Date of Award

2026-05-01

Degree Name

Master of Public Health

Department

Public Health

Advisor(s)

Gabriel Ibarra-Mejia

Abstract

Despite growing public health concerns on PM2.5 exposure and its respiratory health effects, no documented evidence has been found on the application of proxy methods to perform occupational health risk assessments for PM2.5 exposure among outdoor personnel. The purpose of this research study was to conduct a descriptive and predictive occupational health risk assessment for cancer and non-cancer respiratory health outcomes related to PM2.5 exposure among outdoor personnel at targeted international ports of entry (IPOE). A total of 61 samples were collected, for 24 hours, at two targeted IPOEs (every sixth day) over 12-month period. Samples included measurements on PM2.5 concentrations, weather parameters, and vehicular traffic, used as a proxy to assess exposure. Calculated time-weighted-averages, exceedance duration, hazard quotients, and excess lifetime cancer risk were compared against normative guidelines, estimation of burden of disease was assessed using AirQ+, and used SARIMAX to model seasonality effects. Each IPOE demonstrated to have unique microenvironment and both experienced higher concentration-exposure in the afternoon shift. None of the IPOEs exceeded hazard quotient for non-cancer risk and the exercise cancer risk indicated a concern. The number of COPD and lung cancer attributable deaths were rounded to 0 for both IPOEs. The seasonality model could not establish seasonality for either IPOEs. Risk assessment methods did not reveal levels that exceeded established guidelines, although occasional short-term exposures to PM2.5 episodic events were identified. Burden of disease resulted in negligible mortality results associated to PM2.5 exposure. There was no identifiable seasonality, thus data should be treated as non-seasonal. Models like GAM may be more appropriate for this type of predictive assessments. Although no normative guidelines were exceeded, administrative measures are recommended to reduce worker exposure to PM2.5.

Language

en

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Size

143 p.

File Format

application/pdf

Rights Holder

Josdell Maria Guerra Ruiz

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