APEX: A Web-Based Tool for Assessing Long-Term Outdoor PM_2.5 Exposure-Brief Report

Area of Science:

• Environmental Health
• Epidemiology
• Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Background:

• Long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is a significant risk factor for lung cancer and other chronic diseases.
• Accurate individualized exposure assessment is challenging due to difficulties integrating residential history with air pollution data.
• Current methods often rely on single-address exposure estimates, limiting accuracy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and demonstrate the Air Pollution EXposure (APEX) tool for calculating individualized annual PM2.5 exposure.
• To provide a user-friendly, web-based application for integrating detailed residential histories with air pollution data.
• To facilitate scalable and reproducible exposure assessment for clinical and research applications.

Main Methods:

• Development of a web-based application (APEX) for collecting worldwide residential histories.
• Geocoding of addresses and linkage to annual surface-level PM2.5 estimates from 1998-2024.
• Implementation of single-entry and batch-processing modes for diverse workflow integration.

Main Results:

• APEX provides annual PM2.5 exposure estimates based on comprehensive residential histories.
• The tool outputs geocoded address logs and graphical summaries for user interpretation.
• APEX-derived estimates have been successfully applied in epidemiologic studies, including lung cancer risk analysis.

Conclusions:

• APEX offers a scalable, reproducible, and clinically applicable solution for PM2.5 exposure assessment.
• The tool enhances personalized risk evaluation for diseases linked to air pollution.
• APEX supports advanced epidemiologic research by enabling more accurate exposure assignment.