Improving exposure assessment in environmental epidemiology: Application of spatio-temporal visualization tools

A thorough assessment of human exposure to environmental agents should incorporate mobility patterns and temporal changes in human behaviors and concentrations of contaminants; yet the temporal dimension is often under-emphasized in exposure assessment endeavors, due in part to insufficient tools for visualizing and examining temporal datasets. Spatio-temporal visualization tools are valuable for integrating a temporal component, thus allowing for examination of continuous exposure histories in environmental epidemiologic investigations. An application of these tools to a bladder cancer case-control study in Michigan illustrates continuous exposure life-lines and maps that display smooth, continuous changes over time. Preliminary results suggest increased risk of bladder cancer from combined exposure to arsenic in drinking water (>25 g/day) and heavy smoking (>30 cigarettes/day) in the 1970s and 1980s, and a possible cancer cluster around automotive, paint, and organic chemical industries in the early 1970s. These tools have broad application for examining spatially- and temporally-specific relationships between exposures to environmental risk factors and disease.This study was supported by grant R01 CA96002-10, Geographic-Based Research in Cancer Control and Epidemiology, from the National Cancer Institute. Development of the STIS^TM software was funded by grants R43 ES10220 from the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences and R01 CA92669 from the National Cancer Institute. Access to cancer case records was provided by Michigan Cancer Surveillance Program within the Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics, Michigan Department of Community Health. The authors thank Michigan Public Health Institute for conducting the telephone interview and Stacey Fedewa and Lisa Bailey for entering written surveys into a database. The authors thank 3 anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments.     

A statistical model for spatial patterns of Buruli ulcer in the Amansie West district,Ghana

Buruli ulcer (BU), a skin ulceration caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans (MU), is the second most widespread mycobacterium infection in Ghana. Its infection pathway is possibly related to the potable and agricultural water supply. This study aims to identify environmental factors that influence infection in a part of Ghana. It examines the significance of contaminated surface drainage channels and groundwater using conditional autoregressive (CAR) statistical modelling. This type of modelling implies that the spatial pattern of BU incidence in one community depends on the influence of the environment in neighbouring communities. Covariates were included to assess the spatial relationship between environmental risk factors and BU incidence in the study area. The study reveals an association between (a) the mean As content of soil and spatial distribution of BU and (b) the distance to sites of gold mining and spatial distribution of BU. We conclude that both arsenic in the natural environment and gold mining influence BU infection.     

辽宁省非职业性一氧化碳中毒气象预报方法

利用统计学方法,对2003年11月至2007年3月辽宁冬季采暖期的气象资料进行普查,分析可能引发非职业性一氧化碳中毒事件的天气形势和气象条件。结果表明：不利于一氧化碳扩散的主要天气因子包括存在混合层且混合层高度较低、地面风速小、空气湿度大等。根据普查结果并借鉴了大气污染潜势预报等级划分标准,将非职业性一氧化碳中毒气象条件潜势预报分为五级,其中五级为最严重级别。结合高等级（四级和五级）天气实况和烟、霾和雾等不利于污染物扩散的天气现象出现日期对天气环流形势进行了普查,得出4种主要的天气环流型。利用2007年11月至2008年3月辽宁冬季采暖期实况资料对预报等级标准和天气形势场分型进行检验,结果显示本预报方法所定义的等级划分标准以及天气形势场分型具有实际业务应用价值。