No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.
How Children Spend Their Time: A Sample Survey for Use in Exposure and Risk Assessments
Abstract
Children are becoming an increasingly important focus for exposure and risk assessments because they are more sensitive than adults to environmental contaminants. A necessary step in measuring the extent of children's exposure and in calculating risk assessments is to document how and where children spend their time. This 1990-1991 survey of 1000 households was designed for this purpose, targeting children between 5 and 12 years of age, in six states in varied geographic regions. The behavior of children was sampled on both weekdays and weekends over all four seasons of the year using a retrospective time diary to allocate time to activities during the previous 24 h. Information was obtained on the kinds and locations of activities, the nature of the microenvironments of the locations, and the time spent in the different environments. Measures of variability in addition to mean hours per day are reported. Results of this study closely match those of earlier research on California children's activities done by the California Air Resources Board. One important finding of the survey was that 5- to 12-year-old children in all geographic regions spend most of their time indoors at home, indicating that risk assessments should focus on indoor, onsite hazards.
... Infancy is a susceptible period when exposures may alter the risk of chronic childhood disease [1]. Children spend most of their time indoors [2], where they may be exposed to damp conditions and mould. A meta-analysis of eight European birth cohort studies found that living in visibly damp homes in early life was associated with asthma development and rhinitis symptoms by age 10 [3]. ...
... Most of the individual fungal taxa that we considered as exposures were fungi that (a) we evaluated sensitization to and (b) that we had identified as predictors of early-life respiratory outcomes in our cohort [16,20]. We classified exposures as [1] individual genus and [2] 'total fungi' (sum of concentrations for all detectable fungi from each location). ...
Background
Infancy is a developmental stage with heightened susceptibility to environmental influences on the risk of chronic childhood disease. Few birth cohort studies have detailed measures of fungal diversity data in infants' bedrooms, limiting the potential to measure long-term associations of these complex exposures with development of asthma or allergy. Objective
We evaluated the relation of home fungal levels in infancy to repeated measures of wheeze and development of asthma and rhinitis by age 13, and sensitization by age 12years. Methods
In the Epidemiology of Home Allergens and Asthma prospective birth cohort study, we recruited 408 children with family history of allergic disease or asthma. When children were aged 2-3months, we measured culturable fungi in bedroom air and dust, and in outdoor air. Main outcomes included ascertainment of symptoms/disease onset by questionnaire from birth through age 13. We estimated hazard ratios and, for wheeze and sensitization, odds ratios for an interquartile increase in log-transformed fungal concentrations, adjusting for other outcome predictors and potential confounders. ResultsElevated levels of yeasts in bedroom floor dust were associated with reduced: i) wheeze at any age; ii) fungal sensitization; and iii) asthma development by age 13 (hazard ratio (HR)=0.86; 95% confidence interval (CI), [0.75 to 0.98]). Outdoor airborne Cladosporium and dustborne Aspergillus predicted increased rhinitis. Risk of fungal sensitization by age 12, in response to environmental Alternaria and Aspergillus, was elevated in children with a maternal history of fungal sensitization. Conclusions and Clinical RelevanceDespite the irritant and allergenic properties of fungi, early-life elevated dust yeast exposures or their components may be protective against allergy and asthma in children at risk for these outcomes. Ascertainment of fungal components associated with immunoprotective effects may have therapeutic relevance for asthma.
... Young children often spend time indoors on floors and have frequent hand-to-mouth behaviors [38,39], suggesting they are more likely than adults to be exposed to 1-NP through non-dietary ingestion and dermal absorption in addition to inhalation. We found that urinary 8-OHNP was correlated with 1-NP in dust for children, but not for adults. ...
Background
Diesel exhaust (DE) exposures pose concerns for serious health effects, including asthma and lung cancer, in California communities burdened by multiple stressors.
Objective
To evaluate DE exposures in disproportionately impacted communities using biomonitoring and compare results for adults and children within and between families.
Methods
We recruited 40 families in the San Francisco East Bay area. Two metabolites of 1-nitropyrene (1-NP), a marker for DE exposures, were measured in urine samples from parent–child pairs. For 25 families, we collected single-day spot urine samples during two sampling rounds separated by an average of four months. For the 15 other families, we collected daily spot urine samples over four consecutive days during the two sampling rounds. We also measured 1-NP in household dust and indoor air. Associations between urinary metabolite levels and participant demographics, season, and 1-NP levels in dust and air were evaluated.
Results
At least one 1-NP metabolite was present in 96.6% of the urine samples. Detection frequencies for 1-NP in dust and indoor air were 97% and 74%, respectively. Results from random effect models indicated that levels of the 1-NP metabolite 6-hydroxy-1-nitropyrene (6-OHNP) were significantly higher in parents compared with their children (p-value = 0.005). Urinary 1-NP metabolite levels were generally higher during the fall and winter months. Within-subject variability was higher than between-subject variability (~60% of total variance versus ~40%, respectively), indicating high short-term temporal variability.
Impact
Biomonitoring, coupled with air monitoring, improves understanding of hyperlocal air pollution impacts. Results from these studies will inform the design of effective exposure mitigation strategies in disproportionately affected communities.
... Children spend a substantial amount of their day in classrooms and schoolyards. As such, school environments are amongst the most crucial settings to ensure their health, well-being, and effective learning (Silvers et al. 1994;Dorizas et al. 2013). Surprisingly, many school environments are lacking in green spaces. ...
... Children spend a substantial amount of their day in classrooms and schoolyards. As such, school environments are amongst the most crucial settings to ensure their health, well-being, and effective learning (Silvers et al. 1994;Dorizas et al. 2013). Surprisingly, many school environments are lacking in green spaces. ...
... Zahlreiche Untersuchungen weisen darauf hin, dass Menschen aller Altersstufen wenig Zeit außerhalb von Innenräumen verbringen und diese Zeitspanne zudem rückläufig ist. Neben älteren Studien zur Zeitnutzung (Fishman, 1999;Godbey, 1997;Robinson & Silvers, 2000;Silvers et al., 1994) konnte dieser Trend auch in neueren Untersuchungen belegt werden (Cox et al., 2017). Die Autoren untersuchten bei 1 023 städtischen Bewohnern im Vereinigten Königreich Formen von Interaktion mit der Natur. ...
Promoting interest in insects – A design-based research study with adolescents
Rising public interest in biodiversity issues is crucial to address the challenges of the declining insect populations. Interest is an important learning prerequisite and a central motivational precondition for the willingness to protect biodiversity.
Following the "person-object theory of interest", the design-based research approach was used to investigate which factors play a role in promoting adolescents’ interest in insects and how learning environments conducive to interest should be designed.
As part of the preliminary research, the status quo of interest in insects was investigated in two questionnaire studies (N = 294 and N = 716) and through interviews with pupils (N = 5). Additionally, interest-promoting factors in insect exhibitions (N = 2) and in existing educational programmes (N = 5) were identified, and the perspectives of experts (N = 5) were collected.
