Grantee Research Project Results
Exposure Disparities Related to Resident Behavior and Housing Characteristics
EPA Grant Number: R836156C002Subproject: this is subproject number 002 , established and managed by the Center Director under grant R836156
(EPA does not fund or establish subprojects; EPA awards and manages the overall grant for this center).
Center: Health Effects Institute (2015 - 2020)
Center Director: Greenbaum, Daniel S.
Title: Exposure Disparities Related to Resident Behavior and Housing Characteristics
Investigators: Adamkiewicz, Gary , Backus, Ann
Institution: Boston University , Harvard University
EPA Project Officer: Callan, Richard
Project Period: July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2020 (Extended to June 30, 2021)
RFA: NIH/EPA Centers of Excellence on Environmental Health Disparities Research (2015) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Human Health
Objective:
The goal for this project is to develop and implement innovative methods to provide improved estimates for between-household variability in exposures.
Specific Aim 1: Develop and implement innovative methods to provide improved estimates for between-household variability in exposures.
Specific Aim 2: Identify the key determinants of indoor exposure to chemical stressors (e.g., PM2.5, ultrafine particles, NO2) within small spatial scales, to best characterize drivers of exposure disparities and to directly inform targets for future mitigation at the household level.
Specific Aim 3: Determine how resident behavior and housing characteristics affect indoor-outdoor associations of chemical stressors, noise, and thermal comfort in our study population.
Specific Aim 4: Assess housing and household characteristics to develop season-specific determinants that predict ventilation characteristics for every residence in Chelsea and Dorchester.
Approach:
Investigators will identify the key determinants (among activity patterns, temperature, source usage, ambient pollutant concentrations, and air exchange rates) of indoor exposure to chemical stressors (e.g., PM2.5, ultrafine particles, NO2) within small spatial scales, to best characterize drivers of exposure disparities and to directly inform targets for future mitigation at the household level. In addition, we will characterize variability in non-chemical stressors (noise, thermal comfort) to understand the distribution of these key modifiers and their sociodemographic and structural predictors. Investigators will focus our intensive exposure monitoring study on 200 homes in the Center’s two target communities of Chelsea and Dorchester, Massachusetts. Investigators aim to determine how resident behavior and housing characteristics affect indoor-outdoor associations of chemical stressors, noise, and thermal comfort in our study population, considering the extent to which associations can be predicted by detailed individual activity data, more general questionnaire information, and publicly-available geospatial covariates. Finally, investigators will use community-based crowdsourcing approaches to assess housing and household characteristics to develop season-specific determinants that predict ventilation characteristics for every residence in Chelsea and Dorchester. Project 2 will involve close collaboration with community partners in the research and outreach/dissemination process through the Community Engagement Core, strengthening both the quality of the research and its potential to improve public health. These goals have direct linkages to the Center’s activities under Projects 1 and 3. The results will contribute directly to the exposure disparities analyses and cumulative risk assessment applications in Project 3, and will help in the development of housing-related covariates to be tested in epidemiological studies within Project 1. Investigators will also be able to identify intervention targets that have the greatest potential to reduce indoor exposures for those experiencing differential exposures to chemical and non-chemical stressors at home.
Rationale:
While environmental health disparities are known to be related to neighborhood-scale gradients in ambient exposures, housing attributes and in-home activities can further differentiate exposures along significant within neighborhood socioeconomic gradients. Importantly, housing factors may not only modify personal exposures, but may also be a direct stressor with independent effects on health. Despite their importance in determining personal exposures to chemical and non-chemical stressors, household-level factors are rarely incorporated into epidemiological studies or risk analyses, leaving an important gap in evaluations of environmental health disparities.
Progress and Final Reports:
Main Center Abstract and Reports:
R836156 Health Effects Institute (2015 - 2020) Subprojects under this Center: (EPA does not fund or establish subprojects; EPA awards and manages the overall grant for this center).
R836156C001 Multi-Exposure Epidemiology across the Life Course
R836156C002 Exposure Disparities Related to Resident Behavior and Housing Characteristics
R836156C003 Cumulative Risk and Geospatial Health Disparities Related to Chemical and Non-Chemical Stressor Exposures
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.