Estimating the health effects of exposure to multi-pollutant mixture.

https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1220&context=open_access_theses

Economic and policy analysis for solar PV systems in Indiana

Air pollution emitted from firms and industries in the United States poses a significant threat to human health and the environment. Economists have traditionally opposed environmental regulations based on the argument that regulations reduce economic growth. Some scholars, however, have argued that polluting firms often adjust to environmental regulations through technological innovations that have the opposite effect. This study examines the effects of environmental regulations on economic growth through a case study of the metal finishing industry in the South Coast Basin of Southern California. The industry in the Basin has been regulated since 1988 by the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) as a result of the industry’s use of hexavalent chromium. Based on a comparative analysis of the metal finishing industries in Chicago and Detroit, it appears that the AQMD regulations have not had a detrimental impact on the growth of the industry in the Basin.

Do Environmental Regulations Impede Economic Growth? A Case Study of the Metal Finishing Industry in the South Coast Basin of Southern California

The lung tissue is one of the main targets of oxidative stress due to external sources and respiratory activity. In our previous work, we have demonstrated in that O3 exposure alters the Cl- current-voltage relationship, with the appearance of a large outward rectifier component mainly sustained by outward rectifier chloride channels (ORCCs) in human lung epithelial cells (A549 line). In the present study, we have performed patch clamp experiments, in order to identify which one of the O3 byproducts (4hydroxynonenal (HNE) and/or H2 O2 ) was responsible for chloride current change. While 4HNE exposition (up to 25 μM for 30' before electrophysiological analysis) did not reproduce O3 effect, H2 O2 produced by glucose oxidase 10 mU for 24 hr before electrophysiological analysis mimicked O3 response. This result was confirmed treating the cell with catalase (CAT) before O3 exposure (1,000 U/ml for 2 hr): CAT was able to rescue Cl- current alteration. Since CAT is regulated by Nrf2 transcription factor, we pre-treated the cells with the Nrf2 activators, resveratrol and tBHQ. Immunochemical and immunocytochemical results showed Nrf2 activation with both substances that lead to prevent OS effect on Cl- current. These data bring new insights into the mechanisms involved in OS-induced lung tissue damage, pointing out the role of H2 O2 in chloride current alteration and the ability of Nfr2 activation in preventing this effect.

Role of nrf2 in preventing oxidative stress induced chloride current alteration in human lung cells

Meteorological and pollutions data are collected daily at monitoring stations of a city. This pollutant-related information can be used to build an early warning system, which provides forecast and also alarms health advice to local inhabitants by medical practicians and local government. In the literature, air quality or pollutant level predictive models using multi-layer perceptrons (MLP) have been employed at a variety of cities by environmental researchers. The practical applications of these models however suffer from different drawbacks so that good generalization may not be obtained. Least squares support vector machines (LS-SVM), a novel type of machine learning technique based on statistical learning theory, can be used for regression and time series prediction. LS-SVM can overcome most of the drawbacks of MLP and has been reported to show promising results.

Ho Jang Kwon

Papers

Health Effect of Air Pollution