Geospatial Analysis of Environmental Health (eBook)

Foreword 6
Contents 8
Contributors 11
Part I General Considerations in Geospatial Analysis of Environmental Health 15
1 Environmental Health and Geospatial Analysis: An Overview 16
1.1 Introduction 16
1.2 The Role of GISc in Environmental Health Research 17
1.2.1 Hazard Surveillance 19
1.2.2 Exposure Surveillance 20
1.2.3 Outcomes Surveillance 21
1.3 Limitations of Geospatial Methods for Environmental Health Research 23
1.3.1 Data Deficiencies 23
1.3.2 Data Aggregation Issues and Other Concerns with Spatial Data 25
1.3.3 Accuracy of Locational Information 27
1.3.4 Technological Limitations 28
1.3.5 Drawbacks Pertaining to Temporal Data on Residential History and Daily Locations 30
1.3.6 Exposure Proxies and Misclassification of Exposures 30
1.4 The Structure of the Book 31
1.4.1 Section I: General Considerations in Geospatial Analysis of Environmental Health 32
1.4.2 Section II: Impacts on Environmental Health (Topical Case Studies) 34
1.4.2.1 Zoonotic and Vector-Borne Diseases 34
1.4.2.2 Toxic Metals and Elements 35
1.4.2.3 Water Quality 36
1.4.2.4 Food Safety/Food Security 36
1.4.2.5 Air Quality 37
1.4.2.6 Solid and Liquid Waste 38
1.4.2.7 Environmental Justice 39
1.4.2.8 Health Disparities in Women 40
1.4.2.9 Urbanization and Impacts of the Built Environment 41
1.4.3 Section III -- Geospatial Methods in Investigating Environmental Health 41
1.5 Recurrent Themes 44
Author Biographies 44
References and Further Reading 46
2 Using Geovisualization and Geospatial Analysis to Explore Respiratory Disease and Environmental Health Justice in New York City 51
2.1 Introduction 51
2.2 Environmental Health Justice 52
2.3 Data Exploration Example Using Hypothetical Data Set 53
2.4 Respiratory Disease and Environmental Health Justice in New York City 65
2.5 Conclusions 73
Author Biographies 75
References 76
3 Outdoor Air Pollution and Health -- A Review ofINTnl the Contributions of Geotechnologies to Exposure Assessment
3.1 Using Geotechnologies to Estimate Variations in Outdoor Pollution Levels 81
3.1.1 Proximity to Sources or Monitors 81
3.1.2 Dispersion Models 84
3.1.3 Geographic Information System-Based Spatial Models 85
3.1.3.1 Spatial Interpolation 85
3.1.3.2 Land-Use Regression 86
3.1.4 Satellite Data 88
3.1.5 Integrating Multiple Methods 90
3.1.6 Estimating Residential Infiltration of Outdoor Air Pollutants 91
3.2 Using Geotechnologies to Incorporate Individual Mobility 91
3.2.1 GPS and Time-Activity Patterns 92
3.2.2 Modelling Population Exposures and Determinants 93
3.3 Conclusion 96
3.4 Recommended Reviews 97
Author Biographies 99
References 99
4 The Use of Residential History in Environmental Health Studies 104
4.1 Background 104
4.1.1 Introduction 104
4.1.2 How Past Environmental Conditions Impact Current Health 105
4.1.3 Why Residential History Matters 106
4.2 Geotechnology and Residential History 107
4.3 Review of Environmental Health Studies Using Residential History 108
4.4 Difficulties in Collecting Residential History Information 114
4.5 Conclusions 117
Author Biography 118
References 118
5 Proximity Analysis for Exposure Assessment in Environmental Health Justice Research 122
5.1 Environmental Health Justice 122
5.1.1 The Role of GIS in Environmental Health Justice Research 123
5.1.2 Environmental Justice Research Findings 125
5.2 Estimating the Boundaries of Adverse Environmental Exposure 126
5.2.1 Spatial Coincidence Analysis 126
5.2.2 Distance-Based Analysis 129
5.2.3 Pollutant Fate and Transport Modeling 133