Based on the results of the preliminary studies, design hypotheses for new educational programmes were derived. The design hypotheses were practically implemented and further developed in the main study within the framework of three holiday programmes (3 – 5 days) with adolescents (N = 27, 12 – 16 years). Over the course of the programmes, the adolescents visited different biotopes and studied the entomofauna with the help of a mobile field station. The analysis of participant observations and semi-standardised interviews with the participants shows that self-directed and positively perceived nature experiences with insects in the context of biological working methods were essential for the development of interest in insects. Many pupils developed new perspectives on insects and changed their attitudes towards these as well.
The study shows how educational processes can be successfully initiated by promoting interest and how nature experience can act as a catalyst. It provides a synoptical list of recommendations for educational programmes for adolescents that aim to foster interest in insects. Additionally, the study further develops the “person-object theory of interest” by offering an analytical separation of “characteristics of the person”, “characteristics of the learning environment”, and “characteristics of the object”, as well as by defining interest-promoting factors.
... Children are more susceptible compared to adults due to the greater air inhaled in proportion to their body weight (EPA 1995b). Students in particular spend a considerable amount of their day time in classrooms (> 6 h per day) (Silvers et al. 1994). Degraded IAQ in classrooms impacts students' performance, attendance and comfort (EPA 1995b). ...
Indoor Air Quality degradation is of exceptional concern due to the potential adverse effects indoor air pollutants have on human’s health. Students are a susceptible group of people, who spend a lot of their time within classrooms. The purpose of this study is to investigate the concentration levels of particulate matter (PM) and total airborne fungi, in school classrooms. Further objective is to examine possible correlations between PM10, PM2.5, PM1, ultrafine particles (UFPs, diameter< 100 nm), and airborne fungi. The measurements were performed using fully automated instrumentation. The results indicate that a lot of PM10 concentrations exceeded the proposed daily limit of 50μg/m3. Also, in some cases the concentration of the total airborne fungi indoors, exceeded their concentration outdoors. There is evidence that certain correlations exist between PM and airborne fungi.
... We administered a survey of participation in wintertime childhood outdoor activities. The survey design was based on previous work assessing how children spend their time (Silvers et al., 1994) and was modified to be suitable for the Siberian cultural context. We asked participants to report whether they participated in a list of winter outdoor activities and how often they performed each activity between ages 5-7, 8-10, 11-13, and 14-16 years old. ...
Objectives
Evolutionary theorists have debated the adaptive significance of developmental plasticity in organisms with long lifespans such as humans. This debate in part stems from uncertainty regarding the timing of sensitive periods. Does sensitivity to environmental signals fluctuate across development or does it steadily decline? We investigated developmental plasticity in brown adipose tissue (BAT) among indigenous Siberians in order to explore the timing of phenotypic sensitivity to cold stress.
Methods
BAT thermogenesis was quantified using infrared thermal imaging in 78 adults (25 men; 33 women). Cold exposure during gestation, infancy, early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence was quantified using: (1) the average ambient temperature across each period; (2) the number of times daily temperature dropped below −40°F during each period. We also assessed past cold exposure with a retrospective survey of participation in outdoor activities.
Results
Adult BAT thermogenesis was significantly associated with the average temperature (p = 0.021), the number of times it was below −40°F (p = 0.026), and participation in winter outdoor activities (p = 0.037) during early childhood.
Conclusions
Our results suggest that early childhood represents an important stage for developmental plasticity, and that culture may play a critical role in shaping the timing of environmental signals. The findings highlight a new pathway through which the local consequences of global climate change may influence human biology, and they suggest that ambient temperature may represent an understudied component of the developmental origins of health and disease.
... Such low time resolution is likely to miss short-term trigger exposure episodes such as cigarette smoke. Besides, most environmental sensor networks only monitor outdoor air quality whereas both adults and children spend the majority of their time indoors [7], [8]. To address these issues, a personalized sensor that can continuously monitor indoor exposure with a high temporal resolution is needed. ...
This paper presents a cloud-connected indoor air quality sensor system that can be deployed to patients' homes to study personal microenvironmental exposure for asthma research and management. The system consists of multiple compact sensor units that can measure residential NO2, ozone, humidity, and temperature at one minute resolution and a cloud based informatic system that acquires, stores, and visualizes the microenvironmental data in real time. The sensor hardware can measure NO2 as low as 10 ppb and ozone at 15 ppb. The cloud informatic system is implemented using open-source software on Amazon Web Service for easy deployment and scalability. This system was successfully deployed to pediatric asthma patients' homes in a pilot study. In this study, we discovered that some families can have short term NO2 exposure higher than EPA's one hour exposure limit (100 ppb), and NO2 micropollution episodes often arise from natural gas appliance usage such as gas stove burning during cooking. By combining the personalized air pollutant exposure measurements with the physiological responses from a patient diary and medical record, this system can enable novel asthma research and personalized asthma management.
... Most childhood learning occurs in homes and classrooms ( Hofferth and Sandberg, 2001 ;Silvers et al., 1994 ) where background noise levels can be notoriously poor ( Benítez-Barrera et al., 2020 ;Hodgson et al., 1999 ;Larsen and Blair, 2008 ;Sato and Bradley, 2008 ). It is well documented that poor signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) can have a negative effect on children's speech recognition ability (e.g., Bradley and Sato, 2008 ). ...
Cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEPs) have been successfully used to explore the effects of noise on speech processing at the cortical level in adults and children. The purpose of this study was to determine whether +15dB signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs), often recommended for optimal speech perception in children, elicit higher amplitude CAEPs than more realistic SNRs encountered by children during their daily lives (+10dB SNR). Moreover, we aimed to investigate whether cortical speech categorization is observable in children in quiet and in noise and whether CAEPs to speech in noise are related to behavioral speech perception in noise performance in children. CAEPs were measured during a passive speech-syllable task in 51 normal hearing children aged 8 to 11 years. The speech syllables /da/ and /ga/ were presented in quiet and in the presence of a 4-talker-babble noise at +15 dB and +10dB SNR. N1 latencies and P2 amplitudes and latencies varied as a function of SNR, with poorer SNRs (+10 dB) eliciting significantly smaller P2 amplitudes and delayed N1 and P2 latencies relative to the higher SNR (+15dB). Finally, speech categorization was present at the cortical level in this group of children in quiet and at both SNRs; however, N1 and P2 amplitudes and latencies were not related to behavioral speech in noise perception of children.
... There are a number of common methods used to explore microenvironmental exposures, with these generally relying on pairing information about where people spend time with estimates or measurements of pollutants in those locations. Time spent in microenvironments can be estimated using time-activity surveys completed by participants [6,[14][15][16][17][18][19] or by using time-activity surveys and tracking participant location directly using GPS [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]. It is challenging to identify indoor environments without participant survey data [28]. ...
Background:
In highly polluted urban areas, personal exposure to PM2.5 and O3 occur daily in various microenvironments. Identifying which microenvironments contribute most to exposure can pinpoint effective exposure reduction strategies and mitigate adverse health impacts.
Methods:
This work uses real-time sensors to assess the exposures of children with asthma (N = 39) in Shanghai, quantifying microenvironmental exposure to PM2.5 and O3. An air cleaner was deployed in participants' bedrooms where we hypothesized exposure could be most efficiently reduced. Monitoring occurred for two 48-h periods: one with bedroom filtration (portable air cleaner with HEPA and activated carbon filters) and the other without.
