Effects of Heating Season on Residential Indoor and Outdoor Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, Black Carbon, and Particulate Matter in an Urban Birth Cohort.

Exposure to air pollutants has been associated with adverse health effects. However, analyses of the effects of season and ambient parameters such as ozone have not been fully conducted. Residential indoor and outdoor air levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), black carbon (measured as absorption coefficient [Abs]), and fine particulate matter <2.

Chlorpyrifos exposure and urban residential environment characteristics as determinants of early childhood neurodevelopment.

Objectives: We evaluated whether neighborhood characteristics correlated with early neurodevelopment and whether these characteristics confounded the previously reported association between exposure to chlorpyrifos (an organophosphate insecticide) and neurodevelopment.

Methods: We obtained prenatal addresses, chlorpyrifos exposure data, and 36-month Psychomotor Development Index (PDI) and Mental Development Index (MDI) scores for a birth cohort in New York City (born 1998-2002). We used data from the 2000 US Census to estimate measures of physical infrastructure, socioeconomic status, crowding, demographic composition, and linguistic isolation for 1-kilometer network areas around each child's prenatal address.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon metabolite levels and pediatric allergy and asthma in an inner-city cohort.

Exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) has been associated with allergic sensitization and asthma. We hypothesized that increased urinary PAH metabolites are associated with allergy or asthma among children age 5 yrs in an inner-city birth cohort. As part of an ongoing prospective birth cohort under the auspices of the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health (CCCEH), urine was collected from 5-yr-old children (n = 222) of Dominican American and African American mothers in Northern Manhattan and South Bronx of New York City.

Prenatal acetaminophen exposure and risk of wheeze at age 5 years in an urban low-income cohort.

Background: Acetaminophen has been associated with asthma and is in part metabolised via the glutathione pathway. Inner-city minority children have high asthma morbidity and a relatively high frequency of a minor allele variant in the glutathione S transferase Pi gene (GSTP1). We hypothesised that prenatal acetaminophen exposure would predict wheeze at age 5 years in an inner-city minority cohort and examined whether this association was modified by common polymorphisms in genes related to the glutathione pathway.

Ambient metals, elemental carbon, and wheeze and cough in New York City children through 24 months of age.

Rationale: The effects of exposure to specific components of ambient fine particulate matter (PM(2.5)), including metals and elemental carbon (EC), have not been fully characterized in young children.

Objectives: To compare temporal associations among PM(2.

Effectiveness of an integrated pest management intervention in controlling cockroaches, mice, and allergens in New York City public housing.

Background: Cockroaches and mice, which are common in urban homes, are sources of allergens capable of triggering asthma symptoms. Traditional pest control involves the use of scheduled applications of pesticides by professionals as well as pesticide use by residents. In contrast, integrated pest management (IPM) involves sanitation, building maintenance, and limited use of least toxic pesticides.

A biomarker validation study of prenatal chlorpyrifos exposure within an inner-city cohort during pregnancy.

Background: We previously documented significant decreases in chlorpyrifos concentrations in maternal personal and indoor air samples among pregnant African-American and Dominican women from New York City after the 2000-2001 restrictions on its residential use.

Objective: We undertook a biomarker validation study within the same cohort to evaluate trends over time in multiple biomarkers of prenatal chlorpyrifos exposure.

Methods: Subjects were enrolled between February 2001 and May 2004 (n = 102).

Spatial and temporal trends of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and other traffic-related airborne pollutants in New York City.

Traffic-related air pollutants have been associated with adverse health effects. We hypothesized that exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), elemental carbon (EC, diesel indicator), particulate matter (PM2.5), and a suite of metals declined from 1998 to 2006 in NYC due to policy interventions.

Prenatal exposure to airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and risk of intrauterine growth restriction.

Background: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous air pollutants generated by combustion of organic material, including fossil fuel.

Objectives: It has been an open question whether prenatal exposure to air pollution in general and PAHs in particular significantly increases the risk of intrauterine growth restriction, including small size for gestational age (SGA), and preterm delivery. Here, we have examined this hypothesis in a cohort of mothers and newborns in New York City.

Early respiratory infections and asthma among New York City Head Start children.

Background: Respiratory infections in neonates have been found to predict wheeze among young children. We hypothesized that among preschool children from low-income minority communities in New York City, current asthma would be associated with a history of respiratory infection in the first few months after their birth.

Methods: We asked parents of children in New York City Head Start centers (preschool programs for children of low-income families) to respond to a questionnaire covering demographic factors, lifestyle, home environment, and health history, including a detailed history of respiratory conditions.

Cat ownership is a risk factor for the development of anti-cat IgE but not current wheeze at age 5 years in an inner-city cohort.

Background: Cat ownership is inversely associated with atopy and asthma in some areas of the world, but the relevance of cat ownership to allergic disease in the inner city is less known.

Objective: We sought to evaluate the relationship between cat ownership and the development of early sensitization and wheeze.

Methods: By using a prospective birth cohort study, Dominican and African American mothers living in New York City underwent repeated questionnaires about their child from birth to age 5 years.

Within- and between-home variability in indoor-air insecticide levels during pregnancy among an inner-city cohort from New York City.

Background: Residential insecticide use is widespread in the United States, but few data are available on the persistence and variability in levels in the indoor environment.

Objective: The study aim was to assess within- and between-home variability in indoor-air insecticides over the final 2 months of pregnancy among a cohort of African-American and Dominican women from New York City.

Methods: Women not employed outside the home were enrolled between February 2001 and May 2004 (n = 102); 9 insecticides and an adjuvant were measured in 48-hr personal air samples and 2-week integrated indoor air samples collected sequentially for 7.

