Since the late 1980's, numerous studies have found particulate air pollutant concentrations to be responsible for excess mortality. More recent studies have clarified that most of these deaths are sudden deaths. We have recently shown that particles from traffic are more specifically associated with acute cardiovascular effects. We have also shown the pre-existing diabetes was an important modifier of the particle effect. All of these studies have looked at immediate effects. Two prospective cohort studies have indicated that long-term exposure to particles is also associated with noticeable reductions in life expectancies. To replicate the association between chronic exposure and deaths, and examine the specific role of traffic particles we will conduct a case-control study of myocardial infarctions, using data from the Worcester Heart Attack Study. We will use a GIS system to code the latitude and longitude of home and work locations of cases and controls, and fit models relating concentrations of elemental carbon (a tracer for traffic particles) to population density, distance from roadways, and traffic counts in the Worcester MSA. From this, we will assign exposures to each subject. Controls will be sampled from town census books, which are conducted annually in Massachusetts. Controls will be matched by age, sex, and 10 year age group. Socio-economic data will be merged from the block group of the subjects, and questionnaire data will assess smoking history, alcohol consumption, aspirin and other medication use, educational level, height, weight, age, race, exercise, and air conditioner use. We will also ask about the presence of medical conditions, such as diabetes, that may be modifiers of the effect of pollution. Nonlinearities in covariates will be assessed and controlled for using penalized splines, in conditional logistic regressions. A preliminary analysis will use retrospective data, and not obtain questionnaire data. Effect modification by diabetes, prior MI, COPD, smoking, and angina will be tested using interaction terms.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01ES011636-03
Application #
6783268
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-EDC-3 (01))
Program Officer
Gray, Kimberly A
Project Start
2002-09-26
Project End
2007-07-31
Budget Start
2004-08-01
Budget End
2005-07-31
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
2004
Total Cost
$439,003
Indirect Cost
Name
Harvard University
Department
Public Health & Prev Medicine
Type
Schools of Public Health
DUNS #
149617367
City
Boston
State
MA
Country
United States
Zip Code
02115
Kloog, Itai; Chudnovsky, Alexandra A; Just, Allan C et al. (2014) A New Hybrid Spatio-Temporal Model For Estimating Daily Multi-Year PM2.5 Concentrations Across Northeastern USA Using High Resolution Aerosol Optical Depth Data. Atmos Environ (1994) 95:581-590
Kloog, Itai; Ridgway, Bill; Koutrakis, Petros et al. (2013) Long- and short-term exposure to PM2.5 and mortality: using novel exposure models. Epidemiology 24:555-61
Tonne, C; Yanosky, J; Gryparis, A et al. (2009) Traffic particles and occurrence of acute myocardial infarction: a case-control analysis. Occup Environ Med 66:797-804
von Klot, Stephanie; Gryparis, Alexandros; Tonne, Cathryn et al. (2009) Elemental carbon exposure at residence and survival after acute myocardial infarction. Epidemiology 20:547-54
Dratva, Julia; Gomez Real, Francisco; Schindler, Christian et al. (2009) Is age at menopause increasing across Europe? Results on age at menopause and determinants from two population-based studies. Menopause 16:385-94
Medina-Ramon, Mercedes; Goldberg, Robert; Melly, Steven et al. (2008) Residential exposure to traffic-related air pollution and survival after heart failure. Environ Health Perspect 116:481-5
Felber Dietrich, Denise; Ackermann-Liebrich, Ursula; Schindler, Christian et al. (2008) Effect of physical activity on heart rate variability in normal weight, overweight and obese subjects: results from the SAPALDIA study. Eur J Appl Physiol 104:557-65
Yanosky, Jeff D; Schwartz, Joel; Suh, Helen H (2008) Associations between measures of socioeconomic position and chronic nitrogen dioxide exposure in Worcester, Massachusetts. J Toxicol Environ Health A 71:1593-602
Dietrich, Denise Felber; Schwartz, Joel; Schindler, Christian et al. (2007) Effects of passive smoking on heart rate variability, heart rate and blood pressure: an observational study. Int J Epidemiol 36:834-40
Tonne, Cathryn; Melly, Steve; Mittleman, Murray et al. (2007) A case-control analysis of exposure to traffic and acute myocardial infarction. Environ Health Perspect 115:53-7

Showing the most recent 10 out of 11 publications