Results:
Children spent 91% of their time indoors with the majority spent in their bedroom (47%). Without filtration, the bedroom and classroom environments were the largest contributors to PM2.5 exposure. With filtration, bedroom PM2.5 exposure was reduced by 75% (45% of total exposure). Although filtration status did not impact O3, the largest contribution of O3 exposure also came from the bedroom.
Conclusions:
Actions taken to reduce bedroom PM2.5 and O3 concentrations can most efficiently reduce total exposure. As real-time pollutant monitors become more accessible, similar analyses can be used to evaluate new interventions and optimize exposure reductions for a variety of populations.
... In fact, research suggests that much language learning occurs in the home while children complete everyday activities such as reading, play, mealtime, and during their routine interactions with caregivers and siblings (Dickinson & Tabors 2001). This is important given the average American child spends the majority of their time in the home (60% of their weekly waking hours; Silvers et al. 1994;Hofferth & Sandberg 2001). In addition to child-directed speech, access to overheard speech in the natural environment is also important. ...
Objectives: The objective of this study was to characterize the acoustics of the home environment of young children with hearing loss. Specifically, we aimed to quantify the range of speech levels, noise levels, and signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) encountered by children with hearing loss in their homes.
Design: Nine families participated in the study. The children with hear- ing loss in these families were between 2 and 5 years of age. Acoustic recordings were made in the children’s homes over one weekend (Saturday and Sunday) using Language ENvironmental Analysis (LENA) recorders. These recordings were analyzed using LENA’s proprietary software to determine the range of speech and noise levels in the child’s home. A custom Matlab program analyzed the LENA output to estimate the SNRs in the children’s homes.
Results: The average SNR encountered by children with hearing loss in our sample was approximately +7.9 dB SNR. It is important to note that our analyses revealed that approximately 84% of the SNRs experienced by these children with hearing loss were below the +15 dB SNR recommended by the American Speech-Language Hearing Association. Averaged across families, speech and noise levels were 70.1 and 62.2 C-weighted decibels, respectively.
Conclusions: These data show that, for much of the time, young children with hearing loss are forced to listen under suboptimal conditions in their home environments. This has important implications as listening under these conditions could negatively affect learning opportunities for young children with hearing loss. To mitigate these potential negative effects, the use of assistive listening devices that improve the SNR (e.g., remote microphone systems) should be considered for use at home by young children with hearing loss.
... School environments can be important contributors to students' exposure to indoor air pollutants. High school students spend more than 1100 h per year in classrooms, more time than any other environment except for their home [1][2][3]. Indoor pollutants including particulate matter (PM) can affect student attendance and performance [4,5]. Particulate matter is believed to have short-term (e.g., skin allergies and eye irritation) and long-term (e.g., asthma, respiratory and cardiovascular illness) health effects on students [3,6]. ...
This two year study is based on measurements of particulate matter (PM) in seven high schools in Central Texas, each with mechanical ventilation. Measurements were completed in 39 classrooms, including five portable (temporary) classrooms. Each classroom was sampled between one and four four-day sampling events. The average PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations in the classrooms were lower than standards established by WHO and ASHRAE. The I/O ratios for PM2.5 and PM10 in this study were much lower than those reported in many other related studies, which may be due to use of filtration systems in all schools that participated in this study. Indoor PM1 and PM2.5 concentrations correlated with outdoor concentrations. However, indoor and outdoor PM10 did not correlate, indicating that the primary source of indoor PM10 is resuspension from indoor surfaces, specifically flooring. There was no significant difference in size-resolved particulate matter between regular (permanent)and portable classrooms during school hours. Flooring type had a significant effect on indoor PM. For PM1, PM2.5 and PM10, carpet flooring was associated with 1.4, 1.8, and 3.8 times higher indoor concentrations relative to classrooms containing vinyl composition tile (VCT) flooring. The average PM emission rates per student in regular classrooms with VCT, regular classrooms with carpet, and portable classrooms with carpet were 0.10 mg/h, 0.11 mg/h and 0.12 mg/h for PM2.5 and 0.51 mg/h, 1.84 mg/h and 1.59 mg/h for PM10. The reported PM emission rates described herein can be used to better estimate indoor PM concentrations in classrooms.
... Children are the most affected group having health problems, who inhale higher airborne particles if compared to adults due to their lung capacity and higher breathing rates for physical activities [14][15]. School becomes the priority to investigate the particle pollution as the children spend most of their time hereafter the home [16][17]. Few researchers have been focusing on investigating indoor, and outdoor relationships in primary schools found that the variability of indoor PM concentration is determined by the outdoor contaminants. ...
Observations of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) and meteorological parameter (temperature, relative humidity and wind speed) fluctuations during a high particulate event (HPE) in Sekolah Kebangsaan Bayan Lepas, Malaysia have been conducted for three days (48 hrs). Selected sample spot of collected PM 2.5 particles with high concentration was chosen to investigate the physicochemical characteristics using Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope coupled with Energy Dispersive X-ray (FESEM-EDX). The results show that the 24 h average concentration ± standard deviation of PM 2.5 (81.87 μg m ⁻³ ± 31.83) exceeded the limit suggested by Malaysia Ambient Air Quality Standard (MAAQS-2020) and United State Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) which is 35 μg m ⁻³ . The diurnal variations of PM 2.5 concentration fluctuated significantly during HPE. Results from Pearson correlation shows that relative humidity gives the most significant influence towards PM 2.5 concentration (r = 0.410; p < 0.01) followed by wind direction (r = -0.306, p < 0.01), temperature (r = -0.262., p<0.01) and wind speed (r = -0.206; p < 0.01). From a morphological and elemental analysis, it shows that PM 2.5 particles collected on a filter consist of two possible sources, natural and anthropogenic sources. The element components found in the natural particles were C, O, Na, Al, Si, S, K and Fe. The major components were C, O, Al, and Si with weight percentages were 18%, 39%, 9%, and 22%. Dominant elements in anthropogenic particles were C (41%) and a significant amount of K (3%) are found which considered as biomass burning soot. Besides that, the particles also consist of O, Na, Al, Si, and Cl. In summary, particles from natural and anthropogenic sources are dominant in the ambient PM 2.5 during HPE.
... People spend more than 80% of their time in indoor environments, such as in schools, offices, and shops. Thus, "university environments are the most crucial indoor environments to ensure student's health, effective learning and well-being [13][14] [15]. This paper investigated the effects of different ventilation modes on students' performance. ...
This study aimed to explore the various effects of different ventilation modes on the thermal comfort and indoor air quality in design education environment. It also investigated the relationship between the ventilation mode and student performance. Thus, an experimental study was conducted in both studio and classroom environments, in Interior Architecture and Environmental Design Department at Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey. CO2 concentration values, indoor air temperature and humidity values as the main parameters of thermal comfort and indoor air quality was measured in both winter and summer seasons under the three modes of ventilation: 1) without opening door and windows mode setting; (2) natural ventilation mode and (3) the HVAC ventilation mode achieved by the TROX school-air unit. Under these three different modes for both attention and concentration levels, 100 students from the winter season, 50 students from summer season for the classroom environment, and 20 students from the winter season, 16 students from summer season for the studio environment participated. Results were calculated in IBM SPSS 21 software separately for both seasons and three different ventilation modes. As a result, the experimental and performance results have shown that the HVAC unit mode achieved the most satisfactory indoor environment in both seasons and higher levels of student performance.