Impact of prenatal chlorpyrifos exposure on neurodevelopment in the first 3 years of life among inner-city children.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of prenatal exposure to chlorpyrifos on 3-year neurodevelopment and behavior in a sample of inner-city minority children.

Methods: As part of an ongoing prospective cohort study in an inner-city minority population, neurotoxicant effects of prenatal exposure to chlorpyrifos were evaluated in 254 children through the first 3 years of life. This report examined cognitive and motor development at 12, 24, and 36 months (measured with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development II) and child behavior at 36 months (measured with the Child Behavior Checklist) as a function of chlorpyrifos levels in umbilical cord plasma.

Determinants of cockroach and mouse exposure and associations with asthma in families and elderly individuals living in New York City public housing.

Background: Asthma prevalence is high in the inner city, and morbidity has been associated with cockroach and mouse allergens.

Objective: To characterize the relationships among pests, allergens, pesticides, and asthma in New York City public housing.

Methods: In 324 apartments, dust samples collected from beds and kitchens were analyzed for cockroach (Bla g 2) and mouse (mouse urinary protein [MUP]) allergens, pest populations were monitored, and residents were interviewed about home characteristics and asthma symptoms.

Endotoxin in inner-city homes: associations with wheeze and eczema in early childhood.

Background: An inverse association between domestic exposure to endotoxin and atopy in childhood has been observed. The relevance of this aspect of the hygiene hypothesis to US inner-city communities that have disproportionately high asthma prevalence has not been determined.

Objectives: To measure endotoxin in the dust from inner-city homes, evaluate associations between endotoxin and housing/lifestyle characteristics, and determine whether endotoxin exposure predicted wheeze, allergic rhinitis, and eczema over the first 3 years of life.

Prevalence of allergy symptoms and total IgE in a New York City cohort and their association with birth order.

Background: An inverse association between birth order and allergic disease has been widely observed, but has not been examined in the high asthma prevalence, inner-city populations of the United States. As part of an ongoing prospective birth cohort study, the prevalence of early phenotypes of asthma and/or allergy was compared with those reported in other studies, and the association with birth order was evaluated.

Methods: Children of Dominican and African-American mothers living in Northern Manhattan underwent detailed periodic questionnaires.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, environmental tobacco smoke, and respiratory symptoms in an inner-city birth cohort.

Study Objectives: Several studies have found associations between diesel exposure, respiratory symptoms, and/or impaired pulmonary function. We hypothesized that prenatal exposure to airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), important components of diesel exhaust and other combustion sources, may be associated with respiratory symptoms in young children. We also hypothesized that exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) may worsen symptoms beyond that observed to be associated with PAH alone.

Prenatal insecticide exposures and birth weight and length among an urban minority cohort.

We reported previously that insecticide exposures were widespread among minority women in New York City during pregnancy and that levels of the organophosphate chlorpyrifos in umbilical cord plasma were inversely associated with birth weight and length. Here we expand analyses to include additional insecticides (the organophosphate diazinon and the carbamate propoxur), a larger sample size (n = 314 mother-newborn pairs), and insecticide measurements in maternal personal air during pregnancy as well as in umbilical cord plasma at delivery. Controlling for potential confounders, we found no association between maternal personal air insecticide levels and birth weight, length, or head circumference.

Pesticide sales in low-income, minority neighborhoods.

The US EPA has phased-out residential use of two organophosphate pesticides commonly used to control cockroaches-retail sales of chlorpyrifos were scheduled to end on 12/31/01, and diazinon on 12/31/02. In light of recent findings highlighting the associations between pests, pesticides and health, we surveyed stores in low-income, minority neighborhoods in New York City to determine whether the phase-outs have been effective and to assess the availability of alternatives to spray pesticides. In summer 2002, when sales of chlorpyrifos were illegal and diazinon still legal, we surveyed 106 stores selling pesticides.

Contemporary-use pesticides in personal air samples during pregnancy and blood samples at delivery among urban minority mothers and newborns.

We have measured 29 pesticides in plasma samples collected at birth between 1998 and 2001 from 230 mother and newborn pairs enrolled in the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health prospective cohort study. Our prior research has shown widespread pesticide use during pregnancy among this urban minority cohort from New York City. We also measured eight pesticides in 48-hr personal air samples collected from the mothers during pregnancy.

Effects of transplacental exposure to environmental pollutants on birth outcomes in a multiethnic population.

Inner-city, minority populations are high-risk groups for adverse birth outcomes and also are more likely to be exposed to environmental contaminants, including environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and pesticides. In a sample of 263 nonsmoking African-American and Dominican women, we evaluated the effects on birth outcomes of prenatal exposure to airborne PAHs monitored during pregnancy by personal air sampling, along with ETS estimated by plasma cotinine, and an organophosphate pesticide (OP) estimated by plasma chlorpyrifos (CPF). Plasma CPF was used as a covariate because it was the most often detected in plasma and was highly correlated with other pesticides frequently detected in plasma.

Deteriorated housing contributes to high cockroach allergen levels in inner-city households.

The high prevalence of childhood asthma in low-income, inner-city populations is not fully understood but has been at least partly attributed to the disproportionate exposures associated with socioeconomic disadvantage. The contribution of indoor allergens to asthma is well documented, but links between socioeconomic disadvantage and indoor allergen levels are not clear. We investigated levels of cockroach allergens (Bla g 2) in a sample of 132 Dominican or African American low-income households with young children in northern Manhattan in New York City (40% were receiving public assistance) to determine whether the distribution of allergens is a function of housing deterioration.