Grantee Research Project Results

2015 Progress Report: Assess the Linkage Between School-Related Environment, Children’s School Performance/Health, and Environmental Policies Through Environmental Public Health Tracking

EPA Grant Number: R834787
Title: Assess the Linkage Between School-Related Environment, Children’s School Performance/Health, and Environmental Policies Through Environmental Public Health Tracking
Investigators: Lin, Shao
Institution: The State University of New York
EPA Project Officer: Hahn, Intaek
Project Period: February 1, 2011 through January 31, 2014 (Extended to January 31, 2017)
Project Period Covered by this Report: February 1, 2015 through January 31,2016
Project Amount: $500,000
RFA: Exploring Linkages Between Health Outcomes and Environmental Hazards, Exposures, and Interventions for Public Health Tracking and Risk Management (2009) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Human Health

Objective:

The objective of this project is to develop new and improve existing Environmental Public Health Indicators (EPHIs) related to the school environment in order to evaluate the linkage between school environment, children’s health, and performance as well as the impact of state and local environmental policy intervention. The ultimate goals are to identify school-related EPHIs that can be used for routine and long-term environmental public health tracking and surveillance, planning appropriate interventions, and protecting children’s health.

Progress Summary:

We have completed all activities planned originally for Year 5 including: 1) school environment and respiratory hospital admissions (despite the delay of grant transition), 2) impact of policy change, and 3) paper preparation.

Specifically, we have finalized the indicator analysis and completed a manuscript for New York State Department of Health (NYDOH) review. As planned, analyses of hospital admissions and emergency room visits for respiratory illnesses in relation to school building conditions and outdoor environmental exposures have been completed. Analysis of the change in school building conditions over time has been completed and a draft of the manuscript is in progress. An analysis of classroom climate, lighting, and acoustics in relation to teacher health symptoms has been completed and the manuscript is under preparation. We completed analysis of the NOx State Implementation Plan (SIP) call during Year 4. Both descriptive analysis and multivariable analysis using logistic regression have been completed. A draft of this manuscript is in progress. Analysis of student attendance, test scores, and school indoor/outdoor conditions is ongoing. Our analysis of the impact of a bus retrofit policy on childhood respiratory hospitalizations was extended to a 6-year analysis, enabling us to assess trends in hospitalization rates. Our data suggest that the respiratory admissions seemed to decrease since 2005, the year of retrofitting. QA/QC principals have been applied throughout the project in order to conduct analyses based on good data quality standards, appropriate statistical methods, precision, and validity of the results.

Future Activities:

The activities for the sixth year of this grant will be focus on completing several manuscripts currently in draft form and submitting them for publication in peer-reviewed journals. Other activities will include integrating our findings and reporting them to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Journal Articles on this Report : 5 Displayed | Download in RIS Format

Publications Views
Other project views:	All 22 publications	5 publications in selected types	All 5 journal articles

Publications
Type	Citation	Project	Document Sources
Journal Article	Kielb C, Lin S, Muscatiello N, Hord W, Rogers-Harrington J, Healy J. Building-related health symptoms and classroom indoor air quality: a survey of school teachers in New York State. Indoor Air 2015;25(4):371-380.	R834787 (2013) R834787 (2014) R834787 (2015) R834787 (Final) R835636 (2016) R835636 (2017)	Abstract from PubMed Abstract: Wiley-Abstract Exit Other: ResearchGate-Abstract Exit
Journal Article	Lin S, Jones R, Munsie JP, Nayak SG, Fitzgerald EF, Hwang SA. Childhood asthma and indoor allergen exposure and sensitization in Buffalo, New York. International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health 2012;215(3):297-305.	R834787 (2012) R834787 (2013) R834787 (2014) R834787 (2015) R834787 (Final)	Abstract from PubMed Full-text: ScienceDirect-Full Text HTML Exit Other: ScienceDirect-Full Text PDF Exit
Journal Article	Lin S, Kielb CL, Reddy AL, Chapman BR, Hwang S-A. Comparison of indoor air quality management strategies between the school and district levels in New York State. Journal of School Health 2012;82(3):139-146.	R834787 (2012) R834787 (2013) R834787 (2014) R834787 (2015) R834787 (Final)	Abstract from PubMed Full-text: Wiley-Full Text Exit Abstract: Wiley-Abstract Exit Other: ResearchGate-Abstract Exit
Journal Article	Lin S, Jones R, Pantea C, Ozkaynak H, Rao ST, Hwang S-A, Garcia VC. Impact of NO_x emissions reduction policy on hospitalizations for respiratory disease in New York State. Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology 2013;23(1):73-80.	R834787 (2012) R834787 (2013) R834787 (2014) R834787 (2015) R834787 (Final)	Abstract from PubMed Full-text: Nature Publishing-Full Text Exit Abstract: Nature Publishing-Abstract Exit Other: ResearchGate-Abstract Exit
Journal Article	Muscatiello N, McCarthy A, Kielb C, Hsu W-H, Hwang S-A, Lin S. Classroom conditions and CO2 concentrations and teacher health symptom reporting in 10 New York State schools. Indoor Air 2015;25(2):157-167.	R834787 (2013) R834787 (2014) R834787 (2015) R834787 (Final) R835636 (2016) R835636 (2017)	Abstract from PubMed Full-text: Wiley-Full Text HTML Exit Abstract: Wiley-Abstract Exit Other: Wiley-Full Text PDF Exit

Supplemental Keywords:

children, school-related hazards, public health tracking

Progress and Final Reports:

Original Abstract

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.