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CBRA Bulletin - January 2009
This new Community-Based Risk Assessment (CBRA) Listserv is sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and managed through the EPA's National Center of Environmental Research (NCER). Please feel free to forward the listserv messages to interested colleagues or ask them to join!
News and Opportunities | Featured Resource | Featured Science Articles
- Call For Abstracts for 2009 APHA Annual Meeting
The American Public Health Association (APHA) announces that the 2009 annual meeting "Call for Abstracts" is open for submissions. APHA is the oldest, largest, and most diverse organization of public health professionals in the world. The theme of this year's Annual Meeting & Exposition is Water and Public Health: The 21st Century Challenge. The event will be held in Philadelphia on November 7-11, 2009. Each APHA Section, Caucus, and SPIG will have their individual Call for Abstracts. Specific groups of interest include: Community Health Planning and Policy Development (deadline 2/13/09); Environment (deadline 1/22/09 & 2/13/09); Epidemiology (deadline 2/13/09 & 2/28/09); and Community-Based Public Health Caucus (deadline 2/9/09). General information about APHA can be accessed at: www.apha.org.. More information on all the Call for Abstracts can be found at: http://www.apha.org/meetings/sessions/HowtobecomeaPresenter.htm
. - Two New Grant Programs in Health and Environment: Kresge Foundation
The Kresge Foundation announces two new comprehensive grant-making programs: the Health Program and the Environment Program. Both the Health and Environment Programs will address health and environment-related social issues, particularly those affecting minority, low-income, and other underserved communities. The programs are in the development stage; program teams will be refining their grantmaking focus and strategy over the next year. For both programs, applicants must be 501(c)(3) organizations or government entities. To learn more about the Kresge Foundation, visit: www.kresge.org. Click to
link directly to the Kresge Foundation's new grantmaking programs press
release, Health Program, or Environment Program. - CDC Funding Opportunity on Climate Change: Environmental Impact on Human Health
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Procurement and Grants Office has published a funding opportunity announcement, "Climate Change: Environmental Impact on Human Health." Approximately $3 million will be available to fund 10 awards. The purpose of this announcement is to assess regional environmental impact and climate change effects on human health. As climate change occurs, there is an increased risk for morbidity and mortality to the population. The full announcement is available at: www.cdc.gov/od/pgo/funding/EH09-001.htm. - NIEHS Funding Opportunity: Assessing and Addressing Community
Exposures to Environmental Contaminants (R21)
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) have released a new Request for Applications (RFA) to solicit applications designed to collect information on community exposures to environmental or occupational agents or exposure-related diseases and use this new information to support environmental public health action. This RFA solicits research applications designed to bring together community members and environmental and occupational health researchers to investigate the potential health risks of environmental and occupational exposures that are of concern to the community. Details on the RFA are available online at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-ES-09-001.html. - EPA Funding Opportunity for Community-Based Environmental Health
Assessment through the CARE Program
Approximately $3 million will be available in 2009 to support community-based partnerships to reduce pollution at the local level through the Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) program. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) anticipates awarding CARE cooperative agreements at two levels. Level 1 cooperative agreements ($75,000 to $100,000) will help establish community-based partnerships to develop local environmental priorities. Level 2 cooperative agreements ($150,000 to $300,000) will help support communities who have established broad-based partnerships have identified the priority toxic risks in the community, and are prepared to implement risk reduction activities. Information on CARE can be accessed at: www.epa.gov/CARE. More information on the Request for Proposals can be found at: http://www.epa.gov/air/grants_funding.html#0902. - Call for Abstracts for 2009 ISES Annual Meeting
The International Society of Exposure Science (ISES) (formerly known as the International Society of Exposure Analysis) was established in 1989 to foster and advance the science of exposure analysis related to environmental contaminants, both for human populations and ecosystems. The 2009 ISES conference will be held in Minneapolis on November 1-5, 2009. The Call for Symposia and Abstracts is expected to open on January 9, 2009. For more information on the Annual ISES Conference, visit: http://www.ises09.org/. For more information on the Society, visit:
http://www.iseaweb.org .
AAPCHO's CBPR Toolkit for Health Centers The Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations (AAPCHO) is a national association representing community health organizations dedicated to promoting advocacy, collaboration and leadership that improves the health status and access of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders within the U.S., its territories, and freely associated states. AAPCHO has released its latest research toolkit, Community-Based Participatory Research: A Health Center Toolkit with Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. This toolkit is intended as a handbook for community health centers (CHCs) and researchers interested in collaborative research activities. The toolkit contains an array of useful information, including:
- Research readiness assessments
- Steps to building CBPR partnerships and trust
- How to develop a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between partners
. To find more
information about AACPHO, visit: http://www.aapcho.org .
