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Abstract: Children spend substantial amount of time within school microenvironments; therefore, assessing school-based exposures is essential for characterizing and preventing children's health risks to air pollutants. Indeed, the importance of characterizing children's exposures in schools is recognized by the US Environmental Protection Agency's recent initiative to promote outdoor air monitoring networks near schools. As part of a health effects study investigating the impact of traffic-related air pollution on asthmatic children along the US–Mexico border, this research examines children's exposures to, and spatio-temporal heterogeneity in concentrations of, traffic-related air pollutants at four elementary schools in El Paso, Texas. Three schools were located in an area of high traffic density and one school in an area of low traffic density. Paired indoor and outdoor concentrations of 48-h fine and coarse particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10–2.5), 48-h black carbon (BC), 96-h nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and 96-h volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were measured for 13 weeks at each school. Outdoor concentrations of PM, NO2, BC, and BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, m,p-xylene, o-xylene) compounds were similar among the three schools in the high-traffic zone in contrast to the school in the low-traffic zone. Results from this study and previous studies in this region corroborate the fact that PM pollution in El Paso is dominated by coarse PM (PM10–2.5) and fine fraction (PM2.5) accounts for only 25–30% of the total PM mass in PM10. BTEX species and BC are better surrogates for traffic air pollution in this region. Correlation analyses indicate a range of association between indoor and outdoor pollutant concentrations due to uncontrollable factors like student foot traffic and varying building and ventilation configurations across the four schools. Results suggest the need of micro-scale monitoring for children's exposure assessment, which may not be adequately characterized by the measurements from a centralized monitoring site. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Exposure to ambient particulate matter (PM) is known as a significant risk factor for mortality and morbidity due to cardiorespiratory causes. Owing to increased interest in assessing personal and community exposures to PM, we evaluated the feasibility of employing a low-cost portable direct-reading instrument for measurement of ambient air PM exposure. A Dylos DC 1700 PM sensor was collocated with a Grimm 11-R in an urban residential area of Houston Texas. The 1-min averages of particle number concentrations for sizes between 0.5 and 2.5 µm (small size) and sizes larger than 2.5 µm (large size) from a DC 1700 were compared with the 1-min averages of PM2.5(aerodynamic size less than 2.5 µm) and coarse PM (aerodynamic size between 2.5 and 10 µm) concentrations from a Grimm 11-R. We used a linear regression equation to convert DC 1700 number concentrations to mass concentrations, utilizing measurements from the Grimm 11-R. The estimated average DC 1700 PM2.5concentration (13.2 ± 13.7 µg/m3) was similar to the average measured Grimm 11-R PM2.5concentration (11.3 ± 15.1 µg/m3). The overall correlation (r2) for PM2.5between the DC 1700 and Grimm 11-R was 0.778. The estimated average coarse PM concentration from the DC 1700 (5.6 ± 12.1 µg/m3) was also similar to that measured with the Grimm 11-R (4.8 ± 16.5 µg/m3) with anr2of 0.481. The effects of relative humidity and particle size on the association between the DC 1700 and the Grimm 11-R results were also examined. The calculated PM mass concentrations from the DC 1700 were close to those measured with the Grimm 11-R when relative humidity was less than 60% for both PM2.5and coarse PM. Particle size distribution was more important for the association of coarse PM between the DC 1700 and Grimm 11-R than it was for PM2.5. Implications: The performance of a low-cost particulate matter (PM) sensor was evaluated in an urban residential area. Both PM2.5and coarse PM (PM10-2.5) mass concentrations were estimated using a DC1700 PM sensor. The calculated PM mass concentrations from the number concentrations of DC 1700 were close to those measured with the Grimm 11-R when relative humidity was less than 60% for both PM2.5and coarse PM. Particle size distribution was more important for the association of coarse PM between the DC 1700 and Grimm 11-R than it was for PM2.5. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Exposure to traffic-related pollutants poses a serious health threat to residents of major urban centers around the world. In El Paso, Texas, this problem is exacerbated by the region''s arid weather, frequent temperature inversions, heavy border traffic, and an aged, poorly maintained vehicle fleet. The impact of exposure to traffic pollution, particularly on children with asthma, is poorly understood. Tracking the environmental health burden related to traffic pollution in El Paso is difficult, especially within school microenvironments, because of the lack of sensitive environmental health indicator data. The Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ) is a survey tool for the measurement of overall asthma control, yet has not previously been considered as an outcome in air pollution health effect research. We conducted a repeated measure panel study to examine weekly associations between ACQ scores and traffic- and non-traffic air pollutants among asthmatic schoolchildren in El Paso. In the main one- and two-pollutant epidemiologic models, we found non-significant, albeit suggestive, positive associations between ACQ scores and respirable particulate matter (PM10), coarse particulate matter (PM10–2.5), fine particulate matter (PM2.5), black carbon (BC), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), benzene, toluene, and ozone (O3). Notably, associations were stronger and significant for some subgroups, in particular among subjects taking daily inhaled corticosteroids. This pattern may indicate heightened immune system response in more severe asthmatics, those with worse asthma “control” and higher ACQ scores at baseline. If the ACQ is appropriately used in the context of air pollution studies, it could reflect clinically measurable and biologically relevant changes in lung function and asthma symptoms that result from poor air quality and may increase our understanding of how air pollution influences asthma exacerbation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]