Impact/Purpose:

In this Project we will investigate the acute and chronic effects of air pollution on cognitive and neurological impairments, systemic inflammation, and vascular dysfunction. We will determine how these effects differ depending on the composition of multi- pollutant mixtures and the source contributions to PM composition. We will then ascertain the level of increased effects in susceptible and vulnerable subpopulations by examining modifying factors of obesity, diabetes, diet, socioeconomic position, and psychosocial stress.

Description:

We have already reported different associations of traffic vs. secondary particles and ozone with different endpoints. With better exposure characterization and longer follow-up we will identify the key aspects of pollution that drive the association with cognition, inflammation, and vascular function. We will also determine the extent to which susceptibility factors, such as obesity, diabetes, and diet, modify these associations. This is critical for risk assessment, and will grow in importance as the prevalence of these conditions increases. Developing evidence suggests that stress and socioeconomic position may modify these health outcomes, and we will investigate the extent of these effects as well.

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Project 2 will build on our previous success using the Normative Aging Study (NAS) cohort, a large prospective cohort living in Eastern Massachusetts, and expand to make use of its extensive characterization for cognitive performance and psychosocial stress. With so much data already collected in this cohort, we can look at health effects longitudinally, where subjects act as their own controls. This reduces the potential for confounding while also increasing power. Our investigation of the health effects of air pollution will use our novel exposure approach to examine effects of individual pollutants, multi-pollutant mixtures, and sources. Under our current EPA Center grant, we developed and validated a spatio-temporal model for Black Carbon (BC) in the greater Boston area. Building on that success, we will now add a spatio-temporal model for 03 to capture the spatial heterogeneity of exposure in the cohort study region, and we will estimate spatio-temporal variations in PM2.5, and longer term variations in composition of air pollution, as described in the Exposure core. Using these improved exposure models will allow us to extend previous findings to understand the impact of different components and combinations of air pollutants on different aspects of health. In combination with Project 1 and 5, we will examine these exposures across a spectrum from biomarker to mortality, and in combination with Projects 3 and 4, across the lifecourse. Finally, we will examine the differential effects due to factors of susceptibility and vulnerability.

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