Agriculture consistently ranks among the top hazardous occupations, accounting for a significant number of injuries and fatalities in the workplace. Eastern North Carolina has a significant number of small, independent, family-run, owned, and operated farms. However, little is known about perception, behavior, training, accessibility, or purchasing personal protective equipment (PPE) for safety among farmers in the region. In this study, telephone interviews were conducted among participating farmers between March and June 2012 (N = 129). Univariate and bivariate analyses were conducted to examine associations between PPE behavior and workplace hazards, health-related concerns, and wearing and purchasing PPE. Findings indicated that personal behavior of wearing hearing protection devices (HPDs) and protection from the sun among farmers was low. However, a relatively high percentage of farmers reported wearing PPE when working with agricultural chemicals. Most farmers received training from agricultural extension offices. The findings indicate that, in general, farmers are well aware of the risks associated with occupational hazards and recognize concern for health and safety protection in the workplace. Transitioning these concerns into preventative action remains a challenge and priority for the agricultural health professional.

Although hospital length of stay (LOS) has been identified as a proxy measure of healthcare expenditures in the United States, there are limited studies investigating the potentially important association between outdoor air pollution and LOS for pediatric asthma. This study aims to examine the effect of ambient air pollution on LOS among children with asthma in South Texas. It included retrospective data on 711 children aged 5–18 years old admitted for asthma to a pediatric tertiary care hospital in South Texas between 2010 and 2014. Air pollution data including particulate matter (PM_2.5) and ozone were collected from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The multivariate binomial logistic regression analyses were performed to determine the association between each air pollutant and LOS, controlling for confounders. The regression models showed the increased ozone level was significantly associated with prolonged LOS in the single- and two-pollutant models (p < 0.05). Furthermore, in the age-stratified models, PM_2.5 was positively associated with LOS among children aged 5–11 years old (p < 0.05). In conclusion, this study revealed a concerning association between ambient air pollution and LOS for pediatric asthma in South Texas.

Few studies have evaluated the association between ambient air pollution and hospital readmissions among children with asthma, especially in low-income communities. This study examined the short-term effects of ambient air pollutants on hospital readmissions for pediatric asthma in South Texas. A time-stratified case-crossover study was conducted using the hospitalization data from a children’s hospital and the air pollution data, including particulate matter 2.5 (PM_2.5) and ozone concentrations, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention between 2010 and 2014. A conditional logistic regression analysis was performed to investigate the association between ambient air pollution and hospital readmissions, controlling for outdoor temperature. We identified 111 pediatric asthma patients readmitted to the hospital between 2010 and 2014. The single-pollutant models showed that PM_2.5 concentration had a significant positive effect on risk for hospital readmissions (OR = 1.082, 95% CI = 1.008–1.162, p = 0.030). In the two-pollutant models, the increased risk of pediatric readmissions for asthma was significantly associated with both elevated ozone (OR = 1.023, 95% CI = 1.001–1.045, p = 0.042) and PM_2.5 concentrations (OR = 1.080, 95% CI = 1.005–1.161, p = 0.036). The effects of ambient air pollutants on hospital readmissions varied by age and season. Our findings suggest that short-term (4 days) exposure to air pollutants might increase the risk of preventable hospital readmissions for pediatric asthma patients.

Studies suggest associations between long-term ambient air pollution exposure and outcomes related to Alzheimer's disease (AD). Whether a link exists between pollutants and brain amyloid accumulation, a biomarker of AD, is unclear. We assessed whether long-term air pollutant exposures are associated with late-life brain amyloid deposition in Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study participants. We used a chemical transport model with data fusion to estimate ambient concentrations of PM_2.5 and its components, NO₂, NO_x, O₃ (24-hour and 8-hour), CO, and airborne trace metals. We linked concentrations to geocoded participant addresses and calculated 10-year mean exposures (2002 to 2011). Brain amyloid deposition was measured using florbetapir amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) scans in 346 participants without dementia in 2012-2014, and we defined amyloid positivity as a global cortical standardized uptake value ratio ≥ the sample median of 1.2. We used logistic regression models to quantify the association between amyloid positivity and each air pollutant, adjusting for putative confounders. In sensitivity analyses, we considered whether use of alternate air pollution estimation approaches impacted findings for PM_2.5, NO₂, NO_x, and 24-hour O₃. At PET imaging, eligible participants (N = 318) had a mean age of 78 years, 56% were female, 43% were Black, and 27% had mild cognitive impairment. We did not find evidence of associations between long-term exposure to any pollutant and brain amyloid positivity in adjusted models. Findings were materially unchanged in sensitivity analyses using alternate air pollution estimation approaches for PM_2.5, NO₂, NO_x, and 24-hour O₃. Air pollution may impact cognition and dementia independent of amyloid accumulation, though whether air pollution influences AD pathogenesis later in the disease course or at higher exposure levels deserves further consideration.