Estimating rates of change to interpret quantitative wastewater surveillance of disease trends.

Background: Wastewater monitoring data can be used to estimate disease trends to inform public health responses. One commonly estimated metric is the rate of change in pathogen quantity, which typically correlates with clinical surveillance in retrospective analyses. However, the accuracy of rate of change estimation approaches has not previously been evaluated.

Detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater and comparison to COVID-19 cases in two sewersheds, North Carolina, USA.

Wastewater surveillance of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) may be useful for monitoring population-wide coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections, especially given asymptomatic infections and limitations in diagnostic testing. We aimed to detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater and compare viral concentrations to COVID-19 case numbers in the respective counties and sewersheds. Influent 24-hour composite wastewater samples were collected from July to December 2020 from two municipal wastewater treatment plants serving different population sizes in Orange and Chatham Counties in North Carolina.

Timing and Trends for Municipal Wastewater, Lab-Confirmed Case, and Syndromic Case Surveillance of COVID-19 in Raleigh, North Carolina.

To compare 4 COVID-19 surveillance metrics in a major metropolitan area. We analyzed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA in wastewater influent and primary solids in Raleigh, North Carolina, from April 10 through December 13, 2020. We compared wastewater results with lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases and syndromic COVID-like illness (CLI) cases to answer 3 questions: (1) Did they correlate? (2) What was the temporal alignment of the different surveillance systems? (3) Did periods of significant change (i.

Connecting Environmental Justice and Community Health: Effects of Hog Production in North Carolina.

Environmental justice means equal access to a healthful environment for all. In North Carolina, many sources of pollution disproportionately affect low-income communities and communities of color. Clinicians who recognize effects of environmental injustices can improve patient care and community health.

Hydrogen sulfide concentrations at three middle schools near industrial livestock facilities.

Safe school environments are essential for healthy development, yet some schools are near large-scale livestock facilities that emit air pollution. Hydrogen sulfide (HS) from decomposing manure is an indicator of livestock-related air pollution. We measured outdoor concentrations of HS at three public middle schools near livestock facilities in North Carolina.

Data quality from a longitudinal study of adolescent health at schools near industrial livestock facilities.

Purpose: Longitudinal designs enable examination of temporal relationships between exposures and health outcomes, but extended participation can cause study fatigue. We present an approach for analyzing data quality and study fatigue in a participatory, longitudinal study of adolescents.

Methods: Participants (n = 340) in the Rural Air Pollutants and Children's Health study completed daily diaries for 3 to 5 weeks in 2009 while we monitored outdoor pollutant concentrations.

Measurement of Total and Free Urinary Phenol and Paraben Concentrations over the Course of Pregnancy: Assessing Reliability and Contamination of Specimens in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study.

Background: Exposures to environmental phenols and parabens may be harmful, especially in utero. Prior studies have demonstrated high within-person variability of urinary concentrations across pregnancy.

Objectives: We sought to measure phenol and paraben biomarker concentrations for the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort (MoBa) study, assess within-person variability, and investigate any possible external phenol or paraben contamination of specimens.

Challenges and benefits of conducting environmental justice research in a school setting.

Environmental justice (EJ) research requires attention to consequences for research participants beyond those typically considered by institutional review boards. The imbalance of power between impacted communities and those who create and regulate pollution creates challenges for participation, yet research can also benefit those involved. Our community-academic partnership designed the Rural Air Pollutants and Children's Health (RAPCH) study to provide positive impacts while measuring health effects at three low-resource public middle schools near concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) in North Carolina.

Reliability of triclosan measures in repeated urine samples from Norwegian pregnant women.

Triclosan (TCS) is a synthetic antibacterial chemical that is used in personal care products and is measurable in urine. Urinary TCS has been associated with allergy in children in Norway and the United States. A reasonable degree of temporal reliability of TCS urinary concentrations has been reported among US children as well as for Puerto Rican pregnant women.

Air pollution, lung function, and physical symptoms in communities near concentrated Swine feeding operations.

Background: Concentrated animal feeding operations emit air pollutants that may affect health. We examined associations of reported hog odor and of monitored air pollutants with physical symptoms and lung function in people living within 1.5 miles of hog operations.

Unequal respiratory health risk: using GIS to explore hurricane-related flooding of schools in Eastern North Carolina.

This cross-sectional study investigated whether schools serving populations at high risk of developing respiratory infections in the state of North Carolina (USA) were disproportionately burdened by flooding from Hurricane Floyd. We used geographic information systems (GIS) to overlay a satellite-derived image of the flooded land with school locations. We identified 77 flooded schools and 355 schools that were not flooded in 36 counties.