... Previously, most of the studies revealed that ambient pollution such as particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter less than 10 and 2.5 µm (PM 10 and PM 2.5 ), sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), etc. in industrial areas may increase the risk of respiratory symptoms, and attacks of asthma in children [1,5,6]. Therefore, indoor air quality of children's homes may be very important to children's health, especially in industrial cities, since children spend most of their time at home [7]. ...
High concentrations of air pollutants and increased morbidity and mortality rates are found in industrial areas, especially for the susceptible group, children; however, most studies use atmospheric dispersion modeling to estimate household air pollutants. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the indoor air quality, e.g., CO, CO2, NO2, SO2, O3, particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 μm (PM2.5), and their influence factors in children’s homes in an industrial city. Children in the “general school”, “traffic school”, and “industrial school” were randomly and proportionally selected. Air pollutants were sampled for 24 h in the living rooms and on the balcony of their houses and questionnaires of time–microenvironment–activity-diary were recorded. The indoor CO concentration of the traffic area was significantly higher than that of the industrial area and the general area. In regard to the effects of window opening, household NO2 and PM2.5 concentrations during window opening periods were significantly higher than of the reference periods. For the influence of cooking, indoor CO2, NO2, and PM2.5 levels during the cooking periods were significantly higher than that of the reference periods. The indoor air quality of children in industrial cities were affected by residential areas and household activities.
... In our Australian sample, the presence of a child witness at IPV incidents was associated with the incident occurring at home, similar violence occurring in the past with the same individual(s), involvement of drugs, and reporting to police. As expected, child witnesses were likely to be at home when IPV incidents occurred; given children spend the majority of their time at home (Silvers, Florence, Rourke, & Lorimor, 1994) this finding is not surprising. Consistent with Fantuzzo et al.'s (2007) findings, having experienced a similar IPV incident in the past and making a report to police were also significantly associated with the presence of child witnesses at IPV incidents. ...
Exposure to parental violence can have devastating consequences for children, including significant personal, social, and academic problems. The present study determined the situational factors that are associated with children’s exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) incidents. To examine whether these factors were unique to child witnesses’ presence at IPV incidents, we also determined the factors that are associated with children’s exposure to family violence (FV) and other family member witnesses’ exposure to IPV incidents. Participants responded to an online panel survey investigating the role of alcohol and other drugs in family and domestic violence incidents in Australia. Nine hundred fifty-two respondents reported an IPV incident and 299 reported an FV incident; they provided details about their most recent incident. Results showed that child witnesses were more likely to be present during IPV incidents if the incident took place at home (odds ratio [OR] = 3.10), if a similar incident had occurred previously (OR = 1.66), if drugs were involved (OR = 1.60), and if a police report was made (OR = 2.61). There was some overlap with the other witness and violence combinations: The presence of a police report also predicted child witnesses’ presence at FV incidents, and a home location also predicted other family member witnesses’ presence at IPV incidents. These results enhance our understanding of the situations in which children might witness IPV incidents; future research is needed to determine whether these situational factors can be used to judge risk.
... However, people in developed countries are spending the majority of their time (more than 70%) in various indoor environments (Guo et al., 2004). For young people, the school environment is where they spend the most considerable portion of the day in, apart from at home (Silvers et al., 1994). Despite this evidence most air pollution studies focus on the general population (considering all age groups) and on the relationship with the pollutant levels outdoors. ...
PM10 levels and its chemical composition were studied inside and outdoor of seven primary schools (3 in urban environment, 3 in industrial environment, 1 in rural environment) located in the Mediterranean coast in an area with an important industrial nucleus dedicated to the treatment of raw mineral materials. The main objective of this work is a comparison between these levels obtained inside and outside schools and also asses the influence of various natural and anthropogenic emission sources on particles concentrations found inside. The indoor airborne samples were collected using RespiCon TM. In the three outdoor sampling stations was used a minivol air sampler type 3.1 LVS of Derenda. PM10 Chemical composition was obtained by ICP-MS (elements) and ion chromatography The ratio I/O (indoor/outdoor) has been calculated taking into account only the samples taken in the same conditions. In all schools the ratio I/O for PM10 was greater than unity (between 1.3 and 7.8), indicating that existed significant indoor sources of these particles. In the three schools located in the industrial environment were collected PM10 samples inside and outside in non-teaching periods. Comparing the values of I/O when the classrooms were unoccupied with respect to the average value of these same schools when the classrooms are occupied, the behaviour is different depending on the location. On the other hand, a sample in an industrial school was obtained when some infrastructure works were being carried out outside of school. This caused a significant increase in the concentration of particles in the interior (I/O = 19.9). From the levels of As, Ni, Cd, Pb, Al, B, Zn, Mg, Sb, F−, ClO2-, NO3- and SO42- in PM10 inside and outside of each school, also the ratios I/O were calculated. These chemical ratios I/O were higher than unity in all cases and generally higher than those recorded in the case of PM10. Finally, Pearson correlation coefficients (r) between the elements and anions and the PM10, and between the different elements and anions were calculated for the purpose of establishing the existence of common emission sources. Keywords: Atmospheric science, Environmental science, Geochemistry, Geology, Analytical chemistry, Materials chemistry, Airborne particles, PM10 composition, Indoor/outdoor, Pearson correlation
... There are differences in the levels of particle concentrations in different environments frequented by children. According to an American study, the average percentage of time spent indoors by Americans was 87% (40) , and of this, children spent the highest fraction of time at home, followed by schools (41)(42)(43) . ...
The aim of this study was to review and synthesize the existing knowledge of the effects of ultrafine particles [UFPs] with a specific focus on children's health. An extensive literature search identified 16 studies fulfilling the criteria set for the review. One of the most important findings of the review was that, in general, there is an association between children's health and exposure to UFPs, especially among children with respiratory diseases, who commonly experience alterations in inflammatory biomarkers and deterioration in lung function as a result of UFP exposure. Notably, the health effects of UFPs are related to their ability to penetrate through different systems of the body due to their small size.
... Results reported in a health study conducted in West Virginia, among 100 sixth graders, indicate that children spent on average 14.0 h at home, 5.8 h at school and 0.7 h on travel (Schwab et al., 1992). Silvers et al. (1994) conducted a children's activity survey in U.S.A. in varied geographic regions. The authors report that children between 5 and 12 years of age spend on average 22 h per day indoors, while 18 h correspond to the home microenvironment. ...
... The aim of this study is to characterize children exposure to PM in Athens, a city known to be facing air pollution episodes during the last three decades [2]. Taking into account that a child spends most of its time indoors and especially in two microenvironments: the home and schoolmicroenvironment, it becomes evident that the study of indoor PM concentration levels in these microenvironments must be a priority [5,14,30]. Moreover, in studies conducted internationally, the PM concentrations measured inside classrooms were consistently higher than the corresponding outdoor concentrations and concentrations measured inside residences, thus emphasizing the importance of the school-microenvironment in children's exposure [31]. ...