- Combined Chemical (Fluoranthene) and Drought Effects on Lumbricus
Rubellus Demonstrates the Applicability of the Independent Action Model
for Multiple Stressor Assessment
Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (Epublication, ahead of print) by SM Long, F Reichenberg, LJ Lister, J Townsend, PK Hankard, P Mayer, J Wright, M Holmstrup, C Svendsen, and DJ SpurgeonAbstract: The combined effect of a chemical (fluoranthene) and a non-chemical stress (reduced soil moisture content) to the widely distributed earthworm Lumbricus rubellus were investigated in a laboratory study. Neither fluoranthene (up to 500 mug/g) nor low soil moisture (15% below optimal) had a significant effect on the survival of the exposed worms, but a significant effect on reproduction (cocoon production rate) was found for both stressors (p < 0.001 in both cases). The response of cocoon production to each stressor could be well described by a logistic model, this suggested that the joint effects may be applicable to description using the independent action (IA) model that is widely used in pharmacology and chemical mixture risk assessment [1]. Fitting of the IA model provided a good description of the combined stressor data (accounting for 53.7% of total variation) and was the most parsimonious model describing joint effect (i.e. the description of the data was not improved by addition of further parameters accounting for synergism or antagonism). Thus, the independent action of the two responses was further supported by measurement of internal fluoranthene exposure. The chemical activity of fluoranthene in worm tissue was correlated only with soil fluoranthene concentration and not with soil moisture content. Taken together these results suggest that the IA model can help interpret the joint effects of chemical and non-chemical stressors. Such analyses should, however, be done with caution, since literature data-set suggests that there may be cases where interactions between stressors result in joint effects that differ significantly from IA predictions.
- The Use of Biomarkers for Improved Retrospective Exposure Assessment
in Epidemiological Studies: Summary of an ECETOC Workshop
Biomarkers (Volume 13, Issue 7: 734-748)by PT ScheepersAbstract: During a scientific workshop the use of biological monitoring in characterization of retrospective exposure assessment was discussed. The workshop addressed currently available methodology and also novel approaches such as in different fields of 'omics'. For use in epidemiology requiring retrospective exposure assessment, biomarker levels should not vary too much over time. If variability in exposure over time is large and differences in exposure between individuals are relatively small, this may lead to underestimation of the exposure-response relationship. This means that, for a sound assessment of health risk, biomarkers that reflect cumulative exposure over a long period of time are preferred over biomarkers with short half-lives. Most of the existing biomarkers such as metabolites in body fluids usually have rather short half-lives, typically less than 1-2 days. Some adducts to DNA show somewhat longer half-lives. The current limit to persistence of biomarkers reflecting cumulative exposure over time is from adducts to haemoglobin with a half-life of 4 months. Some specific organic substances may be more persistent due to storage in adipose tissue or metals in kidneys, nails and hair. The metabonomics, proteomics and present gene expression profiling approaches do not provide a perspective to the availability of more persistent biomarkers and most approaches discussed to date show that it is difficult to interpret study outcomes in terms of exposure to a specific xenobiotic factor. Research efforts should focus on improvement and validation of currently available approaches in the field of addition products to DNA and proteins. Promising new developments may be phosphotriester DNA adducts and adducts to more long-lived proteins such as histones.
- Ranking the Risks of Multiple Hazards in a Small Community
Risk Analysis (Epublication, ahead of print) by H. Li, GE Apostolakis, J. Gifun, W. Vanschalkwyk, S. Leite, and D. BarberAbstract: Natural hazards, human-induced accidents, and malicious acts have caused great losses and disruptions to society. After September 11, 2001, critical infrastructure protection has become a national focus in the United States and is likely to remain one for the foreseeable future. Damage to the infrastructures and assets could be mitigated through predisaster planning and actions. A systematic methodology was developed to assess and rank the risks from these multiple hazards in a community of 20,000 people. It is an interdisciplinary study that includes probabilistic risk assessment (PRA), decision analysis, and expert judgment. Scenarios are constructed to show how the initiating events evolve into undesirable consequences. A value tree, based on multi-attribute utility theory (MAUT), is used to capture the decisionmaker's preferences about the impacts on the infrastructures and other assets. The risks from random failures are ranked according to their expected performance index (PI), which is the product of frequency, probabilities, and consequences of a scenario. Risks from malicious acts are ranked according to their PI as the frequency of attack is not available. A deliberative process is used to capture the factors that could not be addressed in the analysis and to scrutinize the results. This methodology provides a framework for the development of a risk-informed decision strategy. Although this study uses the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus as a case study of a real project, it is a general methodology that could be used by other similar communities and municipalities.
