Health and equity implications of individual adaptation to air pollution in a changing climate.

Future climate change can cause more days with poor air quality. This could trigger more alerts telling people to stay inside to protect themselves, with potential consequences for health and health equity. Here, we study the change in US air quality alerts over this century due to fine particulate matter (PM2.5), who they may affect, and how they may respond. We find air quality alerts increase by over 1 mo per year in the eastern United States by 2100 and quadruple on average. They predominantly affect areas with high Black populations and leakier homes, exacerbating existing inequalities and impacting those less able to adapt. Reducing emissions can offer significant annual health benefits ($5,400 per person) by mitigating the effect of climate change on air pollution and its associated risks of early death. Relying on people to adapt, instead, would require them to stay inside, with doors and windows closed, for an extra 142 d per year, at an average cost of $11,000 per person. It appears likelier, however, that people will achieve minimal protection without policy to increase adaptation rates. Boosting adaptation can offer net benefits, even alongside deep emission cuts. New adaptation policies could, for example: reduce adaptation costs; reduce infiltration and improve indoor air quality; increase awareness of alerts and adaptation; and provide measures for those working or living outdoors. Reducing emissions, conversely, lowers everyone's need to adapt, and protects those who cannot adapt. Equitably protecting human health from air pollution under climate change requires both mitigation and adaptation.

Socioeconomic Status Moderates Age Differences in Empathic Concern.

OBJECTIVES: Older age has been found to relate to a higher level of empathic concern and prosocial tendencies in many studies, but there are also studies that found contradictory results. To fully understand the phenomenon, we propose that socioeconomic status (SES) is an important factor to consider when examining differences in empathic concern and prosocial tendencies. METHOD: Two studies with Hong Kong Chinese participants were conducted to test the moderating effect of SES on the relationship between age and empathic concern. Both studies assessed participants' age, SES, empathic concern, and background information, while Study 2 also examined different indicators of prosocial tendencies. RESULTS: SES consistently moderated age differences in empathic concern in the two studies. The positive association between age and empathic concern was only significant for individuals with low SES, but not for those with high SES. Study 2 further revealed that the positive indirect effects from age to prosocial tendencies through a higher level of empathic concern were only significant for individuals with low SES as well. DISCUSSION: The results highlighted the importance to consider contextual factors when studying age-related differences.

Promoting Volunteering Among Older Adults in Hong Kong: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Volunteering has consistently been associated with better mental, physical, and cognitive health in older adulthood. However, the volunteering rate of older adults in Hong Kong is much lower than in Western countries. Few studies have examined whether interventions can be effective in motivating older adults to volunteer in Hong Kong. To fill this gap, we conducted a randomized controlled trial to examine the impact of a theory-based social-cognitive intervention on volunteering. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: A total of 264 community-dwelling older adults in Hong Kong (Mage = 69.95 years, SDage = 6.90 years, 81.06% female) were randomly assigned to either an experimental group or an active control group. Participants in the experimental group received 4 weekly 1-hr face-to-face volunteering intervention sessions. Those in the active control group received parallel sessions targeting physical activity instead of volunteering. The time spent on volunteering per month was self-reported and measured at baseline, 6 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months after the intervention. Self-efficacy, intention, action planning, and self-monitoring of volunteering were measured as mediators. RESULTS: Monthly volunteering minutes increased among participants in the experimental group when compared with the active control group at 6-week, 3-month, and 6-month follow-ups. Self-efficacy, intention, and action planning consistently mediated the effect of the intervention on volunteering minutes. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: The findings demonstrate the effectiveness of the intervention on volunteering behavior in older adults in Hong Kong through well-established behavior change techniques.

Multivariate linear regression model for source apportionment and health risk assessment of heavy metals from different environmental media.

The study evaluated source apportionment of heavy metals in vegetable samples from the potential sources of fertilizer, water and soil samples collected along the Changjiang River delta in China. The results showed that 25.72% of vegetable samples (Brassica chinensis L.) containing Pb, and Cd, Cu, Hg and Zn at relatively serious levels were from soil. Combined with principle component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA), the results of the spatial distribution of heavy metals in different environmental media indicated that fertilizer, water and soil were the main sources of heavy metals in vegetables. The results of multivariate linear regression (MLR) using partition indexes (P) showed that fertilizer contributed to 38.5%, 40.56%, 46.01%, 53.34% and 65.25% of As, Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn contents in vegetables, respectively. In contrast, 44.58% of As, 32.57% of Hg and 32.83% of Pb in vegetables came from soil and 42.78% of Cd and 66.97% of Hg contents in vegetables came from the irrigation water. The results of PCA and CA verified that MLR using P was suitable for determining source apportionment in a vegetable. A health risk assessment was performed; As, Cd and Pb contributed to more than 75% of the total hazard quotient (THQ) values and total carcinogenic risk values (Risktotal) for adults and children through oral ingestion. More than 70% of the estimated THQ and Risktotal is contributed by water and fertilizer. Therefore, it is necessary to increase efforts in screening limits/levels of heavy metals in fertilizer and irrigation water and prioritize appropriate pollution management strategies.

