Association of ambient air pollution and pesticide mixtures on respiratory inflammatory markers in agricultural communities.

Air pollution exposure is associated with adverse respiratory health outcomes. Evidence from occupational and community-based studies also suggests agricultural pesticides have negative health impacts on respiratory health. Although populations are exposed to multiple inhalation hazards simultaneously, multidomain mixtures (e.

Factors affecting urinary organophosphate pesticide metabolite levels among Californian agricultural community members.

Organophosphate (OP) pesticides are widely used in California for agricultural pest and weed control despite their well-documented adverse health effects among infants, children, and adults. We sought to identify factors affecting urinary OP metabolites among families living in high-exposure communities. Our study included 80 children and adults who lived within 61 m (200 ft) of agricultural fields in the Central Valley of California in January and June 2019, which are pesticide non-spraying and spraying seasons, respectively.

Factors Associated with Levels of Organophosphate Pesticides in Household Dust in Agricultural Communities.

Organophosphate (OP) pesticides are associated with numerous adverse health outcomes. Pesticide use data are available for California from the Pesticide Use Report (PUR), but household- and individual-level exposure factors have not been fully characterized to support its refinement as an exposure assessment tool. Unique exposure pathways, such as proximity to agricultural operations and direct occupational contact, further complicate pesticide exposure assessment among agricultural communities.

Model choice for estimating the association between exposure to chemical mixtures and health outcomes: A simulation study.

Challenges arise in researching health effects associated with chemical mixtures. Several methods have recently been proposed for estimating the association between health outcomes and exposure to chemical mixtures, but a formal simulation study comparing broad-ranging methods is lacking. We select five recently developed methods and evaluate their performance in estimating the exposure-response function, identifying active mixture components, and identifying interactions in a simulation study.

Long-Term Acute Care Hospitals Extend ICU Capacity for COVID-19 Response and Recovery.

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented novel challenges for the entire health-care continuum, requiring transformative changes to hospital and post-acute care, including clinical, administrative, and physical modifications to current standards of operations. Innovative use and adaptation of long-term acute care hospitals (LTACHs) can safely and effectively care for patients during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. A framework for the rapid changes, including increasing collaboration with external health-care organizations, creating new methods for enhanced communication, and modifying processes focused on patient safety and clinical outcomes, is described for a network of 94 LTACHs.

The joint effect of ambient air pollution and agricultural pesticide exposures on lung function among children with asthma.

Background: Ambient environmental pollutants have been shown to adversely affect respiratory health in susceptible populations. However, the role of simultaneous exposure to multiple diverse environmental pollutants is poorly understood.

Objective: We applied a multidomain, multipollutant approach to assess the association between pediatric lung function measures and selected ambient air pollutants and pesticides.

Characterizing the joint effects of pesticide exposure and criteria ambient air pollutants on pediatric asthma morbidity in an agricultural community.

Background: Environmental contributions to pediatric asthma morbidity have been studied extensively in urban settings; exposures characteristic of agricultural and rural communities have received less attention despite a comparable burden of morbidity.

Methods: We obtained repeated urine samples (n = 139) from 16 school-age children with asthma in the Yakima Valley of Washington State between July and October 2012. Biomarkers of organophosphate (OP) pesticide exposure (dialkyl phosphates [DAPs]) and asthma exacerbation (leukotriene E4 [LTE4]) were analyzed in samples.

Association of Organophosphate Pesticide Exposure and a Marker of Asthma Morbidity in an Agricultural Community.

: We explored the short-term impact of pesticide exposure on asthma exacerbation among children with asthma in an agricultural community.: We obtained repeated urine samples from a subset of 16 school-age children with asthma (n = 139 samples) as part of the Aggravating Factors of Asthma in a Rural Environment (AFARE) study cohort. Biomarkers of organophosphate (OP) pesticide exposure (dialkylphosphates (DAPs)), and asthma exacerbation (leukotriene E4 (uLTE4)) were assessed in urine samples.

Optimizing community-level surveillance data for pediatric asthma management.

Community-level approaches for pediatric asthma management rely on locally collected information derived primarily from two sources: claims records and school-based surveys. We combined claims and school-based surveillance data, and examined the asthma-related risk patterns among adolescent students. Symptom data collected from school-based asthma surveys conducted in Oakland, CA were used for case identification and determination of severity levels for students (high and low).