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40 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Why are children more susceptible to toxins? |
Blood brain is not fully formed, rapidly growing cells are usually more vulnerable, fetus and child may lack enzymes to detoxify |
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What was the Tooth Lead study? what did they demonstrate? |
It was a study where they took the teeth of children that fell out and they measured the amounts of lead in it, they also asked teachers to rate children based on behavioural problems they found those with higher lead concentrations have more behavioural problems |
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What were the two major exposures of Lead ? |
White Lead paint and gasoline additives |
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What led to a reduction in lead concentrations in Canada? |
The reduction in use of lead in gasoline lead toa dramatic concentration of lead in the air |
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How are children still being exposed to lead? |
-The paint deteriorates and it collects in the dust, -Drinking water can corrode and deteriorate the pipe whichcan lead to lead contamination |
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What did the Lead and IQ study reveal? What does this mean in terms of reduction ? |
That lead is dangerous at lower doses, It means to protect we need to reduce to 0 |
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What are two neurotoxins? What's a neurotoxin? |
Lead and Mercury, a poison that acts on the nervous system |
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In 2012 the CDC eliminated the term blood lead level ofconcern, and declared there is no ..? |
safe level of lead in children’s blood |
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Who is most susceptible to Mercury poisoning? |
pregnant women/developing fetus |
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What is the main source of mercury? What is the mercury cycle? |
-the main source of mercury into the environment is the air(coal fired power plant) Finds its way into sediment and converts into methylmercury -It biomagnifies as it moves up the food chain, small fish bioaccumulateit, larger fish eat that (higher concentrations in them), humans eat that(highest concentration) |
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What is asbestos? (IARC rank, chemical make up) |
Group 1 carcinogenic andassociated with respiratory disease Asbestos is the term given to group of six naturallyoccurring fibrous silicate minerals; white asbestos is by far the most commonlyused -Its strong, flexible, durable, incombustible,non-conducting, uses: fireproofing, insulation, roofing materials, home siding,floor tiles |
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Where does asbestos exposure take place today? |
concern for occupational setting, for general public itstypically quite low -higher exposures for: workers who disturb asbestoscontaining material during renovations, equipment installations etc-asbestos abatement (removal, renovation of asbestoscontaining material) -emergency personnel present during/after building damagefrom fire, earthquake, etc |
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What are the health effects of asbestos? (3) |
all chronic diseases no acute symptoms Mesothelioma (cancer of mesothelium, lining ofinner organs including lungs) (fatal usually within a few years of diagnosis) Lung cancer: smoking greatly increases risk,also cancers of the stomach, esophagus and colon Asbestosis: Fibrotic lung disease (scarred lungtissue), shortness of breath, reduced lung function |
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What is the latency effect of asbestos? |
Asbestos production peaked at 1970s and started to decline(about same time it was phased out) -the peak in mortality was in the early 2000’s and is still continuing |
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What are some Major community air pollutants? |
particulate matter (PM), ozone (O3),oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, volatile organiccompounds, ammonia, lead |
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What does PM2.5 and PM10 mean? What is a PM? |
That the diameters of the particles are less than 2.5 and less than 10 micrometers
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Why are we concerned with PM2.5 and PM10? |
Concerned with PM2.5 and PM10 because we can breath these inand can penetrate deeply into the lung |
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What is Ozone? What is it a precursor of? |
A secondary pollutant: forms in the atmosphere from precursor molecules: oxides of nitrogen+volatile organic compounds+sunlight = O3 |
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What is a secondary pollutant? What is a primary? What is the challenge of secondary pollutants? |
Primary pollutantsis one which is emitted from a sourceSecondary pollutantsforms in the atmosphere from precursor molecules The challenge is that to reduce it you have to reduce the upstream precursors |
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Is ozone beneficial? |
Yes and no In the upper atmosphere it provides protection from the sun At grout level where humans are, it can damage our lungs if breathed in |
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What is Traffic-related air pollution? What kind of gradient does it have? |
-mixture of particles and gases that seem to haveparticularly damaging effects on human health -a very sharp spatial gradient, where if you move away from the source you are unlikely to be exposed |
