Publications by authors named "Alex Ineichen"

Introduction: Land use regression models environmental predictors to estimate ground-floor air pollution concentration surfaces of a study area. While many cities are expanding vertically, such models typically ignore the vertical dimension.

Methods: We took integrated measurements of NO at up to three different floors on the facades of 25 buildings in the mid-sized European city of Basel, Switzerland.

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Long-term ultrafine particle (UFP) exposure estimates at a fine spatial scale are needed for epidemiological studies. Land use regression (LUR) models were developed and evaluated for six European areas based on repeated 30 min monitoring following standardized protocols. In each area; Basel (Switzerland), Heraklion (Greece), Amsterdam, Maastricht, and Utrecht ("The Netherlands"), Norwich (United Kingdom), Sabadell (Spain), and Turin (Italy), 160-240 sites were monitored to develop LUR models by supervised stepwise selection of GIS predictors.

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Background: Land Use Regression (LUR) is a popular method to explain and predict spatial contrasts in air pollution concentrations, but LUR models for ultrafine particles, such as particle number concentration (PNC) are especially scarce. Moreover, no models have been previously presented for the lung deposited surface area (LDSA) of ultrafine particles. The additional value of ultrafine particle metrics has not been well investigated due to lack of exposure measurements and models.

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Given the shrinking spatial contrasts in outdoor air pollution in Switzerland and the trends toward tightly insulated buildings, the Swiss Cohort Study on Air Pollution and Lung and Heart Diseases in Adults (SAPALDIA) needs to understand to what extent outdoor air pollution remains a determinant for residential indoor exposure. The objectives of this paper are to identify determining factors for indoor air pollution concentrations of particulate matter (PM), ultrafine particles in the size range from 15 to 300nm, black smoke measured as light absorbance of PM (PMabsorbance) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and to develop predictive indoor models for SAPALDIA. Multivariable regression models were developed based on indoor and outdoor measurements among homes of selected SAPALDIA participants in three urban (Basel, Geneva, Lugano) and one rural region (Wald ZH) in Switzerland, various home characteristics and reported indoor sources such as cooking.

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Many studies have documented adverse health effects of long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5), but there is still limited knowledge regarding the causal relationship between specific sources of PM2.5 and such health effects.

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Background: Studies have shown associations between mortality and long-term exposure to particulate matter air pollution. Few cohort studies have estimated the effects of the elemental composition of particulate matter on mortality.

Objectives: Our aim was to study the association between natural-cause mortality and long-term exposure to elemental components of particulate matter.

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Indoor air quality is a growing concern as we spend the majority of time indoors and as new buildings are increasingly airtight for energy saving purposes. For a better understanding of residential indoor air pollution in Switzerland we conducted repeated 1-2-week-long indoor and outdoor measurements of particle number concentrations (PNC), particulate matter (PM), light absorbance of PM2.5 (PMabsorbance) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2).

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Although there is evidence that ultrafine particles (UFP) do affect human health there are currently no legal ambient standards. The main reasons are the absence of spatially resolved exposure data to investigate long-term health effects and the challenge of defining representative reference sites for monitoring given the high dependence of UFP on proximity to sources. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the spatial distribution of UFP in four areas of the Swiss Study on Air Pollution and Lung and Heart Diseases in Adults (SAPALDIA) and to investigate the representativeness of routine air monitoring stations for residential sites in these areas.

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Exposure during transport and at non-residential locations is ignored in most epidemiological studies of traffic-related air pollution. We investigated the impact of separately estimating NO2 long-term outdoor exposures at home, work/school, and while commuting on the association between this marker of exposure and potential health outcomes. We used spatially and temporally resolved commuter route data and model-based NO2 estimates of a population sample in Basel, Switzerland, to assign individual NO2-exposure estimates of increasing complexity, namely (1) home outdoor concentration; (2) time-weighted home and work/school concentrations; and (3) time-weighted concentration incorporating home, work/school and commute.

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We simulated commuter routes and long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution during commute in a representative population sample in Basel (Switzerland), and evaluated three air pollution models with different spatial resolution for estimating commute exposures to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) as a marker of long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution. Our approach includes spatially and temporally resolved data on actual commuter routes, travel modes and three air pollution models. Annual mean NO2 commuter exposures were similar between models.

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Background: Land use regression (LUR) models have been developed mostly to explain intraurban variations in air pollution based on often small local monitoring campaigns. Transferability of LUR models from city to city has been investigated, but little is known about the performance of models based on large numbers of monitoring sites covering a large area.

Objectives: We aimed to develop European and regional LUR models and to examine their transferability to areas not used for model development.

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Background: Air pollution has been associated with cardiovascular mortality, but it remains unclear as to whether specific pollutants are related to specific cardiovascular causes of death. Within the multicenter European Study of Cohorts for Air Pollution Effects (ESCAPE), we investigated the associations of long-term exposure to several air pollutants with all cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality, as well as with specific cardiovascular causes of death.

Methods: Data from 22 European cohort studies were used.

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Background: Associations between long-term exposure to ambient particulate matter (PM) and cardiovascular (CVD) mortality have been widely recognized. However, health effects of long-term exposure to constituents of PM on total CVD mortality have been explored in a single study only.

Aims: The aim of this study was to examine the association of PM composition with cardiovascular mortality.

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Rationale: Prospective cohort studies have shown that chronic exposure to particulate matter and traffic-related air pollution is associated with reduced survival. However, the effects on nonmalignant respiratory mortality are less studied, and the data reported are less consistent.

Objectives: We have investigated the relationship of long-term exposure to air pollution and nonmalignant respiratory mortality in 16 cohorts with individual level data within the multicenter European Study of Cohorts for Air Pollution Effects (ESCAPE).

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Background: Few studies on long-term exposure to air pollution and mortality have been reported from Europe. Within the multicentre European Study of Cohorts for Air Pollution Effects (ESCAPE), we aimed to investigate the association between natural-cause mortality and long-term exposure to several air pollutants.

Methods: We used data from 22 European cohort studies, which created a total study population of 367,251 participants.

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Traffic-related air pollutants show high spatial variability near roads, posing a challenge to adequately assess exposures. Recent modeling approaches (e.g.

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Recent studies have linked acute respiratory and cardiovascular outcomes to measurements or estimates of traffic-related air pollutants at homes or schools. However, few studies have evaluated these outdoor measurements and estimates against personal exposure measurements. We compared measured and modeled home outdoor concentrations with personal measurements of traffic-related air pollutants in the Los Angeles air basin (Whittier and Riverside).

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