Advances and current themes in occupational health and environmental public health surveillance.

The essential purpose of public health surveillance is to monitor important health outcomes and risk factors and provide actionable information to practitioners, policy makers, researchers, and the public to prevent or ameliorate exposure, disease, and death. Although separate 1970s-era acts of Congress made possible the creation of modern occupational health and environmental public health surveillance, these acts also led to fragmented responsibilities and unconnected data across federal agencies. Having a well-defined purpose for systematically collecting relevant data is key, and state and local programs play a crucial role in conducting meaningful surveillance and connecting it with evidence-based outreach and interventions. Congress has directed monies to environmental public health surveillance and capacity has improved, yet no analagous funding has occurred to address the fragmentation found within occupational health surveillance. This article provides a review of the advances and important themes within occupational health and environmental public health surveillance over the past decade.

Characterization of lead in US workplaces using data from OSHA's integrated management information system.

BACKGROUND: Lead hazards continue to be encountered in the workplace. OSHA's Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) is the largest available database containing sampling results in US workplaces. METHODS: Personal airborne lead sampling results in IMIS were extracted for years 1979-2008. Descriptive analyses, geographical mapping, and regression modeling of results were performed. RESULTS: Seventy-nine percent of lead samples were in the manufacturing sector. Lead sample results were highest in the construction sector (median = 0.03 mg/m(3) ). NORA sector, year, OSHA region, number of employees at the worksite, federal/state OSHA plan, unionization, advance notification, and presence of an employee representative were statistically associated with having a lead sample result exceed the PEL. CONCLUSIONS: Lead concentrations within construction have been higher than any other industry. Lead hazards have been most prevalent in the north and northeastern US. IMIS data can be useful as a surveillance tool and for targeting prevention efforts toward hazardous industries.

Association of self-reported leisure-time physical inactivity with particulate matter 2.5 air pollution.

This study examines the association between annual levels of particulate matter (PM) and self-reported leisure-time physical inactivity (LTPI) in the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) among 63,290 survey respondents who participated in the 2001 BRFSS from 142 counties in the U.S. The average prevalence of self-reported LTPI was about 24.9% (SE = 0.3%), LTPI prevalence was positively associated with annual mean of PM.5 concentration (p < .0001). The authors demonstrate that LTPI was associated with PM2.5 pollution with statistical significance with and without adjustment for covariates (adjusted odds ration [OR] = 1.16; 95% CI: [confidence interval] 1.06-1.27). This study suggests that ambient PM2.5 air pollution is associated independently with LTPI. PM2.5 pollution and physical inactivity are both risk factors of chronic diseases. Therefore, it is important for environmental officials to implement measures to reduce ambient air pollution while public health officials simultaneously promote regular physical activity by encouraging the general public to remain physically active.

Ischemic heart disease and ambient air pollution of particulate matter 2.5 in 51 counties in the U.S.

OBJECTIVE: Ischemic heart disease (IHD) is one of the most common health threats to the adult population of the U.S. and other countries. The objective of this study was to examine the association between exposure to elevated annual average levels of Particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) air quality index (AQI) and IHD in the general population. METHODS: We combined data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and the U.S Environmental Protection Agency air quality database. We analyzed the data using SUDAAN software to adjust the effects of sampling bias, weights, and design effects. RESULTS: The prevalence of IHD was 9.6% among respondents who were exposed to an annual average level of PM2.5 AQI > 60 compared with 5.9% among respondents exposed to an annual average PM2.5 AQI < or = 60. The respondents with higher levels of PM2.5 AQI exposure were more likely to have IHD (adjusted odds ratio = 1.72, 95% confidence interval 1.11, 2.66) than respondents with lower levels of exposure after adjusting for age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, smoking, body mass index, diabetes, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggested that exposure to relatively higher levels of average annual PM2.5 AQI may increase the likelihood of IHD. In addition to encouraging health-related behavioral changes to reduce IHD, efforts should also focus on implementing appropriate measures to reduce exposure to unhealthy AQI levels.