A review of occupational exposures to carcinogens among wildland firefighters.

Wildfires can negatively impact the health and well-being of wildland firefighters through a variety of exposure pathways. Many studies have measured acute health effects from occupational exposure to pollutants in wildfire smoke; however, research specifically examining cancer risks from exposure to carcinogens is limited. This review aimed to better understand cancer risk in this occupation by assessing the existing evidence of exposures and summarizing measured concentrations of carcinogens among wildland firefighters.

Exploring relationships between smoke exposure, housing characteristics, and preterm birth in California.

Pregnant people are vulnerable to air pollution exposure, including risk of preterm birth, low birth weight, and stillbirth. Understanding the infiltration of outdoor wildfire smoke into a residential space is critical for the accurate assessment of wildfire smoke exposure and associated health effects in pregnant people. Relying on ambient measurements of wildfire smoke alone can result in exposure misclassification.

Pregnancy exposure to PM from wildland fire smoke and preterm birth in California.

Background: Wildfires in the Western United States are a growing and significant source of air pollution that is eroding decades of progress in air pollution reduction. The effects on preterm birth during critical periods of pregnancy are unknown.

Methods: We assessed associations between prenatal exposure to wildland fire smoke and risk of preterm birth (gestational age < 37 weeks).

Ventilation conditions during COVID-19 outbreaks in six California state carceral institutions.

Residents of carceral facilities are exposed to poor ventilation conditions which leads to the spread of communicable diseases such as COVID-19. Indoor ventilation conditions are rarely studied within carceral settings and there remains limited capacity to develop solutions to address the impact of poor ventilation on the health of people who are incarcerated. In this study, we empirically measured ventilation rates within housing units of six adult prisons in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) and compare the measured ventilation rates to recommended standards issued by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Disparities in job characteristics by race and sex in a Southern aluminum smelting facility.

Background: Former workers at a Southern aluminum smelting facility raised concerns that the most hazardous jobs were assigned to Black workers, but the role of workplace segregation had not been quantified or examined in the company town. Prior studies discuss race and gender disparities in working conditions, but few have documented them in the aluminum industry.

Methods: We obtained workers' company records for 1985-2007 and characterized four job metrics: prestige (sociologic rankings), worker-defined danger (worker assessments), annual wage (1985 dollars), and estimated total particulate matter (TPM) exposure (job exposure matrix).

Associations between prenatal and early-life air pollution exposure and lung function in young children: Exploring influential windows of exposure on lung development.

Background: Evidence in the literature suggests that air pollution exposures experienced prenatally and early in life can be detrimental to normal lung development, however the specific timing of critical windows during development is not fully understood.

Objectives: We evaluated air pollution exposures during the prenatal and early-life period in association with lung function at ages 6-9, in an effort to identify potentially influential windows of exposure for lung development.

Methods: Our study population consisted of 222 children aged 6-9 from the Fresno-Clovis metro area in California with spirometry data collected between May 2015 and May 2017.

Increases in ambient air pollutants during pregnancy are linked to increases in methylation of IL4, IL10, and IFNγ.

Background: Ambient air pollutant (AAP) exposure is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as preeclampsia, preterm labor, and low birth weight. Previous studies have shown methylation of immune genes associate with exposure to air pollutants in pregnant women, but the cell-mediated response in the context of typical pregnancy cell alterations has not been investigated. Pregnancy causes attenuation in cell-mediated immunity with alterations in the Th1/Th2/Th17/Treg environment, contributing to maternal susceptibility.

Relative environmental and social disadvantage in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Background: Air pollution exposure is associated with disease severity, progression and mortality in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Combined impacts of environmental and socioeconomic factors on outcomes in patients with IPF are unknown. The objectives of this study were to characterise the relationships between relative environmental and social disadvantage with clinical outcomes in patients with IPF.

Traffic-related air pollution, biomarkers of metabolic dysfunction, oxidative stress, and CC16 in children.

Background: Previous research has revealed links between air pollution exposure and metabolic syndrome in adults; however, these associations are less explored in children.

Objective: This study aims to investigate the association between traffic-related air pollutants (TRAP) and biomarkers of metabolic dysregulation, oxidative stress, and lung epithelial damage in children.

Methods: We conducted cross-sectional analyses in a sample of predominantly Latinx, low-income children (n = 218) to examine associations between air pollutants (nitrogen dioxide (NO), nitrogen oxides (NO), elemental carbon, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide (CO), fine particulates (PM)) and biomarkers of metabolic function (high-density lipoprotein (HDL), hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), oxidative stress (8-isoprostane), and lung epithelial damage (club cell protein 16 (CC16)).

Air pollution exposure is linked with methylation of immunoregulatory genes, altered immune cell profiles, and increased blood pressure in children.

Ambient air pollution exposure is associated with cardiovascular dysregulation and immune system alterations, yet no study has investigated both simultaneously in children. Understanding the multifaceted impacts may provide early clues for clinical intervention prior to actual disease presentation. We therefore determined the associations between exposure to multiple air pollutants and both immunological outcomes (methylation and protein expression of immune cell types associated with immune regulation) and cardiovascular outcomes (blood pressure) in a cohort of school-aged children (6-8 years; n = 221) living in a city with known elevated pollution levels.

Traffic-related air pollution is associated with glucose dysregulation, blood pressure, and oxidative stress in children.

