Household Air Pollution Study
Investigating indoor exposure to PM2.5, black carbon, and NO2 in New Orleans homes — and their cardiovascular consequences.
The air inside your home.
The Household Air Pollution Study (HAPS) at Tulane University's Weatherhead School of Public Health measured indoor concentrations of PM2.5, black carbon, and nitrogen dioxide across homes in New Orleans — a city where environmental justice and health disparities intersect with particular urgency.
Led by Dr. Felicia Rabito, the study deployed environmental monitors in participant homes to capture continuous exposure data, correlating pollutant concentrations with biologic assessments including ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, respiratory function tests, and inflammatory biomarker analysis.
New Orleans presents a uniquely important study environment: aging housing stock, high rates of gas stove usage, subtropical humidity affecting ventilation patterns, and communities already facing disproportionate cardiovascular disease burden.
Research Assistant
Evan supported the study through environmental data collection, monitor deployment and retrieval, participant coordination, and data processing. Work included deploying PM2.5 and NO2 monitors in homes, maintaining quality assurance protocols, and assisting with the data pipeline from raw sensor output to analyzable datasets.
This research provided direct exposure to the intersection of engineering measurement and public health — understanding that the sensors and data systems are only meaningful when they connect to human outcomes.
Study Design
- •Environmental monitoring: continuous PM2.5, black carbon, and NO2 sensors deployed in homes
- •Biologic assessment: ambulatory blood pressure, respiratory function, inflammatory markers
- •Population: New Orleans residents in neighborhoods with elevated environmental health risks
- •Analysis: quartile-based exposure-response modeling for cardiovascular endpoints
What you breathe at home matters.
PM2.5
Fine particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter. These particles penetrate deep into lung alveoli and cross into the bloodstream, triggering systemic inflammatory responses. Sources include cooking, candles, incense, and tobacco smoke.
Black Carbon
A component of soot produced by incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, biomass, and cooking fuels. The study found that participants in the highest quartile of black carbon exposure had a clinically significant +2 mmHg increase in systolic blood pressure.
NO2
Nitrogen dioxide generated primarily by gas stoves and space heaters in indoor environments. NO2 irritates the airways, exacerbates asthma, and contributes to chronic respiratory disease — particularly dangerous in poorly ventilated homes.
The evidence.
+2 mmHg
Systolic blood pressure increase
Participants in the highest quartile of black carbon exposure showed a 2 mmHg increase in systolic blood pressure — a clinically significant elevation when sustained across a population, particularly in communities already facing disproportionate cardiovascular disease burden.
A 2 mmHg population-level increase in systolic BP is associated with a 7% increase in ischemic heart disease mortality and a 10% increase in stroke mortality (Lewington et al., Lancet 2002)