Research Unit Environmental Epidemiology
Head: Joachim Heinrich
Objectives
The main research goals of the Unit 'Environmental Epidemiology' are:
- Investigation of long-term effects of ambient air pollutants with specific focus on traffic-related pollutants and further determinants of respiratory health. Individual based exposure assessment to traffic related pollutants at residential address of study subjects by a combination of air pollution measurements and specific modelling using GIS data bases on traffic volume, population density, distances to major roads. In addition, health impact of ambient air pollutants on reproductive outcomes and in particular birth weight are under investigation.
- Investigation of the natural course and trends of prevalence of asthma, allergies and non-allergic respiratory health and its determinants. Repeated follow-up examinations of cohorts of newborns allow us to study the effect of perinatal environmental factors on the development of selected parameters of the immune system and the onset of atopic diseases. Perinatal exposures to bioactive agents such as allergens and bacteria components such as endotoxin are included in the ongoing investigations. In addition, dietary factors such as the intake of antioxidants, fatty acids and the intake of allergenic food are studied. A prospective double blind randomised trial investigates the health impacts of several hypoallergenic formula during infancy in relation to the onset of allergic diseases. Cohorts of newborns (GINI and LISA), of school aged children (Bitterfeld Study) and adults (ECRHS in Erfurt and Hamburg, and KORA in Augsburg) allow us to study the risk factors of the development of atopic diseases and further common chronic diseases from the exposure of environmental pollutants. The interaction between genetic markers and environmental pollutants is of emerging interest for this unit.
Past Events:
International Workshop on Air Pollution and Human Reproduction, 9. - 11. Mai 2007
An international workshop on air pollution and human reproduction was conveyed at the Institute of Epidemiology from 9 to 11 May 2007. It brought together 57 participants (epidemiologists, specialists of exposure assessment, biologists, and statisticians) from America, Europe and Asia during two and a half day on the Neuherberg campus. The workshop has been supported by grants from AFSSET (the French National Agency for Occupational and Environmental Health Safety), Bayerisch-Franzosisch Hochschulzentrum and GSF. Student grants were awarded, which allowed inviting 5 PhD students and young researchers from Europe and the USA. A workshop report has been written and is currently in review by the journal Env Health Perspect.
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Contact: Rémy Slama (remy.slama@helmholtz-muenchen.de)
