Grantee Research Project Results

2007 Progress Report: A Pilot Geospatial Analysis of Exposure to Air Pollutants (with Special Attention to Air Toxics) and Hospital Admissions in Harris County, Texas

EPA Grant Number: R828678C011
Subproject: this is subproject number 011 , established and managed by the Center Director under grant R824834
(EPA does not fund or establish subprojects; EPA awards and manages the overall grant for this center).
Center: Mickey Leland National Urban Air Toxics Research Center (NUATRC)
Center Director: Beskid, Craig
Title: A Pilot Geospatial Analysis of Exposure to Air Pollutants (with Special Attention to Air Toxics) and Hospital Admissions in Harris County, Texas
Investigators: Hamilton, William P.
Institution: Baylor College of Medicine
EPA Project Officer: Chung, Serena
Project Period: January 2, 2001 through December 31, 2005 (Extended to December 31, 2008)
Project Period Covered by this Report: January 2, 2006 through December 31, 2007
RFA: Targeted Research Center (2004) Recipients Lists
Research Category: Air Toxics , Hazardous Waste/Remediation , Targeted Research

Objective:

The investigators are testing the hypothesis that the rate of Harris County residents hospitalized during the study period differs geographically among the 337 4x4 km domains, and correlates with exposure to modeled air pollutants, even after adjusting for available individual and domain-specific demographic confounders. The investigators are using the USEPA’s Community Multiscale Air Quality with Air Toxics (CMAQ-AT) model to estimate pollutant concentrations, and ArcGIS (ESRI, Redlands, CA) geospatial modeling software to extract and/or combine the exposure, admissions, and demographic data for each of the domains for subsequent analysis. SAS 9.1.2 (SAS Institute, Cary, NC) is the primary statistical software being used.

Background:

This is an ongoing approved research project under the NUATRC’s Small Grants Program. A two year research contract was signed between NUATRC and Baylor College of Medicine on April 29, 2005. Baylor College of Medicine Environmental Health Section (BCM-EHS) is collaborating on the project with the University of Texas School of Public Health (UTSPH) and the University of Houston Institute of Multidimensional Air Quality Studies (UH-IMAQS).

Preliminary Findings:

Patient-level hospital admission data was geo-addressed (86.3% of the 108,257 admissions) to residential addresses. After adjusting for low-population cells, age-adjusted admission rates by discharge diagnosis were calculated for males and females for each cell. Additional demographic information was obtained from Census 2000 data. Principal components analysis, comparison with observed concentrations, and various pollution averaging schema were also examined.

Progress Summary:

NUATRC received the Draft Final Report on September 20, 2007. The SAP reviewed the report at their meeting in October 2007. They acknowledged that a lot of work had gone into developing the data set as well as the report, but they felt that the report as presented has some serious limitations that must be addressed before it can be submitted for external peer review. Although no new model predictions or admissions data are needed, they felt that the report should be refocused on explaining the conceptual framework of the study, and should emphasize its pilot nature. The SAP’s concerns were communicated the investigators.

Future Activities:

A revised Draft Final Report is April 2008. If the SAP approves the next draft of the report, it will then undergo external review, and a final edit. We expect to publish the report by the fall of 2008.

Supplemental Keywords:

Health, RFA, Scientific Discipline, Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, PHYSICAL ASPECTS, Geographic Area, HUMAN HEALTH, Aquatic Ecosystem, Aquatic Ecosystems & Estuarine Research, Health Risk Assessment, Physical Processes, Risk Assessments, State, Biochemistry, Health Effects, Genetics, respiratory disease, asthma, urban environment, water quality, human exposure, particulate matter, morbidity, adolescents, exposure, cigarette smoke, ozone, air pollution, airborne urban contaminants, environmental tobacco smoke, human health risk, airway disease, allergic airway disease

Progress and Final Reports:

Original Abstract

Main Center Abstract and Reports:

R824834 Mickey Leland National Urban Air Toxics Research Center (NUATRC)

Subprojects under this Center: (EPA does not fund or establish subprojects; EPA awards and manages the overall grant for this center).
R824834C001 Air Toxics Exposures Among Teenagers in New York City and Los Angeles - A Columbia-Harvard Study (TEACH)
R824834C002 Cardiopulmonary Response to Particulate Exposure
R824834C003 VOC Exposure in an Industry Impacted Community
R824834C004 A Study of Personal Exposure to Air Toxics Among a Subset of the Residential U.S. Population (VOC Project)
R824834C005 Methods Development Project for a Study of Personal Exposures to Toxic Air Pollutants
R824834C006 Relationship Between Indoor, Outdoor and Personal Air (RIOPA)
R824834C007 Development of the "Leland Legacy" Air Sampling Pump
R824834C008 Source Apportionment of Indoor Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Urban Residences
R824834C009 Development of a Personal Cascade Impactor Sampler (PCIS)
R824834C010 Testing the Metals Hypothesis in Spokane
R828678C001 Air Toxics Exposures Among Teenagers in New York City and Los Angeles—A Columbia-Harvard Study (TEACH)
R828678C002 Cardiopulmonary Effects of Metal-Containing Particulate Exposure
R828678C003 VOC Exposure in an Industry Impacted Community
R828678C004 A Study of Personal Exposure to Air Toxics Among a Subset of the Residential U.S. Population (VOC Project)
R828678C005 Oxygenated Urban Air Toxics and Asthma Variability in Middle School Children: A Panel Study (ATAC–Air Toxics and Asthma in Children)
R828678C006 Relationship between Indoor, Outdoor and Personal Air (RIOPA). Part II: Analyses of Concentrations of Particulate Matter Species
R828678C007 Development of the “Leland Legacy” Air Sampling Pump
R828678C008 Source Apportionment of Indoor PAHs in Urban Residences 98-03B
R828678C009 Development of a Personal Cascade Impactor Sampler (PCIS)
R828678C010 Testing the Metals Hypothesis in Spokane
R828678C011 A Pilot Geospatial Analysis of Exposure to Air Pollutants (with Special Attention to Air Toxics) and Hospital Admissions in Harris County, Texas
R828678C012 Impact of Exposure to Urban Air Toxics on Asthma Utilization for the Pediatric Medicaid Population in Dearborn, Michigan
R828678C013 Field Validation of the Sioutas Sampler and Leland Legacy Pump – Joint Project with EPA’s Environmental Technology Validation Program (ETV)
R828678C014 Performance Evaluation of the 3M Charcoal Vapor Monitor for Monitor Low Ambient Concentrations of VOCs
R828678C015 RIOPA Database Development
R828678C016 Contributions of Outdoor PM Sources to Indoor and Personal Exposures: Analysis of PM Species Concentrations” Focused on the PM Speciation and Apportioning of Sources
R828678C017 The Short and Long-Term Respiratory Effects of Exposure to PAHs from Traffic in a Cohort of Asthmatic Children

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