Specific Hazards Research Articles

Anesthetic Challenges During Laser Surgery of the Larynx Part 1. Biological Effect And Specific Laser Hazards

Theoretical basis: Laser is an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation-a highly collimated beam of photons at a single frequency. Lasers are ubiquitous in the modern world and are increasingly used in the operating room. The Aim of the study is to determine different anesthetic techniques and complications during laser surgery of the larynx. Results: Light has a biologic effect solely from absorption in tissue (Grotthus-Draper law), specifically by raising electrons to higher energy states that, in turn, can raise kinetic energy (heat) or cause chemical reactions. Boulnois categorized the biologic effects into four types: electromechanical effects, thermal effects, photoablative effects and photochemical effects. The same properties that give lasers their clinical value also pose threats to patient and provider safety. These risks fall into three categories: atmospheric contamination, gas embolism, and inappropriate energy transfer. Laser light, because of its special qualities of beam collimation, coherence, and high-energy density, poses optical safety hazards not associated with light from conventional sources. Conclusion: Lasers are increasingly used in the operating room. Understanding the technology is important to safe anesthetic practice.

Pesticide Provisions of the Florida Agricultural Worker Safety Act (FAWSA)

The purpose of this guide is to provide a summary of the pesticide provisions of the recently enacted Florida Agricultural Worker Safety Act (FAWSA) and the definitions that are used in its language. The pesticide provisions of FAWSA, which became effective on July 1, 2004, are designed to ensure that information is made available to farm workers about specific hazards associated with the use of agricultural pesticides. The law was implemented and will be enforced by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), also known as “the Department.”

Exploring eye-tracking searching strategies for construction hazard recognition in a laboratory scene

Mental representations of hazard recognition are crucial to inspection strategies in construction safety management. However, few studies have investigated scan patterns as the means of mental representation of hazard recognition in the construction industry. This paper aims to explore visual searching strategies through eye-tracking scan patterns for construction safety inspection. An experimental study with 47 participants was designed to identify hazards in a pseudo construction site, and the scanning data were collected with a portable eye-tracking device. Artificial intelligence was then used to quantitatively define areas of interest based on the extracted fixation data of all participants. For two specific hazards, 23 and 29 scanpaths were generated and presented in the form of fixation sequences. Finally, the searching strategies of the participants who successfully recognized hazards were compared to the strategies of those who failed, and their scan patterns were summarized with eyePatterns®. The results show that the successful participants follow similar hazard searching patterns, concentrating on specific hazardous areas rather than unimportant distractors, following a logical and serial search pattern. They tend to observe one sub-area fully before a systematic shift to another one. This paper reports on a conceptual study of hazard searching patterns based on visual scanpaths, contributing to research of the searching strategies of mental representations for hazard recognition as well as providing useful practical implications for hazard inspection strategies in construction projects.

Understanding Cumulative Hazards in a Rustbelt City: Integrating GIS, Archaeology, and Spatial History

We combine the Historical Spatial Data Infrastructure (HSDI) concept developed within spatial history with elements of archaeological predictive modeling to demonstrate a novel GIS-based landscape model for identifying the persistence of historically-generated industrial hazards in postindustrial cities. This historical big data approach draws on over a century of both historical and modern spatial big data to project the presence of specific persistent historical hazards across a city. This research improves on previous attempts to understand the origins and persistence of historical pollution hazards, and our final model augments traditional archaeological approaches to site prospection and analysis. This study also demonstrates how models based on the historical record, such as the HSDI, complement existing approaches to identifying postindustrial sites that require remediation. Our approach links the work of archaeologists more closely to other researchers and to municipal decision makers, permitting closer cooperation between those involved in archaeology, heritage, urban redevelopment, and environmental sustainability activities in postindustrial cities.

Strategy for systematic review of observational studies and meta-analysis modelling of risk factors for sporadic foodborne diseases

