This research addresses the mission of the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences by increasing our understanding of how the environment influences human health through validation of a new wearable device that measures multiple environmental toxicants in real-time and space, called the Portable University of Washington Particle Monitor (PUWPM), and application in a genetically informed sample of adult twins from the community-based UW Twin Registry (UWTR). The use of twins is unique in environment-based research because it will allow us to assess the associations between environmental exposures and health outcomes while controlling for genetic and shared environmental (familial) influences that might otherwise introduce selection biases into the choice of living environments that contribute to differential levels of exposures, and thus confound similar studies in unrelated individuals. Furthermore, our innovative methods will allow us to link environmental exposures with accelerometer and GPS-based measures of movement through space. Using GIS, we will capture spatially continuous variables relevant to the built environment at the same scale as the exposures and movement patterns. In the first phase the study (R21 phase), the design-feedback iterative cycle will be used to assess the feasibility and usability of the integrated PUWP monitor to assess multiple aspects of behavior and toxic exposures in 15 pairs of twins. Based on qualitative data obtained from focus groups and quantitative data from usability surveys, we will improve the design and ease of use of the PUWP through 2 or 3 iterative cycles. Concurrently, the validity of the PUWP will be established in these same 15 pairs compared to gold standard methods. In the second phase of the study (R33 phase), we will collect clinical measures including blood pressure, body mass index, waist circumference, and lung function (spirometry), as well as biologic measures including inflammatory cytokines and cortisol in a larger sample of 150 twin pairs. Using these measures, we will first compare associations between clinical/biological outcomes with PM 2.5 measures from the PUWP against their associations with exposure estimates based on ambient air quality models that are standard in the field. Next, we will determine the associations among air pollution, noise, and other environmental exposures from the integrated PUWP system, lifestyle behaviors including physical activity and diet, and psychosocial stress with the various clinical and biologic outcomes. Ultimately, our unique sample and methods will lead to new and important insights linking environmental, behavioral, and genetic aspects of chronic disease.
This study will validate a new device called the Personal University of Washington Particle Monitor (PUWPM) that people will wear to measure their contact with toxins such as air pollution, noise, allergens, and stress. This device will be studie in adults from the University of Washington Twin Registry who live in the Puget Sound area of Washington State. We will determine the relationship between contact with these toxins and various health measures such as blood pressure and inflammation, which will provide valuable information into how the device may be used to identify personal behaviors that relate to contact with toxins and how these toxins relate to ill health.
| Holm, Stephanie M; Balmes, John; Gillette, Dan et al. (2018) Cooking behaviors are related to household particulate matter exposure in children with asthma in the urban East Bay Area of Northern California. PLoS One 13:e0197199 |
| Duncan, Glen E; Seto, Edmund; Avery, Ally R et al. (2018) Usability of a Personal Air Pollution Monitor: Design-Feedback Iterative Cycle Study. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth 6:e12023 |
| Njalsson, Tomas; Novosselov, Igor (2018) DESIGN AND OPTIMIZATION OF A COMPACT LOW-COST OPTICAL PARTICLE SIZER. J Aerosol Sci 119:1-12 |
| Reis, Stefan; Seto, Edmund; Northcross, Amanda et al. (2015) Integrating modelling and smart sensors for environmental and human health. Environ Model Softw 74:238-246 |
| Austin, Elena; Novosselov, Igor; Seto, Edmund et al. (2015) Laboratory Evaluation of the Shinyei PPD42NS Low-Cost Particulate Matter Sensor. PLoS One 10:e0137789 |
