Associations Between Ambient PM and Thyroid Hormones in Pregnant Persons in Puerto Rico.

Introduction: This study investigates associations between fine particulate air pollution (PM) exposure and thyroid hormone levels during pregnancy in Puerto Rican individuals, a vulnerable population facing socioeconomic and environmental disparities.

Methods: This research draws on data from the PROTECT cohort study and involves 1040 participants to measure the effect of PM on developmentally important thyroid hormones (TSH, T3, T4, and FT4). Pollution concentrations were linked to participant locations using EPA air quality data and analyzed across two visits during gestational weeks 16-20 and 24-28.

Long-term measurement study of urban environmental low frequency noise.

Background: Environmental low frequency noise (LFN < 125 Hz), ubiquitous in urban areas, is an understudied area of exposure science and an overlooked threat to population health. Environmental noise has historically been measured and regulated by A-weighted decibel (dBA) metrics, which more heavily weight frequencies between 2000 and 5000 Hz. Limited research has been conducted to measure and characterize the LFN components of urban environmental noise.

Air pollution exposure is associated with rhinitis in older US adults via specific immune mechanisms.

Background: Pathophysiology of rhinitis in older adults is largely unknown. We tested whether air pollution is associated with this condition and how immune mechanisms may play a role in this relationship.

Methods: We analyzed cross-sectional data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project, a nationally representative study of older adults born between 1920 and 1947.

The Impact of Long-Term Air Pollution Exposure on Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus-Related Mortality among U.S. Medicare Beneficiaries.

Background: Little of the previous literature has investigated associations between air pollution exposure and type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM)-related mortality, despite a well-established link between air pollution exposure and other autoimmune diseases.

Methods: In a cohort of 53 million Medicare beneficiaries living across the conterminous United States, we used Cox proportional hazard models to assess the association of long-term PM and NO exposures on T1DM-related mortality from 2000 to 2008. Models included strata for age, sex, race, and ZIP code and controlled for neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES); we additionally investigated associations in two-pollutant models, and whether associations were modified by participant demographics.

Long-term PM exposure and sepsis mortality in a US medicare cohort.

Background: Risk factors contributing to sepsis-related mortality include clinical conditions such as cardiovascular disease, chronic lung disease, and diabetes, all of which have also been shown to be associated with air pollution exposure. However, the impact of chronic exposure to air pollution on sepsis-related mortality has been little studied.  METHODS: In a cohort of 53 million Medicare beneficiaries (228,439 sepsis-related deaths) living across the conterminous United States between 2000 and 2008, we examined the association of long-term PM exposure and sepsis-related mortality.

The impact of Long-Term PM constituents and their sources on specific causes of death in a US Medicare cohort.

Background: Our understanding of the impact of long-term exposures to PM constituents and sources on mortality is limited.

Objectives: To examine associations between long-term exposures to PM constituents and sources and cause-specific mortality in US older adults.

Methods: We obtained demographic and mortality data for 15.

Non-pharmaceutical interventions and COVID-19 cases in US summer camps: results from an American Camp Association survey.

Background: Most camps remained closed during Summer 2020, due to concerns regarding child transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and limited information about the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) within child congregate settings.

Methods: We surveyed US camps about on-site operations, camper and staff demographics, COVID-19 cases among campers and staff, and NPI usage as related to pre-camp quarantine, facial coverings, physical distancing, cleaning and facility modifications. For all NPIs, save quarantine, responses were provided on a 5-point Likert scale format.

Long-term nitrogen dioxide exposure and cause-specific mortality in the U.S. Medicare population.

Background: Since 1971, the annual National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for nitrogen dioxide (NO) has remained at 53 ppb, the impact of long-term NO exposure on mortality is poorly understood.

Objectives: We examined associations between long-term NO exposure (12-month moving average of NO) below the annual NAAQS and cause-specific mortality among the older adults in the U.S.

Preterm birth and PM in Puerto Rico: evidence from the PROTECT birth cohort.

Background: Preterm birth (PTB, birth before 37 weeks of gestation) has been associated with adverse health outcomes across the lifespan. Evidence on the association between PTB and prenatal exposure to air pollutants is inconsistent, and is especially lacking for ethnic/racial minority populations.

Methods: We obtained data on maternal characteristics and behaviors and PTB and other birth outcomes for women participating in the Puerto Rico Testsite for Exploring Contamination Threats (PROTECT) cohort, who lived in municipalities located along the North Coast of Puerto Rico.

Non-nutritive suck and airborne metal exposures among Puerto Rican infants.

Air pollution has been shown to impact multiple measures of neurodevelopment in young children. Its effects on particularly vulnerable populations, such as ethnic minorities, however, is less studied. To address this gap in the literature, we assess the associations between infant non-nutritive suck (NNS), an early indicator of central nervous system integrity, and air pollution exposures in Puerto Rico.

Cohort profile: Center for Research on Early Childhood Exposure and Development in Puerto Rico.

Purpose: Puerto Rican children experience high rates of asthma and obesity. Further, infants born in Puerto Rico are more at risk for being born prematurely compared with infants on the mainland USA. Environmental exposures from multiple sources during critical periods of child development, potentially modified by psychosocial factors, may contribute to these adverse health outcomes.

Low birth weight and PM in Puerto Rico.

