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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±0.4million 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-