Dust samples on the Salton Sea
This work seeks to understand how increasing exposures to wind-blown dust and its potential toxic constituents impact child health over time, in a way that is responsive to community concerns about the drying of a saline lake in southeastern California (the Salton Sea). The Assessing Imperial Valley Respiratory Health and the Environment (AIRE) study consists of 500 elementary school children in the rural border region to assess the impact of dust and its composition on respiratory health using innovative lung inflammation biomarkers, community-owned air monitors and source-profiling of respirable dust (MPI Farzan/Johnston). The AIRE project grew from building local partnerships with Comite Civico de Valle and local schools.
Additional Resources
Publications
- Ornelas Van Horne, Y., Johnston, J. E., Barahona, D. D., Razafy, M., Kamai, E. M., Ruiz, B. C., Eckel, S. P., Bejarano, E., Olmedo, L., & Farzan, S. F. (2024). Exposure to agricultural pesticides and wheezing among 5-12-year-old children in the Imperial Valley, CA, USA. Environmental epidemiology (Philadelphia, Pa.), 8(5), e325. https://doi.org/10.1097/EE9.0000000000000325
- Farzan, S. F., Kamai, E., Duenas Barahona, D., Ornelas, Y. V. H., Zuidema, C., Wong, M., Torres, C., Bejarano, E., Seto, E., English, P., Olmedo, L., & Johnston, J. (2024). Cohort profile: The Assessing Imperial Valley Respiratory Health and the Environment (AIRE) study. Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology, 38(4), 359–369. https://doi.org/10.1111/ppe.13065
- Johnston, J. E., Kamai, E., Duenas Barahona, D., Olmedo, L., Bejarano, E., Torres, C., Zuidema, C., Seto, E., Eckel, S. P., & Farzan, S. F. (2024). Air quality and wheeze symptoms in a rural children’s cohort near a drying saline lake. Environmental research, 263(Pt 2), 120070. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2024.120070
- Van Horne, Y. O., Alcala, C. S., Peltier, R. E., Quintana, P. J. E., Seto, E., Gonzales, M., Johnston, J. E., Montoya, L. D., Quirós-Alcalá, L., & Beamer, P. I. (2023). An applied environmental justice framework for exposure science. Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology, 33(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41370-022-00422-z
- Kamai, E. M., Ruiz, B. C., Van Horne, Y. O., Barahona, D. D., Bejarano, E., Olmedo, L., Eckel, S. P., Johnston, J. E., & Farzan, S. F. (2023). Agricultural burning in Imperial Valley, California and respiratory symptoms in children: A cross-sectional, repeated measures analysis. The Science of the total environment, 901, 165854. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165854
- Van Horne, Y. O., Farzan, S. F., Razafy, M., & Johnston, J. E. (2022). Respiratory and allergic health effects in children living near agriculture: A review. The Science of the total environment, 832, 155009. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155009
- Johnston, J. E., Razafy, M., Lugo, H., Olmedo, L., & Farzan, S. F. (2019). The disappearing Salton Sea: A critical reflection on the emerging environmental threat of disappearing saline lakes and potential impacts on children’s health. The Science of the total environment, 663, 804–817. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.01.365
- Johnston, J. E., Razafy, M., Lugo, H., Olmedo, L., & Farzan, S. F. (2019). The disappearing Salton Sea: A critical reflection on the emerging environmental threat of disappearing saline lakes and potential impacts on children’s health. The Science of the total environment, 663, 804–817. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.01.365
Funding for this study was provided by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Grant # R01ES029598.
