Establishing links between air quality and health: Searching for the impossible?

Dunn, Christine E.; Kingham, Simon

doi:10.1016/0277-9536(95)00182-4

Cited by 19 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…In light of this the contextual role of unseasonably high air temperatures is therefore worthy of further investigation. Further work is warranted to explore spatial dispersal mechanisms through techniques such as air quality dispersion modelling, the results of which can be interfaced to Geographical Information Systems (GIS) software [10,30,31]. Using mean monthly temperatures for states in the Mid-Atlantic region of the USA, Hicks et al [22] found statistically significant correlations between monthly case counts of legionellosis and temperature in the preceding month.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Meteorological conditions and incidence of Legionnaires' disease in Glasgow, Scotland: application of statistical modelling

et al. 2012

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This study investigated the relationships between Legionnaires' disease (LD) incidence and weather in Glasgow, UK, by using advanced statistical methods. Using daily meteorological data and 78 LD cases with known exact date of onset, we fitted a series of Poisson log-linear regression models with explanatory variables for air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and year, and sine-cosine terms for within-year seasonal variation. Our initial model showed an association between LD incidence and 2-day lagged humidity (positive, P = 0·0236) and wind speed (negative, P = 0·033). However, after adjusting for year-by-year and seasonal variation in cases there were no significant associations with weather. We also used normal linear models to assess the importance of short-term, unseasonable weather values. The most significant association was between LD incidence and air temperature residual lagged by 1 day prior to onset (P = 0·0014). The contextual role of unseasonably high air temperatures is worthy of further investigation. Our methods and results have further advanced understanding of the role which weather plays in risk of LD infection.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Meteorological conditions and incidence of Legionnaires' disease in Glasgow, Scotland: application of statistical modelling

et al. 2012

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“…In common with other studies, we were not able to measure personal exposure to pollutants, but rather relied upon ambient concentrations. We acknowledge that concentrations may vary markedly over a small geographic range and indoor and outdoor exposure can be very different 13 33. Furthermore, exposures will be influenced by individual activity patterns 13.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental factors and hospitalisation for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in a rural county of England

Sauerzapf

Jones

Cross

2009

Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health

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“…(62) In "Establishing Links between Air Quality and Health: Searching for the Impossible? ", Dunn and Kingham outline some of the problems associated with dispersion modeling (63). The models require detailed inputs about emissions and facilities that may not be available or accurate, and they rely on assumptions about meteorologic and topographic conditions that may not reflect reality.…”

Section: Advanced Proximity Analysis Dispersion Modeling and Fate Amentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping environmental injustices: pitfalls and potential of geographic information systems in assessing environmental health and equity.

Maantay

2002

Environ Health Perspect

233

159

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Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have been used increasingly to map instances of environmental injustice, the disproportionate exposure of certain populations to environmental hazards. Some of the technical and analytic difficulties of mapping environmental injustice are outlined in this article, along with suggestions for using GIS to better assess and predict environmental health and equity. I examine 13 GIS-based environmental equity studies conducted within the past decade and use a study of noxious land use locations in the Bronx, New York, to illustrate and evaluate the differences in two common methods of determining exposure extent and the characteristics of proximate populations. Unresolved issues in mapping environmental equity and health include lack of comprehensive hazards databases; the inadequacy of current exposure indices; the need to develop realistic methodologies for determining the geographic extent of exposure and the characteristics of the affected populations; and the paucity and insufficiency of health assessment data. GIS have great potential to help us understand the spatial relationship between pollution and health. Refinements in exposure indices; the use of dispersion modeling and advanced proximity analysis; the application of neighborhood-scale analysis; and the consideration of other factors such as zoning and planning policies will enable more conclusive findings. The environmental equity studies reviewed in this article found a disproportionate environmental burden based on race and/or income. It is critical now to demonstrate correspondence between environmental burdens and adverse health impacts-to show the disproportionate effects of pollution rather than just the disproportionate distribution of pollution sources. Mapping Environmental Injustices: Pitfalls and Potential of Geographic Information Systems in Assessing Environmental Health and Equity Juliana MaantayDepartment of Geology and Geography, Lehman College, City University of New York, Bronx, New York, USA not hosts to a hazardous waste facility, the host areas showed an unmistakable statistical and spatial correspondence to minority populations (13).If "Toxic Wastes and Race" was the seminal study that helped propel the issue of environmental justice to the forefront of the public's consciousness in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it was certainly not the first environmental justice study. These issues have been researched extensively since at least the late 1960s, and study after study throughout three decades has shown the existence of disproportionate environmental impacts based on race and/or income (14,15). Since then, many other researchers have used mapping exercises to try to substantiate or refute the existence of environmental inequities.In this article I review 13 GIS-based environmental equity studies conducted within the past decade (Table 1). In evaluating these studies, it is important to understand exactly what is being mapped, and how it is being measured. Limitations of Mapping Environmental J...

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Establishing links between air quality and health: Searching for the impossible?

Cited by 19 publications

References 32 publications

Meteorological conditions and incidence of Legionnaires' disease in Glasgow, Scotland: application of statistical modelling

Meteorological conditions and incidence of Legionnaires' disease in Glasgow, Scotland: application of statistical modelling

Environmental factors and hospitalisation for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in a rural county of England

Mapping environmental injustices: pitfalls and potential of geographic information systems in assessing environmental health and equity.

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