Residential health near major construction projects: unexplored hazards.
Few studies have been made of the impact of major construction on the health of nearby residents. We conducted a feasibility study in one zip code (02111; Chinatown, Boston, MA, USA) in which four large buildings (20-30 stories) were built between 1999 and 2004 and adjacent to which a major highway construction project was in progress. Information about major construction project start and end dates were obtained from a variety of sources. Three sets of health data--emergency department and mortality-were obtained from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health for the years of 1998 - 2004. We used ICD-9 and ICD-10 disease codes to aggregate selected pulmonary and cardiac-related categories that could reasonably be expected to be aggravated by air pollution released from construction sites, including diesel and dust, and noise and vibration. We propose that larger-scale studies are possible and needed using approaches similar to ours.
Tufts Community Research Center, Boston, MA 02111, USA. dbrugge@aol.com
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D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D062665:Epidemiological Monitoring; D005160:Facility Design and Construction; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D009622:Noise / Q000009:adverse effects; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000633:toxicity; D017062:Small-Area Analysis; D014732:Vibration / Q000009:adverse effects
D000393:Air Pollutants; D052638:Particulate Matter