By Haneen Kreis, Raed Alotaibi, Jennifer Horney, Rob McConnell
Annals of Epidemiology
2021
Burden of disease (BoD) assessments typically rely on national-level incidence rates for the health outcomes of interest. The impact of using a constant national-level incidence rate, versus a more granular spatially varying rate, remains unknown and understudied in the literature. There has been an increasing number of publications estimating the BoD of childhood asthma attributable to air pollution, as emerging evidence demonstrates that traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) leads to onset of the disease. In this study, we estimated the burden of incident childhood asthma cases which may be attributable to nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a criteria pollutant and a good marker of TRAP, in the contiguous United States. We used both a national-level and newly generated state-specific asthma incidence rates and compared results from the two approaches.
By Rob McConnell et al.
Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association
2021
Exposure to traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) in the near-roadway environment is associated with multiple adverse health effects. To characterize the relative contribution of tailpipe and non-tailpipe TRAP sources to particulate matter (PM) in the quasi-ultrafine (PM0.2), fine (PM2.5) and coarse (PM2.5–10) size fractions and identify their spatial determinants in southern California (CA). Month-long integrated PM0.2, PM2.5 and PM2.5–10 samples (n = 461, 265 and 298, respectively) were collected across cool and warm seasons in 8 southern CA communities (2008–9). Concentrations of PM mass, elements, carbons and major ions were obtained. Enrichment ratios (ER) in PM0.2 and PM10 relative to PM2.5 were calculated for each element. The Positive Matrix Factorization model was used to resolve and estimate the relative contribution of TRAP sources to PM in three size fractions. Generalized additive models (GAMs) with bivariate loess smooths were used to understand the geographic variation of TRAP sources and identify their spatial determinants. EC, OC, and B had the highest median ER in PM0.2 relative to PM2.5. Six, seven and five sources (with characteristic species) were resolved in PM0.2, PM2.5 and PM2.5–10, respectively. Combined tailpipe and non-tailpipe traffic sources contributed 66%, 32% and 18% of PM0.2, PM2.5 and PM2.5–10 mass, respectively. Tailpipe traffic emissions (EC, OC, B) were the largest contributor to PM0.2 mass (58%). Distinct gasoline and diesel tailpipe traffic sources were resolved in PM2.5. Others included fuel oil, biomass burning, secondary inorganic aerosol, sea salt, and crustal/soil. CALINE4 dispersion model nitrogen oxides, trucks and intersections were most correlated with TRAP sources. The influence of smaller roadways and intersections became more apparent once Long Beach was excluded. Non-tailpipe emissions constituted ~8%, 11% and 18% of PM0.2, PM2.5 and PM2.5–10, respectively, with important exposure and health implications. Future efforts should consider non-linear relationships amongst predictors when modeling exposures.
By Rob McConnell et al.
European Respiratory Journal
2021
Air pollution is ubiquitous and is responsible for noticeable acute and chronic adverse health effects [1]. Heart diseases and stroke are the most common reasons for morbidity and mortality attributable to air pollution, followed by respiratory diseases, but recently other pathologies have been added to the list. Additionally, air pollution contributes to climate change, another threat to public health.
By Adam Rose, Dan Wei
The Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Program is an innovative financing approach to meeting environmental goals. PACE financing is structured as an assessment to the property and paid along with the property tax bill. In addition to the direct environmental benefits, it also yields co-benefits of enhanced economic output and employment. This paper estimates the economic impacts of PACE in California by one of its major financing companies. These impacts include direct spending on structural improvements, reduction in spending on centralized power and water services, reallocation of spending from energy and water bills savings, and solar investment tax credits, among others. It also includes general equilibrium effects of these various factors. Our results indicate PACE financing yields sizable economic benefits. At the same time, the increased economic activity results in increased energy and water use that partially offsets some of the direct environmental gains. Furthermore, PACE has been subject to criticism because it gives financing companies the first lien on mortgages and because of anecdotal examples of some customers being lured by unscrupulous contractors. The direct environmental benefits and economic co-benefits of PACE should be factored into the policy debate over whether the Program should be further expanded or regulated.
