA, PHYSICAL ASPECTS, Susceptibility/Sensitive Population/Genetic Susceptibility, Health Effects, Risk Assessment, Biology, Risk Assessments, Health Risk Assessment, Physical Processes, Epidemiology, air toxics, Chemicals, Children's Health, Atmospheric Sciences, Environmental Policy, particulate matter, Environmental Chemistry, Exposure, exposure assessment, environmental hazard exposures, airborne urban contaminants, acute exposure, Acute health effects, indoor air, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), urban air, air contaminant exposure, co-pollutants, children's environmental health, cardiac arrest, air quality, fine particles, assessment of exposure, human health risk, lung inflammation, toxics, acute cardiovascular effects, chronic health effects, PM 2.5, sensitive populations, acute lung injury, air pollution, airway disease, children, inhaled, atmospheric particulate matter, copollutant exposures, susceptible subpopulations, long term exposure, human susceptibility, asthma triggers, asthma, human exposure, particulate exposure
Relevant Websites:

http://www.sph.uth.tmc.edu/mleland/ exit EPA

Progress and Final Reports:
2001 Progress Report
2002 Progress Report
2003 Progress Report
2006 Progress Report
Original Abstract


Main Center Abstract and Reports:
R824834    Mickey Leland National Urban Air Toxics Research Center (NUATRC)

Subprojects under this Center: (EPA does not fund or establish subprojects; EPA awards and manages the overall grant for this center).
R824834C001 Air Toxics Exposures Among Teenagers in New York City and Los Angeles - A Columbia-Harvard Study (TEACH)
R824834C002 Cardiopulmonary Response to Particulate Exposure
R824834C003 VOC Exposure in an Industry Impacted Community
R824834C004 A Study of Personal Exposure to Air Toxics Among a Subset of the Residential U.S. Population (VOC Project)
R824834C005 Methods Development Project for a Study of Personal Exposures to Toxic Air Pollutants
R824834C006 Relationship Between Indoor, Outdoor and Personal Air (RIOPA)
R824834C007 Development of the "Leland Legacy" Air Sampling Pump
R824834C008 Source Apportionment of Indoor Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Urban Residences
R824834C009 Development of a Personal Cascade Impactor Sampler (PCIS)
R824834C010 Testing the Metals Hypothesis in Spokane
R828678C001 Air Toxics Exposures Among Teenagers in New York City and Los Angeles—A Columbia-Harvard Study (TEACH)
R828678C002 Cardiopulmonary Effects of Metal-Containing Particulate Exposure
R828678C003 VOC Exposure in an Industry Impacted Community
R828678C004 A Study of Personal Exposure to Air Toxics Among a Subset of the Residential U.S. Population (VOC Project)
R828678C005 Oxygenated Urban Air Toxics and Asthma Variability in Middle School Children: A Panel Study (ATAC–Air Toxics and Asthma in Children)
R828678C006 Relationship between Indoor, Outdoor and Personal Air (RIOPA). Part II: Analyses of Concentrations of Particulate Matter Species
R828678C007 Development of the “Leland Legacy” Air Sampling Pump
R828678C008 Source Apportionment of Indoor PAHs in Urban Residences 98-03B
R828678C009 Development of a Personal Cascade Impactor Sampler (PCIS)
R828678C010 Testing the Metals Hypothesis in Spokane
R828678C011 A Pilot Geospatial Analysis of Exposure to Air Pollutants (with Special Attention to Air Toxics) and Hospital Admissions in Harris County, Texas
R828678C012 Impact of Exposure to Urban Air Toxics on Asthma Utilization for the Pediatric Medicaid Population in Dearborn, Michigan
R828678C013 Field Validation of the Sioutas Sampler and Leland Legacy Pump – Joint Project with EPA’s Environmental Technology Validation Program (ETV)
R828678C014 Performance Evaluation of the 3M Charcoal Vapor Monitor for Monitor Low Ambient Concentrations of VOCs
R828678C015 RIOPA Database Development
R828678C016 Contributions of Outdoor PM Sources to Indoor and Personal Exposures: Analysis of PM Species Concentrations” Focused on the PM Speciation and Apportioning of Sources
R828678C017 The Short and Long-Term Respiratory Effects of Exposure to PAHs from Traffic in a Cohort of Asthmatic Children

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The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.

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