In order to design effective public health strategies, and, in particular, effective food safety interventions to reduce the burden of foodborne disease, the most important sources of enteric illnesses should be identified. Both case-control and cohort observational studies have for long been powerful approaches among epidemiologists to investigate the association of exposure and illness. In the literature, there are numerous case-control and cohort studies reporting results on risk factors and routes of transmission of sporadic foodborne infections. The objective of this article is to describe, in depth, the strategies implemented for systematic review and meta-analysis of the associations between multiple risk factors and eleven food and waterborne diseases, namely, non-typhoidal salmonellosis, campylobacteriosis, Shiga-toxin E. coli infection, listeriosis, yersiniosis, toxoplasmosis, norovirus infection, hepatitis A, hepatitis E, cryptosporidiosis and giardiasis. First, this article describes the procedures of systematic searches in five bibliographic engines, screening of relevance and assessment of methodological quality according to pre-set criteria. It proceeds with the explanation of a broad data categorisation scheme established to hierarchically group the risk factors into travel, host-specific factors and pathways of exposure (i.e., person-to-person, animal, environment and food routes), with views to harmonising and supporting the integration of outcomes from studies investigating a variety of potential determinants of disease. Next, the article describes the four meta-analysis models that were devised in order to calculate: (i) overall odds-ratios of acquiring the disease due to a specific risk factor by geographical region; (ii) overall odds-ratios of acquiring the disease from the different risk factors; (iii) overall risks of disease from consumption of ready-to-eat and barbecued foods; and (iv) overall effects of food handling (i.e., consuming food in raw, undercooked or unwashed state) and food preparation setting (i.e., eating food prepared outside the home) on risk of disease. The procedures for sensitivity analysis and removal of any influential and potentially-biased odds-ratio; and two methods for publication bias assessment are outlined. Finally, details are given on deviations from the standard risk categorisation scheme for specific foodborne hazards.

How current risk assessment and risk management methods for drinking water in The Netherlands cover the WHO water safety plan approach.

In the Netherlands, safe and sufficient drinking water is provided to the general population by ten drinking water companies. To guarantee safe drinking water the World Health Organization (WHO) developed a Water Safety Plan (WSP), a Risk Assessment and a Risk Management (RA/RM) framework. The objective of the study was to identify legally required RA approaches, to document application of RA/RM activities at Dutch drinking water companies and to determine to what extent these RA/RM activities as a whole cover all the elements of the WHO WSP approach. This study could be of interest to both managers of large water utilities and decision makers. The assessment was performed by means of a policy review and interviews with two to four staff members involved in RA/RM from all ten Dutch drinking water companies combined with a joint workshop. The drinking water companies are well aware of the potential hazards and risks that can influence the drinking water quality. To guarantee the supply of safe and sufficient drinking water, the Dutch drinking water sector uses six different legally required RA/RM approaches. This study shows that by using the six legally required RA/RM approaches, all WSP steps are covered. WSP entails a generic risk assessment for identifying all hazards and hazardous events from source to tap, whereas the six legally required RA/RM each focus on specific risks at an advanced level. Each risk assessment provides information on specific hazards and hazardous events covering a part of the water supply chain. These legal requirements are complemented with additional RA/RM activities at sector and water company level such as codes of practices and standard operating procedures. The outcomes of all RA/RM approaches combined provide information from source to tap. When using multiple RA/RM approaches, it is crucial to share and combine information derived from the different activities.

The Classification of Pipe-Lay Vessels and Heavy-Lift Crane Vessels

Pipe-lay vessels, heavy-lift crane vessels and dual purpose heavy-lift and pipe-lay vessels are distinct in many ways from other types of ships or offshore units. The unique functions that these vessels carry out can impact directly on the overall safety of the vessel, the personnel on-board and the potential to pollute the environment. This paper outlines some of the hull and machinery safety assurance considerations for classification and design pertinent to pipe-lay and heavy-lift operations. The considerations that are discussed in this paper include the implications of classing the vessel as a ship or an offshore unit; the interaction between classification and marine warranty; general arrangement; station-keeping; structural assessment and the interaction between safety critical systems. Specific hazards for pipe-lay vessels and their use of chemicals on-board are also discussed.

Investigation on the Danger of Electronic Cigarette on Young Adults

Abstract:
 It is commonly known that smoking tobacco can lead to adverse health consequences. However, faced with the temptation of tobacco, there are still many tobacco users who choose to ignore the health effect of smoking. Recently, electronic cigarettes (E-cigarette) have been introduced as a way to remedy the negative consequences of smoking tobacco. E-cigarettes have become a trend, especially among youth populations, given their curiosity about the new product, their pursuit of tobacco culture, and their misconceptions about e-cigarettes' harmful effects. This has caused the number of e-cigarette users to continue rising. However, studies have shown that smoking e-cigarettes can have a harmful effect on their users, and particularly for young smokers, with harmful effects deteriorating not only the physical health of the smoker, but also mental and behavioral health. This paper focuses on an investigation into harmful effects that e-cigarettes have on youth, exploring the specific hazards of the chemicals in e-cigarettes. The hope is that this work can offer beneficial insights for youth and for the society as a whole concerning the harmful effects of e-cigarettes, thereby reducing or terminating the use of e-cigarettes altogether.

