2023 Pilot Project Awardees

Title:  Leveraging Time-Activity Data to Improve Exposure Estimation and Lung Health Interventions in Environmental Justice Communities 

Abstract:  Children living in communities on the fenceline of petrochemical and other industrial facilities reside in locations where concentrations of air pollutants are frequently elevated compared to the general population. How and where these children spend time, as compared to children in the general population, may further contribute to children’s inhaled doses of air pollutants. Our project aims to collect primary evidence to demonstrate that exposure estimates relying solely on air pollutant concentrations may mischaracterize true inhaled air pollutant doses by ignoring critical differences in how and where people spend time. We aim to collect and use high-resolution time-activity pattern data for children in a fenceline community to develop quantitative adjustment factors for air pollutant exposure estimation. We will administer time-activity surveys to caregivers of children <6 years in a fenceline community on one weekday and one weekend for three seasons. We will compare distributions of time-activity patterns for children in a fenceline community to two other communities and US EPA’s initial National Human Activity Pattern Survey. We will generate age-adjusted average daily inhaled air volumes and quantitative adjustment factors for fenceline communities for use in future risk assessments of children’s exposure to air pollution. Knowledge gained from this study will be communicated to community members with recommendations for low-no cost behavioral modifications to reduce exposure. We will work with regulatory colleagues to integrate the approach demonstrated in this pilot into agency guidance to advance the practice of exposure and cumulative risk assessment to improve and protect children’s environmental health. 

Email:  slupolt1@jhu.edu 

Title:  Assessing the social network structure of high-risk pregnant patients: A novel research method in Obstetrics 

Abstract: Prenatal environmental exposures play a significant role in the development of child respiratory diseases such as asthma. The strength of social networks in the mother, assessed by mapping her immediate connections to others, represents a critical component of the early life exposome. Similar to other non-chemical environmental exposures such as maternal psychosocial stress, social networks may alter fetal programming to increase risks of child respiratory disease. While social networks have been demonstrated to influence other disease outcomes such as obesity and stroke among adults, the contribution of maternal social networks to the development of childhood respiratory disease is unknown. This study hypothesizes that a weak maternal social network may enhance fetal vulnerability and increase the risk of poor neonatal outcomes predisposing towards child asthma. This application proposes a pilot study of 15 women recruited from an ethnically diverse, NYC cohort of pregnant mothers with active asthma, in which relationships between indoor air pollution and dietary exposures and maternal-fetal health are currently under investigation. Features of the pregnant mother’s social network, such as the size and density, will be quantitatively characterized at one time point in gestation. Associations between these characteristics and birth outcomes on the pathway to asthma, including low birth weight and prematurity, will be explored. This work represents a critical opportunity to identify novel environmental factors that influence the risk of respiratory disease among children. Study results will directly inform a subsequent larger study of the longer-term impact of early-life social exposures on child asthma.

Email:  rachel.meislin@mssm.edu 

Title: Contribution of Metal Exposures to Chronic Lung Risks from Use of Electronic Cigarettes 

Abstract: The goal of this research is to understand the contribution of heavy metals inhaled at a young age to long term health outcomes. We will use questionnaire data to assess e-cigarette use, and will analyze metals in urine, blood, and aerosol from user e-cig devices. Enhancing our understanding of excess risk from vaping will inform policy makers on the risks of using e-cigarettes over a lifetime, which can direct public health guidance on youth nicotine use. Heavy metals such as Cr and Ni have been found in e-cigarette aerosols and elevated in user’s blood/urine, but it is unknown how low-level inhalation of metals with exposure patterns like e-cigarettes will affect long-term risk of lung outcomes. Although links between respiratory health effects and metal exposures from ambient air and occupation have already been found, a risk assessment quantitating the excess hazard of exposure to metals from behaviors such as e-cigarette use, has not been done. Our hypothesis is that heavy metal exposure from e-cigarette use will be associated with increased body burden (metals in blood) leading to increased risk of respiratory effects.

Email:  atiller2@jh.edu