Environmental Risks, Pulmonary Disease / 19.08.2025

[caption id="attachment_70340" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Air Quality and Chronic Respiratory Diseases Photo courtesy of Pixabay [/caption] The attacks of September 11 left scars that extended far beyond the visible destruction. In the years that followed, research revealed another crisis: the lingering impact of toxic air on those who lived or worked near Ground Zero.  Firefighters, residents, and first responders developed chronic respiratory diseases at alarming rates. Today, these studies offer a reference point on how invisible particles impact entire lifespans. Below, we discuss the public health aftermath of the 9/11 crisis and how you can seek help. 

Air Quality Post 9/11 

The collapse of the World Trade Center released a cloud of fine caustic dust, chemicals, and construction debris. The toxic mix included silica, asbestos, heavy metals, glass fibers, hydrocarbons, and carbon nanotubes found later in tissue samples.  First responders, residents, and workers inhaled these particles. Many woke with persistent coughs. Some exposed within hours of the collapse went on to develop WTC cough syndrome, a chronic ailment tied to airway inflammation, reflux, sinus disease, and diminished lung function. 
Author Interviews, Environmental Risks, NYU / 23.07.2025

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_69606" align="alignleft" width="225"]Dr. George D. Thurston ScD Professor of Medicine and Population Health Director of the Program in Exposure Assessment and Human Health Effects NYU Grossman School of Medicine Division of Environmental Medicine NYC, NY 10010   Prof. Thurston[/caption] Dr. George D. Thurston Professor of Medicine and Population Health NYU Grossman School of Medicine Division of Environmental Medicine NYC, NY 10010   USA MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What were some of the chemicals released by the coal-coking plant? Response: Pittsburgh has a long history as the nation's principal source of bituminous coal production and home to iron and coke industries since the late 19th century, and is also known as one of the cities with the highest levels of air pollution and most air-pollution related deaths in the US, to date. The Shenango, Inc Coke Plant was one of the significant industrial emission sources in the area before its closure in January 2016. Coal-coking plants like the Shenango plant utilizes a destructive heated distillation process called pyrolysis to volatilize and drive the impurities out of coal and produce coke, a purer product with higher carbon content for use in iron and steel production. From this process, coke plant operations are known to generate high emissions of complex air pollution mixtures into the ambient air, including particulate matter (PM), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), polycyclic organic matter (POMs), volatile compounds (VOCs), and volatilized trace metals such as arsenic, nickel, selenium, lead, and cobalt. Our study examines the changes in respiratory health in the community residing near the Shenango Coke Plant before vs. after its closure,  providing a direct quantification of the health benefits of such fossil-fuel-related air pollution reductions. 
Author Interviews, Clots - Coagulation, Environmental Risks / 17.12.2024

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_65560" align="alignleft" width="200"]Pamela L Lutsey PhD, MPHProfessor, Division of Epidemiology & Community Health University of Minnesota Minneapolis, Minnesota Dr. Lutsey[/caption] Pamela L Lutsey PhD, MPH Professor, Division of Epidemiology & Community Health University of Minnesota Minneapolis, Minnesota MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Air pollution is ubiquitous. In order to understand the impact of exposure on health, it is necessary to look across diverse health conditions. Associations with lung disease and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease are more established. Less is known about the role of air pollution exposure on coagulation and venous thromboembolism (VTE). MedicalResearch.com: Are individuals less ambulatory in heavily polluted areas? The study did not address this question directly. The association did persist across a wide range of subgroups of the sample, including those who were not smokers and who had no evidence of lung disease.
Author Interviews, Environmental Risks / 07.05.2024

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_61654" align="alignleft" width="150"]Gediminas "Gedi" Mainelis, Ph.D.Professor, Department of Environmental Sciences School of Environmental and Biological Sciences Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey Prof. Mainelis[/caption] Gediminas "Gedi" Mainelis, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Environmental Sciences School of Environmental and Biological Sciences Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What types of particles, ie where do they come from? Response: This work is a continuation of my research on nanoparticles in consumer products. We have investigated and published on the release of particles from nano-enabled consumer products, such as cosmetic powders, various sprays and clothing. In this project, we were interested in potential resuspension of particles once nano-enabled consumer sprays are used. The particles are added into consumer products to provide them certain desired properties, like antimicrobial protection, odor reduction or protection against UV (sunscreen). Once the products are used, the particles are released and we could be exposed to them.
Author Interviews, Environmental Risks, Infections, PNAS / 14.03.2024

