Milken Institute School of Public Health Poster Presentations (Marvin Center & Video)
Neighborhood scale health impacts from PM2.5 in four United States metropolitan areas
Poster Number
27
Document Type
Poster
Status
Faculty
Abstract Category
Environmental and Occupational Health
Keywords
air pollution, public health, health impact assessment
Publication Date
Spring 2018
Abstract
Background: Several large cohort studies have found associations between long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and increased mortality as well as associations between short-term PM2.5 and asthma exacerbation. Findings from these epidemiological studies have been used to quantify health impacts due to PM2.5 and other air pollutants in the United States. Health impact assessments of PM2.5 in the United States have primarily utilized population and baseline incidence information on the county level.
Objective: The objective of this study is to evaluate health impacts of PM2.5 at a finer spatial resolution than has previously been estimated (0.01x0.01-degree, approximately 1km x 1km), utilizing tract level disease rates and high resolution exposure estimates in four major US metro areas: Boston, Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, DC.
Methods: We estimated PM2.5-related asthma emergency room visits and cause specific mortality for stroke, lung cancer, and COPD using epidemiologically-derived health impact functions. We first derived census tract level disease- and age-specific baseline incidence rates by using tract-level to city-level disease rate ratio scaling. Census tract surveillance information was obtained through the CDC’s 500 Cities Project and age-stratified mortality rates were obtained from the CDC’s WONDER database. Relative risk estimates linking PM2.5 with health outcomes are drawn from a recent American Cancer Society study. The estimated health impacts are calculated using the environmental Benefits Mapping and Analysis Program-Community Edition version 1.3 (BenMAP-CE 1.3). We used tract-level population information from the US Census Bureau. High resolution (0.01x0.01-degree) PM2.5 concentrations are from a global dataset integrating satellite remote sensing with chemical transport modeling and in situ observations.
Results: The results of this analysis show the computed asthma emergency room visits and cause-specific mortality attributable to PM2.5 on 0.01x0.01-degree grid in four major US cities. PM2.5-attributable health impacts vary considerably between tracts within these metropolitan areas. Estimated PM2.5-attributable health impacts will be compared to previous estimates using coarser scale exposure and baseline incidence datasets.
Discussion: We estimated PM2.5-attributable health impacts on a finer spatial resolution than has typically been used, highlighting which neighborhoods within these cities may be experiencing particularly large health impacts from PM2.5 exposure.
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Neighborhood scale health impacts from PM2.5 in four United States metropolitan areas
Background: Several large cohort studies have found associations between long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and increased mortality as well as associations between short-term PM2.5 and asthma exacerbation. Findings from these epidemiological studies have been used to quantify health impacts due to PM2.5 and other air pollutants in the United States. Health impact assessments of PM2.5 in the United States have primarily utilized population and baseline incidence information on the county level.
Objective: The objective of this study is to evaluate health impacts of PM2.5 at a finer spatial resolution than has previously been estimated (0.01x0.01-degree, approximately 1km x 1km), utilizing tract level disease rates and high resolution exposure estimates in four major US metro areas: Boston, Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, DC.
Methods: We estimated PM2.5-related asthma emergency room visits and cause specific mortality for stroke, lung cancer, and COPD using epidemiologically-derived health impact functions. We first derived census tract level disease- and age-specific baseline incidence rates by using tract-level to city-level disease rate ratio scaling. Census tract surveillance information was obtained through the CDC’s 500 Cities Project and age-stratified mortality rates were obtained from the CDC’s WONDER database. Relative risk estimates linking PM2.5 with health outcomes are drawn from a recent American Cancer Society study. The estimated health impacts are calculated using the environmental Benefits Mapping and Analysis Program-Community Edition version 1.3 (BenMAP-CE 1.3). We used tract-level population information from the US Census Bureau. High resolution (0.01x0.01-degree) PM2.5 concentrations are from a global dataset integrating satellite remote sensing with chemical transport modeling and in situ observations.
Results: The results of this analysis show the computed asthma emergency room visits and cause-specific mortality attributable to PM2.5 on 0.01x0.01-degree grid in four major US cities. PM2.5-attributable health impacts vary considerably between tracts within these metropolitan areas. Estimated PM2.5-attributable health impacts will be compared to previous estimates using coarser scale exposure and baseline incidence datasets.
Discussion: We estimated PM2.5-attributable health impacts on a finer spatial resolution than has typically been used, highlighting which neighborhoods within these cities may be experiencing particularly large health impacts from PM2.5 exposure.