Rationale: Several studies have linked long-term exposure to particulate air pollution with increased cardiopulmonary mortality; only two have also examined incident circulatory disease. Objectives: To examine associations of individualized long-term exposures to particulate and gaseous air pollution with incident myocardial infarction and stroke, as well as all-cause and causespecific mortality. Methods: We estimated long-term residential air pollution exposure for more than 100,000 participants in the California Teachers Study, a prospective cohort of female public school professionals. We linked geocoded residential addresses with inverse distance-weighted monthly pollutant surfaces for two measures of particulate matter and for several gaseous pollutants. We examined associations between exposure to these pollutants and risks of incident myocardial infarction and stroke, and of all-cause and cause-specific mortality, using Cox proportional hazards models. Measurements and Main Results: We found elevated hazard ratios linking long-term exposure to particulate matter less than 2.5 mm in aerodynamic diameter (PM 2.5 ), scaled to an increment of 10 mg/m 3 with mortality from ischemic heart disease (IHD) (1.20; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02-1.41) and, particularly among postmenopausal women, incident stroke (1.19; 95% CI, 1.02-1.38). Long-term exposure to particulate matter less than 10 mm in aerodynamic diameter (PM 10 ) was associated with elevated risks for IHD mortality (1.06; 95% CI, 0.99-1.14) and incident stroke (1.06; 95% CI, 1.00-1.13), while exposure to nitrogen oxides was associated with elevated risks for IHD and all cardiovascular mortality. Conclusions: This study provides evidence linking long-term exposure to PM 2.5 and PM 10 with increased risks of incident stroke as well as IHD mortality; exposure to nitrogen oxides was also related to death from cardiovascular diseases.

In this study, six colors (vivid red, vivid blue, vivid yellow, pale red, pale blue, and pale yellow†) were manipulated in a simulated study environment to determine their effects on university students' learning performance, emotions, and heart rate. It was hypothesized that learning, physiological and emotional states would be affected by different colors in private study spaces. A total of 24 undergraduate and postgraduate students participated in this study. The dependent variables were reading task performance, emotional responses, and changes in heart rate. The results showed that, although participants assessed the situation as relaxed, calm, and pleasant in the pale color conditions, reading scores were significantly higher in the vivid color conditions. Heart rates were significantly affected by hue; they increased in the red and yellow conditions. In addition, the results suggested that, regardless of the degree of whiteness, the hue had a significant impact on participants' emotions; blue increased relaxation and calmness feelings of participants compared to the other colors. Implications of these findings and suggestions for further research are discussed. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 41, 196–205, 2016

DDT concentrations in human milk have declined in most areas of the world, consistent with restrictions on its use. Nevertheless, levels can be high in areas still using DDT, even higher than the World Health Organization's recommended limit for infants. These results indicate that population averages can be reduced by a predictable amount as DDT use is restricted.

Hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) are compounds shown to cause cancer or other adverse health effects. We analyzed population-based childhood cancer incidence rates in California (USA) from 1988 to 1994, by HAP exposure scores, for all California census tracts. For each census tract, we calculated exposure scores by combining cancer potency factors with outdoor HAP concentrations modeled by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. We evaluated the relationship between childhood cancer rates and exposure scores for 25 potentially carcinogenic HAPs emitted from mobile, area, and point sources and from all sources combined. Our study period saw 7,143 newly diagnosed cancer cases in California; of these, 6,989 (97.8%) could be assigned to census tracts and included in our analysis. Using Poisson regression, we estimated rate ratios (RRs) adjusted for age, race/ethnicity, and sex. We found little evidence for elevated cancer RRs for all sites or for gliomas among children living in high-ranking combined-source exposure areas. We found elevated RRs and a significant trend with increasing exposure level for childhood leukemia in tracts ranked highest for exposure to the combined group of 25 HAPs (RR = 1.21; 95% confidence interval, 1.03, 1.42) and in tracts ranked highest for point-source HAP exposure (RR = 1.32; 95% confidence interval, 1.11, 1.57). Our findings suggest an association between increased childhood leukemia rates and high HAP exposure, but studies involving more comprehensive exposure assessment and individual-level exposure data will be important for elucidating this relationship.

Regional differences in neighborhood SES and urbanization appear to largely explain regional rate differences in California for all breast cancers and ductal carcinomas but do not fully explain geographic patterns of breast cancer with a lobular component.