Analysis of gasoline-related pollutant exposures and risks in California between 1996 and 2014.

BACKGROUND: Gasoline-powered vehicles and equipment are an important source of air pollution in California. Many gasoline-related pollutants pose significant health concerns. The California Air Resources Board strictly regulates the state's gasoline formulation and vehicle emissions. OBJECTIVE: To investigate exposure trends for gasoline-related air pollutants between 1996 and 2014, capturing the period before and after the removal of methyl t-butyl ether (MTBE). METHODS: We identified gasoline-related chemicals with known or suspected health concerns and adequate ambient air monitoring data. Average exposures to the general public were estimated from 1996 to 2014 in five major air basins and statewide. We determined the fractions of exposures attributable to gasoline use and evaluated cancer and non-cancer risks for chemicals with available cancer potencies and health reference values. RESULTS: We found that average gasoline-attributable cancer risks for the general California population from the most highly emitted carcinogens (acetaldehyde, benzene, 1,3-butadiene, and formaldehyde) declined by over 80% between 1996 and 2014. This decline occurred despite roughly constant statewide gasoline sales, an increase in vehicle miles traveled, and an approximately 10% increase in vehicle registrations over this same period. Naphthalene, measured as a volatile organic compound (VOC), was the most abundant gasoline-related polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH). From 1996 to 2014, gasoline-attributable cancer risks for naphthalene were estimated to drop approximately threefold in the South Coast Air Basin. Exposures to gasoline-related chemicals associated with non-cancer health effects, such as chronic respiratory toxicity or neurotoxicity, were generally below levels of concern. The exception was acrolein, with gasoline-related exposures in 2014 estimated to be high enough to pose risks for respiratory toxicity. IMPACT STATEMENT: Our historical analysis demonstrated the success of California's regulatory efforts to reduce gasoline-related air pollutant exposures and risks to the general public. New efforts are focused on addressing gasoline-related and other air pollution in heavily impacted communities affected by multiple environmental and social stressors.

The East Bay Diesel Exposure Project: a biomonitoring study of parents and their children in heavily impacted communities.

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.

From Digital Commons to Alma/Primo: enhancing the dissemination of Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) projects.

The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project collection is a group of approximately 120 DNP projects archived between 2017 and 2022 in Health Sciences Research Commons (HSRC), the health sciences institutional repository (IR) for the George Washington University. Our project focused on expanding avenues for the dissemination of DNP projects beyond our Digital Commons IR by integrating this content into the library's instances of Ex Libris Alma and Primo VE. By utilizing the Ex Libris Repository type import profile rather than the OAI-PMH feed, we identified enhanced opportunities for content discovery while likewise retaining better control over individual item records.

The Medical Institutional Repositories in Libraries (MIRL) Symposium: a blueprint designed in response to a community of practice need.

Background: Health sciences libraries in medical schools, academic health centers, health care networks, and hospitals have established institutional repositories (IRs) to showcase their research achievements, increase visibility, expand the reach of institutional scholarship, and disseminate unique content. Newer roles for IRs include publishing open access journals, tracking researcher productivity, and serving as repositories for data sharing. Many repository managers oversee their IR with limited assistance from others at their institution. Therefore, IR practitioners find it valuable to network and learn from colleagues at other institutions. Case Presentation: This case report describes the genesis and implementation of a new initiative specifically designed for a health sciences audience: the Medical Institutional Repositories in Libraries (MIRL) Symposium. Six medical librarians from hospitals and academic institutions in the U.S. organized the inaugural symposium held virtually in November 2021. The goal was to fill a perceived gap in conference programming for IR practitioners in health settings. Themes of the 2021 and subsequent 2022 symposium included IR management, increasing readership and engagement, and platform migration. Post-symposium surveys were completed by 73/238 attendees (31%) in 2021 and by 62/180 (34%) in 2022. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Discussion: Participant responses in post-symposium surveys rated MIRL highly. The MIRL planning group intends to continue the symposium and hopes MIRL will steadily evolve, build community among IR practitioners in the health sciences, and expand the conversation around best practices for digital archiving of institutional content. The implementation design of MIRL serves as a blueprint for collaboratively bringing together a professional community of practice.

Biomonitoring California Protocol for Following up on Elevated Levels of Urinary Arsenic.