Antibiotic stewardship in the neonatal intensive care unit

Abstract Antibiotic stewardship (ABS) refers to the coordinated interventions to appropriately prescribe and administer the most pathogen-specific, narrow-spectrum antibiotic regimens, in the correct doses, for the appropriate duration, and continually evaluate prescriber and administration compliance. The main historical driver for ABS has been antibiotic resistance, which is fuelled by antibiotic therapy. Additionally, short and long term consequences of antibiotic therapy on the developing immune system have emerged as further specific hazards of antibiotic exposure in neonates. The implementation of an ABS program, can be through ward-focused, multidisciplinary, antimicrobial teams, with promotion of evidence-based antimicrobial prescribing guidelines. Nursing and medical leadership should promote a united, pan-unit culture of it being “everybody's job” to embed an ABS program, alongside robust infection prevention practices and active promotion of breastfeeding. This review article will discuss the drivers for antibiotic stewardship and strategies for implementation of antibiotic stewardship within neonatal units.

Occupational health and safety hazards encountered by Ontario Public Health Inspectors

Public health inspectors (PHIs) are exposed to many occupational health and safety issues during their daily tasks. However, to our knowledge, no study has investigated the job-specific health and safety hazards among working PHIs. Our objective was to determine the type and extent of health and safety hazards faced by PHIs working for Ontario health units as well as their perception of risk with respect to these hazards. In early 2018, an invitation to a web-based survey was sent to all members of the Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspectors Ontario Branch. One-hundred and thirty-four respondents met the inclusion criteria and were included in the study. Results showed PHIs reported safety hazards (e.g., slips or falls), working alone, and chemical hazards as the top three types of hazards. Inspections of food and (or) nonfood premises were the duties most associated with encountering all types of hazards. In addition, a majority of respondents reported being somewhat concerned about their exposure to all types of hazards. This study provides novel information on the occupational health and safety risks as reported by Ontario PHIs. Further in-depth research is needed to investigate the specific hazards and concerns among PHIs as well as the level of prevention and monitoring within health units.

Trends in Multidisciplinary Hazard and Disaster Research: A 1982-2017 Case Study.

From 1982 to 2017, 539 unique awards studying extreme events and natural disasters have been funded by the Infrastructure Management and Extreme Events (IMEE), Decision, Risk and Management Science (DRMS), Humans, Disasters, and the Built Environment (HDBE), and Hazard Science, Engineering, and Education for Sustainability (Hazard SEES) programs under the National Science Foundation, totaling approximately $450 million. The relationships between discipline, topic, and funding are explored through review of the data on each award's active dates, amount of funding received, specific hazards and disasters studied, and principal investigator (PI) and co-PI affiliations. A positive correlation between award funding and increasingly larger multidisciplinary teams of PIs on projects is observed. However, these teams of four or more PIs only account for about 18% of the total number of awards. In terms of topic, projects applicable to general hazard/disaster research encompass the largest portion of awards, but not the greatest funding per award on average. Additionally, both the number of awards per year and the total funds allotted per year show an increasing trend. Finally, some of the trends in project team discipline with relation to hazards show a shift to equal numbers of engineers and social scientists on multidisciplinary teams while others remain fairly homogeneous in their team dynamics. This article provides unique perspectives on how to better allocate funds through extensive topic and funding analysis. This work is a brief analysis of trends in the hazard and disaster research community, focusing on multidisciplinary project teams and their correlation to funding amounts and research areas.

Left-Behind Children and Risk of Unintentional Injury in Rural China-A Cross-Sectional Survey.

Unintentional injury is the leading cause of childhood death and disability in many countries worldwide. This study aimed to quantify rates and risk factors for childhood unintentional injury in areas of rural China, where many children are left behind by migrant worker parents. We administered a questionnaire to children aged 9 to 15, in 56 schools in five counties in Zhejiang and Guizhou provinces. Of the 3791 respondents, 44% lived with both parents, 23% with one parent, and 33% with neither. Around half the children (47.9%) had suffered at least one unintentional injury in the past year, with burns (26%), animal bites (20%) and mechanical injury (18%) the most common. Left-behind children had no increased risk of unintentional injury, but children living in poorer Guizhou (p = 0.001), of divorced parents (p = 0.02), and less well-educated mothers (p = 0.02) were associated with higher risk. Virtual absence of personal level risk factors highlights the importance of addressing environmental risk to reduce childhood injury. The findings have informed a community-based intervention to reduce injury risk through raising awareness of environmental hazards, and through removal of specific hazards. Importantly, the Chinese government should ensure that known effective interventions are subject to legislation and enforcement.

