Grantee Research Project Results
Understanding Pediatric Susceptibility Across Temperature and Environment in New York (UPStATE NY)
EPA Grant Number: R840472Title: Understanding Pediatric Susceptibility Across Temperature and Environment in New York (UPStATE NY)
Investigators: Clougherty, Jane E. , Sheffield, Perry E , Schinasi, Leah H , Kinnee, Ellen J , Just, Allan C
Institution: Drexel University , Mount Sinai School of Medicine , University of Pittsburgh
Current Institution: Drexel University , University of Pittsburgh , Mount Sinai School of Medicine
EPA Project Officer: Hahn, Intaek
Project Period: September 1, 2022 through May 12, 2025
Project Amount: $1,350,000
RFA: Cumulative Health Impacts at the Intersection of Climate Change, Environmental Justice, and Vulnerable Populations/Lifestages: Community-Based Research for Solutions (2021) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Watersheds , Endocrine Disruptors , Environmental Justice , Human Health
Objective:
We aim to identify community stressors and resilience-enhancing assets that shape relationships between climate change-related exposures [heat, ozone (O3), fine particulate matter (PM2.5)] and child health. We are particularly interested in assets which may bolster children’s resilience to climate-related exposures in environmental justice (EJ) communities across Upstate NY. We hypothesize that: (1) Many communities with high social stressors (e.g., poverty) also have health-promoting assets (e.g., greenspace). (2) Health-relevant stressors and assets differ in urban vs. non-urban settings; (3) Some community assets may buffer stressor-related susceptibilities to pollution and heat.
Approach:
We will work with Upstate EJ and climate partners to prioritize stressors and assets – partners include the Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units (PEHSU), the only-in-the-nation statewide Children’s Environmental Health Centers (NYSCHECK) network, and community and government partners. We leverage complete patient-level data on all child (age 0-17) emergency department visits and hospitalizations in Upstate NY over 2005-20 from the Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System (SPARCS) (n~7,026,000), examine stressors identified by the NYS DEC Climate Justice Working Group, and apply the Resilience Activation Framework, which organizes assets in five domains (human, economic, social, political, environmental capital). We will generate daily fine-scale exposure estimates for heat, O3, and PM2.5, and examine variation in exposure-health relationships using case-crossover methods, which inherently adjust for confounding by focusing on within-patient changes over time. Finally, we will apply climate projections to estimate impacts under varying emissions scenarios, and, with partners, integrate findings into local and state climate adaptation and pediatric clinical initiatives.
Expected Results:
Our study will identify community stressors and assets shown to exacerbate or buffers impacts of climate-driven exposures on child health across diverse Upstate NYS. It will produce indicators and maps of critical stressors and assets, and provide partners with evidence that tailored investments in environmental justice communities today can alleviate current and future climate impacts on child health.
Publications and Presentations:
Publications have been submitted on this project: View all 8 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
Resilience, assets, community stressors, non-chemical stressors, child health, healthcare utilization, climate change, temperature, heat, ozone, PM2.5
Progress and Final Reports:
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.