Incorporating Bioaccessibility into Human Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in Rice ( Oryza sativa L.): A Probabilistic-Based Analysis.

A systematic investigation into total and bioaccessible heavy metal concentrations in rice grains harvested from heavy metal-contaminated regions was carried out to assess the potential health risk to local residents. Arsenic, Cr, Cu, Pb, and Zn concentrations were within acceptable levels while Cd and Ni concentrations appeared to be much higher than in other studies. The bioaccessibity of As, Cd, and Ni was high (>25%) and could be well predicted from their total concentrations. The noncarcinogenic risk posed by As and Cd was significant. The carcinogenic risk posed by all bioaccessible heavy metals at the fifth percentile was 10-fold higher than the acceptable level, and Cd and Ni were the major contributors. The contribution of each metal to the combined carcinogenic risk indicates that taking pertinent precautions for different types of cancer, aimed at individuals with different levels of exposure to heavy metals, will greatly reduce morbidity and mortality rates.

Age Moderates the Relationship Between Generativity Concern and Understanding of Wealth.

BACKGROUND: Wealth can be considered as resource to promote either public welfare (i.e. through altruistic understanding) or personal well-being (i.e. through egoistic understanding). How people understand wealth can influence the distribution of valuable materialistic resources within a society. The current study examined how generativity concern, the concern for next generation and social welfare in the future, influenced people's understanding of wealth and whether age moderated the relationship. METHODS: A total of 133 participants ranging from 18 to 78 years old were interviewed with four open-ended questions regarding their understanding of wealth. Their generativity concern and demographical information were also recorded. RESULTS: Findings showed that generativity concern was related to a less egoistic and more altruistic understanding of wealth. Moreover, the effect of generativity concern was especially salient for younger adults, but not significant for older adults. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that generativity concern is a construct that applies to both young and older adults. It can even be more influential to young adults' cognitive conceptualization in certain aspects (e.g., understanding of wealth) than that of older adults. Future studies can further investigate the general impact of generativity concern as well as the behavioral consequences of people's understanding of wealth. The results were also discussed in the context of lifelong learning.

Characteristics of heavy metal transfer and their influencing factors in different soil-crop systems of the industrialization region, China.

Soil heavy metals and their bioaccumulation in agricultural products have attracted widespread concerns, yet the transfer and accumulation characteristics of heavy metals in different soil-crop systems was rarely investigated. Soil and crop samples were collected from the typical agricultural areas in the Yangtze River Delta region, China. The concentrations of Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd and Hg in the soils, roots and grains of rice (Oryza Sativa L.), wheat (Triticum L.) and canola (Brassica napus L.) were determined in this study. Transfer ability of heavy metals in soil-rice system was stronger than those in soil-wheat and soil-canola systems. The wheat showed a strong capacity to transfer Zn, Cu and Cd from root to the grain while canola presented a restricting effect to the intake of Cu and Cd. Soil pH and total organic matter were major factors influencing metal transfer from soil to rice, whereas soil Al2O3 contents presented a negative effect on heavy metal mobility in wheat and canola cultivation systems. The concentration of Zn and Cd in crop grains could well predicted according to the stepwise multiple linear regression models, which could help to quantitatively evaluate the ecologic risk of heavy metal accumulation in crops in the study area.

Is reciprocity always beneficial? Age differences in the association between support balance and life satisfaction.

OBJECTIVES: Reciprocity in support exchanges is believed to be beneficial to psychological well-being. This study examined perceived emotional and instrumental support balance from either family or friends, and the relationship between each support balance and life satisfaction among young and older adults. METHOD: The sample included 107 older adults and 96 young adults. They rated their life satisfaction, as well as the emotional and instrumental support they provided to and received from family members and friends. RESULTS: Consistent with the socioemotional selectivity theory, age differences were found in perceived emotional support balance with friends. Older adults reported more emotionally reciprocal friendships than did young adults. Moreover, contrary to the equity rule, emotionally over-benefited friendships were associated with higher life satisfaction for older adults than were reciprocal friendships. CONCLUSION: Age, type of support, and source of support should be considered when studying the relationships between support balance and psychological well-being.