Assessment of the effects of air pollution in children and elderly residents of Vale do Cabuçu, São Paulo, Brazil

• Grant number: 13/21817-5
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: April 01, 2014
• End date: March 31, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Interdisciplinary Subjects
• Principal Investigator: Regiani Carvalho de Oliveira
• Grantee: Regiani Carvalho de Oliveira
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina (FM). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Martha Cristina Motta Godinho Netto ; Paulo Hilário Nascimento Saldiva

Abstract

The Vale do Rio Cabuçu is one of the regions of São Paulo most impacted in terms of environmental contamination. Aware of this situation, the association of the residents requested to FMUSP guidance towards possible actions in research and for minimizing the effects of this contamination, which resulted in the proposal of this project. Our hypothesis is that the development of the project can be used as an instrument to consolidate public awareness of environmental problems and to transfer scientific knowledge and tools enabling the population autonomy for monitoring the environmental quality of the region and to the process of education environment. We propose the use of methodologies for assessing environmental quality of easy execution and low cost, but that have a high potential for use in environmental education, such as passive sampling of pollutants and bio monitoring with plants. The effect of pollution on population health will be evaluated in two groups of volunteers (individuals aged 12-15 years and individuals with age over 55 years), assessed by collecting of epidemiological data of respiratory symptoms and by the measuring of the oxide nitric exhaled. As educational action are proposed two different lines of the workshops, the first with the participation of teachers and students who will be trained in biomonitoring with plants and basics of scientific methodology, and the second will be targeted especially for the elderly and mainly will deal the relationship between air quality and human health. (AU)