By Andrew T. Marshall, Samantha Betts, Eric C. Kan, Rob McConnell, Bruce P. Lanphear, Elizabeth R. Sowell
Socioeconomic factors influence brain development and structure, but most studies have overlooked neurotoxic insults that impair development, such as lead exposure. Childhood lead exposure affects cognitive development at the lowest measurable concentrations, but little is known about its impact on brain development during childhood. We examined cross-sectional associations among brain structure, cognition, geocoded measures of the risk of lead exposure and sociodemographic characteristics in 9,712 9- and 10-year-old children. Here we show stronger negative associations of living in high-lead-risk census tracts in children from lower- versus higher-income families. With increasing risk of exposure, children from lower-income families exhibited lower cognitive test scores, smaller cortical volume and smaller cortical surface area. Reducing environmental insults associated with lead-exposure risk might confer greater benefit to children experiencing more environmental adversity, and further understanding of the factors associated with high lead-exposure risk will be critical for improving such outcomes in children.
By James D. Campbell, Amer Melebari, Mahta Moghaddam
IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing
2020
A method for simulating delay-Doppler maps (DDMs) of global navigation satellite system signals reflected from land surfaces with heterogeneous terrain is developed from first principles. The method follows previous work for ocean DDMs in the geometric optics limit of the Kirchhoff approximation. Unlike the ocean method, however, where surface heights are assumed to be random with homogeneous statistics, this method decomposes the surface heights into a deterministic part obtained from a digital elevation map (DEM) and a random part representing the residual between the surface and the DEM. The method accounts for the displacement of reflected power into bins of lower delay due to raised surface terrain. The method also provides for the modulation of the normalized bistatic radar cross section by DEM-derived surface slopes over the glistening zone of the DDM. A technique to register Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) DDM bins in delay-Doppler space for land applications is also proposed. The DEM-based method is applied to a CYGNSS track over the Soil Moisture Sensing Controller And oPtimal Estimator (SoilSCAPE) site at Tonzi Ranch, CA, USA. The DEM-based method has potential application for spaceborne monitoring of a variety of environmental parameters.
By Rob McConnell et al.
New England Journal of Medicine
2020
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposes to retain the current National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for fine particulate matter (particles with a diameter of ≤2.5 μm [PM2.5]) — that is, levels not exceeding an annual average of 12 μg per cubic meter and a 24-hour average of 35 μg per cubic meter.1 The current NAAQS were set in 2012 on the basis of a scientific review that was largely completed in 2010.2 At that time, available epidemiologic evidence, supported by toxicologic evidence and a risk assessment conducted by EPA staff, indicated that annual exposure to PM2.5 caused premature death at ambient concentrations as low as 11 μg per cubic meter. However, on the basis of more recent evidence, as described below, exposure to ambient PM2.5 at the levels of the current standards is estimated by the EPA to be responsible for tens of thousands of premature deaths in the United States each year.
By Gale M. Sinatra, Doug Lombardi
Educational Psychologist
2020
When individuals have questions about scientific issues, they often search the Internet. Evaluating sources of information and claims they find has become more difficult in the post-truth era. Students are often taught source evaluation techniques, but the proliferation of “fake news” has resulted in a misinformation arms race. As searchers get more sophisticated identifying misleading information, so do purveyors of information who intend to mislead. We draw on a theoretical model of plausibility judgments and current theory and research in source evaluation to suggest that the post-truth era elevates the need for critical evaluation of online information about scientific issues. We argue that explicitly reappraising plausibility judgments may be a crucial addition to evaluating the connections between sources of information and knowledge claims. Individuals who search for and read a scientific article online should ask themselves: Is this explanation plausible, and how do I know?