Analysing the capacity to respond to climate change: a framework for community-managed water services

ABSTRACTIn this paper, we present a conceptual framework for guiding interdisciplinary research on analysing the capacity of community-managed water services to respond to disturbances from climate change. Climate change poses a serious threat to the sustainable delivery of community-managed water services in developing countries. We synthesized key concepts from the latest research on vulnerability and resilience theories into a shared framework that functions as a heuristic for the analysis of different elements of the capacity to respond to climate disturbances and how they are related to community-managed water services. Primary elements of the framework include conceptualisations of the capacities to respond to specific hazards (e.g. through risk management and knowledge of thresholds) and to disturbances in general (e.g. through agency, social structure, and adaptive management practices), the potential for capacity to be differentiated across scales, and the social and biophysical system characteristics that influence capacity to respond to climate change. We describe how each these elements relate to sustaining community-managed water services against climate change throughout the paper. We also discuss subjective choices (temporal frame, system boundaries, scale of inquiry, and desired forms of capacity) that analysts must make when considering how capacity to respond to climate change is analysed.

The epidemiology of wrist and hand injury in two hospitals in Jerusalem: substantial differences between population subgroups

BackgroundWrist and hand injuries are common and constitute a major economic burden. General injury prevention programs have failed to demonstrate a decrease in injury rates. We hypothesized that there are differences in injury patterns in culturally diverse subpopulations of a metropolitan area treated within the same medical system, which may partly explain the difficulties associated with injury prevention.MethodsWe conducted a survey of patients admitted to emergency departments of two hospitals in Jerusalem for wrist and hand injuries during a 3 month period. Patients were asked to complete a questionnaire regarding demographic data, injury type and mechanism. Injury type and mechanism were then compared for age, gender, level of education and degree of religiosity.ResultsThe questionnaire was completed by 799 patients (response rate 62%; 75% male; average age 27). Thirty-one percent reported they were injured at work, 33% at home and 36% during leisure activities. Data analysis showed that several subpopulations were found to be at risk as compared to their corresponding groups and relative proportion in the overall population of the city. These included contusions after falls in non-ultra-Orthodox Jewish women aged 65 years and over, crush injuries in ultra-Orthodox Jews under the age of 10 (53% vs. 14% for non ultra-Orthodox Jews, respectively) and Muslim teens. Muslims were injured more, especially at work, in comparison to their relative proportion in the population as a whole.ConclusionDifferent subpopulations at risk and different injury patterns of wrist and hand injuries were found in this culturally heterogeneous population. Awareness of these differences may be the first step when designing specific injury prevention programs in a culturally diverse population. A combined effort of community leaders and government agencies is needed to deal with the specific populations at risk, although legislation may be needed to limit some of the risks such as teens and specific work related hazards and exposures.

Quantifying the effects of engineered nanomaterials on endothelial cell architecture and vascular barrier integrity using a cell pair model.

Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) are increasingly used in consumer products due to their unique physicochemical properties, but the specific hazards they pose to the structural and functional integrity of endothelial barriers remain elusive. When assessing the effects of ENMs on vascular barrier function, endothelial cell monolayers are commonly used as in vitro models. Monolayer models, however, do not offer a granular understanding of how the structure-function relationships between endothelial cells and tissues are disrupted due to ENM exposure. To address this issue, we developed a micropatterned endothelial cell pair model to quantitatively evaluate the effects of 10 ENMs (8 metal/metal oxides and 2 organic ENMs) on multiple cellular parameters and determine how these parameters correlate to changes in vascular barrier function. This minimalistic approach showed concerted changes in endothelial cell morphology, intercellular junction formation, and cytoskeletal organization due to ENM exposure, which were then quantified and compared to unexposed pairs using a "similarity scoring" method. Using the cell pair model, this study revealed dose-dependent changes in actin organization and adherens junction formation following exposure to representative ENMs (Ag, TiO2 and cellulose nanocrystals), which exhibited trends that correlate with changes in tissue permeability measured using an endothelial monolayer assay. Together, these results demonstrate that we can quantitatively evaluate changes in endothelial architecture emergent from nucleo-cytoskeletal network remodeling using micropatterned cell pairs. The endothelial pair model therefore presents potential applicability as a standardized assay for systematically screening ENMs and other test agents for their cellular-level structural effects on vascular barriers.

