Industrial atmospheric pollution, historical land use patterns and mortality

Sainsbury, Peter; Hussey, Ruth; Ashton, John; Andrews, Bolwell

doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.pubmed.a024467

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…The health implications of long-term exposure to pollutants are an increasing concern, especially for populations in areas where large-scale industrial activity occurs (Sainsbury et al 1996;Staples et al 2003). The borough of Halton encompasses the two towns of Widnes and Runcorn, separated by the River Mersey (Fig.…”

Section: Haltonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using urban man-made ponds to reconstruct a 150-year history of air pollution in northwest England

Power

Worsley

2008

Environ Geochem Health

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A regional pollution history has been reconstructed for the borough of Halton (northwest England) from four urban ponds in north Cheshire and south Merseyside, using environmental analyses of lake sediment stratigraphies. Mineral magnetism, geochemistry and radiometric dating have produced profiles of pollution characteristics dating from the mid-nineteenth century to present day. These pollution profiles reflect the atmospheric deposition of a range of pollutants over 150 years of intensified industry. Distinct phases of pollution deposition and characteristics are identified reflecting: (1) intensification of industry in the nineteenth century; (2) expansion of industry during the twentieth century; (3) post 1956 Clean Air Acts. This work promotes the potential use of these pollution archives for use in epidemiology to better understand links between human health and environmental pollution, especially for diseases with long latency times, where retrospective pollution exposure assessments are important.

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Section: Haltonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using urban man-made ponds to reconstruct a 150-year history of air pollution in northwest England

Power

Worsley

2008

Environ Geochem Health

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“…Regression coefient (Ii) and correlation coefficient (p) estimates. The between-group slope, 3, of the aggregate exposure X [e.g., the smoking prevalence of different cities (20), or the percent industrial land use in electoral wards (30)] on the aggregate outcome Y [e.g., the lung cancer mortality rates (20) or the SMR (30)] reflects the true (individual) relationship between x and y, i.e., the within-group slope w, only if there are no group effects (5e) present. Otherwise, P is a weighted average of both the betweengroup effects and the true within-group Ow i.e., the individual-level effects of smoking on risk of lung cancer (25).…”

Section: Z=x+ementioning

confidence: 99%

The semi-individual study in air pollution epidemiology: a valid design as compared to ecologic studies.

Künzli

Tager

1997

Environ Health Perspect

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The assessment of long-term effects of air pollution in humans relies on epidemiologic studies. A widely used design consists of cross-sectional or cohort studies in which ecologic assignment of exposure, based on a fixed-site ambient monitor, is employed. Although health outcome and usually a large number of covariates are measured in individuals, these studies are often called ecological. We will introduce the term semi-individual design for these studies. We review the major properties and limitations with regard to causal inference of truly ecologic studies, in which outcome, exposure, and covariates are available on an aggregate level only. Misclassification problems and issues related to confounding and model specification in truly ecologic studies limit etiologic inference to individuals. In contrast, the semi-individual study shares its methodological and inferential properties with typical individual-level study designs. The major caveat relates to the case where too few study areas, e.g., two or three, are used, which render control of aggregate level confounding impossible. The issue of exposure misclassification is of general concern in epidemiology and not an exclusive problem of the semi-individual design. In a multicenter setting, the semi-individual study is a valuable tool to approach long-term effects of air pollution. Knowledge about the error structure of the ecologically assigned exposure allows consideration of the impact of ecologically assigned exposure on effect estimation. Semi-individual studies, i.e., individual level air pollution studies with ecologic exposure assignment, more readily permit valid inference to individuals and should not be labeled as ecologic studies.

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“…The evidence suggested that three of the 19 estates (in zones B and C) may have been mis-allocated. A recent study with the proportion of land used by industry per ward as a proxy for industrial air pollution found that after controlling for socioeconomic deprivation a greater proportion of industrial land use was associated with higher mortality 40. Residential proximity was the only method that allowed matching on socioeconomic factors thereby accounting for the major contributors to ill health at the design stage.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is it feasible to construct a community profile of exposure to industrial air pollution?

et al. 2000

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Objective-An epidemiological investigation to assess the validity of residential proximity to industry as a measure of community exposure. Methods-19Housing estates in Teesside (population 1991: 77 330) in north east England were grouped into zones: A=near; B=intermediate; C=further from industry. With residential proximity of socioeconomically matched populations as a starting point a historical land use survey, historical air quality reports, air quality monitoring, dispersion modelling data, and questionnaire data, were examined. Results-The populations in zones A, B, and C were similar for socioeconomic indicators and smoking history. Areas currently closest to industry had also been closest for most of the 20th century. Historical reports highlighted the influence of industrial emissions to local air quality, but it was diYcult to follow spatial pollution patterns over time. Whereas contemporary NO x and benzene concentrations showed no geographical variation, dispersion modelling of emissions (116 industrial stacks, traYc, and domestic sources) showed a gradient associated with industry. The presumed exposure gradient of areas by proximity to industry (A>B>C) was evident for all of zone A and most of zones B and C. Conclusions-It was feasible to assemble a picture of community exposure by integration of measurements from diVerent sources. Proximity of residence was a reasonable surrogate for complex community exposure. (Occup Environ Med 2000;57:542-549) Keywords: exposure assessment; community exposure; industrial pollutionIn environmental epidemiology studies the assessment of exposure of a population remains both an on going area of concern when interpreting results and a major methodological challenge at the design stage. This is especially the case for retrospective exposure assessment: gaps in the spatial and temporal coverage, the relative crudity of past measurement techniques, and changes in techniques are among the many problems; and exposure assessment has therefore been earmarked as an area of future research. To analyse the associations between exposure to industrial air pollution and the health of residents living close to industries a comprehensive picture of past and contemporary exposure is required. However, to characterise air pollution and its variability in time and space, necessitates reliance largely on data collected for diVerent purposes-for example, to fulfil statutory obligations. In the end, a judgement has to be made on how far the chosen exposure measures are likely to reflect the exposure of the population.Based on the study of detailed accounts of the validity and reliability of exposure measurements and a systematic analysis of diVerential misclassification of exposure, 2-6 the criteria we used to make judgements on whether the exposure surrogate residential proximity to industry was valid were: (a) Have we been able to characterise the temporal and spatial pattern of exposure in our study areas? (b) Have we been able to disentangle industrial sources from other ...

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Industrial atmospheric pollution, historical land use patterns and mortality

Cited by 8 publications

References 13 publications

Using urban man-made ponds to reconstruct a 150-year history of air pollution in northwest England

Using urban man-made ponds to reconstruct a 150-year history of air pollution in northwest England

The semi-individual study in air pollution epidemiology: a valid design as compared to ecologic studies.

Is it feasible to construct a community profile of exposure to industrial air pollution?

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