Dr. Jenna Krall

Could avoiding rush hour traffic be healthier? Mason research drives new insight.

Mariam Aburdeineh — Mon, 01 Jun 2020 02:52:05 +0000

Could avoiding rush hour traffic be healthier? Mason research drives new insight. Mariam Aburdeineh Sun, 05/31/2020 - 22:52

The COVID-19 pandemic shifted thousands of jobs online, allowing employees to telework and avoid congested roadways. That’s good for slowing the spread of the virus, but new research from ��AV also shows such habits could limit people’s exposure to harmful traffic pollution.

“This is one of the first studies to use vehicle monitors paired with air pollution monitors to assess trip exposures,” said Jenna Krall, assistant professor of global and community health. “We found there was higher pollution exposure during rush hour compared to nontrip exposures.”

The study led by Krall that included collaborators from the College of Health and Human Services, the Volgenau School of Engineering, and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences specifically measured women’s exposure to traffic pollution during commutes. Krall said she was inspired to conduct the study by recent research that showed pollution exposure during pregnancy may lead to adverse health outcomes.

Alumni Nada Adibah and Gabriella Cuevas, seen here in a photo from 2019, demonstrate the installation of air pollution monitors in a vehicle. As students, they worked with Dr. Jenna Krall, assistant professor of global and community health, on a multidisciplinary study looking at the effect of traffic pollution exposure for women. Photo by Lathan Goumas/Strategic Communications

When study participants were in the car, their exposure to fine particulate matter (air pollutants that can become a health concern when they enter the body) was higher than when they weren’t driving. The exposure to the pollutants increased even more when they drove during rush hour.

“It is really awesome to be part of one of the first studies that [examined] traffic pollution exposure [for women] during real-world commutes,” said Nada Adibah, a 2019 master of public health graduate who is one of the paper’s authors.

“The findings were interesting and very insightful,” Adibah said, adding that she was surprised to find no differences in pollution concentrations for varying commute lengths.

From left to right: Nada Adibah, Jenna Krall, Gabriella Cuevas. Photo by Lathan Goumas/Strategic Communications

The data could be used to help inform policy decisions, Krall said, such as implementing telework as a potential solution for women with health risks.

“We need to develop policies that protect public health, this may mean that it is necessary to reduce exposure to traffic-related pollution,” Krall said.

Funded by a Provost’s Multidisciplinary Research Award and a Jeffress Memorial Trust grant, the project provided opportunities for Mason undergraduate and graduate students to be involved in research with real-world impact.

“I am so grateful for this opportunity to work with Dr. Krall and Dr. [Anna] Pollack,” said Karlin Moore, a May 2020 chemistry graduate from the Honors College.

Moore said she helped analyze data from the air pollution monitors, determining ratios and concentrations of individual pollutants.

“It was interesting seeing a different area of STEM,” Moore said. “Getting exposure and experience to biostatistics and epidemiology opened my eyes to a whole plethora of different fields and careers that help public health.”

Moving forward, Krall said Mason researchers will take a deeper dive into the collected data and conduct further analysis.

“One goal is to develop new statistical approaches for estimating how we’re exposed to traffic pollution,” Krall said. “Hopefully this presents a new way for us to move forward with collecting better information to understand pollution exposure during commutes.”

Alumna Nada Abidah, seen here in a photo from 2019, downloads data from an air pollution monitor with Dr. Jenna Krall. Photo by Lathan Goumas/Strategic Communications

Multidisciplinary team drives research on traffic pollution and women’s health

Melanie Balog — Mon, 07 Jan 2019 10:00:32 +0000

Multidisciplinary team drives research on traffic pollution and women’s health Melanie Balog Mon, 01/07/2019 - 05:00

There are a number of things you could be thinking about during your commute, from the day’s agenda to what podcast to listen to. For a few ��AV professors and students from the College of Health and Human Services, the Volgenau School of Engineering and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, a less common topic is front of mind: the effects of traffic pollution on women’s health.

In a project funded by a Provost’s Multidisciplinary Research Award, the team is measuring women’s exposure to traffic pollutants during their commutes.

Graduate student Nada Adibah and senior Gabriella Cuevas demonstrate the installation of air pollution monitors in a vehicle. The students are working with Dr. Jenna Krall, assistant professor of global and community health, who is leading the data collection portion of a multidisciplinary study between the College of Health and Human Sciences, the Volgenau School of Engineering and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences looking at the effect of traffic pollution exposure on women's health. Photo by Lathan Goumas/Strategic Communications.

“This is one of the first studies to look at women commuters,” said Jenna Krall, an assistant professor of global and community health who is leading the study’s data collection. “The reason this project is focusing on women specifically is because there has been recent research indicating that pollution exposures during pregnancy may lead to adverse health outcomes.”

Preterm birth, gestational diabetes, preeclampsia and low birthweight are among the adverse health effects Krall referenced. The study, Gestational Exposure to Traffic Pollution in the D.C. Metro Area, aims to learn more about pollution exposure during commuting to potentially better protect public health.

“If women do have higher exposure to traffic pollution while they are commuting, [that may influence] ways to think about maternity leave, for example, [and] different policies that can be set in place,” said Nada Adibah, a second-year master of public health student with a concentration in health policy.

This semester marks the project’s data collection phase, which involves setting up commute and pollution monitors in the personal vehicles of women commuters. The pollution monitors measure fine particulate matter—an air pollutant that can be at high levels near roadways and becomes a health concern when it enters the body.

Adibah has been heavily involved in recruiting study participants and has been working in the lab to change out the monitor filters. She’s one of several graduate and undergraduate students taking an active role in data collection and lab work.

“Working collaboratively on a cross-disciplinary research project has helped me feel more connected to the Mason community,” said Jenny LaFreniere, a master’s student studying human factors and applied cognition. “I feel fortunate to be a part of research that has the potential to affect so many people.”

LaFreniere said she feels the experience has been a great asset to her education and appreciates working with others outside her discipline—something she knows will be required of her as a human factors researcher.

The cross-disciplinary work will continue into future semesters, too. After collecting pollution exposure measurements, Mason experts in psychology and reproductive epidemiology will analyze the data, and engineering faculty will help the team develop technology based on the findings.

The team hopes this study will facilitate future studies to estimate the effects of traffic pollution on pregnancy-related health outcomes, such as low birth weight in newborns.

Graduate student Nada Abidah downloads data from an air pollution monitor with Dr. Jenna Krall, assistant professor of global and community health. Photo by Lathan Goumas/Strategic Communications.

Impact

College of Health and Human Services

Department of Global and Community Health

Volgenau School of Engineering

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Women's Health

Multidisciplinary Research Award