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Full-Text Articles in Environmental Public Health
Environmental Respiratory Exposures And Pulmonary Function Among Residents Of Rural Appalachia, Kentucky, John C. Flunker
Environmental Respiratory Exposures And Pulmonary Function Among Residents Of Rural Appalachia, Kentucky, John C. Flunker
Theses and Dissertations--Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Introduction
Resource extraction exposures are hypothesized to promote adverse respiratory health outcomes among residents of rural Appalachia, yet no studies to date have simultaneously quantified small-scale geographic variation in residential exposure, individual level health factors, and respiratory health outcomes.
Methods
The Mountain Air Project (MAP) is a community engaged cross-sectional study based in Harlan and Letcher counties of Southeastern Kentucky. MAP utilized a novel small-scale method to define residential exposure boundaries: hydrologic unit code (HUC), which represents distinct drainages (AKA “hollows”) where residents cluster. We assigned the HUC level density of active and abandoned surface and underground mining, oil/gas wells, …
Maternal Proximity To Mountaintop Removal Mining And Birth Defects In Appalachian Kentucky, 1997-2003, Daniel B. Cooper
Maternal Proximity To Mountaintop Removal Mining And Birth Defects In Appalachian Kentucky, 1997-2003, Daniel B. Cooper
Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)
Background: Extraction of coal through mountaintop removal mining (MTR) alters many dimensions of the landscape, and explosive blasts, exposed rock, and coal washing have the potential to pollute air and water with substances known to increase risk of developmental and birth anomalies. Previous research suggests that infants born to mothers living in MTR coal mining counties have higher prevalence of most types of birth defects.
Objectives: This study seeks to examine further the relationship between MTR activity and birth defects by employing individual level exposure estimation through precise satellite data of MTR activity in the Appalachian region and maternal residence …