Study on toxic exposures in urban en...( subway microenvironment as the source o...),Health

subway microenvironment as the source of steel dust exposure," says Dr. Chillrud. "The non-subway riding students showed levels of metals similar to the home and outdoor levels while the subway riders showed increased exposure. Interestingly, the particle counting data showed that particle numbers were 5 to 10 times lower in air conditioned subway cars as compared to underground subway stations. This suggests that the filtration systems of the car air conditioners are very effective at removing the steel dust from the passenger cars and that much of the increased exposure is probably occurring on the station platforms."

"It is important to stress that there are no known health effects at these levels," emphasizes Dr. Patrick Kinney, principal investigator of the TEACH project and associate professor of environmental health sciences at the Mailman School of Public Health and a member of the Earth Institute. "Even though the levels of Mn, Cr and Fe observed in the subway system were more than 100 times greater than those observed in ambient and home indoor settings, the subway levels are more than 1000 times lower than the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Permissible Exposure Limit guidelines for workers." Dr. Sonja Sax, a co-author from the Harvard School of Public Health, adds, "One way of putting into perspective the potential health risks of these levels of exposure is to consider published cancer risk guideline concentrations, which roughly estimate the risk of obtaining cancer from chronic exposures to single chemicals such as Cr. These estimates together with the data from the TEACH study suggest that the cancer risks associated with exposure to Cr due to commuting by the subway would be much smaller than those that people get from exposure to a variety of volatile organic compounds in the home."

On the other hand, there is increasing interest in whether there are health effects from long-term exposure to l
'"/>


5-Jan-2004

Page: 1 2 3 4
Related medicine news :

1. Study of energy and health in Africa focuses spotlight on charcoal and forest management
2. Study shows promise in identifying kidney failure
3. Study shows patch therapy may be as effective as oral medications
4. Study shows soy is well accepted in school lunches
5. Study finds that coordinating care of chronically ill patients does not increase liability
6. Study provides new estimates of the causes of child mortality worldwide
7. Study finds factors linked to substance use disorder relapse among health care professionals
8. Study finds majority of women willing to accept cervical cancer vaccine for self and children
9. Study shows use of budesonide reduced the risk of asthma related events by 40% in children
10. Study shows risk of cardiac death after radiation for breast cancer has dramatically decreased
11. Study shows acrylamide in baked and fried food does not increase risk of breast cancer in women