Guest Editorial: Unlocking Unconventional Reservoirs With Data Analytics, Machine Learning, and Artificial Intelligence

Guest editorial The concept of the digital oil field has been around for many years and the industry is beginning to experience the benefits of data analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence (AI). The upside of digital technology is it can improve operational efficiencies and reduce costs. The downside of digitization is that many companies have neither the resources nor the expertise to collect, analyze, and interpret a critical mass of data while maximizing its economic return. Predictive Behavior for Unconventional Reservoirs As North America shale plays are once again becoming economically viable, operators in all major basins have fast-adopted best practices to optimize drilling and completion processes to drive down the lifting costs. Adoption of data-driven analytics to improve completion design, drive efficiency, and yield economic gains has been less swift. In years past, an operator would perform analysis on a single well completion and make decisions using publicly and privately available data, well logs, or sometimes nothing more than experience gained through the years. As the industry moves to more complex multipad, multiwell completion designs, intelligent completion optimization will require more sophisticated algorithms to improve decision making. The question remains as to how operators can use the vast amount of data readily available in the public domain and private data to develop and train models that enable them to realize these operational efficiencies and increase estimated ultimate recoveries. This is where the use of analytics and AI can directly drive efficiencies to unlock the production potential of unconventional reservoirs specifically during hydraulic fracturing. The growing volume and availability of completion and production public data creates a revolutionary situation in which pad planning and completion design becomes possible with pure AI methods. Benefits of AI-Driven Analysis There are two main avenues where digital technologies are expected to make the largest impact: automation and optimization. With predictive analysis, the industry will be able to automate and optimize the process of completion design to mitigate completion disfunctions such as frac hits or uneven cluster performance. The inputs can come from quality data curated from wellsite records that include cluster spacing, pressure and rates, volumes pumped, fluids and sands used, diversion and flowback practices, production data, borehole assemblies, analyzed offset data, geology data, the plan of the well itself, and the offset wells that set up the pad development plan. The most desired improvement of including AI into completion design is speed of the entire analysis and modeling process. The trained AI system does 6 to 8 weeks of manual research in seconds, identifying specific design hazards buried within amassed pages of completion and production reports. This accelerated tempo ultimately leads to reduction of nonproductive time. Numerous completion parameters can be changed or improved using computational intelligence and mathematical optimization including stimulation volume, fluid types, flow rate, well later-al and cluster spacing, as well as numerous other considerations. Optimization on these parameters must always be done coupled with economics. Long- or short-term goals will steer decisions to different completion designs. For example, with economics taken into account, the objective of avoiding frac hits at all cost may not be necessary. A trained AI model that predicts type curve and optimizes the cost function provided by economic objectives could discern that a certain level of risk of frac hits is acceptable and even beneficial.

Radiotherapy-Induced Structural and Functional Changes in the Thyroid Gland

Background: Despite their specific functional hazards, radiotherapy induced thyroid disorders remain under-evaluated, even though, various types of irradiation caused either benign and malignant changes of the thyroid gland have been mentioned in this study. Aim: To report the current status concerning the hazards of various types of irradiation on the detection of different thyroid abnormalities either benign and/or malignant changes. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective clinical study on 40 cancer patients received irradiation between July 2011 and July 2016. 14 (35%) males and 26 (65%) females, their age range (33-80y, mean ± SD=56.5 ± 11.8). After the completion of treatment, all patients were seen at 6 weeks then every 4–6 months for first 5 years. Due to the study, full thyroid gland assessment was performed (clinical examination, lab investigations, thyroid U.S and biopsy for malignant thyroid. Results: After full clinical and anatomical assessment of the thyroid gland abnormalities in all 40 cancer patients received a variable doses of radiotherapy, we found that 40% of the patients showed multinodular goiter, 22.5% showed thyroiditis and 37.5% showed differentiated cancer thyroid (25% papillary,12.5% follicular cancer) proved later by biopsy from the gland. The incidence of malignant thyroid diseases increased significantly among the older patients received high radiation doses(>50Gy) over long post-therapy follow up. Conclusion: Various thyroid gland disorders may result after radiation exposure. There are a Little literatures report the true incidence, causes and risk factors of these disorders. Patients age and high radiation dose(>50Gy) has an account for the occurrence of malignant thyroid diseases.

