From Ambient to Personal Temperature: Capturing the Experience of Heat Exposure

PDF Version (831 KB) About This Article Published: 22 September 2017 Note to readers with disabilities: EHP strives to ensure that all journal content is accessible to all readers. However, some figures and Supplemental Material published in EHP articles may not conform to 508 standards due to the complexity of the information being presented. If you need assistance accessing journal content, please contact ehponline@niehs.nih.gov. Our staff will work with you to assess and meet your accessibility needs within 3 working days. Heat exposure can have a wide range of adverse effects on the human body.1 But when researchers set out to measure the precise size of those effects across populations, they typically are forced to rely on imprecise exposure data. The authors of a new commentary in EHP outline an alternative approach to better assess how individuals experience heat.2 Most studies on heat health rely on ambient temperature readings from airports and other fixed weather stations. These data cannot capture social and behavioral factors that influence heat exposure on a finer scale, nor do they reflect temperatures indoors, where many of us spend our time. Thus, they do not reflect what most individuals experience in their daily lives.2 In contrast, so-called personal heat exposure research uses wearable sensors and advanced modeling to capture data at the individual level. “We’re trying to measure what an 80- or 90-degree day means in terms of wha...
Source: EHP Research - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Science Selection Source Type: research