- Local Implementation of Cancer Control Activities in Rural
Appalachia, 2006
Prevention Chronic Disease (Volume 6, Issue 1:A34) by Bruce Behringer, Karen Harrell Mabe, Kelly A. Dorgan, and Sadie P. HutsonAbstract: Underserved communities with high cancer rates often are not involved in implementing state cancer control activities locally. An East Tennessee State University research team formed 2 Appalachian Community Cancer Research Review Work Groups, 1 in northeast Tennessee and 1 in southwest Virginia. During 4 sessions, the research team presented regional cancer data to the work groups. Work group participants explored research from a lay perspective and identified possible reasons for cancer disparities in central Appalachia. The fifth session was a community dissemination activity in which work group participants engaged in cancer education and action by presenting the research to their local communities in unique ways. During a sixth session, both work groups discussed these interventions and further attempted to answer the question, "What makes the experience of cancer unique in Appalachia?" This article describes the key steps of this community-based participatory research process.)
Article available for free at: http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2009/Jan/08_0064.htm. - Modeling the Principles of Community-Based Participatory Research in
a Community Health Assessment Conducted by a Health Foundation
Health Promotion Practice (Volume 10, Issue 1:67-75) by Karen Jaynes Williams, Patricia Gail Bray, Carrie K. Shapiro-Mendoza, Ilana Reisz, and Jane PeranteauAbstract: The authors discuss strategies used and lessons learned by a health foundation during development of a community health assessment model incorporating community-based participatory research (CBPR) approaches. The assessment model comprises three models incorporating increasing amounts of CPBR principles. Model A combines local-area analysis of quantitative data, qualitative information (key informants, focus groups), and asset mapping. Model B, a community-based participatory model, emphasizes participatory rural appraisal approaches and quantitative assessment using rapid epidemiological assessment. Model C, a modified version of Model B, is financially more sustainable for our needs than Model B. The authors (a) describe origins of these models and illustrate practical applications and (b) explore the lessons learned in their transition from a traditional, nonparticipatory, quantitative approach to participatory approaches to community-health assessment. It is hoped that this article will contribute to the growing body of knowledge of practical aspects of incorporating CBPR approaches into community health assessments.
- The Attribution of Urban and Suburban Children's Exposure to
Synthetic Pyrethroid Insecticides: A Longitudinal Assessment
Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology (Volume 19, Issue 1: 69-78) by Chensheng Lu, Dana B. Barr, Melanie A. Pearson, Lance A. Walker, and Roberto BravoAbstract: Despite the widespread use of synthetic pyrethroid insecticides that led to common exposure in the population, very few studies have been conducted to quantitatively assess human, particularly, children's, long-term exposures to pyrethroid insecticides. The objective of the Children Pesticide Exposure Study - Washington (CPES-WA) was to establish the longitudinal exposure profiles for pyrethroid insecticides in a cohort of children living in an urban and suburban community using urinary pyrethroid metabolites as exposure biomarkers. The results from this analysis will allow us to examine potential risk factors in relation to the elevated pyrethroid insecticide exposure in children. A total of 23 children, aged 3-11 years, who only consumed conventional diets were enrolled in this 1-year study. We provided organic food items to children for 5 consecutive days in the summer and fall sampling seasons. We measured urinary metabolites for the synthetic pyrethroid insecticides in urine samples that were collected twice daily during each of the four sampling seasons. 3-phenoxybenzoic acid was frequently detected in the urine samples with mean and median daily volume-weighted average levels of 1.5 and 1.2 microg/l, followed by trans-2,2-(dichloro)-2-dimethylvinylcyclopropane carboxylic acid (1.4 and 1.0 microg/l) and cis-2,2-(dichloro)-2-dimethylvinylcyclopropane carboxylic acid (0.5 microg/l, and non-detected). When we took into account season, age, sex, diet, and self-reported residential use of pyrethroid insecticides in a linear mixed-effects model, the results suggested that the combination of the use of pyrethroid insecticides in the household, dietary intake, and seasonal differences play a significant role in predicting children's exposure to synthetic pyrethroid insecticides. We found CPES-WA children were continuously exposed to pyrethroid insecticides through their diets all year long, and this chronic exposure pattern was periodically modified by episodes of relatively high exposures from residential uses. Future research should be devoted to enhancing our understanding of the complexity of pyrethroid insecticide exposure patterns.
Article available for free at: http://www.nature.com/jes/journal/v19/n1/full/jes200849a.html.