Jump to: Authorized Access | Attribution | Authorized Requests

Study Description

The study was initially designed as a longitudinal cohort study of cardiovascular effects of particulate exposure. Participants were boilermaker construction workers who were exposed to particulate matter (PM) component (e.g. a focus on metal constituents) while performing welding, grinding or cutting work in the welding plants. Participants were followed up approximately half a year for a non-work day and a work day from 1999 to 2012, and blood, urine, blood pressure, as well as real-time PM2.5 samples were collected from each participant. In this specific study, we conducted epigenome-wide DNA methylation profiling through Center for Inherited Disease Research (CIDR) services using Illumina Infinium HumanMethylation450, which will give us more compete epigenome-wide coverage. Genome-wide DNA methylation was carried out on paired samples pre- and post-work shift at a welding apprentice school. With transcriptomic and metabolomic data already generated from the same panel study, we will be able to conduct integrative analysis to gain insights into mechanisms of gene-metal interactions and maximize the probability of finding genes functionally relevant to PM-induced adverse cardiovascular outcomes.

Authorized Access
Publicly Available Data
  Link to other NCBI resources related to this study
Study Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria

Inclusion: Active contractor of a local boilermaker union in Quincy, Massachusetts, USA.

Exclusion: Unstable angina symptoms, left bundle branch block, atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter and other rhythms that would compromise interpretation of heart rate variability (HRV), which measures the cardiovascular autonomic responses.

Molecular Data
TypeSourcePlatformNumber of Oligos/SNPsSNP Batch IdComment
DNA Methylation Illumina Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip N/A N/A
Selected Publications
Diseases/Traits Related to Study (MeSH terms)
Authorized Data Access Requests
Study Attribution
  • Principal Investigator
    • David Christiani, MD, MPH. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
  • Genotyping Center
    • Johns Hopkins University Center for Inherited Disease Research (CIDR), Baltimore, MD, USA.
  • Funding Source
    • R01ES009860. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.
    • HHSN268201200008I, NIH contract "High throughput genotyping for studying the genetic contributions to human disease". National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.