Mary B. Rice

Long-Term Exposure to Traffic Emissions and Fine Particulate Matter and Lung Function Decline in the Framingham Heart Study

RATIONALE Few studies have examined associations between long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and lung function decline in adults. OBJECTIVES To determine if exposure to traffic and PM2.5 is associated with longitudinal changes in lung function in a population-based cohort in the Northeastern United States, where pollution levels are relatively low. METHODS FEV1 and FVC were measured up to two times between 1995 and 2011 among 6,339 participants of the Framingham Offspring or Third Generation studies. We tested associations between residential proximity to a major roadway and PM2.5 exposure in 2001 (estimated by a land-use model using satellite measurements of aerosol optical thickness) and lung function. We examined differences in average lung function using mixed-effects models and differences in lung function decline using linear regression models. Current smokers were excluded. Models were adjusted for age, sex, height, weight, pack-years, socioeconomic status indicators, cohort, time, season, and weather. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Living less than 100 m from a major roadway was associated with a 23.2 ml (95% confidence interval [CI], -44.4 to -1.9) lower FEV1 and a 5.0 ml/yr (95% CI, -9.0 to -0.9) faster decline in FEV1 compared with more than 400 m. Each 2 μg/m(3) increase in average of PM2.5 was associated with a 13.5 ml (95% CI, -26.6 to -0.3) lower FEV1 and a 2.1 ml/yr (95% CI, -4.1 to -0.2) faster decline in FEV1. There were similar associations with FVC. Associations with FEV1/FVC ratio were weak or absent. CONCLUSIONS Long-term exposure to traffic and PM2.5, at relatively low levels, was associated with lower FEV1 and FVC and an accelerated rate of lung function decline.

Lifetime Exposure to Ambient Pollution and Lung Function in Children

RATIONALE Few studies have examined associations between exposure to air pollution and childhood lung function after implementation of strict air quality regulations in the 1990s. OBJECTIVES To assess traffic-related pollution exposure and childhood lung function. METHODS We geocoded addresses for 614 mother-child pairs enrolled during pregnancy in the Boston area 1999-2002 and followed them until a mid-childhood visit (median age, 7.7). We calculated the proximity of the home to the nearest major roadway. We estimated first year of life, lifetime, and prior-year exposure to particulate matter with a diameter smaller than 2.5 μm (PM2.5) by a hybrid model using satellite-derived aerosol optical depth, and to black carbon (BC) by a land-use regression model. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Residential proximity to roadway and prior-year and lifetime PM2.5 and BC exposure were all associated with lower FVC. Associations with FEV1 were also negative and proportionally similar. Pollution exposures were not associated with the FEV1/FVC ratio or bronchodilator response. Compared with distances greater than or equal to 400 m, living less than 100 m from a major roadway was associated with lower FVC (-98.6 ml; -176.3 to -21.0). Each 2 μg/m(3) increment in prior-year PM2.5 was associated with lower FVC (-21.8 ml; -43.9 to 0.2) and higher odds of FEV1 less than 80% predicted (1.41; 1.03-1.93). Each 0.2 μg/m(3) increment in prior-year BC was associated with a 38.9 ml (-70.4 to -7.3) lower FVC. CONCLUSIONS Estimates of long-term exposure to ambient pollution, including proximity to major roadway, PM2.5, and BC (a traffic-related PM2.5 constituent), were associated with lower lung function in this Boston-area cohort of children with relatively low pollution exposures.

Relation of Long-term Exposure to Air Pollution to Brachial Artery Flow-Mediated Dilation and Reactive Hyperemia

Long-term exposure to ambient air pollution has been associated with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Impaired vascular responses may, in part, explain these findings, but the association of such long-term exposure with measures of both conduit artery and microvascular function has not been widely reported. We evaluated the association between residential proximity to a major roadway (primary or secondary highway) and spatially resolved average fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and baseline brachial artery diameter and mean flow velocity, flow-mediated dilation%, and hyperemic flow velocity, in the Framingham Offspring and Third Generation Cohorts. We examined 5,112 participants (2,731 [53%] women, mean age 49 ± 14 years). Spatially resolved average PM2.5 was associated with lower flow-mediated dilation% and hyperemic flow velocity. An interquartile range difference in PM2.5 (1.99 μg/m(3)) was associated with -0.16% (95% confidence interval [CI] -0.27%, -0.05%) lower flow-mediated dilation% and -0.72 (95% CI -1.38, -0.06) cm/s lower hyperemic flow velocity%. Residential proximity to a major roadway was negatively associated with flow-mediated dilation%. Compared with living ≥400 m away, living <50 m from a major roadway was associated with 0.32% lower flow-mediated dilation (95% CI -0.58%, -0.06%), but results for hyperemic flow velocity had wide confidence intervals -0.68 cm/s (95% CI -2.29, 0.93). In conclusion, residential proximity to a major roadway and higher levels of spatially resolved estimates of PM2.5 at participant residences are associated with impaired conduit artery and microvascular function in this large community-based cohort of middle-aged and elderly adults.

Lungs in a Warming World: Climate Change and Respiratory Health

Climate change is a health threat no less consequential than cigarette smoking. Increased concentrations of greenhouse gases, and especially CO₂, in the earths atmosphere have already warmed the planet substantially, causing more severe and prolonged heat waves, temperature variability, air pollution, forest fires, droughts, and floods, all of which put respiratory health at risk. These changes in climate and air quality substantially increase respiratory morbidity and mortality for patients with common chronic lung diseases such as asthma and COPD and other serious lung diseases. Physicians have a vital role in addressing climate change, just as they did with tobacco, by communicating how climate change is a serious, but remediable, hazard to their patients.

