Invited Perspective: Beating the Heat

Details

• Personal Author:
  Pillarisetti A ; Scovronick N
• Description:
  Heat exposure is a leading environmental risk factor, responsible for an estimated 300,000-500,000 deaths annually. Despite a rapid increase in our understanding of heat-related mortality and morbidity over the past two decades, many studies have been based on administrative data, which are often limited in their details on specific causes of death/illness, on potential confounding factors and effect modifiers, and on the context of the event itself. As the world continues to warm and heat risks multiply,6 there is a need to diversify scientific approaches used to study heat to a) better identify who is most at risk, b) elucidate the biological mechanisms underlying observed health effects, and c) develop evidence-based policies to protect against high outdoor temperatures. The study by Meade et al. in this issue of Environmental Health Perspectives reports the results of a randomized crossover trial of 16 older adults with the aim of providing evidence to inform existing Canadian guidance on safe indoor temperatures. Their investigations directly address a policy-relevant question-how cool indoor environments should be-through innovative and rigorous physiological investigation, with their results supporting a 26 degrees C upper temperature limit for residential buildings. As the authors note, some noteworthy limitations exist around potential generalizability to other geographies, climates, and populations, as well as the prohibitive cost and expertise required to conduct such intensive, laboratory-based studies on larger sample sizes. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Climate Change Hot Temperature Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Climate Change Environmental Health Heat Exposure Hot Environments Indoor Environments Temperature Regulation
• ISSN:
  0091-6765
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; Georgia ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  132
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20069291
• Citation:
  Environ Health Perspect 2024 Feb; 132(2):021302
• Contact Point Address:
  Noah Scovronick, Emory University School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health, 1518 Clifton Rd. NE, Atlanta, GA 30322 USA
• Email:
  scovronick@emory.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2024
• Performing Organization:
  University of California, Berkeley
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Environmental Health Perspectives
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:27f7ef8a826f53251f592718468a59b881915c997f32b091632dfa6c67142d5463a7234b57feac76cb38c82dae11be27bb7d9eb137c7fc3ecce3d90e097ff133
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/207794/cdc_207794_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 75.36 KB ]