Grants and Fellowships | 2014

34 Pilot Research Grants Mortality Related to Traffic Air Pollution in a Vulnerable Population: A Contemporary Experience with a Novel Exposure Model Misclassification bias due to imprecise exposure assessment is a major concern in the contemporary literature on air pollution’s health effects. Using the ordinary kriging interpolation method, we previously were able to demonstrate, in a cohort of incident myocardial infarction (MI) patients, an association between chronic exposure to particulate matter at the participant’s residence and several clinical outcomes during long-term follow-up. Yet, the approach to exposure assessment has relied on air-quality monitoring station records, resulting in incomplete temporal and spatial coverage. Recently, we have developed a novel model of exposure to traffic-related air pollution which incorporates dispersion properties and enables a spatially detailed estimation of air pollutants with a high temporal resolution. The present proposal aims to evaluate the association with long-term outcome and the discriminatory power of the newly developed exposure model in a geographically defined cohort (n=1,191) of patients with a history of MI followed up longitudinally. If proven suitable for epidemiological studies, this model could be applied to other settings and different populations. Yariv Gerber 1 | David Broday 2 David M. Steinberg 1 1. Tel Aviv University 2. Technion - Israel Institute of Technology 2014- Establishing a Station to Evaluate and Enhance Satellite-Based Estimates of Ground-Level PM 2.5 Levels for Health Applications in Israel Suspended particulate matter less than 2.5μm (PM 2.5 ) is an indicator of mortality and adverse health effects due to exposure to air pollution. Long-term exposure to PM 2.5 leads to increased mortality and morbidity from chronic cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, lung cancer, diabetes, and adverse birth outcomes. It was recently estimated that in 2010, outdoor PM 2.5 caused 3.2±0.4million deaths and 76 million years of lost healthy life on a global scale. Given the implications and uncertainties of this estimate, it is imperative to improve estimates of PM 2.5 exposure. This proposal has two objectives: 1) to establish a SPARTAN validation site at the Weizmann Institute as part of a global network that will create a long term data set of PM 2.5 levels and composition; and 2) to evaluate and enhance remote sensing estimates of ground-level PM 2.5 in Israel’s populated areas. The data from this site will be freely available for all researchers that conduct exposure studies in Israel. Yinon Rudich 1 | Ilan Koren 1 1. Weizmann Institute of Science 2014-