Grantee Research Project Results

2007 Progress Report: The Short and Long-Term Respiratory Effects of Exposure to PAHs from Traffic in a Cohort of Asthmatic Children

EPA Grant Number: R828678C017
Subproject: this is subproject number 017 , 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: Center for Integrative Research on Childhood Leukemia and the Environment - 2015
Center Director: Metayer, Catherine
Title: The Short and Long-Term Respiratory Effects of Exposure to PAHs from Traffic in a Cohort of Asthmatic Children
Investigators: Hammond, S. Katharine
Institution: University of California - Berkeley
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: Targeted Research

Objective:

The investigators are studying the relationship between exposure to vehicular polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and the short- and long-term respiratory effects on children who have well-characterized asthma. This research will complement an on-going study of 302 children with asthma, ages 6-11 at intake, in Fresno, CA, who are already recruited and for whom voluminous health and exposure data are available (the Fresno Asthmatic Children’s Environment Study-FACES). The investigators will test the following hypothesis:

Acute exposure to PAHs leads to acute increases in symptoms, increased medication use, and lung function declines. These adverse reactions to acute PAH exposures, when recurrent over 3-5 years, have the cumulative effects of more severe asthma and reduced lung function growth.

The investigators plan innovative approaches both to develop the exposure metrics and to conduct the epidemiologic analyses. The innovative exposure metric itself has two parts: first, the development of the underlying dataset of PAHs measured in two media, ambient air and pine needles, and secondly, the development of a model. FACES has been collecting data for 5 years under the sponsorship of the California Air Resources Board, and an R01 NIH proposal to extend the program for another 4.5 year recently received an excellent priority score (3.6 percentile), so the investigators have high hopes for continued funding.

Project Background:

This project was funded under the RFA 2005-01: Proximity to Vehicular Traffic, Exposures to Air Toxics and Non Cancer Health Effects, which was released in January of 2005. A three-year contract was signed September 2006 with the University of Berkeley for this project.

Progress Summary:

The first project report was received in February 2007, as well as a QA/QC plan. In this report, the PI indicated that they received approval from the UC Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects. She also reported that they had developed analytical methods to extract PAHs from pine needles and to analyze extract for PAHs; developed a protocol for collection of pine needles; and, chosen the sites from which to collect pine needles at one point in time. Significant progress had been made on analyzing the samples, which had already been collected during the year February 6, 2002 – February 7, 2003 outside the homes of 80 FACES participants spatially distributed throughout Fresno. The SAP had several comments and asked for clarification on many points. Dr. Hammond provided an extensive response, which the SAP found to be satisfactory. Included in the response was a communication plan which has been approved by the SAP.

Dr. Hammond’s 10-month progress report was due July 1, 2007, but she requested (and was granted) an extension until September 1. In this report, the PI indicated that they had collected 120 pine needles from the sample sites; these samples remain to be analyzed. For a pilot study, they also collected and analyzed pine needles from 5 disperse locations in Fresno; these samples have been extracted and analyzed. The PAHs on these pine needles showed a significant spatial variation. Analyses of the PAHs in ambient air collected in 2002-2003 showed significant temporal and seasonal variability. The spatial variability of PAHs was dramatic. The team has begun to develop temporal and spatial models. The SAP reviewed this progress report at their October 2007 meeting. They felt that the research team has shown good progress, but asked that Dr. Hammond clarify some of the data presented in the report. No response has been received to date.

The next progress report is due in February 2008.

Journal Articles:

No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 4 publications for this subproject

Supplemental Keywords:

RFA, Health, Air, Scientific Discipline, PHYSICAL ASPECTS, HUMAN HEALTH, Susceptibility/Sensitive Population/Genetic Susceptibility, Health Risk Assessment, Physical Processes, Risk Assessments, particulate matter, genetic susceptability, Environmental Chemistry, Exposure, Epidemiology, air toxics, inhaled, air quality, environmental hazard exposures, inhaled pollutants, sensitive populations, fine particles, lung inflammation, long term exposure, acute lung injury, human exposure, mortality, cardiopulmonary responses, particulate exposure, National Cohort Studies, morbidity, Acute health effects, copollutant exposures, cardiac arrest, cardiotoxicity, acute exposure, chronic health effects, susceptible subpopulations, air contaminant exposure, toxics, atmospheric particulate matter, air pollution, human susceptibility, acute cardiovascular effects, airborne urban contaminants, cardiovascular disease, cardiopulmonary, human health risk, time series analysis, PM 2.5

Relevant Websites:

http://www.sph.uth.tmc.edu/mleland/ Exit

Progress and Final Reports:

Original Abstract

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

Final Report

Main Center Abstract and Reports:

R824834    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).
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