Reproductive outcomes among former Love Canal residents, Niagara Falls, New York.

Love Canal, located in Niagara Falls, NY, and among the earliest and most significant hazardous waste sites in the United States, first came to public attention in 1978. In this study, researchers evaluated 1,799 live births from 1960 through 1996 to 980 women who formerly lived in the Love Canal Emergency Declaration Area and were of reproductive age sometime during that time period. Using Upstate New York and Niagara County as external comparison populations, standardized incidence ratios with 95% confidence intervals were calculated for low birth weight, preterm birth, small for gestational age, and congenital malformations, and unadjusted proportions of male to female births were calculated. Internal comparisons among the infants were also performed according to several measures of potential exposure using generalized estimating equations. The results indicated a statistically significant elevated risk of preterm birth among children born on the Love Canal prior to the time of evacuation and relocation of residents from the Emergency Declaration Area, using Upstate New York as the standard population (standardized incidence ratio=1.40; 95% confidence interval: 1.01, 1.90). Additionally, the ratio of male to female births was lower for children conceived in the Emergency Declaration Area (sex ratio=0.94 versus sex ratio=1.05 in the standard population) and the frequency of congenital malformations was greater than expected among Love Canal boys born from 1983 to 1996 (standardized incidence ratio=1.50 when compared to Upstate New York), although in both cases the 95% confidence interval included the null value. Finally, increased risk for low birth weight infants among mothers who lived closest to the Canal as children was found (odds ratio=4.68; 95% confidence interval: 1.24, 17.66), but this estimate was limited due to small numbers (n=4). The study adds to the knowledge of the possible reproductive effects from exposure to chemicals arising from hazardous waste; however, given the small number of some events, the qualitative nature of the exposure assessment, and possibility of spurious associations due to multiple comparisons, the findings should be interpreted cautiously.

Ambient ozone concentration and hospital admissions due to childhood respiratory diseases in New York State, 1991-2001.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Respiratory diseases constitute one of the leading causes of ill health among children in New York State (NYS). The current project, a component of the NYS Environmental Public Health Tracking Program, investigated a potential association between ambient ozone (O(3)) concentration and childhood respiratory hospital admissions over 11 years in NYS. METHODS: We used a two-stage Bayesian hierarchical model to assess the exposure-disease associations within 11 geographic regions and statewide. The data included total daily hospital admissions due to respiratory diseases for children 0-17 years old from 1991 to 2001 in NYS (N=134,099) and daily ambient O(3) level with different single-day lags. These analyses adjusted for particulate matter 10 microm in size (PM(10)), meteorological conditions, day of the week, seasonality, long-term trends, and demographic characteristics. RESULTS: In 5 of the 11 regions, including the Upper and Lower Adirondacks, Upper Hudson Valley, Staten Island, and New York City, positive associations were found between respiratory hospital admissions and ambient O(3) level 2 days prior to the admission. Applying different statistical methods and sensitivity analysis of PM(10) did not alter these findings. When region-specific results were combined, no statewide association was apparent. CONCLUSIONS: Geographic differences were found in the associations between O(3) levels and respiratory hospital admissions among children. In addition, we found that the two-stage model may be an appropriate approach for tracking the health effects of air pollution over time in different geographic areas when heterogeneity of risk factors across regions is present.