The Salton Sea and Children's Health: Assessing Imperial Valley Respiratory Health and the Environment

摘要 在美国西南部，以风吹尘埃形式存在的颗粒物(PM)正在成为一种 日益普遍地暴露出对公共卫生的担忧。不断变化的天气模式、干旱和竞争 水的需求正在戏剧性地改变地貌，并创造有利于生产 风吹沙尘和沙尘暴。在加利福尼亚州，这些因素正在导致索尔顿河的迅速萎缩 海，一个350平方英里的内陆“海”，位于东南农村边境地区附近，被称为 帝国谷。一项区域调水协议将加速海的干涸，预计 大片湖床将暴露在外，留下含有有毒物质的高排放盐层 金属、杀虫剂和其他可能有害的污染物。因此，预计该地区将 经历了风尘的急剧增加，现有的研究表明， 为这个以低收入为主的墨西哥裔美国人社区的附近居民提供健康和生活质量。 这项研究的总体目标是发展社区-学术合作伙伴关系，以确定对健康的影响 关于儿童时期暴露在风吹来的PM中的信息，并为帝国谷的公共卫生行动提供信息。有一个 迫切需要了解海洋萎缩对呼吸和其他健康的影响，因为人们对此知之甚少 长期暴露在风吹的PM中是否与呼吸道疾病或损害的发展有关 随着时间的推移，特别是在弱势群体中。在与学术和州政府合作伙伴的合作下，当地的 社区组织Comite Civico del Valle(CCV)开发了最大的社区空气监测 全国范围内的沙尘网络，其独特的地理位置可用于测量和识别帝国的局部沙尘事件 山谷。我们将利用这一独特的空气监测资源，结合社区参与的流行病学 了解索尔顿海的快速干燥将如何影响当地的PM水平和影响 使用呼出的生物标记物随时间推移对儿童呼吸道健康和相关特应性状况的影响。结果是 这项工作将与社会分享，以增加教师和家长采取措施的能力 以减少学校、家庭和社区的暴露。我们的工作将提供一个机会来建立证据 提高社区卫生工作者和卫生保健专业人员环境健康素养的基地 并传达这项研究的关键发现。这项研究将建立一个新的证据基础来评估 风吹PM对儿童健康的影响及通过参与式研究，提升帝国的能力 山谷社区应对预期的快速干旱对环境和公共健康的影响 附近的索尔顿海。

ABSTRACT Across the southwestern US, particulate matter (PM) in the form of wind-blown dust is emerging as an increasingly prevalent exposure of public health concern. Changing weather patterns, droughts and competing water demands are dramatically altering the landscape and creating conditions conducive to the production of wind-blown dust and dust storms. In California, such factors are leading to the rapid shrinking of the Salton Sea, a 350-square mile land-locked “sea” situated near the southeastern rural border region known as the Imperial Valley. A regional water transfer agreement will accelerate the Sea’s drying and it is anticipated that large swaths of the lakebed will become exposed, leaving behind highly emissive salt flats containing toxic metals, pesticides, and other potentially harmful contaminants. As a result, the region is anticipated to experience a dramatic increase in wind-blown dust and existing studies suggest a significant impact on the health and quality of life for nearby residents of this predominantly low-income, Mexican-American community. The overall goal of this study is to develop a community-academic partnership to determine the health effects of childhood exposures to wind-blown PM and inform public health action in the Imperial Valley. There is an urgent need to understand the respiratory and other health effects of the shrinking Sea as little is known about whether chronic exposure to wind-blown PM is linked to the development of respiratory disease or impairment over time, especially in vulnerable populations. In collaboration with both academic and state partners, a local community organization, Comite Civico del Valle (CCV), has developed the largest community air monitoring network in the country and is uniquely situated to measure and identify localized dust events in the Imperial Valley. We will leverage this unique air monitoring resource coupled with community-engaged epidemiological approach to understand how the rapid drying of the Salton Sea will impact local levels of PM and affect children’s respiratory health and related atopic conditions over time using exhaled biomarkers. The results of this work will be shared with the community to increase the capacity of teachers and parents to take measures to reduce school, home and community exposures. Our work will provide an opportunity to build an evidence base to increase the environmental health literacy of community health workers and health care professionals and communicate key findings of the study. This study will build a novel base of evidence to assess impacts of wind-blown PM on children’s health and through participatory research, enhance the capacity of the Imperial Valley community to address the environmental and public health impacts of the anticipated rapid desiccation of the nearby Salton Sea.