Socioeconomic isolation and exposure to air toxics in the St. Louis metropolitan area, USA

Abstract. Air toxics, also known as hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), have gained increased public awareness in recent years. Air toxics may be released from various sources, such as mobile sources, stationary sources, and fugitive emissions. This study investigated profiles of air toxics from mobile sources, stationary sources, and the operations in a port in an industrial metropolitan area in Taiwan. Six carcinogens, including benzene, formaldehyde, 1,3-butadiene, arsenic, 2,3,7,8-TCDD, and diesel particulate matter (DPM), were chosen as the target pollutants. The AERMOD model was applied to simulate the concentrations of the ambient air toxic species, and the concentrations were used to evaluate cancer risk. Cancer risk for each air toxic was also investigated to evaluate the potential impact on residents. The results of the emission estimation for the base year (2014) showed that the emissions of benzene, 1,3-butadiene, and formaldehyde could be mainly attributed to mobile sources in the study areas. The contributions, in order, were 86 %, 77 %, and 69 %. DPM emissions from port operations accounted for 76 %, and most of the arsenic (70 %) and 2,3,7,8-TCDD (99 %) were emitted from stationary sources, especially from the steel industry. Approximately 66 % and 32 % of the cancer risk of air toxics were contributed to the emissions from port operations and on-road vehicles, respectively, in this area, and approximately 1.4 % of the risk was contributed to stationary sources. DPM was the pollutant that posed the highest cancer risk among all six air toxics. It accounted for more than 80 % of the overall cancer risk, followed by 1,3-butadiene (10 %), benzene (4.7 %), formaldehyde (1.2 %), arsenic (0.7 %), and 2,3,7,8-TCDD (0.2 %). The dominant sources of DPM were ocean-going vessels and diesel trucks.

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Short-Form Application of the Screening Test of Spanish Grammar and the Northwestern Syntax Screening Test to Latino Children

Language Speech and Hearing Services in Schools ◽

10.1044/0161-1461.0904.220 ◽

1978 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 220-235

Author(s):

David L. Ratusnik ◽

Carol Melnick Ratusnik ◽

Karen Sattinger

Keyword(s):

New York ◽

Case Studies ◽

Metropolitan Area ◽

Screening Test ◽

Normative Data ◽

Short Form ◽

Latino Children ◽

Data Application ◽

York Metropolitan Area ◽

Multiple Regression Technique

Short-form versions of the Screening Test of Spanish Grammar (Toronto, 1973) and the Northwestern Syntax Screening Test (Lee, 1971) were devised for use with bilingual Latino children while preserving the original normative data. Application of a multiple regression technique to data collected on 60 lower social status Latino children (four years and six months to seven years and one month) from Spanish Harlem and Yonkers, New York, yielded a small but powerful set of predictor items from the Spanish and English tests. Clinicians may make rapid and accurate predictions of STSG or NSST total screening scores from administration of substantially shortened versions of the instruments. Case studies of Latino children from Chicago and Miami serve to cross-validate the procedure outside the New York metropolitan area.

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Emergency Department Admission and Mortality Rate for Suicidal Behavior

Crisis ◽

10.1027/0227-5910/a000282 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 35 (6) ◽

pp. 406-414 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Raimondo Maria Pavarin ◽

Angelo Fioritti ◽

Francesca Fontana ◽

Silvia Marani ◽

Alessandra Paparelli ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Emergency Department ◽

Metropolitan Area ◽

Suicidal Behavior ◽

Mortality Risk ◽

Illicit Drugs ◽

Attempted Suicide ◽

Cox Model ◽

Emergency Department Admission ◽

Completed Suicide

Background: The international literature reports that for every completed suicide there are between 8 and 22 visits to an Emergency Department (ED) for attempted suicide/suicidal behavior. Aims: To describe the characteristics of admission to emergency departments (EDs) for suicide-related presenting complaints in the metropolitan area of Bologna; to estimate the risk for all-cause mortality and for suicide; to identify the profiles of subjects most at risk. Method: Follow-up of patients admitted to the EDs of the metropolitan area of Bologna between January 2004 and December 2010 for attempted suicide. A Cox model was used to evaluate the association between sociodemographic variables and the general mortality risk. Results: We identified 505 cases of attempted suicide, which were more frequent for female subjects, over the weekend, and at night (8:00 p.m./8:00 a.m.). The most used suicide methods were psychotropic drugs, sharp or blunt objects, and jumping from high places. In this cohort, 3.6% of subjects completed suicide (4.5% of males vs. 2.9% of females), 2.3% within 1 year of the start of follow-up. The most common causes of death were drug use and hanging. In the multivariate analysis, those who used illicit drugs 24 hr prior to admission to the ED (hazard ratio [HR] = 3.46, 95% CI = 1.23–9.73) and patients who refused the treatment (HR = 6.74, 95% CI = 1.86–24.40) showed an increased mortality risk for suicide. Conclusion: Deliberate self-harm patients presenting to the ED who refuse treatment represent a specific target group for setting up dedicated prevention schemes.

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