Human health risks due to airborne polychlorinated biphenyls are highest in New Bedford Harbor communities living closest to the harbor.

In response to concerns raised by communities surrounding the New Bedford Harbor Superfund site, we completed a field and modeling study that concluded the harbor is the primary source of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in air around the harbor. The follow-up question from residents was whether the PCBs measured in air pose a risk to their health. The US Environmental Protection Agency focuses their site-specific, risk-based decisions for site clean-up on cancers.

Consumption of Contaminated Seafood in an Environmental Justice Community: A Qualitative and Spatial Analysis of Fishing Controls.

New Bedford Harbor (NBH) in Massachusetts was listed as a Superfund site in 1983 due to extensive contamination with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from industrial pollution. Since 1999, the U.S.

Prevalence and Risk Factors for CKD Among Brickmaking Workers in La Paz Centro, Nicaragua.

Rationale & Objective: In Central America, there is a high prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) of nontraditional etiology often observed among agricultural workers. Few studies have assessed CKD prevalence among workers in nonagricultural occupations, which was the objective of this investigation.

Study Design: Prospective cohort study.

Established and Emerging Environmental Contributors to Disparities in Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Purpose Of Review: Multiple respiratory diseases, including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), display significant socioeconomic and racial/ethnic disparities. The objective of this review is to evaluate the evidence supporting a link between disproportionate environmental exposures and these health disparities.

Recent Findings: Studies suggest that various co-occurring factors related to the home environment, neighborhood environment, non-modifiable individual factors, and individual behaviors and attributes can increase or modify the risk of adverse respiratory outcomes among socioeconomically-disadvantaged and racially/ethnically diverse populations.

Lead exposure to children from consumption of backyard chicken eggs.

Backyard chicken ownership is rapidly increasing in urban areas in the United States, largely as a way to provide eggs for household consumption. Despite elevated levels of environmental lead contamination in many US cities, the role of backyard chicken eggs as a pathway for lead exposure, particularly for children, has received limited scrutiny. To characterize lead exposure from consumption of backyard chicken eggs for children and predict related effects on blood lead level (BLL), we conducted a cross-sectional study of backyard chicken owners in the Greater Boston area (n = 51).

Ambient Air Exposure to PCBs: Regulation and Monitoring at Five Contaminated Sites in EPA Regions 1, 2, 4, and 5.

Existing regulations seek to protect the public from exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in food, water, and soil. Exposure to PCBs in ambient air has recently been given explicit consideration in the human health risk assessments that form the basis of risk management decisions at contaminated sites. The objective of this paper is to examine how ambient air exposure to PCBs is regulated and monitored at five contaminated sites in the United States.

Correction to: Community reporting of ambient air polychlorinated biphenyl concentrations near a Superfund site.

The original version of this article unfortunately contains a mistake. The correct Author names should be Staci M. Rubin and Keri C.

Community reporting of ambient air polychlorinated biphenyl concentrations near a Superfund site.

In this manuscript, we describe the process of establishing partnerships for community-based environmental exposure research, the tools and methods implemented for data report-back to community members, and the results of evaluations of these efforts. Data discovery and report-back materials developed by Statistics for Action (SFA) were employed as the framework to communicate the environmental data to community members and workshops. These data communication and research translation efforts are described in detail and evaluated for effectiveness based on feedback provided from community members who attended the workshops.

Community-Engaged Modeling of Geographic and Demographic Patterns of Multiple Public Health Risk Factors.

Many health risk factors are intervention targets within communities, but information regarding high-risk subpopulations is rarely available at a geographic resolution that is relevant for community-scale interventions. Researchers and community partners in New Bedford, Massachusetts (USA) collaboratively identified high-priority behaviors and health outcomes of interest available in the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). We developed multivariable regression models from the BRFSS explaining variability in exercise, fruit and vegetable consumption, body mass index, and diabetes prevalence as a function of demographic and behavioral characteristics, and linked these models with population microdata developed using spatial microsimulation to characterize high-risk populations and locations.

Release of Airborne Polychlorinated Biphenyls from New Bedford Harbor Results in Elevated Concentrations in the Surrounding Air.

Qualitatively and quantitatively, we have demonstrated that airborne polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) concentrations in the air surrounding New Bedford Harbor (NBH) are caused by its water PCB emissions. We measured airborne PCBs at 18 homes and businesses near NBH in 2015, with values ranging from 0.4 to 38 ng m, with a very strong Aroclor 1242/1016 signal that is most pronounced closest to the harbor and reproducible over three sampling rounds.