5.3 Estimating Population Characteristics of Proximate Areas 136
5.4 Geostatistical Methods 139
5.5 Concluding Discussion 142
Author Biographies 143
References 144
6 Their Data, Our Cause: An Exploration of the Form, Function, and Deployment of Mapping Technologies among Community Environmental Justice Organizations 150
6.1 Introduction 150
6.2 Literature Review 151
6.2.1 Uneven Ability to Map 152
6.2.2 Co-optation/Resistance 152
6.2.3 Mapping the Omissions/Emissions 152
6.3 Methodology 153
6.4 Results 156
6.5 Discussion 157
Author Biography 159
References 159
Part II Impacts on Environmental Health (Topical Case Studies) 161
7 Geospatial Analysis of West Nile Virus (WNV) Incidences in a Heterogeneous Urban Environment: A Case Study in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area of Minnesota 162
7.1 Introduction 163
7.2 Urban Health and Geospatial Analysis 164
7.3 Data and Methodology 166
7.4 Results 168
7.5 Discussion and Conclusion 173
7.6 Glossary 174
Author Biography 175
References 176
8 The Health Impacts of Brownfields in Charlotte, NC: A Spatial Approach 179
8.1 Introduction 179
8.2 Exposure to Hazardous Waste Sites and Low Birth Weight 183
8.3 Data and Analytical Method 183
8.3.1 Study Area 184
8.3.2 Dependent Variables 184
8.3.3 Independent Variables 185
8.3.4 Methods 188
8.4 Findings 189
8.5 Discussion and Conclusion 193
Author Biography 196
References 196
9 Regional Environmental Patterns of Diarrheal Disease in Bangladesh: A Spatial Analytical and Multilevel Approach 198
9.1 Background 199
9.2 Study Data 200
9.3 Methods 201
9.4 Results 204
9.5 Conclusions 209
Author Biographies 210
References 210
10 Developing a Supermarket Need Index 212
10.1 Background 212
10.2 Literature Review 214
10.3 Supermarket Need Index 215
10.3.1 Methodology: Data Selection 215
10.3.2 Methodology: Shapefile Creation, Hot Spot Analysis, Trade Area Determination 217
10.3.3 Methodology: Raster Analysis and Index Calculation 218
10.4 Results 221
10.5 What We Learned and What We Could Do Differently 222
10.6 Future Applications 224
Appendix: Data Sources and Tools Used 225
Author Biographies 226
References 227
11 Asthma, Air Quality and Environmental Justice in Louisville, Kentucky 229
11.1 Introduction 230
11.2 Background 230
11.2.1 Asthma Epidemiology 230
11.2.2 Asthma in Louisville: Recent Studies 231
11.3 Spatial Analysis of Hospital Discharge Data, 20052008 232
11.3.1 Hospital Discharge Data 232
11.3.2 Spatial Analysis 233
11.4 Environmental Justice: Disproportionate Siting Versus Minority Move-In 235
11.5 West Louisville Study Area 239
11.5.1 Seasonal Trends in Asthma Hospitalizations 240
11.5.2 Air Pollutants 242
11.6 Discussion and Conclusions 245
Author Biographies 246
References 246
12 The Impact of Changes in Municipal Solid Waste Disposal Laws on Proximity to Environmental Hazards: A Case Study of Connecticut 249
12.1 Background 249
12.1.1 Flows of Municipal Solid Waste 249
12.1.2 The Connecticut Context 250
12.2 Methods 254
12.2.1 Data 254
12.2.2 Methods 254
12.3 Results 255
12.4 Discussion 260
12.5 Conclusion 260
Author Biography 261
References 261
13 Global Geographies of Environmental Injustice and Health: A Case Study of Illegal Hazardous Waste Dumping in Cte d'Ivoire 263
13.1 Introduction 263
13.2 The Global Expansion of EJ: The Case of Hazardous Industries, Products and Wastes 265
13.3 Trends in the Production and International Shipment of Hazardous Materials and Wastes 265
13.4 Conceptualizing Transboundary Industrial Operations and Waste Flows 266
13.4.1 Push Factors of Hazardous Flows 267
