Airborne particles in the San Joaquin Valley may affect human health

Air quality is a primary concern for many San Joaquin Valley residents. In addition to rapid population growth, a widening interface between urban and agricultural communities, and increasing traffic along the 1-5 and Hwy. 99 corridors, farming practices in the San Joaquin Valley subject agricultural workers to high concentrations of airborne particulate matter potentially associated with adverse health effects. We created a research team and mobile field unit equipped with a special inhalation system, particle monitoring and characterization abilities, and housing for the transport and care of animals to examine the effects of particulate matter throughout the San Joaquin Valley. With this system, a variety of biological endpoints can be examined to determine respiratory, systemic and neurological responses to short-term particle exposure. Field research of this nature coupled with biological assays and location-specific inhalation studies can help researchers and regulators to better understand potential health effects due to environmental and occupational airborne-particle exposures faced by workers and residents in the San Joaquin Valley.