Analysis of Urban Aerosols in Major U.S. Cities - Implications for Asthmatic Airways

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Sponsor: California Environmental Protection Agency, Air Resources Board

Location(s): United States

Description

The objective of the proposed study was to compare seasonal aerosol samples collected during Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter from 3 US cities with high prevalence of asthma, Boston, Philadelphia and Detroit, to determine the effect of seasonal variation on bacterial urban aerosol composition. In addition comparisons were made between aerosol bacterial communities from these three cities and those present in San Francisco in the Spring. To determine if there were any similarities between aerosol and airway bacterial communities comparisons were also made between aerosol and respiratory samples from asthmatic patients (collected in a separate multi-center US trial). Finally, analysis of commonalities and distinctions in urban aerosols in East coast versus West coast samples were examined to determine whether geographic location impacted the bacterial community present at these sites.