Fall 2020 Seminar Series (ENV 847-S/PHARM 847-S)
Duke Integrated Toxicology & Environmental Health Program
Friday, October 23, 2020, 12:00 – 1:15 pm
*Live Zoom Presentation. Register HERE to receive Zoom link!*
DAVID RICH, ScD
University of Rochester
Pronouns: He / Him / His
Are changes in ambient air pollution composition and mixtures leading to increased rates of adverse cardiovascular, respiratory, and infectious events and pregnancy outcomes? A New York State susceptibility study
Since the early- to mid-2000s, policy initiatives to improve air quality have been implemented nationally and across New York State (NYS). These initiatives include use of ultra-low sulfur on-road diesel fuel starting in October 2006, the requirement for particle regenerative traps on new heavy-duty diesel on-road trucks and buses on July 1, 2007, the requirement for NOx control as of January 1, 2010, decreases in the sulfur content of non-road diesel fuel between 2007 and 2014, and the requirement that all No. 2 based fuels sold in NYS be ultra-low sulfur by July 1, 2012. Additionally, several actions (e.g. emission control technology retrofits in the Ohio River Valley, Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, and electricity policy changes in Ontario) have occurred during this same time to reduce SO2 and NOx emissions from power plants in upwind source areas. During this period, there were also major economic drivers of changes in air quality in NYS and the United States, including the 2008 recession and the change in the price of natural gas compared to coal and oil. In epidemiology studies of NYS adult residents living in 6 NY cities, we assessed whether these policies were associated with changes in the rate of cause-specific cardiovascular, respiratory, and respiratory infectious disease hospitalizations and emergency department visits per unit mass of PM2.5 (to assess changes in potential PM toxicity), and explored associations between these same hospitalization and ED visit rates and source specific PM concentrations (e.g. spark ignition vehicle emissions, diesel, secondary sulfate) across the state. Results from these analyses will be presented and discussed.
BIOGRAPHY: David Rich received his MPH from the Rutgers School of Public Health in 1999 and an ScD (Doctor of Science) in Epidemiology and Environmental Health from the Harvard School of Public Health in 2004. Dr. Rich was an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at the Rutgers School of Public Health from 2005-2010 where he began working with Jim Zhang. Dr. Rich is now an Associate Professor of Public Health Sciences, with secondary appointments in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and Environmental Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Dr. Rich is the Director of the Epidemiology PhD and MS programs, and he is the Epidemiology Research Director in Public Health Sciences. His research examines acute cardiopulmonary and reproductive health effects of ambient air pollution, mechanisms potentially mediating such associations, and air quality policy impacts on such associations and health effects. Dr. Rich will discuss some of the accountability work done in New York State that is perhaps applicable to other regions of the United States.