With each breath, brick workers in Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley inhale dangerous particulates. From hazardous aerosols released during the brickmaking process and indoor cooking to emissions from vehicles and factories that seep into their homes, air pollution in the region is inescapable.
Concerned about the effects of these exposures, an interdisciplinary BYU team recently came together to conduct a research study in Nepal, aiming to measure brick workers’ exposure to pollutants and to assess their respiratory health. The eventual goal is to determine what information, technology and strategies they can develop with the Nepali people to help them improve their well-being.
Air pollution “lives with them every day, at the brick kiln, when they’re awake, when they’re asleep, when they’re working, when they’re home," said BYU public health professor Jim Johnston, who led the group of more than two dozen researchers.
The researchers were particularly concerned by brick workers’ exposure to PM2.5, particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, small enough to bypass the respiratory system’s defenses and get into the gas-exchange region of the lungs. The team also wanted to determine workers’ exposure to silica dust, another respiratory hazard, at the brick kilns.
To get the information they needed, the BYU group drew from their many areas of expertise, as well as that of their collaborators from the University of Utah, Kathmandu University and the Karnali Academy of Health Sciences, and local Nepali leadership.
BYU faculty and students in nutrition, dietetics and food sciences performed health assessments for the 50 or so brick workers that participated in the study, examining their vitals, diet and lung function. The nursing team collected saliva and blood samples and used a novel method of pulmonary ultrasound to look for evidence of inflammation in the lungs.
To get information about each worker’s exposure to PM2.5 and silica-containing dust as they moved throughout the day - previous research has used only stationary monitoring of an area - the public health group fitted the workers with air pollution monitors they wore for 24 hours.
Cell biologists in the group analyzed blood serum to determine how PM2.5 and silica exposures impacted inflammatory responses among the workers. Meanwhile, BYU engineers assessed community development challenges, looking at infrastructure, housing, farming practices, community leadership structures and the quality of water, soil and air in the region.
“We all have a common goal, and our unique ways of learning are creating this big-picture effect,” said nursing student Symbria Lewis.
BYU faculty and students anticipate future trips to Nepal to continue the research, which promises to be beneficial for BYU as well as the Nepali people.
“I’m enthusiastic and very happy to work with BYU,” added Seshananda Sanjel, a professor at the Karnali Academy of Health Sciences in Nepal. “The Nepali government doesn’t have the funding [we need] for research, [so] with this collaboration we can do many more things, and I expect this collaboration will go for many years.”
“I don’t know that I’ve ever seen my students so happy and so engaged in learning,” Johnston said. “It’s been incredibly rewarding to just sit back and listen to them talk about the experiences they’re having here, their love for the people, their desire to use the science to make the world a better place. It’s like the lights have come on.”
Read full story about the Nepal project from Christie Allen, BYU University Communications: news.byu.edu/byu-team-of-nurs...
Video Produced by BYU Video (University Communications)
Directed/Edited by Adam Sanders
Produced by Adam Sanders, Jaren Wilkey, Julie Walker
Shot by Matt Mitchell and Adam Sanders
Assistant editing by Matt Mitchell
Special thanks to the faculty, students and collaborators on the Nepal research project:
BYU Faculty & Students: Jim Johnston, James LeCheminant, Paul Reynolds, Juan Arroyo, Neil Peterson, Andrew South, Clifton Farnsworth, John Beard, Cambrie Ball, Alexander Black, Garret Braiden, Spencer Burgon, Katrina Curtis, Camille Eddington, Amanda Fleming, Broderick Fleming, Gerardo Fong, Taylor Heath, Brooke Kasteler, Piper Kidd, Lindsey Layton, Symbria Lewis, James Lu, Kailynn Miller, Alisandra Olivares, Marli Shaw, Mariah Taylor, Nathan Thompson, Matthew Tibbitts.
Many thanks to Tricia Donaldson from the BYU Kennedy Center.
University of Utah Faculty & Students: Scott Collingwood, Nathaniel Baxter
Special thanks to our Nepali friends and collaborators:
Dr. Seshananda Sanjel, Jagat Lama, Nima Lama, Rabi Pudasaini, Ramesh Neupane, and Monica Shrestha, Phobe Barahi, Aakriti Kayastha, Sulabh Yadav, Sangina Dongol
Негізгі бет Life and Breath: BYU-Nepali Team Studies Air Pollution's Human Impact
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