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_61436" align="alignleft" width="125"]Dr. Fangqun Yu Dr. Fangqun Yu[/caption] Dr. Fangqun Yu PhD Senior Research Faculty Atmospheric Sciences Research Center University Albany, State University of New York https://www.albany.edu/~yfq   [caption id="attachment_61437" align="alignleft" width="125"]Dr. Arshad Arjunan Nair Dr. Arshad Nair[/caption] Dr. Arshad Arjunan Nair PhD Postdoctoral Associate Atmospheric Sciences Research Center University at Albany, State University of New York https://www.albany.edu/~an688965   MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Fangqun Yu: Legionnaires’ disease is a severe form of pneumonia with a fatality rate of 10-25% caused by inhaling or aspirating Legionella, bacteria that thrive in built environment water systems. Those most vulnerable to this disease are male, over 50 years of age, have a history of smoking, have chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes, are immunocompromised, and/or minorities. The US observed a nearly nine-fold increase in Legionnaires’ disease between 2000 and 2018, with New York State having one of the highest increases in disease rates. The reasons for the increase in incidence were unclear prior to this study. In our study, we found: (1) Declining sulfur dioxide concentrations (SO2) are strongly correlated with the increase in legionellosis cases and a physical mechanism explaining this link is proposed, (2) A geostatistical epidemiological analysis links the disease with exposure to cooling towers, and (3) Climate and weather are ruled out as factors responsible for the long-term increase in case numbers (outside of seasonal trends).
Author Interviews, Environmental Risks, Pediatrics, Race/Ethnic Diversity / 29.09.2023

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

[caption id="attachment_60883" align="alignleft" width="200"]Dr. Devon Payne-Sturges, DrPH, MPH, MEngr Associate Professor Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health School of Public Health University of Maryland, College Park Dr. Payne-Sturges[/caption]

Dr. Devon Payne-Sturges, DrPH, MPH, MEngr
Associate Professor
Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health
School of Public Health
University of Maryland, College Park

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: My co-authors and I conducted this study to fill a knowledge gap and to inform the work of Project TENDR. No systematic or scoping review had examined both exposure disparities and the joint effects of combined exposures of environmental neurotoxicants and social disadvantage as they relate to disparities in neurodevelopmental outcomes specifically among children living in the U.S.

Our study is the first to summarize the evidence on 7 neurotoxicants that children in the U.S. are routinely exposed to and we examined both disparities in these exposures and disparities in the effects of those exposures on children’s brain development, cognition, and behavior by race, ethnicity, and economic status.

We reviewed over 200 independent studies spanning five decades from 1974 to 2022 on social disparities in exposure to 7 exemplar neurotoxic chemicals and pollutants, including chemical mixtures, and their relationship with disparities with neurodevelopmental outcomes among children in the U.S.

Author Interviews, Blood Pressure - Hypertension, Environmental Risks / 22.03.2023

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_60214" align="alignleft" width="150"]Kazem Rahimi FRCP, DM, MSc, FESCProfessor of Cardiovascular Medicine and Population Health University of Oxford Consultant cardiologist Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust Prof. Rahimi[/caption] Kazem Rahimi FRCP, DM, MSc, FESC Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and Population Health University of Oxford Consultant cardiologist Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust   MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The prevalence of hypertension has been rising worldwide. To mitigate the burden, identifying the modifiable environmental risk factors of hypertension and developing preventive interventions constitute important public health priorities. Despite the biological plausibility of the link between road traffic noise and the risk of hypertension, the quality of relevant evidence has been low, and the role of air pollution has been uncertain.
Author Interviews, Environmental Risks, Race/Ethnic Diversity / 17.12.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_58580" align="alignleft" width="150"]Jiawen Liu, PhD student Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering University of Washington Jiawen Liu[/caption] Jiawen Liu, PhD student Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering University of Washington  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: As previous literature has documented, racial/ethnic minority populations and lower-income populations in the US often experience higher-than-average burdens of air pollution and its associated health impacts. The disparities vary by pollutant, location, and time. In 2014, Clark et al. found higher average NO2 exposure for nonwhites than for whites and for below-poverty-level than for above-poverty-level. Clark et al. (2017) expanded research for NO2 exposure by race-ethnicity and socioeconomic status to 2000 and 2010 and found that absolute racial-ethnic disparities decreased over time while relative racial-ethnic disparities persisted. 
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