Air Pollution Impacts on Cardiopulmonary Disease in Beijing: An integrated study of Exposure Science, Toxicogenomics and Environmental Epidemiology

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This proposal aims to do a comprehensive evaluation of air pollution health impacts on cardiopulmonary health through integration of exposure, epidemiology, and toxicology/toxicogenomic studies. We will do detailed assessments of people's exposure to air pollution, estimating exposures for long- and short-term epidemiological analyses, and linking these to epidemiological analyses of long term health impacts based on a cohort study, short-term effects (i.e. biomarkers, blood pressure, heart rhythm, peak flow) based on a panel study, and early life effects based on a birth cohort. Additionally, we test the effect of reducing exposure to fine particles, but not gases, by designing an intervention study where volunteers will wear a face mask and examining the exposure-response relationship for the same short-term effects we evaluate in the panel study. The short-term physiological measurements we conduct in the epidemiological studies will provide insight into the mechanisms by which air pollutions affects cardiopulmonary health. To complement the human based studies into mechanisms of action, our project will also conduct extensive in vivo analyses of mechanistic effects, and early life toxicogenomics/metabonomics. Finally, we will provide practical advice to stakeholders based on our study findings, by assessing the potential value of selected strategies for control of exposure to outdoor health protection in a health risk assessment.