Adverse birth outcomes and maternal exposure to trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene through soil vapor intrusion in New York State.

Background: Industrial spills of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in Endicott, New York (USA), have led to contamination of groundwater, soil, and soil gas. Previous studies have reported an increase in adverse birth outcomes among women exposed to VOCs in drinking water.

Objective: We investigated the prevalence of adverse birth outcomes among mothers exposed to trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetrachloroethylene [or perchloroethylene (PCE)] in indoor air contaminated through soil vapor intrusion.

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and neuropsychological status among older adults in New York.

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are emerging environmental contaminants, but little is known about their possible human health effects. The objective of this study is to evaluate the association between exposure to PBDEs and neuropsychological function among older adults and the possibility of effect modification with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Serum samples were analyzed for concentrations of 9 PBDE and 30 PCB congeners and 34 tests of cognitive and motor function, affective state, and olfactory function were assessed among 144 men and women of 55-74 years of age.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in indoor air and in serum among older residents of upper Hudson River communities.

A study was conducted to evaluate the association between PCBs in residential indoor air and in the serum of older, long time residents of three upper Hudson River communities. Samples of indoor air and of serum were collected from 170 persons 55 to 74 years of age, and analyzed for PCBs using glass capillary gas chromatography. After adjusting for age, BMI, cigarette smoking, and Hudson River fish consumption with multiple linear regression analysis, the results indicated statistically significant associations between concentrations in indoor air and serum for PCB-28, a lightly chlorinated congener common in air that accumulates in serum, and PCB-105.

Respiratory and cardiovascular hospitalizations after the World Trade Center disaster.

The objective of this study was to determine whether there were increases in respiratory and cardiovascular hospital admissions among residents of lower Manhattan after the destruction of the World Trade Center. The authors used hospital admission records from 1991 to 2001 with a diagnosis of respiratory, cardiovascular, or cerebrovascular illness and a residential address in lower Manhattan or Queens. The authors assessed the change in admissions by comparing lower Manhattan to Queens (the control area) and before and after 9/11 admissions in lower Manhattan.

Self-reported home environmental risk factors for childhood asthma: a cross-sectional study of children in Buffalo, New York.

We present prevalence estimates of indoor and outdoor environmental risk factors for asthma from a cross-sectional study of children 1 to 17 years of age living in Buffalo, New York. A child's primary caretaker completed a questionnaire about the household's demographics, lifestyle habits, housing, indoor and outdoor environment, and the child's activity patterns, family history of asthma, asthma symptoms and treatment, and medical care access. Significant environmental risk factors were presence of smokers in the household, humidifier or vaporizer use, chemical odors indoors, frequent truck traffic, and chemical odors outdoors.

Polychlorinated biphenyl exposure and neuropsychological status among older residents of upper Hudson River communities.

Background: Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) may accelerate the cognitive and motor dysfunction found in normal aging, but few studies have examined these outcomes and PCB exposure among older adults.

Objective: We evaluated neuropsychological status and low-level PCB exposure among older adults living along contaminated portions of the upper Hudson River in New York.

Methods: A total of 253 persons between 55 and 74 years of age were recruited and interviewed, and provided blood samples for congener-specific PCB analysis.

Outdoor air PCB concentrations in three communities along the Upper Hudson River, New York.

Outdoor air polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) concentrations were measured in upstate New York as part of a nonoccupational exposure investigation. The adjacent study communities of Hudson Falls and Fort Edward contain numerous sites of current and former PCB contamination, including two capacitor-manufacturing facilities. Outdoor air PCB concentrations in the study municipalities were significantly higher than in the comparison municipality of Glens Falls.

Environmental exposures to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) among older residents of upper Hudson River communities.

The upper Hudson River has been heavily contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) due to discharges from former electrical capacitor plants in Hudson Falls and Fort Edward, NY. An epidemiologic study was conducted to assess the impact of dietary and residential exposure on PCB body burden among older, long-term, non-occupationally exposed adults living in the vicinity of these former capacitor plants. The study population consisted of 133 persons 55-74 years of age who had lived in Hudson Falls or Fort Edward for 25 years or more.

Upper respiratory symptoms and other health effects among residents living near the World Trade Center site after September 11, 2001.

The authors investigated changes in respiratory health after September 11, 2001 ("9/11") among residents of the area near the World Trade Center (WTC) site in New York City as compared with residents of a control area. In 2002, self-administered questionnaires requesting information on the presence and persistence of respiratory symptoms, unplanned medical visits, and medication use were sent to 9,200 households (22.3% responded) within 1.

An evaluation of the asthma intervention of the New York State Healthy Neighborhoods Program.

Background: The Healthy Neighborhoods Programs (HNP) are funded by the Federal Preventive Health and Health Services block grants and administered by the New State Department of Health (NYSDOH). Eight county and local health departments are funded for 3 years for a total of $1.25 million per year to target households at risk for environmental health and safety hazards.

Prevalence and predictors of respiratory symptoms among New York farmers and farm residents.

Background: Data from telephone interviews with New York farmers and farm residents were used to study the prevalence and risk factors of symptoms that could be related to asthma and allergies.

Methods: Participants were asked if they had wheezing or whistling in the chest in the past year and about the occurrence of stuffy, itchy, runny nose or watery, itchy eyes in the past year.

Results: The prevalence of wheeze was 18.

Longitudinal study of energy and nutrient intakes for infants from low-income, urban families.

Objective: To assess the energy and nutrient intakes of healthy infants from low-income families and to compare intakes with current recommendations.

Design: We interviewed mother-infant pairs longitudinally when the infants were 3, 6, 9, 12, 18 and 24 months old. Food intake data were obtained by 24-hour dietary recalls.