Background: Metabolic syndrome increases the risk of cardiovascular disease in adults. Antecedents likely begin in childhood and whether childhood exposure to air pollution plays a contributory role is not well understood.

Objectives: To assess whether children's exposure to air pollution is associated with markers of risk for metabolic syndrome and oxidative stress, a hypothesized mediator of air pollution-related health effects.

Decrease in Ambient Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Concentrations in California's San Joaquin Valley 2000-2019.

As part of our ongoing research to understand the impact of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) exposures on health in the San Joaquin Valley, we evaluated airborne PAH concentration data collected over 19 years (2000-2019) at the central air monitoring site in Fresno, California. We found a dramatic decline in outdoor airborne PAH concentrations between 2000 and 2004 that has been maintained through 2019. This decline was present in both the continuous particle-bound PAHs and the filter-based individual PAHs.

Accelerated lung function decline in an aluminium manufacturing industry cohort exposed to PM: an application of the parametric g-formula.

Objective: Occupational dust exposure has been associated with accelerated lung function decline, which in turn is associated with overall morbidity and mortality. In the current study, we assess potential benefits on lung function of hypothetical interventions that would reduce occupational exposure to fine particulate matter (PM) while adjusting for the healthy worker survivor effect.

Methods: Analyses were performed in a cohort of 6485 hourly male workers in an aluminium manufacturing company in the USA, followed between 1996 and 2013.

Incident command post exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and particulate matter during a wildfire.

Wildland firefighters engaged in fire suppression activities are often exposed to hazardous air pollutants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and particulate matter (PM) during wildfires with no respiratory protection. Although the most significant exposures to smoke likely occur on the fireline, wildland firefighters may also be exposed at the incident command post (ICP), an area designated for wildfire suppression support operations. Our objective was to characterize exposures of PAHs and PM near an ICP during a wildfire event in California.

Personal Exposure to PM Black Carbon and Aerosol Oxidative Potential using an Automated Microenvironmental Aerosol Sampler (AMAS).

Traditional methods for measuring personal exposure to fine particulate matter (PM) are cumbersome and lack spatiotemporal resolution; methods that are time-resolved are limited to a single species/component of PM. To address these limitations, we developed an automated microenvironmental aerosol sampler (AMAS), capable of resolving personal exposure by microenvironment. The AMAS is a wearable device that uses a GPS sensor algorithm in conjunction with a custom valve manifold to sample PM onto distinct filter channels to evaluate home, school, and other (e.

Respirator use and its impact on particulate matter exposure in aluminum manufacturing facilities.

Objectives As part of a large epidemiologic study of particulate health effect, this study aimed to report respirator use among total particulate matter (TPM) samples collected in a major aluminum manufacturing company from 1966‒2013 and evaluate the impact of respirator-use adjustment on exposure estimation. Methods Descriptive analyses were performed to evaluate respirator use across facilities and by facility type and job. Protection factors were applied to TPM measurements for recorded respirator use.

Air Pollution Exposure Is Associated With Lower Lung Function, but Not Changes in Lung Function, in Patients With Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.

Background: Air pollution exposure is associated with acute exacerbation, disease progression, and mortality in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The objective of this study was to describe the impact of air pollution exposures on disease severity, as well as changes in lung function, in patients with IPF.

Methods: Using home spirometers and symptom diaries, 25 patients with IPF prospectively recorded FVC weekly for up to 40 weeks.

Occupational Exposure to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon of Wildland Firefighters at Prescribed and Wildland Fires.

Wildland firefighters suppressing wildland fires or conducting prescribed fires work long shifts during which they are exposed to high levels of wood smoke with no respiratory protection. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are hazardous air pollutants formed during incomplete combustion. Exposure to PAHs was measured for 21 wildland firefighters suppressing two wildland fires and 4 wildland firefighters conducting prescribed burns in California.

Traffic-Related Air Pollution and Telomere Length in Children and Adolescents Living in Fresno, CA: A Pilot Study.

Objective: The main objective of this pilot study was to gather preliminary information about how telomere length (TL) varies in relation to exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in children living in a highly polluted city.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of children living in Fresno, California (n = 14). Subjects with and without asthma were selected based on their annual average PAH level in the 12-months prior to their blood draw.

Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Elemental Carbon in Bakersfield, California.

Despite increasing evidence that airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) exposures contribute to adverse health outcomes for sensitive populations, limited data are available on short-term intraurban spatial distributions for use in epidemiologic research. Exposure assessments for airborne PAHs are uncommon because air sampling for PAHs is a labor-, equipment-, and time-intensive task. To address this gap we measured wintertime PAH concentrations during 2010-2011 in Bakersfield, California, USA, a major city in the Southern San Joaquin Valley.

Ischemic Heart Disease Incidence in Relation to Fine versus Total Particulate Matter Exposure in a U.S. Aluminum Industry Cohort.

Ischemic heart disease (IHD) has been linked to exposures to airborne particles with an aerodynamic diameter <2.5 μm (PM2.5) in the ambient environment and in occupational settings.

Incident Ischemic Heart Disease After Long-Term Occupational Exposure to Fine Particulate Matter: Accounting for 2 Forms of Survivor Bias.

Little is known about the heart disease risks associated with occupational, rather than traffic-related, exposure to particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 µm or less (PM2.5).