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WHO says that PM2.5 concentrations should not exceed what amount? |
10 micrograms/m3 |
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Why does air pollution have such a major impact on public health? |
because its effects many people, at a population level |
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What is the biggest fraction of negative health outcomes from air pollution? |
cardiovascular and circulatory diseases, not chronic lungdiseases |
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What is a time series study? (what is it, advantages, what does it cover, what does it show) |
-Uses daily data on air pollution, mortality counts, and meteorology -Relatively simple, easy, inexpensive-1000s of studies -Cities with a wide range of pop and pollution -Consistent associations between air pollution (PM) andmortality |
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Is there a threshold for air pollution? Why is this problematic? |
No, effects/links with health down to the lowest concentrations Problematic because at low concentrations it still affects health, that means the only way to stop poor health outcomes is to completely reduce it |
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What was the Harvard 6 studies? (What was its goal, who was in the study, what type of study) |
tried to quantify long-term air pollution and health -Observed 8,000 participants between 14-16 years -Prospective Cohort study -6 US cities |
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What was a study like the Harvard 6 studies? What type of study? What was its goal/result? |
American CancerSociety Study: -Prospective cohort study-552K participants, 151 US metropolitan areas -Essentially the same results as the Harvard 6 cities study |
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Air pollution studyfor Traffic-related air pollution demonstrated what? |
Found that the risk of cardiopulmonary mortality was almostdouble for those who lived near a major road than those who didn’t |
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What are some non-mortality outcomes of health? |
from lowest tohighest No adverse health effect Subclinical indicators Symptoms Emergency Visits Hospitals Mortality |
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What did the effect of Airpollution on lung development from 10 to 18 years age study show? How did they conduct the study? |
They found that air pollution caused impairments in lungdevelopment in 12 communities -They compared expected lung function to actual lungfunctions-As air pollution went up, impairment went up |
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What is air pollution's effect on Fetal Growth? |
associated with low birth rate |
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What are two examples of what happens when thepollution is removed? |
Dublin= Coal sales banned in Dublin-Decrease of non-trauma deaths, respiratory deaths, cardiovasculardeath US= 10 ug/m3 reduction in PM2.5 associated w/ average 0.6 yearincrease in life expectancy (air pollution reductions accounted for up to 15%of total life expectancy) |
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What are Solid Fuel use? What are some examples? |
Household Pollutions: -Unprocessed FuelsCoals, Biomass, Dung, Charcoal, Wood, Crop residues -Fuels are burned indoors, in open fires or poorlyfunctioning stovesOften not vented or outdoors |
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What is the biggest fraction of negative health outcomes from household pollutions? |
Acute lower respiratory infections, Chronic lung disease andCardiovascular and circulatory diseases from household air pollution from solidfuels |
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Why does Acute lower respiratory infections have such a large portion in household pollution DALYS? |
Because it mainly affects children and when children die they lose a lot of DALYS therefore taking up a large fraction |
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What are general categories for indoor air pollution for developed countries? |
-Criteria air pollutants (combustion products): PM, NOx, CO -Biological agents -Volatile Organic Compounds -Formaldehyde -Environmental tobacco smoke -Radon |
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Describe Carbon Monoxide, when does it appear, what are the health effects, how does it effect the body? |
-Colorless, odorless, tasteless gas -Any time we have combustion there will be some carbonmonoxide -Headaches, dizziness, nausea, confusion-Coma, death at high levels -Affects delivery of oxygen to cells, your blood prefers tobind to carbon monoxide to oxygen, therefore suffocating the cells |
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Describe Radon (units, recommended guideline, threshold, where its from, IARC rank, problematic where, chemical properties, does smoking have an effect?) |
expressed in bq/m3,guideline is 200bq/m3, no thresholdSource: Uranium in soil breaks down to form radon -IARC: Group 1 Carcinogen: lung cancer-Primarily a problem in indoors spaces (Basements) -Colorless, odorless, radioactive gas -smoking dramatically increases the lung cancer risk ofradon |
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How would you determine the PM2.5concentrations in a box? |
-First separate particles that are greater than PM2.5 andparticles that are less than PM2.5 -Then take the mass of the PM2.5 particles and divide it by the volume of air sampled so mass/volume of air sampled |
