Human activity patterns in Cincinnati, Ohio [final report]
Johnson, T
HERO ID
12675
Reference Type
Technical Report
Year
1989
Language
English
| HERO ID | 12675 |
|---|---|
| Year | 1989 |
| Title | Human activity patterns in Cincinnati, Ohio [final report] |
| Authors | Johnson, T |
| Publisher Text | Electric Power Research Institute |
| City | Palo Alto, CA |
| Abstract | BACKGROUND Health risk assessment requires both information about the dose-response relationship for a toxic agent and details on the exposure. Such details include information on ambient concentrations and on the presence and activites of individuals. These factors can vary over time, space, and type of environment. Activity data are particularly important because vigorous exercise can increase the breathing rate, affecting respiratory organ exposure and altering response to air pollution. Despite the strong need for activity pattern data, surprisingly little such information exists for the general population. OBJECTIVES To determine and characterize the activity patterns of a randomly chosen population. APPROACH The project team developed data collection instruments (including diaries) and aprotocol to select arandom sample of about 1000 peope including children and the elderly, in greater Cincinnati, Ohio. About haK the group participated in a three day study during March 1987, and the other half in a similar study in August 1987, recording all of their activities in the diaries. After collecting and validating the diaries through interviews, the team coded and analyzed data for 941 subjects to provide general tabulations about the study population. They then constructed graphs for populations and subpopulations. showing the probability that an individual would be exercising sufficiently to induce fast breathing for at least 10 minutes, by hour of day, indoor and outdoor environment, day of week, and study-month. They also determined the distribution of the length of time individuals exercised in various times and environments. RESULTS Analysis of study data helped establish the probability that a randomly chosen person in the study population during specified time periods would be exercising heavily outdoors and thus risking increased response to environmental pollutants. For a given hour on a weekday in March this probability is less than 0.03. In August and on weekends, the maximum probability that an individual is exercising heavily outdoors can reach 0.07. Diaries showed that people under 19 years old performed the greatest portion of exercise. EPRI PERSPECTIVE When announcing they would defer any decision on a short-term S02 standard, EPA noted that the type of data collected here can complement those from controlled human studies. Specifically, in a discussion on short-term S02 concentrations of health concern, EPA stated that "normal day-to-day activity patterns further reduce the chance that such concentrations will result in exposure conditions approximating those that produced effects in controlled human studies" (Federal Register, 53(80), April 26, 1988, p. 14934). This use of activity data clearly demonstrates how important such data can be in estimating the probability that pollutants may affect human health. The data collected from this sample group—which matches attributes of U.S. populations with similar climates and subpopulations—are an important part of health risk assessment |
| Report Number | EN-6204 |
| Is Certified Translation | No |
| Dupe Override | No |
| Number Of Pages | 266 |
| Is Public | Yes |
| Language Text | English |
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