Grantee Research Project Results
2011 Progress Report: Effect of Multi-Level Environmental Exposure on Birth Outcomes
EPA Grant Number: R834596C001Subproject: this is subproject number 001 , established and managed by the Center Director under grant R834596
(EPA does not fund or establish subprojects; EPA awards and manages the overall grant for this center).
Center: Center for Integrative Research on Childhood Leukemia and the Environment - 2015
Center Director: Metayer, Catherine
Title: Effect of Multi-Level Environmental Exposure on Birth Outcomes
Investigators: Tager, Ira , Gale, Sara L , Padula, Amy
Current Investigators: Tager, Ira , Hammond, S. Katharine , Gale, Sara L , Shaw, Gary M. , Padula, Amy
Institution: University of California - Berkeley , Stanford University
EPA Project Officer: Callan, Richard
Project Period: May 7, 2010 through May 6, 2013 (Extended to May 6, 2014)
Project Period Covered by this Report: May 7, 2011 through May 6,2012
RFA: Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research Centers: Formative Centers (with NIEHS) (2009) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Children's Health , Human Health
Objective:
To determine if the associations between adverse pregnancy outcomes (low birth weight, pre-term, and small for gestation age) and exposure to ambient air pollutants and endotoxin are increased in women who reside in impoverished neighborhoods and are socially disadvantaged at the individual level. Elevated air pollution levels and higher traffic density have been implicated as having adverse effects on the health of children and adults. Outcomes include reduced birth weight and gestational duration, decreased pulmonary function and coronary heart disease. Many of the outcomes are more common within communities with lower socioeconomic status (SES) and more ethnic diversity; these are the same communities that tend to have higher air pollution and traffic density, at least in the United States. It may be a case of environmental justice with important health consequences and may invoke policy change to address such potential injustice.
Progress Summary:
Building on the pilot analysis of item response theory (IRT) for the FACES cohort, we then applied it to the SAGE cohort in Fresno County, which include births between 2000-2006 (N = 90,196). These neighborhoods include the GIS data that was previously collected (road network and traffic, alcohol and cigarette sales, wildfires, Superfund sites, grocery stores and farmers markets, schools and daycares, hospitals, water quality, crime). In IRT, several variables are used to make a scale which describes a latent variable. The latent variable is often unobserved or not quantified by one measure. In our analysis, neighborhood deprivation is the latent variable, because we do not have one variable that captures the complexity of deprivation-there are several. There are also many different IRT modeling methods, but, in general, the best model is defined by the mean-squared error of prediction. The item parameters are all of the covariates, which we converted to be positive and negative (0 = negative neighborhood influence, 1 = positive neighborhood influence). For example, if there were an alcohol outlet in a study subject's neighborhood, his or her response would be 0 for that item. If there were a park in that neighborhood, the response would be 1. Scoring is based on the proportion of positive neighborhood characteristics. Item parameters are fixed, and we maximize the likelihood for our deprivation score.
We also continued analyses of the associations between the individual air pollutants on preterm birth comparing the highest quartile versus the lowest three quartiles. This was building on the preliminary analyses of traffic density.
Future Activities:
Our plans are to analyze the association between air pollution and birth outcomes and determine whether the associations differ by levels of neighborhood deprivation.
Journal Articles on this Report : 1 Displayed | Download in RIS Format
Other subproject views: | All 14 publications | 2 publications in selected types | All 2 journal articles |
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Other center views: | All 50 publications | 15 publications in selected types | All 15 journal articles |
Type | Citation | ||
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Padula AM, Mortimer K, Hubbard A, Lurmann F, Jerrett M, Tager IB. Exposure to traffic-related air pollution during pregnancy and term low birth weight: estimation of causal associations in a semiparametric model. American Journal of Epidemiology 2012;176(9):815-824. |
R834596 (2010) R834596 (2011) R834596 (2012) R834596 (Final) R834596C001 (2011) R834596C001 (2012) R834596C001 (Final) |
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Supplemental Keywords:
birth outcomes, premature birth, disparities, air pollution, traffic;, RFA, Health, Scientific Discipline, ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, HUMAN HEALTH, Health Effects, Biochemistry, Children's Health, Biology, Risk Assessment, asthma, air toxics, prenatal exposure, biological response, measuring childhood exposure, air pollution, assessment of exposure, childhood respiratory disease, children's vulnerablity, harmful environmental agents, developmental disordersRelevant Websites:
Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractMain Center Abstract and Reports:
R834596 Center for Integrative Research on Childhood Leukemia and the Environment - 2015 Subprojects under this Center: (EPA does not fund or establish subprojects; EPA awards and manages the overall grant for this center).
R834596C001 Effect of Multi-Level Environmental Exposure on Birth Outcomes
R834596C002 Exposure to Air Pollutants and Risk of Birth Defects
R834596C003 Ambient Pollutant/Bioaerosol Effects on Treg Function
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.
Project Research Results
2 journal articles for this subproject
Main Center: R834596
50 publications for this center
15 journal articles for this center