Short‐Term Exposure to Air Pollution and Biomarkers of Oxidative Stress: The Framingham Heart Study

Background Short‐term exposure to elevated air pollution has been associated with higher risk of acute cardiovascular diseases, with systemic oxidative stress induced by air pollution hypothesized as an important underlying mechanism. However, few community‐based studies have assessed this association. Methods and Results Two thousand thirty‐five Framingham Offspring Cohort participants living within 50 km of the Harvard Boston Supersite who were not current smokers were included. We assessed circulating biomarkers of oxidative stress including blood myeloperoxidase at the seventh examination (1998–2001) and urinary creatinine‐indexed 8‐epi‐prostaglandin F2α (8‐epi‐PGF 2α) at the seventh and eighth (2005–2008) examinations. We measured fine particulate matter (PM 2.5), black carbon, sulfate, nitrogen oxides, and ozone at the Supersite and calculated 1‐, 2‐, 3‐, 5‐, and 7‐day moving averages of each pollutant. Measured myeloperoxidase and 8‐epi‐PGF 2α were loge transformed. We used linear regression models and linear mixed‐effects models with random intercepts for myeloperoxidase and indexed 8‐epi‐PGF 2α, respectively. Models were adjusted for demographic variables, individual‐ and area‐level measures of socioeconomic position, clinical and lifestyle factors, weather, and temporal trend. We found positive associations of PM 2.5 and black carbon with myeloperoxidase across multiple moving averages. Additionally, 2‐ to 7‐day moving averages of PM 2.5 and sulfate were consistently positively associated with 8‐epi‐PGF 2α. Stronger positive associations of black carbon and sulfate with myeloperoxidase were observed among participants with diabetes than in those without. Conclusions Our community‐based investigation supports an association of select markers of ambient air pollution with circulating biomarkers of oxidative stress.

Climate Change. A Global Threat to Cardiopulmonary Health

Recent changes in the global climate system have resulted in excess mortality and morbidity, particularly among susceptible individuals with preexisting cardiopulmonary disease. These weather patterns are projected to continue and intensify as a result of rising CO2 levels, according to the most recent projections by climate scientists. In this Pulmonary Perspective, motivated by the American Thoracic Society Committees on Environmental Health Policy and International Health, we review the global human health consequences of projected changes in climate for which there is a high level of confidence and scientific evidence of health effects, with a focus on cardiopulmonary health. We discuss how many of the climate-related health effects will disproportionally affect people from economically disadvantaged parts of the world, who contribute relatively little to CO2 emissions. Last, we discuss the financial implications of climate change solutions from a public health perspective and argue for a harmonized approach to clean air and climate change policies.

Special FeaturesLungs in a Warming World: Climate Change and Respiratory Health

Climate change is a health threat no less consequential than cigarette smoking. Increased concentrations of greenhouse gases, and especially CO₂, in the earths atmosphere have already warmed the planet substantially, causing more severe and prolonged heat waves, temperature variability, air pollution, forest fires, droughts, and floods, all of which put respiratory health at risk. These changes in climate and air quality substantially increase respiratory morbidity and mortality for patients with common chronic lung diseases such as asthma and COPD and other serious lung diseases. Physicians have a vital role in addressing climate change, just as they did with tobacco, by communicating how climate change is a serious, but remediable, hazard to their patients.

Obesity and ARDS

Obesity prevalence continues to increase globally, with figures exceeding 30% of some populations. Patients who are obese experience alterations in baseline pulmonary mechanics, including airflow obstruction, decreased lung volumes, and impaired gas exchange. These physiologic changes have implications in many diseases, including ARDS. The unique physiology of patients who are obese affects the presentation and pathophysiology of ARDS, and patients who are obese who have respiratory failure present specific management challenges. Although more study is forthcoming, ventilator strategies that focus on transpulmonary pressure as a measure of lung stress show promise in pilot studies. Given the increasing prevalence of obesity and the variable effects of obesity on respiratory mechanics and ARDS pathophysiology, we recommend an individualized approach to the management of the obese patient with ARDS.

Residential proximity to major roadways, fine particulate matter, and adiposity: The framingham heart study

Higher traffic‐related air pollution has been associated with higher body mass index (BMI) among children. However, few studies have assessed the associations among adults.

Exposure to traffic and early life respiratory infection: A cohort study

We examined whether proximity to a major roadway and traffic density around the home during pregnancy are associated with risk of early life respiratory infection in a pre‐birth cohort in the Boston area. We geocoded addresses for 1,263 mother‐child pairs enrolled during the first trimester of pregnancy in Project Viva during 1999–2002. We calculated distance from home to nearest major roadway and traffic density in a 100 m buffer around the home. We defined respiratory infection as maternal report of ≥1 doctor‐diagnosed pneumonia, bronchiolitis, croup, or other respiratory infection from birth until the early childhood visit (median age 3.3). We used relative risk regression models adjusting for potential confounders to estimate associations between traffic exposures and risk of respiratory infection. Distance to roadway during pregnancy was associated with risk of respiratory infection. In fully adjusted models, relative risks (95% CI) for respiratory infection were: 1.30 (1.08, 1.55) for <100 m, 1.15 (0.93, 1.41) for 100 to <200 m, and 0.95 (0.84, 1.07) for 200 to <1,000 m compared with living ≥1,000 m away from a major roadway. Each interquartile range increase in distance to roadway was associated with an 8% (95% CI 0.87, 0.98) lower risk, and each interquartile range increase in traffic density was associated with a 5% (95% CI 0.98, 1.13) higher risk of respiratory infection. Our findings suggest that living close to a major roadway during pregnancy may predispose the developing lung to infection in early life. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2015; 50:252–259.