Nitrogen dioxide prediction in Southern California using land use regression modeling: potential for environmental health analyses.

We modeled the intraurban distribution of nitrogen dioxide (NO(2)), a marker for traffic pollution, with land use regression, a promising new exposure classification technique. We deployed diffusion tubes to measure NO(2) levels at 39 locations in the fall of 2003 in San Diego County, CA, USA. At each sample location, we constructed circular buffers in a geographic information system and captured information on roads, traffic flow, land use, population and housing.

Changes in the spatial pattern of low birth weight in a southern California county: the role of individual and neighborhood level factors.

Individual-level maternal risk factors have been able to explain only a small proportion of low birth weight (LBW) births in the US to date and neighborhood-level factors have not been recognized as important predictors of reproductive outcomes. At the US/Mexico border, tremendous demographic changes have taken place between 1980 and 1990. Whether high population growth, economic pressures, and community instability have affected reproductive health in this region is not known.