13.4.2 Pull Factors of Hazardous Flows 268
13.5 A Geographic Case Study of Illegal Dumping of Hazardous Wastes in Cote dIvoire 269
13.5.1 Conditions Preceding the Hazardous Waste Incident 269
13.5.2 Hazardous Waste Incident 270
13.6 Geographic Data Sources and Preprocessing 271
13.7 Analytical Procedures and Results 275
13.7.1 Geo-Demographic Analysis Using Data Generated from Sampled Points 275
13.7.2 Delineation of Chemical Impact Zones 276
13.7.3 Linking the Threat Zones to the Demographic Data Layers 279
13.7.4 Statistical Comparison of Threat Zones 280
13.8 Discussion and Conclusions: EJ Lessons Learned from This Study 283
Author Biographies 284
References 285
14 Environment and Health Inequalities of Women in Different Neighbourhoods of Metropolitan Lagos, Nigeria 288
14.1 Introduction 289
14.2 Context of the Research Metropolitan Lagos 290
14.3 Literature Review and Conceptual Issues 291
14.4 Research Methods 294
14.5 Results and Discussions 295
14.5.1 Socio Economic Conditions of Women 296
14.5.2 The Health Conditions of Women in Metropolitan Lagos 296
14.5.3 Neighbourhood Environmental Conditions of Women in Metropolitan Lagos 301
14.5.4 Analysis of Focus Group Discussions 303
14.6 Conclusions and Policy Statements 304
14.6.1 Areas for Further Research 305
Author Biographies 305
References 306
15 Housing Quality and Racial Disparities in Low Birth Weight: A GIS Assessment 308
15.1 Introduction 308
15.2 Flint, Michigan 310
15.3 Data and Methods 311
15.3.1 Study Area 311
15.3.2 Study Population 312
15.3.3 Methods 313
15.4 Results 315
15.4.1 Descriptive Analyses 315
15.4.2 Spatial Analyses 318
15.5 Discussion 320
15.6 Conclusions 321
Author Biography 321
References 322
Part III Geospatial Methods in Investigating Environmental Health 324
16 Participatory Mapping as a Component of Operational Malaria Vector Control in Tanzania 325
16.1 Background: Malaria 326
16.2 Community-Based Larviciding of Malaria Vector Mosquitoes in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania 327
16.3 Development of Participatory Mapping Procedure 328
16.3.1 The Preliminary Sketch Map 329
16.3.2 Technical Mapping with Aerial Photographs 329
16.3.3 Identification of Missing Areas and Correction of Sketch Maps 331
16.3.4 Digitization of Technical Maps and Provision for Operational Teams 331
16.4 Results 332
16.4.1 Phase 1 -- Pilot Areas 332
16.4.2 Phase 2 -- Whole UMCP Area 333
16.4.3 Phase 3 -- Going to Scale -- The City Level 334
16.5 Conclusions 334
16.5.1 Usefulness for Community-Based Malaria Vector Control 334
16.5.2 Potential and Restrictions for Other Applications 335
Author Biographies 337
References 339
17 Revisiting Toblers First Law of Geography: Spatial Regression Models for Assessing Environmental Justice and Health Risk Disparities 341
17.1 Introduction 342
17.2 Spatial Autocorrelation in Geospatial Analysis of Environmental Justice 343
17.3 Data and Variables 344
17.3.1 Study Area 344
17.3.2 Cancer Risks from On-Road Emission Sources of Air Toxics 345
17.3.3 Explanatory Variables 347
17.4 Detecting Spatial Autocorrelation 347
17.4.1 Spatial Definition of Neighbors 348
17.4.2 Measuring Spatial Autocorrelation 350
17.4.3 Traditional Multiple Regression 351
17.5 Addressing Spatial Autocorrelation with Spatial Regression Analysis 353
17.5.1 Comparison of Regression Model Performance 354
17.5.2 Comparison of Regression Model Coefficients 356
17.6 Concluding Discussion 356
Author Biography 358
References 358
18 A Spatially Explicit Environmental Health Surveillance Framework for Tick-Borne Diseases 361