Indoor and outdoor PM10 and PM2.5 filter-based measurements were conducted at seven primary schools and two residences in the Area of Athens. Moreover, PM10 and PM2.5 mass concentrations and ultrafine particles number concentrations were monitored continuously indoors and outdoors. The measured indoor and outdoor concentrations were significant for all size ranges. Indoor-to-outdoor (I/O) concentration ratios varied depending on the different monitored microenvironments. I/O ratios were found equal or above 1.00 at schools and around 0.80 at the two residences. Short-term concentrations were highly variable during the day, emphasizing the importance of continuous monitoring when studying exposure to PM.
... In recent years, numerous scientific studies highlighted that citizens spend most of their time in indoor environments (Jenkins et al., 1992;Silvers et al., 1994;Klepeis et al., 2001;Schweizer et al., 2007;de Gennaro et al., 2014;Wu et al., 2015). The largest part of human exposure to air pollution occurs in indoor environments, commonly considered non-polluted such as homes, offices and schools (WHO, 2006;de Gennaro et al., 2014;Branco et al., 2014). ...
Indoor air quality in nursery schools is different from other schools and this has been largely ignored, particularly in rural areas. Urban and rural nursery schools have different environmental characteristics whose knowledge needs improvement. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate continuously the concentrations of CO2, CO, NO2, O3, CH2O and total VOC in three rural nursery schools and one urban, being the only one comparing urban and rural nurseries with continuous measurements, thus considering occupation and non-occupation periods. Regarding CO2, urban nursery recorded higher concentrations (739-2328 mg m(-3)) than rural nurseries (653-1078 mg m(-3)). The influence of outdoor air was the main source of CO, NO2 and O3 indoor concentrations. CO and NO2 concentrations were higher in the urban nursery and O3 concentrations were higher in rural ones. CH2O and TVOC concentrations seemed to be related to internal sources, such as furniture and flooring finishing and cleaning products.
Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
... There is evidence that the indoor environmental conditions may have serious consequences on human's health, comfort, and productivity (Frontczak et al. 2012). Considering the fact that in developed countries, people spend more than 80 % of their time in indoor environments and also that children are a susceptible group of people being in school classrooms a substantial amount of their day time, the school environments are of the most crucial indoor environments to ensure children's health, effective learning, and well-being (Silvers et al. 1994;Diapouli et al. 2008;Dorizas et al. 2013a). ...
The perception of the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) through questionnaires in conjunction with in-field measurements related to the indoor air quality (IAQ), the thermal comfort and the lighting environment were studied in nine naturally ventilated schools of Athens, Greece. Cluster analysis was carried out in order to determine the ranges of indoor air pollutants, temperature (T), relative humidity (RH), and ventilation rates at which the students were satisfied with the indoor environment. It was found that increased levels of particulate matter did not have a negative effect on students' perception while students seemed to link the degradation of IAQ with temperature variations. Statistically significant correlations were further found between measurement results and students' perception of the IEQ. Students' sick building syndrome (SBS) symptoms and performance of schoolwork were also investigated as a function of the levels of indoor air pollutants and ventilation, and there were found significant positive correlations between particulate matter (PM) and certain health symptoms. Students' learning performance seemed to be affected by the ventilation rates and carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations while certain health effects positively correlated to the levels of PM and CO2. The energy consumption of schools was rather low compared to other national findings, and both the electricity and oil consumption for heating positively correlated to the levels of indoor air pollutants.
... Owing to their developing lungs, they may be especially susceptible to particle inhalation (EPA, 1995b). Students, in particular, spend a substantial amount of their day time within school premises (Silvers et al, 1994). Internationally, several epidemiological publications report exposure to air pollutants in school environments in association to health impacts (Guo et al, 1999). ...
The concentration levels of particulate matter (PM), airborne fungi, carbon dioxide as well as temperature
and relative humidity were investigated in the indoor and outdoor environment of two schools in Athens,
Greece during the period January to May 2011. The overall concentration ranges of the indoor measured
pollutants were: PM10: 14.92-166.18 μg/m3, PM2.5: 3.16-31.27 μg/m3, PM1: 0.72-9.01 μg/m3, UFP: 4188-
63093 pt/cm3, total airborne fungi: 28-2098 CFU/m3 and CO2: 389-1717 ppm. The relationships between PM
and airborne fungi were mainly examined, and bivariate correlations of all the measured environmental
parameters are also reported. The results indicate that PM of certain aerodynamic diameters significantly
correlate to the total airborne fungi and their prevalent genera, Penicillium, Cladosporium and Aspergillus.
Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was conducted so as to cluster variables of common characteristics.
Furthermore, simple and multiple linear regression models were developed to investigate several cases of
dependent variables to be used for prediction purposes in health risk assessments.
... Children are more susceptible compared to adults due to the greater air inhaled in proportion to their body weight (EPA 1995b). Students in particular spend a considerable amount of their day time in classrooms (> 6 h per day) (Silvers et al. 1994). Degraded IAQ in classrooms impacts students' performance, attendance and comfort (EPA 1995b). ...
Indoor Air Quality degradation is of exceptional concern due to the potential adverse effects indoor air pollutants have on human's health. Students are a susceptible group of people, who spend a lot of their time within classrooms. The purpose of this study is to investigate the concentration levels of particulate matter (PM) and total airborne fungi, in school classrooms. Further objective is to examine possible correlations between PM 10 , PM 2.5 , PM 1 , ultrafine particles (UFPs, di-ameter<100 nm), and airborne fungi. The measurements were performed using fully automated instrumentation. The results indicate that a lot of PM 10 concentrations exceeded the proposed daily limit of 50μg/m 3. Also, in some cases the concentration of the total airborne fungi indoors, exceeded their concentration outdoors. There is evidence that certain correlations exist between PM and airborne fungi.
... In this section, an attempt has been made to estimate the exposure of Egyptian citizens for 10 pollutants (toxic metals) in air. Distribution associated with inhalation rate, body weight, residency duration, time spent indoors and outdoors as well as the total hours at home and away from home has been characterized by numerous investigators [2,12,13,18,19]. The calculation of Hazard Quotient (H.Q.), and carcinogenic risk estimates were carried out by using the Risk*Assistant model -the description of this model has been written elsewhere [19][20][21][22]. ...
The aims of this study were to investigate the distribution of toxic pollutants,
primarily those that pose great risk for human health (Co, Cr, Cd, Pb, Mn, V, As,
Sb, Ni, and Ti), in atmospheric air samples collected from various sites in Cairo,
Egypt; to assess human health risk estimates derived from the metal inhalation of
urban inhabitants; and to explore the relationship between potential exposure
levels and risk estimates. Methods based on the integration of environmental
modeling and Geographical Information System (GIS) were used in the present
study. Samples of airborne particulate matter were collected during the summer
season 2005 from seven sampling sites in Cairo, Egypt. The atmospheric mean
concentrations (µg/m3) of the measured metals in the atmosphere of Cairo were
Co (0.0196), Cr (0.0113), Cd (0.0017), Pb (0.9485, Mn (0.0975), V (0.0310), As
(0.0063), Sb (0.0165), Ni (0.0133), and Ti (0.3483). Cancer risks, as well as noncancer
effects, due to inhalation exposure were assessed for 10 toxic metals.