Background: Low birth weight (LBW) has been associated with adverse health outcomes across the lifespan. Among ethnic/racial minority populations, few studies have examined the association between LBW (<2,500 or ≥2,500 g) and prenatal exposure to air pollution, a key modifiable environmental risk factor.

Methods: We examined the association between LBW and prenatal exposure to PM in a Hispanic and black population in Puerto Rico between 1999 and 2013, adjusting for individual and municipality-level confounders.

The impact of long-term PM exposure on specific causes of death: exposure-response curves and effect modification among 53 million U.S. Medicare beneficiaries.

Background: The shape of the exposure-response curve for long-term ambient fine particulate (PM) exposure and cause-specific mortality is poorly understood, especially for rural populations and underrepresented minorities.

Methods: We used hybrid machine learning and Cox proportional hazard models to assess the association of long-term PM exposures on specific causes of death for 53 million U.S.

Daily ambient temperature is associated with biomarkers of kidney injury in older Americans.

Background: Increases in ambient temperature have recently been associated with increased emergency department visits and hospital admissions for acute renal failure. However, potential biological mechanisms through which short-term ambient temperature affects kidney function are not known.

Methods: We used multiple regression models to evaluate the association between 1- and 3-day average, ambient temperature levels and two biomarkers of kidney injury (neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) and adiponectin), among 3377 individuals over 57 years of age enrolled in the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project.

Long-term ozone exposures and cause-specific mortality in a US Medicare cohort.

We examined the association of long-term, daily 1-h maximum O (ozone) exposures on cause-specific mortality for 22.2 million US Medicare beneficiaries between 2000-2008. We modeled the association between O and mortality using age-gender-race stratified log-linear regression models, adjusted for state of residence.

Synthesis of Harvard Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Center studies on traffic-related particulate pollution and cardiovascular outcomes in the Greater Boston Area.

The association between particulate pollution and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality is well established. While the cardiovascular effects of nationally regulated criteria pollutants (e.g.

Long-term NO exposures and cause-specific mortality in American older adults.

Background: The impact of long-term exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO) on cause-specific mortality is poorly understood.

Objective: To assess mortality risks associated with long-term NO exposure and evaluate confounding of this association.

Methods: We examined the association between 12-month moving average NO exposure and cause-specific mortality in 14.

Close proximity to roadway and urbanicity associated with mental ill-health in older adults.

Evidence for the association between built environment and mental ill health, especially in older population where mental ill health is common, remains inconclusive. We examined the association of roadway distance and urbanicity, measured as percentage of urban land use within 1 km from participants' residence, with mental ill-health in a longitudinal study of community-dwelling older adults in the United States between 2005 and 2006 and 2011-2012. We evaluated perceived stress, depression and anxiety symptoms using the Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale, the Center for Epidemiological Studies - Depression, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale - anxiety subscale, respectively.

Fine Particle Sources and Cognitive Function in An Older Puerto Rican Cohort in Greater Boston.

Background: Puerto Ricans living in the mainland US have substantially higher rates of impairment to cognitive performance as compared to non-Hispanic Whites, with air pollutant exposures a potential risk factor. We investigated whether exposures to specific air pollution sources were associated with performance across several cognitive domains in a cohort of Puerto Rican older adults.

Objectives: To investigate the association between sources of PM and cognitive performance in each of five cognitive domains.

Impact of long-term temporal trends in fine particulate matter (PM) on associations of annual PM exposure and mortality: An analysis of over 20 million Medicare beneficiaries.

Decreasing ambient fine particulate matter (PM) concentrations over time together with increasing life expectancy raise concerns about temporal confounding of associations between PM and mortality. To address this issue, we examined PM-associated mortality risk ratios (MRRs) estimated for approximately 20,000,000 US Medicare beneficiaries, who lived within six miles of an Environmental Protection Agency air quality monitoring site, between December 2000 and December 2012. We assessed temporal confounding by examining whether PM-associated MRRs vary by study period length.

Association of neighborhood greenness with self-perceived stress, depression and anxiety symptoms in older U.S adults.

Background: Neighborhood environment, such as green vegetation, has been shown to play a role in coping with stress and mental ill health. Yet, epidemiological evidence of the association between greenness and mental health is inconsistent.

Methods: We examined whether living in green space is associated with self-perceived stress, depressive and anxiety symptoms in a nationally representative, longitudinal sample of community-dwelling older adults (N = 4118; aged 57-85 years) in the United States.

Projected Changes in Temperature-related Morbidity and Mortality in Southern New England.

Background: Climate change is expected to result in more heat-related, but potentially fewer cold-related, emergency department visits and deaths. The net effect of projected changes in temperature on morbidity and mortality remains incompletely understood. We estimated the change in temperature-related morbidity and mortality at two sites in southern New England, United States, through the end of the 21st century.

Associations of long-term fine particulate matter exposure with prevalent hypertension and increased blood pressure in older Americans.

Background: Hypertension is a highly prevalent cardiovascular risk factor. It is possible that air pollution, also an established cardiovascular risk factor, may contribute to cardiovascular disease through increasing blood pressure. Previous studies evaluating associations between air pollution and blood pressure have had mixed results.

Associations between long-term exposure to air pollution, glycosylated hemoglobin and diabetes.

Background: Air pollution exposures have been shown to adversely impact health through a number of biological pathways associated with glucose metabolism. However, few studies have evaluated the associations between air pollution and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels. Further, no studies have evaluated these associations in US populations or investigated whether associations differ in diabetic as compared to non-diabetic populations.