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THE SHORT AND LONG-TERM RESPIRATORY EFFECTS OF EXPOSURE TO PAHS FROM TRAFFIC IN A COHORT OF ASTHMATIC CHILDREN
Impact/Purpose:
The investigators are studying the relationship between exposure to vehicular polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and the short- and long-term respiratory effects on children who have well-characterized asthma. This research will complement an on-going study of 302 children with asthma, ages 6-11 at intake, in Fresno, CA, who are already recruited and for whom voluminous health and exposure data are available (the Fresno Asthmatic Children’s Environment Study-FACES). The investigators will test the following hypothesis:
Acute exposure to PAHs leads to acute increases in symptoms, increased medication use, and lung function declines. These adverse reactions to acute PAH exposures, when recurrent over 3-5 years, have the cumulative effects of more severe asthma and reduced lung function growth.
The investigators plan innovative approaches both to develop the exposure metrics and to conduct the epidemiologic analyses. The innovative exposure metric itself has two parts: first, the development of the underlying dataset of PAHs measured in two media, ambient air and pine needles, and secondly, the development of a model. FACES has been collecting data for 5 years under the sponsorship of the California Air Resources Board, and an R01 NIH proposal to extend the program for another 4.5 year recently received an excellent priority score (3.6 percentile), so the investigators have high hopes for continued funding.
Description:
EPA GRANT NUMBER: R828678C017
Title: The Short and Long-Term Respiratory Effects of Exposure to PAHs from Traffic in a Cohort of Asthmatic Children
Investigator: S. Katharine Hammond
Institution: University of California - Berkeley
EPA Project Officer: Stacey Katz
Project Period: January 2, 2001 - December 31, 2005
Project Amount: $0
RFA: Targeted Research Center
Research Category: Targeted Research
Description
Objective:The investigators are studying the relationship between exposure to vehicular polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and the short- and long-term respiratory effects on children who have well-characterized asthma. This research will complement an on-going study of 302 children with asthma, ages 6-11 at intake, in Fresno, CA, who are already recruited and for whom voluminous health and exposure data are available (the Fresno Asthmatic Children’s Environment Study-FACES). The investigators will test the following hypothesis:
Acute exposure to PAHs leads to acute increases in symptoms, increased medication use, and lung function declines. These adverse reactions to acute PAH exposures, when recurrent over 3-5 years, have the cumulative effects of more severe asthma and reduced lung function growth.
The investigators plan innovative approaches both to develop the exposure metrics and to conduct the epidemiologic analyses. The innovative exposure metric itself has two parts: first, the development of the underlying dataset of PAHs measured in two media, ambient air and pine needles, and secondly, the development of a model. FACES has been collecting data for 5 years under the sponsorship of the California Air Resources Board, and an R01 NIH proposal to extend the program for another 4.5 year recently received an excellent priority score (3.6 percentile), so the investigators have high hopes for continued funding.
Progress and Final Reports:
2007 Progress Report