Journal
JOURNAL OF EXPOSURE SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENTAL EPIDEMIOLOGY
Volume 30, Issue 2, Pages 299-308Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/s41370-019-0167-9
Keywords
Exposure assessment; Residential behavior; Neighborhood; Photo survey; Window opening; Geographic information system
Funding
- EPA [909366, R836156] Funding Source: Federal RePORTER
- EPA [R836156] Funding Source: Medline
- NIEHS NIH HHS [T32 ES014562] Funding Source: Medline
- NIMHD NIH HHS [P50 MD010428] Funding Source: Medline
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New methods are needed to efficiently characterize built environment attributes and residential behaviors to improve exposure assessment in epidemiologic research, given limitations of available databases and approaches. Window-opening and presence of air conditioning (AC) units predict indoor air quality and thermal comfort, but data are not widely available. In this study, we tested the utility of a GIS-based tool for rapidly assessing open windows and window/wall AC units in the city of Chelsea, Massachusetts using georeferenced street-level photographs and crowdsourced online surveys. We characterized open windows and window/wall AC units for 969 parcels in the winter and 1213 parcels in the summer, requiring ~40 person hours per season. In the winter, 21% of parcels surveyed had a window or wall AC unit and 19% had an open window. In the summer, 69% had a window or wall AC unit and 53% had an open window. We demonstrated an efficient method for rapidly characterizing open windows and window/wall AC units across an entire city. This tool can help to characterize exposures for epidemiological research, engage community members, and inform local land use planning and decision-making.
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