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MICA-AIR: A PARTICIPANT-BASED APPROACH TO EXPOSURE ASSESSMENT IN EPIDEMIOLOGIC AND COMMUNITY HEALTH STUDIES
Citation:
JOHNSON, M. M., E. E. HUDGENS, R. W. WILLIAMS, J. E. GALLAGHER, L. M. NEAS, AND H. A. OZKAYNAK. MICA-AIR: A PARTICIPANT-BASED APPROACH TO EXPOSURE ASSESSMENT IN EPIDEMIOLOGIC AND COMMUNITY HEALTH STUDIES. Presented at International Society for Environmental Epidemiology Annual Meeting, Mexico City, MEXICO, September 05 - 09, 2007.
Impact/Purpose:
research results
Description:
Objective. Epidemiologic and community health studies of traffic-related air pollution and childhood asthma have been limited by resource intensive exposure assessment techniques. The current study utilized a novel participant-based approach to collect air monitoring data for 92 asthmatic and non-asthmatic children (9-12 years old) in Detroit, Michigan nested within both EPA's Detroit Children's Health Study and EPA's Mechanistic Indicators of Childhood Asthma Study. Material and methods. Passive samplers were shipped to participating households and deployed by the parents of study participants to collect indoor and outdoor measurements of nitrogen dioxide (N02), volatile organic compounds (VOe), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), and naphthalene (NAP). Half of the participating households deployed voe and N02 samplers for 7 days; the other half deployed PAH and N02 samplers for 2 days and NAP samplers for 1 day. Participants also provided questionnaire data (including household characteristics, food intake, and time-activity data), exhaled nitric oxide and lung function measurements, vacuum dust samples and biological specimens (blood, urine, and nail samples). These samples will be analyzed for various markers of exposure to combustion by-products including diesel exhaust, selected metals, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Results. Approximately 90% of the households that received an air sampling kit completed the air sampling and return their kits. Compliance with the sampling protocol was significantly higher among participants asked to deploy all samplers for a 7 day sampling period (87%) compared with participants who were asked to deploy some samplers for 2 days and others for 1 day (53%). Associations between air monitoring data and respiratory health outcomes will also be discussed. Conclusions. These results suggest that participant-driven sampling may be a reasonable and cost-effective alternative to traditional exposure assessment approaches that can be applied in future epidemiologic and community-based health studies. Although this work was reviewed by EPA and approved for publications, it may not necessarily reflect official Agency policy.