Background: Epidemiological studies suggest that increased ozone exposure during gestation may compromise fetal growth. The implantation stage of pregnancy, in particular, is considered a key window of susceptibility for this outcome. Objectives: The main goal of this study was t...

BACKGROUND: Wildfire smoke is known to exacerbate respiratory conditions; however, evidence for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events has been inconsistent, despite biological plausibility. METHODS AND RESULTS: A population-based epidemiologic analysis was conducted for dail...

This study describes the effects of inhaled acrolein on the cardiac function of normal and TRPA1 knockout mice. The data suggest that cardiac autonomic imbalance and arrhythmia due to exposure are mediated by TRPA1, an irritant sensor, and subsequent autonomic changes that render...

Background, studies have linked exposure to ultrafine particulate matter (PM) and adverse cardiovascular events. PM-induced oxidative stress is believed to be a key mechanism of adverse vascular effects. Advanced age is one factor known to decrease anti-oxidant defense and conf...

Background. In 1997 the Environmental Protection Agency set the first annual National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for fine particulate matter (PM2.5). Although the weight of scientific evidence has determined that a causal relationship exists between PM2.5 exposures and...

This report presents multiple lines of inquiry focused on improving the public’s use of ecosystem goods and services (EGS) concepts, data, and tools for addressing environmental, social, and economic problems. The case studies and data tools and models in the report highlig...

Presentation to be given at the Annual UNC Water Microbiology Meeting.

The field of toxicology has struggled with rapidly and efficiently integrating technological and computational advances into decision making due to the potential public health and regulatory implications of the underlying science. Over the past ten years, these technologies and a...

Water infrastructure simulation models, such as EPANET and SWMM, have played a significant role in simulating water distribution, stormwater and sanitary sewer systems. These software packages have played an important, and varying, role to different portions of the water infrast...

Recent studies showed that the circulating stress hormones, epinephrine and corticosterone/cortisol, are involved in mediating ozone-induced pulmonary effects through the activation of the sympathetic-adrenal-medullary (SAM) and hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axes. Hence, w...

Lead exposure is associated with a variety of harmful effects in both children and adults, including adverse neurological, cardiovascular, kidney, developmental, and reproductive outcomes. Scientific evidence indicates that exposure to even small amounts of lead can be harmful to...

BACKGROUND: The increasing size and frequency of wildland fires are leading to greater potential for cardiopulmonary disease and cancer in exposed populations, however little is known on how the types of fuel and combustion phases affect these adverse outcomes. OBJECTIVES: We e...

In order to reduce reliance on resource-intensive animal toxicity testing that supports human and ecological health risk assessment, public health agencies are relying more on alternative test methods and strategies to assess risks of injury to health that arise from exposures to...

Over the past five years, a dramatic shift has taken place in how air pollution is measured, understood, and communicated. Until recently, air pollution was measured in fairly few places and conducted by highly trained specialists, with data reported to government databases. In t...

Purpose of review: PURPOSE OF REVIEW: DNA methylation-based aging biomarkers are valuable tools for evaluating the aging process from a molecular perspective. These epigenetic aging biomarkers can be evaluated across the lifespan and are tissue specific. This review examines the ...

Abstract Anthropogenic chemicals have been proposed as potential markers of human fecal contamination in recreational water. However, to date, there are no published studies describing their relationships with illness risks. Using a cohort of swimmers at seven U.S. beaches, we e...

Human biomonitoring is the foundation of environmental toxicology, community public health evaluation, pre-­‐clinical health effects assessments, pharmacological drug development and testing, and medical diagnostics. Within this framework, the intra-­‐class co...

Exhaled breath condensate (EBC) and associated exhaled breath aerosols (EBA) are valuable non-invasive biological media used for the quantification of biomarkers. EBC contains exhaled water vapor, soluble gas-phase (polar) organic compounds, ionic species, plus other species inc...

Introduction: High levels of arsenic in drinking water (≥100 µg/L) have consistently been associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD). Growing evidence supports a link with arsenic at low-moderate levels (<100 µg/L). Our objective was to examine the dose-response relationship be...

The EPA is developing an application named DISC (Decisions Integration for Strong Communities) to assist communities in meeting their coordinated economic, social, and environmental goals. We are conducting research to help determine the usefulness of this tool for smaller commun...

The American Lung Association is sponsoring a webinar titled &ldquo;Protecting Lung Health During the Wildfire Season&rdquo; which will focus on Western US states who are presently be impacted by nearly 100 wildfires. Within the broader webinar Dr. Wayne Cascio will make a presen...

Abstract Water vapor in expired air, as well as dispersed non-volatile components, condense onto a cooler surface after exiting the respiratory tract. This exhaled breath condensate (EBC) provides a dilute sampling of the epithelial lining fluid. Accordingly, the collection of ...

In August 2013, EPA released the draft literature searches and associated search strategies, evidence tables, and exposure response arrays for RDX to obtain input from stakeholders and the public prior to developing the draft IRIS assessment. Specifically, EPA was interested in c...

Report—Exposure estimates were performed to rank the various livestock carcass management options relative to one another for a hypothetical site and mortality scenario from a potential biological incident. Assessment included an ordinal scale ranking (ranking of individual condi...

BACKGROUND: Fecal indicator bacteria used to assess illness risks in recreational waters (e.g., Escherichia coli, Enterococci) cannot discriminate among pollution sources. To address this limitation, human-associated Bacteroides markers have been proposed, but the risk of illness...