18.1 Introduction 362
18.1.1 Environmental Public Health Surveillance Framework 362
18.1.2 Lyme Disease Within Texas 362
18.2 Data and Methods 363
18.2.1 Hazard Surveillance 364
18.2.2 Outcome Surveillance 366
18.2.3 Exposure Surveillance 367
18.3 Results 368
18.3.1 Hazard Surveillance 368
18.3.2 Outcome Surveillance 369
18.3.3 Exposure Surveillance 370
18.4 Discussion 371
18.4.1 Conclusion 373
Author Biographies 373
References 374
19 Using Distance Decay Techniques and Household-Level Data to Explore Regional Variation in Environmental Inequality 376
19.1 Introduction 376
19.2 Background and Rationale for Study 377
19.3 Theoretical Explanations for Environmental Inequality 379
19.4 Data and Methods 380
19.4.1 Environmental Hazard Data 380
19.4.2 Individual and Household Data 383
19.4.3 Analytic Strategy 385
19.5 Results 386
19.5.1 Do Environmental Inequality Outcomes Vary Across Regions of the United States? 386
19.5.2 Do Differences in Household Characteristics Explain Environmental Inequality at the Regional Level? 389
19.6 Conclusion 393
Author Biographies 395
References 395
20 Merging Satellite Measurement with Ground-Based Air Quality Monitoring Data to Assess Health Effects of Fine Particulate Matter Pollution 398
20.1 Introduction 399
20.2 Methods 400
20.2.1 MODIS Data 400
20.2.2 Associations Between AOD and Ground PM 2.5 401
20.2.3 Health Outcomes Data 402
20.2.4 Calculating County Average PM 2.5 for Ecological Modelling of Health Effects 403
20.2.5 Bayesian Hierarchical Modelling of CCHD and PM 2.5 403
20.3 Results 404
20.3.1 Pearson's Correlation and GWR 404
20.3.2 Bayesian Model of CCHD SMR and PM 2.5 406
20.4 Discussion and Conclusions 407
Author Biographies 409
References 410
21 Poverty Determinants of Acute Respiratory Infections in the Mapuche Population of Ninth Region of Araucana, Chile (2000--2005): A Bayesian Approach with Time-Space Modeling 413
21.1 Introduction 414
21.1.1 The Study Area 416
21.1.2 Use of Small Area Statistics 419
21.1.3 Spatial-Temporal Analysis 420
21.2 Data and Methods 420
21.2.1 Census Data 424
21.2.2 Methods 425
21.3 Results 427
21.4 Discussion 435
Author Biography 437
Appendix 1 The Model Used, WinBUGS Code 438
References 442
22 GIS and Atmospheric Diffusion Modeling for Assessment of Individual Exposure to Dioxins Emitted from a Municipal Solid Waste Incinerator 445
22.1 Introduction 446
22.2 Study Site 448
22.3 Dioxin Exposure Assessment Through Geographic Modeling 448
22.3.1 Plume Modeling 448
22.3.2 GIS-Based Exposure 449
22.4 Validation of GIS-Based Dioxin Exposure 451
22.5 Mixed Individual/Ecological Case-Control Study 453
22.6 External Consistency 455
22.7 Conclusion 456
Author Biography 457
References 457
23 Synthesizing Waterborne Infection Prevalence for Comparative Analysis of Cluster Detection Methods 459
23.1 Background 459
23.1.1 Water-Related Disease and Distance to Water 459
23.1.2 Finding Clusters of Water-Related Disease 461
23.1.3 Geographic Information Systems as Data Synthesis Tools 462
23.2 Methods 462
23.2.1 Data 462
23.2.2 Greedy Growth Scan 465
23.3 Results 466
23.4 Discussion 470
23.5 Conclusion 471
Author Biography 472
References 472
24 Spatiotemporal Analysis of PM2.5 Exposure in Taipei (Taiwan) by Integrating PM10 and TSP Observations 475
24.1 Introduction 476
24.2 Materials 477
24.2.1 Study Area 477
24.2.2 Data 479
24.3 Method 479
24.3.1 Brief Review of the BME Method 479
24.3.2 BME Spatiotemporal Modelling of PM2.5 482
24.4 Results 483
24.5 Discussion 485
24.6 Conclusion 490
Author Biographies 492
References 492
Index 495