Traffic-Related Particle Exposures Among NYC Youths

描述(由申请人提供)： 汽车废气(尤其是柴油)对呼吸健康的影响是 曼哈顿北部和南部社区居民的主要关切 纽约市布朗克斯区。虽然负面影响的存在似乎是显而易见的 对于居民和健康科学家来说，令人惊讶的是几乎没有数据 可用来牢固地建立这种联系。一个主要的科学障碍是 进一步的洞察是围绕着人类接触柴油和 社区和个人层面的其他车辆尾气排放。建议数 研究将通过1)测量环境浓度来解决这些不确定性 黑碳(BC)、PM2.5和痕量元素的含量 纽约市大都市区，其中三个代表了柴油在 哈莱姆区和南布朗克斯区，其中一个位于上风向郊区 社区，检验BC浓度将呈现梯度的假设 作为当地柴油交通密度的函数跨越学校；2)评估 每所学校300名学生的基线呼吸道健康状况，以及 跟踪一组40名学生的日常症状，检验假设 日常症状与每日BC浓度有关；3)在以下几个子集中 每所学校20名学生，描述个人接触BC、PM2.5和 与交通相关的金属，并确定暴露的相对重要性 发生在家中，在学校里，在通勤时，在个人BC 曝光；4)协助参与的学校实施社区空气 使用目前正在开发的材料的污染测量课程和 由西哈莱姆环境行动组织和NIEHS联合测试；5)与 社区实习生，进行专门研究以收集交通流量计数和 与大流量道路、公共汽车站、 以及不同的通勤模式。这项由社区驱动的研究应该扩大 我们对城市交通源与城市交通关系的理解 生活在中国的年轻人对车辆相关颗粒物的个人暴露 在曼哈顿北部的城市核心社区和 南布朗克斯。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The impact of vehicle exhaust (especially diesel) on respiratory health is a major concern of community residents of Northern Manhattan and the South Bronx, New York City. While the existence of adverse impacts appears obvious both to residents and health scientists, surprisingly little data are available to firmly establish this linkage. A principal scientific barrier to further insights is the uncertainty surrounding human exposure to diesel and other vehicle exhaust at the community and individual levels. The proposed study will address these uncertainties by 1) measuring ambient concentrations of black carbon (BC), PM2.5, and trace elements at four high schools in the NYC metropolitan area, three of which represent a range of diesel impacts in Harlem and the South Bronx, and one of which is located in an upwind, suburban community, testing the hypothesis that BC concentrations will show a gradient across schools as a function of local diesel traffic density; 2) assess baseline respiratory health status among 300 students at each school, and follow a subset of 40 students for daily symptoms, testing the hypothesis that daily symptoms are associated with daily BC concentrations; 3) in a subset of 20 students at each school, characterize personal exposures to BC, PM2.5, and traffic-related metals, and determine the relative importance of exposures occurring at home, at school, and while commuting in total personal BC exposures; 4) assist participating schools to implement a community air pollution measurement curriculum using materials currently being developed and tested jointly by West Harlem Environmental Action and NIEHS; 5) working with community interns, carry out special studies to collect traffic counts and airborne particle samples associated with high-volume roadways, bus depots, and alternative commuting patterns. This community-driven study should expand our understanding of the relationships between urban traffic sources and personal exposures to vehicle-related particles among young people living and going to school in urban core neighborhoods of Northern Manhattan and the South Bronx.