School-Based Study of Complex Environmental Exposures and Related Health Effects in Children: Part A - Exposure. Final Report and Executive Summary.

The School Health Initiative: Environment, Learning, and Disease (SHIELD) study examined children's exposure to complex mixtures of environmental agents (i.e., volatile organic chemicals, environmental tobacco smoke, allergens, bioaerosols, metals, and pesticides). Environmental, personal, and biological data were collected on ethnically and linguistically diverse children in grades 2-5 from two Minneapolis, Minnesota, elementary schools. The enrollment rate for English-speaking, predominantly African American families was 42 percent, compared to 71 percent for non-English-speaking families (predominantly Somali and Hispanic). Most SHIELD households were low income, and 44 percent had no occupant with a high school degree or equivalent. These preliminary results indicated that there were ethnic/racial differences in exposure to environmental tobacco smoke in two economically disadvantaged neighborhoods. African American children tended to have the highest exposure, and Hispanic and Somali children had the lowest exposure. Both the baseline questionnaire and time-activity log did a reasonably good job of predicting urine total cotinine levels. Measured urine total cotinine levels were relatively good predictors of urinary NNAL+ NNAL-Gluc. Temperature, relative humidity, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide levels were comparable inside an older and newer elementary school. Differences were noted on several of the measures by race or language group. (SM)