Grantee Research Project Results

2011 Progress Report: Novel Estimates of Pollutant Mixtures and Pediatric Health in Two Birth Cohorts

EPA Grant Number: R834799C003
Subproject: this is subproject number 003 , established and managed by the Center Director under grant R834799
(EPA does not fund or establish subprojects; EPA awards and manages the overall grant for this center).
Center: The Southeastern Center for Air Pollution and Epidemiology: Multiscale Measurements and Modeling of Mixtures
Center Director: Tolbert, Paige
Title: Novel Estimates of Pollutant Mixtures and Pediatric Health in Two Birth Cohorts
Investigators: Strickland, Matthew J , Russell, Armistead G. , Mulholland, James , Waller, Lance , Darrow, Lyndsey , Klein, Mitchel , Guensler, Randy , Davis, Robert , Liu, Yang
Current Investigators: Strickland, Matthew J , Russell, Armistead G. , Chang, Howard , Mulholland, James , Waller, Lance , Darrow, Lyndsey , Klein, Mitchel , Guensler, Randy , Liu, Yang
Institution: Emory University , Georgia Institute of Technology
Current Institution: Emory University , Georgia Institute of Technology , University of Nevada - Reno
EPA Project Officer: Chung, Serena
Project Period: January 1, 2011 through December 31, 2016
Project Period Covered by this Report: October 1, 2011 through September 30,2011
RFA: Clean Air Research Centers (2009) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Human Health , Air

Objective:

In utero and early life experiences affect physiological development and can influence sensitivity to environmental factors throughout life. In this Project, we will explore the interplay between certain early life events, characterizations of air pollutant mixtures developed as part of the Center’s Mixtures Characterization Toolkit, and a range of pediatric health outcomes using two large, population-based birth cohorts. One cohort consists of roughly 2.3 million Georgia birth records that have been geocoded and linked with pediatric emergency department visits by staff at the Georgia Department of Human Resources. Using this statewide birth cohort, we will investigate acute effects of air pollution mixtures on respiratory health outcomes and ear infections in children, and we will assess whether children who were born premature or low birth weight are more sensitive to ambient air pollutant concentrations than their counterparts. Further, we will use the statewide birth cohort to investigate whether ambient air pollutant mixtures during pregnancy are associated with the risk of preterm delivery or reduced birth weight. The second birth cohort is comprised of children who were members of the Kaiser Permanente Georgia Health Maintenance Organization in metropolitan Atlanta. In this birth cohort, where comprehensive medical and residential histories are available for each study subject, we will examine whether air pollutant mixtures during the first year of life are associated with the incidence of childhood asthma.

Progress Summary:

We have been successful in obtaining the health data for this project. In June 2011, we received individual-level birth data from 1994-2006 from the Office of Health Indicators and Policy, Georgia Division of Public Health. These statewide data have daily temporal resolution, are geocoded to the 2000 Census Block Group level, and have a longitudinal ID that can be linked to the emergency department data. In July 2011, we received individual-level pediatric emergency department data from the Georgia Hospital Association for 1999-2010. These data have daily temporal resolution and are geocoded to the ZIP code level. To this point, we have not used any of these data in air pollution analyses. Our focus has been to evaluate the quality of the data, create analytic datasets, describe the distribution of outcomes in space and time, etc.

Several different products from the Center’s Air Quality Core will be available for use in Project 3. Efforts have been made to collect all the air quality and emissions data from Georgia. Various receptor modeling approaches are under development using these Georgia data. Work on the consequences of measurement error in time-series studies (using data from Atlanta) is ongoing and includes both simulation-based work as well as theoretical work.

Future Activities:

Howard Chang will begin a faculty position in biostatistics in August 2011 and will work on many of the analytic issues inherent in Project 3, particularly those related to mixtures and to the use of modeled exposure estimates in the epidemiological models. We recruited a student (Chao Yu) to work closely with Center investigator Yang Liu to collect and analyze satellite data for the Air Quality Core and Project 3. We plan to do some empirical work characterizing mixtures that can be applied across the different Projects (including Project 3). We will create final, clean, ready-to-use datasets so that we will be ready to analyze the various air quality estimates when they become available.

Journal Articles on this Report : 2 Displayed | Download in RIS Format

Publications Views
Other subproject views:	All 91 publications	39 publications in selected types	All 37 journal articles
Other center views:	All 338 publications	139 publications in selected types	All 135 journal articles

Publications
Type	Citation	Sub Project	Document Sources
Journal Article	Goldman GT, Mulholland JA, Russell AG, Strickland MJ, Klein M, Waller LA, Tolbert PE. Impact of exposure measurement error in air pollution epidemiology: effect of error type in time-series studies. Environmental Health 2011;10:61 (11 pp.).	R834799 (2011) R834799 (2013) R834799 (2014) R834799 (2015) R834799 (2016) R834799 (Final) R834799C003 (2011) R834799C003 (2013) R834799C003 (2014) R834799C003 (2015) R834799C003 (Final) R834799C004 (2013) R834799C004 (2014) R834799C004 (2015) R834799C004 (Final) R829213 (Final) R833866 (Final)	Full-text from PubMed Abstract from PubMed Associated PubMed link Full-text: Springer-Full Text HTML Exit Other: Springer-Full Text PDF Exit
Journal Article	Strickland MJ, Darrow LA, Mulholland JA, Klein M, Flanders WD, Winquist A, Tolbert PE. Implications of different approaches for characterizing ambient air pollutant concentrations within the urban airshed for time-series studies and health benefits analyses. Environmental Health 2011;10:36 (9 pp.).	R834799 (2011) R834799 (2013) R834799 (2014) R834799 (2015) R834799 (2016) R834799 (Final) R834799C003 (2011) R834799C003 (2013) R834799C003 (2014) R834799C003 (2015) R834799C003 (Final) R834799C004 (2013) R834799C004 (2014) R834799C004 (2015) R834799C004 (Final) R829213 (Final)	Full-text from PubMed Abstract from PubMed Associated PubMed link Full-text: Environmental Health-Full Text HTML Exit Other: Environmental Health-Full Text PDF Exit

Supplemental Keywords:

ambient air, atmosphere, health effects, human health, susceptibility, vulnerability, sensitive populations, infants, children, risk, dose-response, cumulative effects, epidemiology, exposure, public policy, air quality modeling, monitoring, measurement methods, aerosol, particulates, PM2.5, organics, elemental carbon, metals, ozone, oxidants, PAH, sulfates, source characterization, mobile sources, Georgia, GA, Southeast, Scientific Discipline, Health, Health Risk Assessment, Risk Assessments, Environmental Monitoring, Biochemistry, Atmospheric Sciences, children's health, particulate matter, ambient air monitoring, climate change, air pollution, airshed modeling, ambient particle health effects, susceptibility, human health risk

Relevant Websites:

www.scape.gatech.edu Exit

Progress and Final Reports:

Original Abstract

Main Center Abstract and Reports:

R834799 The Southeastern Center for Air Pollution and Epidemiology: Multiscale Measurements and Modeling of Mixtures

Subprojects under this Center: (EPA does not fund or establish subprojects; EPA awards and manages the overall grant for this center).
R834799C001 Development and Deployment of an Instrumentation Suite for Comprehensive Air Quality Characterization Including Aerosol ROS
R834799C002 Examining In-Vehicle Pollution and Oxidative Stress in a Cohort of Daily Commuters
R834799C003 Novel Estimates of Pollutant Mixtures and Pediatric Health in Two Birth Cohorts
R834799C004 A Multi-City Time-Series Study of Pollutant Mixtures and Acute Morbidity

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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.