Dr. Hauser is devoted to full-time occupational health research following the completion of his residency training and doctorate of science degree in occupational health. Currently, he is a research associate at the Harvard School of Public Health in the Occupational Health Program. This SERCA would be beneficial to his goal of developing an academic career in occupational medicine. The award would allow him to further develop skills in designing and implementing longitudinal epidemiologic studies of occupational exposures and lung disease, ultimately developing skills necessary to compete for R01 funding from NIOSH. This award will provide funding to conduct a prospective epidemiologic investigation of the chronic effects of fuel-oil ash exposure in utility workers and biolermakers, two trades with a large number of workers exposed to fuel- oil ash. Nationwide, tens of thousands of utility workers and over twenty-five thousand boilermakers are exposed to fuel-oil ash. Preliminary work on these workers has shown an association between short- term (days/weeks) exposure to fuel-oil ash and loss of lung function. Although these effects may be partially or fully reversible, it is unclear whether long-term episodic exposure is associated with a chronic loss of lung function. The proposed study is designed to determine: 1) if chronic episodic exposure to fuel-oil ash is associated with an accelerated decline in lung function, a risk factor for chronic obstruction pulmonary disease and disability, and 2) whether host characteristics (such as airway responsiveness, atopy, serum IgE and blood eosinophil counts) are risk factors for an accelerated decline in lung function. Understanding the relationship between host characteristics, fuel-oil ash exposure and an accelerated loss of lung function will allow for the identification of workers at increased risk of impaired lung function, allowing interventions for the prevention of workplace respiratory disease for all exposed workers. The results of this study will provide information that will improve NIOSH's understanding of the adverse health effects of occupational exposure to fuel-oil ash and may be used to ultimately solve an occupational health problem.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
Type
Research Scientist Development Award - Research & Training (K01)
Project #
5K01OH000152-02
Application #
2546495
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG4-SOH (01))
Project Start
1996-09-30
Project End
1999-09-29
Budget Start
1997-09-30
Budget End
1998-09-29
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
1997
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Harvard University
Department
Public Health & Prev Medicine
Type
Schools of Public Health
DUNS #
082359691
City
Boston
State
MA
Country
United States
Zip Code
02115
Kim, Jee Young; Magari, Shannon R; Herrick, Robert F et al. (2004) Comparison of fine particle measurements from a direct-reading instrument and a gravimetric sampling method. J Occup Environ Hyg 1:707-15
Kim, Jee Young; Hauser, Russ; Wand, Matthew P et al. (2003) Association of expired nitric oxide with urinary metal concentrations in boilermakers exposed to residual oil fly ash. Am J Ind Med 44:458-66
Kim, Jee Young; Hauser, Russ; Wand, Matthew P et al. (2003) The association of expired nitric oxide with occupational particulate metal exposure. Environ Res 93:158-66
Kim, Jee Young; Wand, Matthew P; Hauser, Russ et al. (2003) Association of expired nitric oxide with occupational particulate exposure. Environ Health Perspect 111:676-80
Agalliu, Ilir; Eisen, Ellen A; Hauser, Russ et al. (2003) Truncating the dose range for methacholine challenge tests: three occupational studies. J Occup Environ Med 45:841-7
Hauser, Russ; Eisen, Ellen A; Pothier, Lucille et al. (2002) Spirometric abnormalities associated with chronic bronchitis, asthma, and airway hyperresponsiveness among boilermaker construction workers. Chest 121:2052-60
Magari, Shannon R; Schwartz, Joel; Williams, Paige L et al. (2002) The association between personal measurements of environmental exposure to particulates and heart rate variability. Epidemiology 13:305-10
Magari, S R; Hauser, R; Schwartz, J et al. (2001) Association of heart rate variability with occupational and environmental exposure to particulate air pollution. Circulation 104:986-91
Hauser, R; Eisen, E A; Pothier, L et al. (2001) A prospective study of lung function among boilermaker construction workers exposed to combustion particulates. Am J Ind Med 39:454-62