As part of Community Action Against Asthma, community-based participatory research partnership composed of representatives of community-based organizations, health agencies, and academia, research is being conducted to evaluate personal environmental exposures to asthmatic children in an urban environment. Environmental exposure assessment includes the collection of household dust samples each year in homes of 300 asthmatic children. In addition, seasonal measurement campaigns are conducted four times a year for a two-week duration in which daily ambient measurements of PM2.5 and PM10 are collected at two elementary schools in the southwestern and eastern communities of Detroit. Concurrently, indoor measurements of PM2.5 and PM10 are made at the schools as well as inside the homes of a subset of twenty asthmatic children. Daily personal measurements of PM10 are also collected for these twenty asthmatic children. Gravimetric analyses of the measurements made during the first year of sample collection indicate that there are contributions to personal exposures that are not captured by the fixed monitoring sites. Personal PM10 concentrations among the children living in homes with non-smokers averaged 91 + 103 µg/m3 (N=134). Ambient and indoor PM10 concentrations were, on average, 50% of the children's personal exposure, 25 + 13 µg/m3 (N=143) outdoors and 46 + 66 µg/m3 (N=181) indoors in homes with non-smokers. Comprehensive chemical and elemental characterization of the samples will provide a more complete assessment of the PM components, as well as valuable insight on the sources contributing to the children's exposures and potentially relate to the exacerbation of childhood asthma.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to: 1. Understand the exposure assessment approach used by the CAAA Project of the Michigan Center for the Environment and Children's Health (MCECH); 2. Gain an appreciation for logistical constraints in conducting community-based exposure assessments; and 3. Understand some of the factors influencing personal exposures to particulate matter among urban asthmatic children.
Keywords: Asthma, Community-Based Partnership
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.