Grantee Research Project Results
2001 Progress Report: Health Effects of HAPs Among Inner Urban School Children
EPA Grant Number: R826789Title: Health Effects of HAPs Among Inner Urban School Children
Investigators: Greaves, Ian , Church, Timothy , Adgate, John L. , Ramachandran, Gurumurthy , Sexton, Ken
Institution: University of Minnesota
EPA Project Officer: Chung, Serena
Project Period: October 1, 1998 through September 30, 2001 (Extended to September 30, 2003)
Project Period Covered by this Report: October 1, 2000 through September 30, 2001
Project Amount: $633,044
RFA: Urban Air Toxics (1998) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Air Quality and Air Toxics , Air
Objective:
This study will: (1) determine whether inner urban, poor, minority children attending grades 2-5 in a new "environmentally safe" school have lower rates of respiratory illnesses and better learning outcomes than similar children attending a nearby older school; (2) determine whether biomarkers of exposure and health effects differ among children in the two schools; (3) model the relationships between biomarkers and health outcomes; (4) collect and analyze data on covariates and confounders; and (5) provide baseline data for a cohort who can be followed to see if childhood environmental exposures are associated with health problems in later life. Two null hypotheses will be tested: (1) the new school has no effect on health or learning outcomes among its students; and (2) biomarkers of exposure are unrelated to health or learning outcomes.
Progress Summary:
Data collection continued for a second year, with followup for those students who were still in the two schools. Students again were contacted in October 2000. A total of 49 of the original subjects plus 23 siblings were still enrolled at the Lyndale school and completed a follow-up questionnaire; this represented 69 percent of the original subjects selected, and 77 percent of original siblings. At the Whittier school, 58 of the original subjects (71 percent of the initial sample) and 13 siblings (62 percent) were still enrolled and completed a follow-up questionnaire. Blood and urine tests were repeated on these children in February-March 2001, and spirometry was repeated in March-April 2001. Finally, an end-of-year questionnaire was administered to all subjects and siblings still present at the two schools in June-August 2001. At the Lyndale school, this totaled to 47 of the original subjects plus 23 siblings, and at the Whittier school there were 55 original subjects plus 13 siblings.
Overall, for both schools combined, the followup questionnaires, urine and blood tests, and spirometry in fall 2000 were obtained from 70 percent of all original subjects (plus 71 percent of siblings), and in summer 2001, the corresponding rate was 67 percent of all original subjects (plus 71 percent of siblings). The decrease in participation was almost entirely a result of students leaving the schools, and the refusal rate among students still attending either school was less than 5 percent.
Data continued to be entered into electronic databases. Analyses have continued to look at data from the previous years that relate to smoking and measurements of urinary cotinine (a nicotine metabolite that reflects recent exposure to tobacco smoke) and NNK (a carcinogen in tobacco that is excreted in the urine and reflects more chronic exposures).
Future Activities:
Data entry and analysis will proceed. All health effects information has been collected, but key blood and urine specimens have yet to be analyzed. Statistical analyses and modeling will proceed through July 2001. Final reports and papers will be prepared and largely completed in August-September 2001.
Journal Articles on this Report : 2 Displayed | Download in RIS Format
| Other project views: | All 14 publications | 14 publications in selected types | All 14 journal articles |
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Hecht SS, Ye M, Carmella SG, Fredrickson A, Adgate JL, Greaves IA, Church TR, Ryan AD, Mongin SJ, Sexton K. Metabolites of a tobacco-specific lung carcinogen in the urine of elementary school-aged children. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention 2001;10(11):1109-1116. |
R826789 (2000) R826789 (2001) R826789 (2002) R826789 (Final) R825813 (2001) |
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Sexton K, Greaves IA, Church TR, Adgate JL, Ramachandran G, Tweedie RL, Fredrickson A, Geisser M, Sikorski M, Fischer G, Jones D, Ellringer P. A school-based strategy to assess children's environmental exposures and related health effects in economically disadvantaged urban neighborhoods. Journal of Exposure Analysis and Environmental Epidemiology 2000;10(6 Pt 2):682-694. |
R826789 (2000) R826789 (2001) R826789 (2002) R826789 (Final) R825813 (2000) R825813 (2001) |
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Supplemental Keywords:
school children, inner urban, low-income, indoor air pollution, heavy metals, volatile organic compounds, VOCs, tobacco smoke, allergies, questionnaires, blood tests, urine tests, lung function, spirometry, asthma, learning, minority groups, African-American, Hispanic, Asian, Cambodian, Somali., RFA, Health, Scientific Discipline, Air, Toxics, Geographic Area, Environmental Chemistry, Health Risk Assessment, air toxics, Epidemiology, State, VOCs, Risk Assessments, Susceptibility/Sensitive Population/Genetic Susceptibility, Biochemistry, Children's Health, indoor air, genetic susceptability, Ecology and Ecosystems, asthma, urban air, pesticide exposure, monitoring, ambient air quality, atmospheric, risk assessment, sensitive populations, urban air toxics, building related illness, emission inventory, urban monitoring sites, Minnesota, MN, air pollutants, biological sensitivities, infants, inner urban school children, lung, buildings, health risks, urban school children, airway disease, measuring childhood exposure, respiratory problems, ambient air, HAPS, hazardous air pollutants, pesticides, susceptible populations, exposure, Human Health Risk Assessment, air pollution, children, emissions, pulmonary toxicity, urban air pollutants, ethnic groups, assessment of exposure, childhood respiratory disease, children's vulnerablity, inhalation, human exposure, allergic, toxicity, pulmonary, sick building syndrome, urine and blood samples, environmental toxicant, harmful environmental agents, urban air pollution, inhaled, schools, biological markers, indoor air quality, human health, sensitive population, allergen, allergies, disease, Minneapolis-St.Paul Metropolitan area, respiratory, VOC sensitivity, air quality, autoimmunityProgress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe 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.