HAZARD ANALYSIS AND CRITICAL CONTROL POINT (HACCP)

The HACCP system, which is science based and systematic, identifies specific hazards and measures for their control to ensure the safety of food. HACCP is a tool to assess hazards and establish control systems that focus on prevention rather than relying mainly on end-product testing. Any HACCP system is capable of accommodating change, such as advances in equipment design, processing procedures or technological developments.HACCP can be applied throughout the food chain from primary production to final consumption and its implementation should be guided by scientific evidence of risks to human health. As well as enhancing food safety, implementation of HACCP can provide other significant benefits. In addition, the application of HACCP systems can aid inspection by regulatory authorities and promote international trade by increasing confidence in food safety. (1)

Marginally stable recent Plinian eruptions of Mt. Pelée volcano (Lesser Antilles): the P2 AD 280 eruption

Major volcanic hazards in the Lesser Antilles arc include powerful Plinian explosive eruptions that inject ash high into the atmosphere and produce dangerous pyroclastic density currents (PDC) on the ground. Understanding the key physical processes governing the dynamics and stability of past volcanic columns is a fundamental problem in volcanology as well as being central to assessing specific hazards in this region and elsewhere. However, the number of cases for which the transition of regime between a stable and collapsing eruptive plume is described in detail remains too small to constrain fully theoretical models of volcanic plumes. Here we present a detailed reconstruction of the time evolution of the P2 AD 280 eruption at Mt. Pelee volcano in Martinique, to expand the database available to test physical models. The P2 sequence, which forced the first inhabitants to flee to other islands for decades as suggested by archaeological evidence, starts with a basal ash layer interpreted as the result of an initial violent laterally directed explosion to the NE of the volcano. Most of the deposit sequence is made of a pumice fall deposit interbedded with a low-concentration PDC deposit interpreted as the result of a partial column collapse. The upper pumice fall unit shows an inverse gradation and is overlain by a final high-concentration PDC deposit or locally by the correlative low-concentration PDC deposit. Field data on deposit dispersal, thickness, and grain-size distribution are used together with physical models to reconstruct the dynamic evolution of this eruption. Empirical models of deposit thinning suggest that the minimum volume of pyroclastic deposits is 0.67–0.88 km3 dense rock equivalent (DRE), much larger than the 0.17 km3 DRE previously estimated. We find that the mass eruption rate increased from 6 × 107 to 1.1 × 108 kg s−1, producing an initially stable 23- to 26-km-high Plinian plume, which ultimately collapsed to form a fountain. We discuss the mechanisms leading to column collapse based on published data on magmatic water contents and our estimates of grain-size distributions and mass discharge rates. The eruption started close to the plume/fountain transition and the volcanic column ultimately collapsed mainly due to an increase in mass discharge rate. This marginally stable evolution was also inferred from analysis of the P1 AD 1300 eruption deposits, suggesting consistent behavior during the recent Plinian eruptions of Mt. Pelee volcano. In these two eruptions, the transition occurred at conditions well predicted by our theoretical model of volcanic plumes.

Spatial identification of environmental health hazards potentially associated with adverse birth outcomes.

Reduced birth weight (RBW) and reduced head circumference (RHC) are adverse birth outcomes (ABOs), often linked to environmental exposures. However, spatial identification of specific health hazards, associated with these ABOs, is not always straightforward due to presence of multiple health hazards and sources of air pollution in urban areas. In this study, we test a novel empirical approach to the spatial identification of environmental health hazards potentially associated with the observed RHC and RBW patterns. The proposed approach is implemented as a systematic search, according to which alternative candidate locations are ranked based on the strength of association with the observed birth outcome patterns. For empirical validation, we apply this approach to the Haifa Bay Area (HBA) in Israel, which is characterized by multiple health hazards and numerous sources of air pollution. We identified a spot in the local industrial zone as the main risk source associated with the observed RHC and RBW patterns. Multivariate regressions, controlling for personal, neighborhood, and geographic factors, revealed that the relative risks of RHC and RBW tend to decline, other things being equal, as a function of distance from the identified industrial spot. We recommend the proposed identification approach as a preliminary risk assessment tool for environmental health studies, in which detailed information on specific sources of air pollution and air pollution dispersion patterns is unavailable due to limited reporting or insufficient monitoring.