Individually, in relation to carcinogenic risks, As, Cr, and Cd inhalation might
potentially cause an increase of the cases of cancer more than 1E-6 for As and Cr
in all investigated sites and Cairo as well. The current results suggest that,
although in general terms the concentration of metals is not relatively high in
summer for the area, attention should be paid to As, Cr, and Cd as carcinogenic
materials.
Keywords: atmospheric air, Cairo, toxic metals, hazards, risk levels.
... However, there is strong evidence to suggest that biomarkers can be used as an appropriate measure for child domestic SHS exposure. Research has shown that children spend the largest proportions of their time either in school attendance or as leisure time inside the home [13], with a reported 75-80% of their time spent in the home [14,15]. This, coupled with the widespread implementation of smoking bans in enclosed public places, makes the home the primary source of SHS exposure [4,5]. ...
Children's exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) has been causally linked to a number of childhood morbidities and mortalities. Over 50% of UK children whose parents are smokers are regularly exposed to SHS at home. No previous review has identified the factors associated with children's SHS exposure in the home.
AIM: To identify by systematic review, the factors which are associated with children's SHS exposure in the home, determined by parent or child reports and/or biochemically validated measures including cotinine, carbon monoxide or home air particulate matter.
METHODS: Electronic searches of MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsychINFO, CINAHL and Web of Knowledge to July 2014, and hand searches of reference lists from publications included in the review were conducted.
FINDINGS: Forty one studies were included in the review. Parental smoking, low socioeconomic status and being less educated were all frequently and consistently found to be independently associated with children's SHS exposure in the home. Children whose parents held more negative attitudes towards SHS were less likely to be exposed. Associations were strongest for parental cigarette smoking status; compared to children of non-smokers, those whose mothers or both parents smoked were between two and 13 times more likely to be exposed to SHS.
CONCLUSION: Multiple factors are associated with child SHS exposure in the home; the best way to reduce child SHS exposure in the home is for smoking parents to quit. If parents are unable or unwilling to stop smoking, they should instigate smoke-free homes. Interventions targeted towards the socially disadvantaged parents aiming to change attitudes to smoking in the presence of children and providing practical support to help parents smoke outside the home may be beneficial.
... In developing countries and urban areas children spent a substantial amount of their day indoors and mainly in schools (Silvers et al., 1994;Bai et al., 2007;Hussein et al., 2012). Several studies conducted in school environments have concluded that the indoor air quality of classrooms is significantly unhealthy (Dorizas et al., 2013a;Fromme et al., 2007;Fromme et al., 2005;Goyal and Khare, 2009;Siskos et al., 2001;Synnefa et al., 2003;Tippayawong et al., 2009). ...
... The increase of interest in indoor environment arose from the fact that humans and children in particular spend large amount of time indoors (Silvers et al., 1994;Klepeis et al., 2001;Leickly, 2003). Recent studies have shown that children spent an average of 25%-30% of their time at school, 65% inside at home and overall they spent over 90% of their time indoors at any location (U.S. EPA, 2002;Adgate et al., 2004). ...
Increasing evidence suggests that exposures to air pollutants present in indoor environments are contributing factors to the recently observed increase in respiratory symptoms among young children. The SchoolAir pilot study aimed to assess the hypothesis that poor indoor and outdoor air quality in schools is associated with increased prevalence of asthma, respiratory and allergic symptoms among primary school children, and assess the feasibility of a bigger full-scale research project in the future. The main aim of this MPhil project was to develop and test a methodology for exposure assessment of indoor and outdoor pollutants in primary schools. A secondary aim was to assess the prevalence rate or respiratory symptoms and their relationship to air pollutant exposure in different schools. The following pollutants were measured indoors and outdoors: carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO 2), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2), total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) formaldehyde (HCHO), and particulate matter of 0.5–5.0 micrometers in diameter (PM 0.5-5.0). A questionnaire was used to assess respiratory health effects in children. Air quality monitoring was conducted in three rounds in four primary schools in England. Real time measurements were performed simultaneously in three indoor locations and one outdoor location within each school, for one week during usual school hours. Personal exposure (PE) to each pollutant was estimated combining time-activity patterns of children and measured concentrations.
... Children of ages 4 to 12 are chosen as a focus for example case study here because children of 7 this age range are in an early stage of body development, and are also active outside of the home, 8 especially in school. (33) Another reason for this selection is because these are pre-defined ranges 9 ...
Population and diary sampling methods are employed in exposure models to sample simulated individuals and their daily activity on each simulation day. Different sampling methods may lead to variations in estimated human exposure. In this study, two population sampling methods (stratified-random and random-random) and three diary sampling methods (random resampling, diversity and autocorrelation, and Markov-chain cluster [MCC]) are evaluated. Their impacts on estimated children's exposure to ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) are quantified via case studies for children in Wake County, NC for July 2002. The estimated mean daily average exposure is 12.9 μg/m3 for simulated children using the stratified population sampling method, and 12.2 μg/m3 using the random sampling method. These minor differences are caused by the random sampling among ages within census tracts. Among the three diary sampling methods, there are differences in the estimated number of individuals with multiple days of exposures exceeding a benchmark of concern of 25 μg/m3 due to differences in how multiday longitudinal diaries are estimated. The MCC method is relatively more conservative. In case studies evaluated here, the MCC method led to 10% higher estimation of the number of individuals with repeated exposures exceeding the benchmark. The comparisons help to identify and contrast the capabilities of each method and to offer insight regarding implications of method choice. Exposure simulation results are robust to the two population sampling methods evaluated, and are sensitive to the choice of method for simulating longitudinal diaries, particularly when analyzing results for specific microenvironments or for exposures exceeding a benchmark of concern.
... In the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) research report, the highest asthma prevalence occurred in industrialized and western-ized countries (Ho et al., 2007). For young individuals, schools represent the environment where they pass a substantial portion of the day (Silvers et al., 1994). Other studies confirm that indoor air quality in schools is far from what may be characterized as a "healthy microenvironment" (Siskos et al., 2001;Hirsch et al., 1999;Knox et al., 1997). ...
The purpose of this study is to investigate allergic diseases related to allergy caused by the exposure to indoor and outdoor sources of air pollution in primary schools. The symptoms questionnaire of allergic diseases based on the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) was completed by the participants. The past and present status of asthma, allergic rhinitis, eczema, and allergic conjunctivitis were investigated by providing a questionnaire to all the participating children. Questionnaires were sent to a total of 61,350 children from 438 primary schools. A total of 40,522 children responded to the questionnaire, which represents a 66.1% return rate. Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), ldehydes, and Particulate Matter () were measured and analyzed from October to December of 2006, in 82 primary schools. The final study population comprised 35,168 children with complete data which excluded incomplete questionnaire responded by 5,354 children. Based on the survey, the level of indoor air contamination did not appear to be high, but 27.2% of the schools evaluated had exceeded the level specified by the school health guidelines (). The overall mean concentration of formaldehyde was and 1.0% of schools (1 school) exceeded the . Statistically significant relationships have been observed between indoor air quality and prevalence rate of allergic rhinitis and conjunctivitis of primary schools in Korea.