OBJECTIVES: to develop and implement a follow-up protocol for Biomonitoring California study participants with elevated levels of urinary arsenic, particularly inorganic forms. METHODS: We selected 20 µg/L as the level of concern for urinary inorganic arsenic; samples with total arsenic ≥20 µg/L were speciated. Participants with elevated inorganic arsenic were notified of their level and invited to participate in a telephone survey to help determine possible exposure sources. We illustrate the protocol in four Biomonitoring California studies, which collected samples from 2010-2013 in locations across the state. RESULTS: 48 participants in the four studies had elevated urinary inorganic arsenic levels. Consumption of rice and rice-based products was the most commonly identified potential source of inorganic arsenic exposure. CONCLUSIONS: Of 48 participants with elevated inorganic arsenic, 27 would have been missed if we had used the previously published threshold of 50 µg/L total arsenic to identify urine samples for speciation. This protocol fills a gap in the clinical literature by providing a more health-protective approach to identify individuals with elevated urinary inorganic arsenic and help determine potentially significant exposure sources.

Doctor of nursing practice scholarship dissemination through an open access repository.

Open access repositories have become more widely used for the dissemination of Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) scholarly projects nationally and internationally. This article shares lessons learned from five years of experience with using an institutional repository, archiving and showcasing over 100 full-text DNP projects in the collection. The aims of this article are to examine the advantages of disseminating DNP scholarly projects through an Open Access (OA) repository and to explore how items archived in OA repositories complement traditional publishing models as supplementary parts of the research ecosystem. Items from the collection have been downloaded over 72,000 times at over 3700 institutions in 182 countries around the globe. Archiving DNP projects in an OA collection can improve health care practices by augmenting the dissemination of practice outcomes in traditional peer-reviewed literature. This article provides guidance for those looking to establish and evaluate similar collections, highlighting lessons learned.

Doing More With Less: A Centralized Model for Fellowship Program Coordination.

BACKGROUND: Pediatrics fellowship programs typically are small, embedded in divisions, and vary in their approach to education. Program coordination usually falls to division administrators who operate in silos despite common requirements across programs, creating redundancy and inefficiency. OBJECTIVE: We examined the feasibility, acceptability, and impact of a centralized administrative model for pediatrics fellowship support at a large university-based institution. METHODS: In 2014, administrative support for the pediatrics fellowships at the University of California, San Francisco, was restructured from a model with division-level support to a centralized model. In the new model, a team of 6 full-time administrators supports 19 fellowship programs with a total of 80 fellows. The fellowship support team consists of 3 program coordinators, a data coordinator, a human resource coordinator, a team manager, and a faculty advisor. The team meets twice a month to discuss program issues and innovative ideas. Quarterly meetings are held with all coordinators and directors to discuss changes across fellowships and foster further collaboration. We surveyed program directors to examine the acceptability of the model and assessed its impact on finances and turnover. RESULTS: Of 19 eligible fellowship program directors, 15 (79%) completed the survey. The majority indicated that the new administrative model was "better" or "much better" than the prior model. The new model resulted in decreased costs (an estimated $250,000 per year in salary support) and lower staff turnover. CONCLUSIONS: Centralization of fellowship administration is feasible and offers substantial benefits for all stakeholders involved.

Exposures to environmental phenols in Southern California firefighters and findings of elevated urinary benzophenone-3 levels.

Firefighters are at increased risk for exposure to toxic chemicals compared to the general population, but few studies of this occupational group have included biomonitoring. We measured selected phenolic chemicals in urine collected from 101 Southern California firefighters. The analytes included bisphenol A (BPA), triclosan, benzophenone-3 (BP-3), and parabens, which are common ingredients in a range of consumer products. BP-3, BPA, triclosan, and methyl paraben were detected in almost all study subjects (94-100%). The BP-3 geometric mean for firefighters was approximately five times higher than for a comparable National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) subgroup. Demographic and exposure data were collected from medical records and via a questionnaire, and covariates were examined to assess associations with BP-3 levels. BP-3 levels were elevated across all firefighter age groups, with the highest levels observed in the 35 to 39year old group. Body fat percentage had a significant inverse association with BP-3 concentrations. Our results indicate pervasive exposure to BP-3, BPA, triclosan, and methyl paraben in this population of firefighters, consistent with studies of other populations. Further research is needed to investigate possible explanations for the higher observed BP-3 levels, such as occupational or California-specific exposures.