Gender Differences in Respiratory Health of School Children Exposed to Rail Yard-Generated Air Pollution: The ENRRICH Study.

Studies about environmental burdens often explore overall community risk. Increasing evidence suggests, however, differential burdens by gender and age. The purpose of the authors' research was to determine if gender-related difference exists among children in a region plagued with poor air quality and if increased exposure to pollutants from a major goods movement rail yard influences the relationship.

Strategic Partnerships for Change in an Environmental Justice Community: The ENRRICH Study.

Background: San Bernardino, California, is home to the San Bernardino Railyard (SBR), a major commerce hub with high associated air-pollution, identified as an environmental justice (EJ) issue by local community and air quality agencies. Alarmingly, one elementary school is located only a few hundred yards from SBR.

Methods: The school, university researchers, and a local community-based organization (CBO) established a partnership to assess potential adverse health impacts in the children and develop interventions and mitigation plans.

Respiratory Health Risks for Children Living Near a Major Railyard.

Inland southern California is a region of public health concern, especially for children, given the area's perennially poor air quality and increasing sources of local pollution. One elementary school specifically is located only a few hundred yards from the San Bernardino Railyard, one of the busiest goods movement facilities in California, potentially increasing respiratory problems. Through ENRRICH (Environmental Railyard Research Impacting Community Health) Project, we assessed association of proximity to a major freight railyard on adverse respiratory health in schoolchildren.

Experiences of a rail yard community: life is hard.

Community groups and local air pollution control agencies have identified the San Bernardino Railyard (SBR) as a significant public health and environmental justice issue. In response, the authors conducted a comprehensive study with community members living in close proximity to the rail yard. The purpose of this article is to share the community's perceptions about the rail yard and ideas on sustainable change.

Making human subject protection training community responsive: experiences delivering on the community-based participatory research promise.

Background: A community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach was used by the California-based Environmental Railyard Research (ENRRICH) Study, a partnership between scientists from Loma Linda University (LLU) and a local community organization, with the aim of assessing the health effects of exposure to emissions from a rail yard on a community.

Methods/results: To allow meaningful community participation in all study activities and comply with institutional review board (IRB) requirements, all participants involved needed to be properly trained and certified in the ethical conduct of human subjects (HS) research. Existing IRB training materials and the conventional certification methods designed for university scientists are not well-suited for community members who often face educational as well as language barriers.

Environmental exposures, lung function, and respiratory health in rural Lao PDR.

Although the individual contributions of smoked tobacco and indoor air pollution have been identified, there are very few studies that have characterized and measured the effects of inhaled particles from a wide range of personal, household, and community practices common in rural Asia. The objective of our study was to examine the association between environmental inhaled exposures and lung function among rural males of Lao PDR. In a sample of 92 males from rural Lao PDR, study subjects completed a survey on household exposures, a physical exam, and the following measures of lung function: FEV1, FVC, and the ratio of FEV1/FVC.

Sustainability of plant-based diets: back to the future.

Plant-based diets in comparison to diets rich in animal products are more sustainable because they use many fewer natural resources and are less taxing on the environment. Given the global population explosion and increase in wealth, there is an increased demand for foods of animal origin. Environmental data are rapidly accumulating on the unsustainability of current worldwide food consumption practices that are high in meat and dairy products.

Ambient air pollutants and risk of fatal coronary heart disease among kidney transplant recipients.

Background: There is increasing evidence that specific ambient air pollutants are associated with coronary heart disease (CHD) morbidity and mortality. Because kidney transplant recipients have prevalent traditional and nontraditional risk factors, they may constitute a sensitive subgroup.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort.

A spatial needs assessment of indigent acute psychiatric discharges in California.

State and local mental health agencies have responsibility for the psychiatric care of Medicaid beneficiaries and indigents meeting pre-defined criteria. A significant uninsured caseload may prove draining to agencies and hospitals mandated to provide emergency services, resulting in limited access. A spatial needs assessment was conducted to find areas having a greater relative proportion of indigent psychiatric hospitalizations.

Quantification of the environmental impact of different dietary protein choices.

Quantitative environmental evaluations of meat, fresh vegetables, and processed protein based on soybeans suggest that the environmental burden of vegetarian foods is usually relatively low when production and processing are considered. The environmental comparison of cheese varieties made from cow milk and directly from lupine and the evaluation of energy inputs in fish protein and vegetable protein also suggest an environmental advantage for vegetarian food. In the evaluation of processed protein food based on soybeans and meat protein, a variety of environmental impacts associated with primary production and processing are a factor 4.