Traffic-Related Particle Exposures Among NYC Youths

描述（由申请人提供）： 汽车废气（特别是柴油）对呼吸系统健康的影响是一个 这是北方曼哈顿和南方社区居民最关心的问题 布朗克斯，纽约市。 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， 可以牢固地建立这种联系。 一个主要的科学障碍， 进一步的见解是围绕人类接触柴油的不确定性， 其他车辆废气在社区和个人层面。 拟议 研究将通过以下方式解决这些不确定性：1）测量环境浓度 黑碳（BC），PM2.5和微量元素在四所高中， 纽约大都会地区，其中三个代表了一系列柴油影响， 哈莱姆和南布朗克斯，其中一个位于上风，郊区 社区，测试假设，BC浓度将显示梯度 2）评估学校之间的柴油交通密度; 每所学校300名学生的基线呼吸健康状况，以及 跟踪40名学生的日常症状，测试假设， 每日症状与每日BC浓度相关; 3）在 每个学校20名学生，描述个人暴露于BC，PM2.5， 与交通有关的金属，并确定暴露的相对重要性 发生在家里，在学校，而通勤在总个人BC 4）协助参与学校推行社区空气质素改善计划， 污染测量课程使用目前正在开发的材料， 由西哈莱姆环境行动和NIEHS联合测试; 5）与 社区实习生，进行特别研究，收集交通计数， 与高流量道路，公共汽车站， 和其他通勤模式。 这项社区驱动的研究应该扩大 我们对城市交通源与 年轻人接触与车辆有关的颗粒物的情况， 在北方曼哈顿的城市核心区上学， 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.