The purpose of this study is to investigate allergic diseases related to allergy caused by the exposure to indoor and outdoor sources of air pollution in primary schools. The symptoms questionnaire of allergic diseases based on the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) was completed by the participants. The past and present status of asthma, allergic rhinitis, eczema, and allergic conjunctivitis were investigated by providing a questionnaire to all the participating children. Questionnaires were sent to a total of 61,350 children from 438 primary schools. A total of 40,522 children responded to the questionnaire, which represents a 66.1% return rate. Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), Aldehydes, and Particulate Matter (PM10) were measured and analyzed from October to December of 2006, in 82 primary schools. The final study population comprised 35,168 children with complete data which excluded incomplete questionnaire responded by 5,354 children. Based on the survey, the level of indoor air contamination did not appear to be high, but 27.2% of the schools evaluated had exceeded the PM10 level specified by the school health guidelines (100 μg/m3). The overall mean concentration of formaldehyde was 22.07 μg/m3 and 1.0% of schools (1 school) exceeded the 100 μg/m3. Statistically significant relationships have been observed between indoor air quality and prevalence rate of allergic rhinitis and conjunctivitis of primary schools in Korea.
The article covers the impact of dust particles in the urban air environment on the quality of air inside public buildings. The authors of the article have studied the chemical and size-consistent composition of dust and the concentrations of solid suspended particles at different climatic conditions. Mathematical processing of the study outcomes produced regressional dependences that have been used to make conclusions.
It is clear from the beginning that video games are no cure for anything, like books and movies, they are often used in an antisocial way. Games clearly are a way of seeing reality differently through a person’s eyes, and mostly nowadays, the games commonly come with violence and sometimes with abusive themes. Critics say that the things people learn from playing video games are not often the things that they expect. However, even the crudest critics agree with the ways we learn something from video games. Above the multibillion-dollar industry, higher than a fascinating toy for both children and adults or more than a passage to computer proficiency, the video game is highly profitable in ways that let people engage in a new world. It allows the player to think, speak, and act in a new way. Unquestionably, players come to possess roles that are unapproachable to them. This paper presents a comprehensive review of games and the impact of video games on them. Also, we will point out the qualities of Virtual Reality and its history. We will also point out the importance of development, which gives birth to new technology.
Organophosphate (OP) pesticides are potent nerve agents. Improper use and poor monitoring lead to intentional and unintentional exposures. Most of the suicidal cases are due to intentional consumption of OP. Organophosphate is a vast family of chemicals that inhibit Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in synaptic gap of the neurons thereby causing neurotoxicity. Oximes and atropines are conventional therapy given to poisoning patients; however, many OP inhibit AChE irreversibly and do not respond to oximes. There are several developments in the area of OP poisoning treatment. This review has covered the usage, consumption, pathophysiology of OP exposure, and recent advances in the prophylactic approach to combat human poisoning. The review has also discussed the limitation and major drawbacks in the treatment of OP poisoned cases.
Objectives
To investigate the associations of household mold and pesticide use with risk of childhood asthma and examine the potential effect modification by child's sex at a national level in the U.S.
Methods
Nationally representative data were drawn from the cross-sectional 2017 and 2018 National Surveys of Children's Health. Household mold and pesticide exposures during the past 12 months and physician-diagnosed childhood asthma were assessed by standard questionnaires administered to primary caregivers. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to calculate adjusted odds ratios (aOR) for current asthma, adjusting for child, caregiver, and household covariates. We also examined potential effect modification by child's sex. Sampling weights accounted for the complex survey design.
Results
Among 41,423 U.S. children in 2017–2018, the weighted prevalence of current asthma was 10.8% in household mold-exposed children, compared with 7.2% in non-exposed children (P < 0.001). After adjusting for covariates including child's obesity, children with household mold exposure compared to those with no household mold exposure had a 1.41-fold (95% CI: 1.07, 1.87) higher odds of current asthma. Associations between household mold and current asthma were pronounced among boys (aOR 1.57; 95% CI: 1.03–2.38) but not girls (aOR 1.28; 0.90–1.83; P for interaction <0.001). No significant associations were observed between household pesticide use and current asthma, after adjusting for covariates.
Conclusions
Our findings suggest that household mold is associated with current asthma among children, independent of other major risk factors including child's obesity status. Our findings may inform strategies targeting mitigation of household mold as an important indoor environment factor to address childhood asthma.
This paper presents a cloud-connected indoor air quality sensor system that can be deployed to patients’ homes to study personal microenvironmental exposure for asthma research and management. The system consists of multiple compact sensor units that can measure residential NO
<sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub>
, ozone, humidity, and temperature at one-minute resolution and a cloud-based informatic system that acquires, stores, and visualizes the microenvironmental data in real-time. The sensor hardware can measure NO
<sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub>
as low as 10 ppb and ozone at 15 ppb. The cloud informatic system is implemented using open-source software on Amazon Web Service for easy deployment and scalability. This system was successfully deployed to pediatric asthma patients’ homes in a pilot study. In this study, we discovered that some families had short-term NO
<sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub>
exposure higher than EPA’s one-hour exposure limit (100 ppb), and NO
<sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub>
micro-pollution episodes often arise from natural gas appliance usage such as gas stove burning during cooking. By combining the personalized air pollutant exposure measurements with the physiological responses from monitoring devices, patient diaries, or medical records, this system can potentially enable novel asthma research and personalized asthma management.
Background:
Limited research exists on developmental milestones for productivity occupations throughout the paediatric lifespan, and negative connotations of work for children and youth may have contributed to a paucity of literature on the topic.
Objective:
To ascertain what is currently known about the timing and types of engagement in productivity occupations in children and youth aged 4-19.
Methods:
Literature referencing productive occupations in children and youth aged 4-19 was searched for this integrative review. Search terms were established based on paediatric age and occupational therapy descriptors, and terminology associated with productivity. Sixty-seven peer-reviewed articles were analyzed according to the constant comparative method.
Results:
Six core productive occupations emerged as avenues for productive engagement: paid work, school-related activities, caring for self and others, household chores, volunteering, and agricultural chores. A timeline was constructed to display common milestones for engagement in these occupations throughout the paediatric lifespan. Paediatric engagement was found to be influenced by personal (age, gender, child and youth perceptions, and safety considerations), and environmental (familial factors, parental perceptions, societal influences, and safety considerations) factors.
Conclusions:
Approaches to paediatric practice must account for the full spectrum of productive occupations children and youth engage in beyond the school context.
This book explores the field of geographical variations in disease. Especially with respect to variations in environmental exposures at the small-area scale, the book gives an account of current practice and developments. The recent and rapid expansion of the field looks set to continue in line with growing public, governmental, and media concern about environmental and health issues, and the scientific need to understand and explain the effects of environmental pollutants on health. The book is concerned with fostering an understanding of the geographical distribution of disease and the effects of environmental exposures on human health.
Indoor Air Quality degradation is of exceptional concern due to the potential adverse effects indoor air pollutants have on human’s health. Students are a susceptible group of people, who spend a lot of their time within classrooms. The purpose of this study is to investigate the concentration levels of particulate matter (PM) and total airborne fungi, in school classrooms. Further objective is to examine possible correlations between PM10, PM2.5, PM1, ultrafine particles (UFPs, diameter <100 nm), and airborne fungi. The measurements were performed using fully automated instrumentation. The results indicate that a lot of PM10 concentrations exceeded the proposed daily limit of 50 μg/m3. Also, in some cases the concentration of the total airborne fungi indoors, exceeded their concentration outdoors. There is evidence that certain correlations exist between PM and airborne fungi.
Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations were measured during two-day winter periods in indoor and outdoor environments, and these concentrations were compared with simultaneously measured personal exposures in 18 cities in 15 countries around the world. Information was also gathered on activity patterns and household characteristics in order to determine the influences of these factors on personal exposures. All NO2 measurements were taken using passive filter badges. Personal exposures were found to vary greatly among the array of cities, with mean concentrations ranging between 11.0 ppb and 51.5 ppb. Personal NO2 exposures were more strongly correlated with indoor concentrations (r = 0.75) than with outdoor concentrations (r = 0.57) when all countries were considered simultaneously. Use of a gas stove in the home was the dominant activity influencing NO2 concentrations, with a 67% increase in mean personal NO2 exposure and an increase in indoor-outdoor ratios from 0.7 to 1.2 for participants using gas stoves, although preliminary-evidence indicates the importance of combustion space heaters as well. These associations indicate the global nature of the correlation between personal NO2 exposures and indoor NO2 sources such as gas stoves or space heaters, demonstrating that this relationship is not dependent on country-specific parameters.
The present study developed regression equations to predict minute ventilation rate (VE) of young children using a tri-axial accelerometer. Body acceleration during 9 different activities was measured on 28 Japanese preschool children using ActivTracer, and then calibrated against VE, BTPS measured by the Douglass bag method. We observed a significant correlation between the VE BTPS per kg body weight and the synthetic accelerometer measurements across all activities (R² = 0.925, n = 222, p <0.001). However, the linear regression equation overestimated the VE, BTPS per kg body weight for the resting state, playing with plastic bricks, and walking by 12-18%, while it underestimated the value for ball tossing and stair climbing by 18-22%. The agreement between the estimation and observation was significantly improved by discriminating the activity within a specific range of accelerometer measurements, between ‘walking’ or ‘other than walking’, based on the vertical and horizontal body accelerations, and correction of the regression equation for the latter activities. Approaches based on the energy consumption rate used in previous studies underestimated or overestimated our VE for resting state measured by the Douglass bag method by -19% to +33%, while our regression model using measurements from the ActivTracer by -6 to +16%, indicating our regression equations better estimate the VE of daily life activities in children.
Human survival is directly tied to our relationship with the natural environment. Achieving a sustainable lifestyle depends on establishing a balance between the consumption of individuals, and the capacity of the natural environment for renewal. Yet, we often act as ifwe are separate from nature — as if we can get along without nature. Indeed, built environments serve as barriers between individuals and the natural environments in which they live. Offices, schools, homes, cars, restaurants, shopping malls, and many other built environments segregate people from nature. This chapter examines the implicit connection that individuals make between self and nature, and the impact of built environments on these implicit cognitions. A psychological model for inclusion with nature is presented, containing cognitive (connectedness), affective (caring), and behavioral (commitment) components. Implicationsfor theory, design, and sustainability are discussed.
This paper describes activities conducted by researchers of Institute for the Study of the Dynamics of Environmental Processes of the National Research Council (IDPA-CNR) in relation to the Department for Education and Skills project of Ministry of Education, University, "Initiatives for the Diffusion of Scientific Culture" (MIUR). The aim was to create an educational activity which included the involvement of the students in experimental research after suitable training, with particular attention to the sampling of aerosols followed by instrumental determination of pollutants. The educational objective was to create a teaching activity, building upon the scientific curiosity of students to transfer basic environmental air pollution concepts in their daily life and to also develop their attitudes toward pollutants. The indoor and outdoor air quality in three secondary schools in Veneto (Italy) was analyzed and discussed. The final self-reflection and cultural experience assessment can prove to be much more constructive from the educational point of view, as both experiences allow for possibility to exert an active influence on forming student's personality. Self-reflection should allow students and teachers to evaluate the impact of the learning experience in their own level of environmental sensibility.
Measurements of urban indoor fine particle <1 μm (PM1) mass concentrations were carried out in a lecture room, restaurant and two types of office. Twenty-four-hour concentrations of PM1 were sampled from April to July 2000 by low-volume Harvard impactors. The 24-hour concentrations were in the range from 7.69 to 214.62 μg.m-3. The lowest average concentration was found in a non-smoking office (11.77 μg.m-3, range 7.69-17.27 μg.m-3), the highest concentration in a restaurant (169.09 μg.m -3, range 131.91-214.62 μg.m-3). In the lecturing room (average 17.98 μg.m-3, range 11.91- 24.59 μg.m-3), the particle concentrations corresponded to the number of people present during the day. In the offices, noticeable differences were found between working days and weekends or days when staff were not present. A strong influence of smoking on the concentra tions of small particles was confirmed for the restau rant.
DISCLAIMER This report has undergone internal EPA review through the Office of Research and Development (ORD) and the Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP). Some of the statutory provisions described in this report contain legally binding requirements. However, this report does not substitute for those provisions or regulations, nor is it regulation itself. Any decisions regarding a particular risk reduction process and remedy selection decision will be made based on the statute and regulation, and EPA decision makers retain the discretion to adopt approaches on a case-by-case basis.
An important component of assessing the levels, the sources, and the health effects of children's exposure to air pollution is understanding how and where members of this sensitive population spend their time. There are, however, few data bases that allow the documentation of the day-to-day nature of children's activities. Of particular concern is whether the one-day snapshots provided by time/activity diaries typically used in exposure studies represent the actual temporal and spatial extent of children's activities. As part of a community health study, longitudinal data on children's time/activity patterns were recently collected. A respiratory health status and gender stratified sample of 90 children kept daily diaries over two-week periods during both the summer and the fall. This paper first presents baseline information of children's activity patterns: the sample distribution of time spent in each of five microenvironments (travel, outdoor, at school, at home, and inside other locations) and the daily temporal pattern of activities. The consistent patterns of children on school days suggest that for most days we can accurately predict children's locations by time of day. The second part of the analysis shows that there is both high child-to-child variation in the average time spent in each microenvironment, even after controlling for gender and respiratory health status, and strong temporal variability in activity patterns within a child over time, even after controlling for school days versus nonschool days.
Sample Design Issues in Time Diary Studies
- G Kalton
G. Kalton, " Sample Design Issues in Time Diary Studies, " pp. 93-101;
Study of Children's Activity Patterns ”Final Report prepared for Research Division California Air Resources Board 1800 15th
- J A Wiley
J. A. Wiley, " Study of Children's Activity Patterns, " Final Report prepared for Research Division, California Air Resources Board, 1800 15th Street, Sacramento, CA 95814 (1991).
Survey Sampling (John Wdey & Sons
- L Kish
L. Kish, Survey Sampling (John Wdey & Sons, New York, 1965), p. 400. 5 -24-5-25.
The Validity and Quality Time Use Estimates Obtained from Recall DiariesSample Design Issues in Time Diary StudiesPatterns of Time Use 133-176; and F. Thomas JusterInvestments of Time by Men and Women
- F T Juster
- G Kalton
Final Report prepared for Research Division
- J A Wiley
How Children Use Time
- S G Timmer
- J Eccles
- K O'brien