Dataset Information

Cost of near-roadway and regional air pollution-attributable childhood asthma in Los Angeles County.

ABSTRACT: Background: Emerging evidence suggests that near-roadway air pollution (NRP) exposure causes childhood asthma. The associated costs are not well documented.

Objective: We estimated the cost of childhood asthma attributable to residential NRP exposure and regional ozone (O3) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels in Los Angeles County. We developed a novel approach to apportion the costs between these exposures under different pollution scenarios.

Methods: We integrated results from a study of willingness to pay to reduce the burden of asthma with results from studies of health care use and charges to estimate the costs of an asthma case and exacerbation. We applied those costs to the number of asthma cases and exacerbations caused by regional pollution in 2007 and to hypothetical scenarios of a 20% reduction in regional pollution in combination with a 20% reduction or increase in the proportion of the total population living within 75 m of a major roadway.

Results: Cost of air pollution-related asthma in Los Angeles County in 2007 was $441 million for O3 and $202 million for NO2 in 2010 dollars. Cost of routine care (care in absence of exacerbation) accounted for 18% of the combined NRP and O3 cost and 39% of the combined NRP and NO2 cost; these costs were not recognized in previous analyses. NRP-attributable asthma accounted for 43% (O3) to 51% (NO2) of the total annual cost of exacerbations and routine care associated with pollution. Hypothetical scenarios showed that costs from increased NRP exposure might offset savings from reduced regional pollution.

Conclusions: Our model disaggregates the costs of regional pollution and NRP exposure and illustrates how they might vary under alternative exposure scenarios. The cost of air pollution is a substantial burden on families and an economic loss for society.

SUBMITTER: Brandt S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4257136 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Cost of near-roadway and regional air pollution-attributable childhood asthma in Los Angeles County.

Brandt Sylvia S Perez Laura L Künzli Nino N Lurmann Fred F Wilson John J Pastor Manuel M McConnell Rob R

The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology 20141105 5

<h4>Background</h4>Emerging evidence suggests that near-roadway air pollution (NRP) exposure causes childhood asthma. The associated costs are not well documented.<h4>Objective</h4>We estimated the cost of childhood asthma attributable to residential NRP exposure and regional ozone (O3) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels in Los Angeles County. We developed a novel approach to apportion the costs between these exposures under different pollution scenarios.<h4>Methods</h4>We integrated results from ...[more]

PMID: 25439228

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Project description:BackgroundChildren residing in communities near metalworking industries are vulnerable to multiple toxic metal exposures. Understanding biomarkers of exposure to multiple toxic metals is important to characterize cumulative burden and to distinguish potential exposure sources in such environmental justice neighborhoods impacted by industrial operations. Exposure to metal mixtures has not been well-characterized among children residing in the United States, and is understudied in communities of color.MethodsIn this study we used toenail clippings, a noninvasive biomarker, to assess exposure to arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), manganese (Mn), lead (Pb), antimony (Sb), selenium (Se), and vanadium (V). We used nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF) to identify "source" signatures and patterns of exposure among predominantly working class Latinx children residing near an industrial corridor in Southeast Los Angeles County. Additionally, we investigated the association between participant demographic, spatial, and dietary characteristics with identified metal signatures.ResultsThrough NMF, we identified three groupings (source factors) for the metal concentrations in children's toenails. A grouping composed of Sb, Pb, As, and Cd, was identified as a potential industrial source factor, reflective of known airborne elemental emissions in the industrial corridor. We further identified a manganese source factor primarily composed of Mn, and a potential dietary source factor driven by Se and Hg. We observed differences in the industrial source factor by age of participants, while the dietary source factor varied by neighborhood.ConclusionUtilizing an unsupervised dimension reduction technique (NMF), we identified a "source signature" of contamination in toenail samples from children living near metalworking industry. Investigating patterns and sources of exposures in cumulatively burdened communities is necessary to identify appropriate public health interventions.

Dataset Information

Cost of near-roadway and regional air pollution-attributable childhood asthma in Los Angeles County.

Publications

Cost of near-roadway and regional air pollution-attributable childhood asthma in Los Angeles County.

Similar Datasets

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