Risk of Cancer in a Community Exposed to Per- and Poly-Fluoroalkyl Substances.

Background: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) emissions from a plastic coating industrial source in southern New Hampshire (NH) have contaminated at least 65 square miles of drinking water. Prior research indicates that high levels of PFAS are associated with a variety of adverse health outcomes, including an increased risk of cancer. Reports indicate that mean blood serum levels of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), one type of PFAS, in residents of the exposed community are more than 2 times greater than the mean blood serum level in the US.

Air pollution, weather, and respiratory emergency room visits in two northern New England cities: an ecological time-series study.

Daily emergency room (ER) visits for all respiratory (ICD-9 460-519) and asthma (ICD-9 493) were compared with daily sulfur dioxide (SO2), ozone (O3), and weather variables over the period 1998-2000 in Portland, Maine (population 248,000), and 1996-2000 in Manchester, New Hampshire (population 176,000). Seasonal variability was removed from all variables using nonparametric smoothed function (LOESS) of day of study. Generalized additive models were used to estimate the effect of elevated levels of pollutants on ER visits.

Air pollution and the demand for hospital services: a review.

Time-series studies published since 1993 on the association between short-term changes in air quality and use of hospital services, including both inpatient and emergency room use, are reviewed. The use of nonparametric analysis, often incorporating generalized additive models (GAMs), has increased greatly since the early 1990s. There have also been three major multi-city studies, which together analyzed data from well over 100 cities in Europe and North America.