Julie Hollenbeck

Publications (9)38.53 Total impact

• Article: Florida Red Tide Toxins (Brevetoxins) and Longitudinal Respiratory Effects in Asthmatics.

  Judy A Bean, Lora E Fleming, Barbara Kirkpatrick, Lorraine C Backer, Kate Nierenberg, Andrew Reich, Yung Sung Cheng, Adam Wanner, Janet Benson, Jerome Naar, Richard Pierce, William M Abraham, Gary Kirkpatrick, Julie Hollenbeck, Julia Zaias, Eliana Mendes, Daniel G Baden
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  ABSTRACT: Having demonstrated significant and persistent adverse changes in pulmonary function for asthmatics after 1 hour exposure to brevetoxins in Florida red tide (Karenia brevis bloom) aerosols, we assessed the possible longer term health effects in asthmatics from intermittent environmental exposure to brevetoxins over 7 years. 125 asthmatic subjects were assessed for their pulmonary function and reported symptoms before and after 1 hour of environmental exposure to Florida red tide aerosols for upto 11 studies over seven years. As a group, the asthmatics came to the studies with normal standardized percent predicted pulmonary function values. The 38 asthmatics who participated in only one exposure study were more reactive compared to the 36 asthmatics who participated in ≥4 exposure studies. The 36 asthmatics participating in ≥4 exposure studies demonstrated no significant change in their standardized percent predicted pre-exposure pulmonary function over the 7 years of the study. These results indicate that stable asthmatics living in areas with intermittent Florida red tides do not exhibit chronic respiratory effects from intermittent environmental exposure to aerosolized brevetoxins over a 7 year period.
  Harmful Algae 09/2011; 10(6):744-748. · 3.08 Impact Factor
• Article: Frontiers in outreach and education: The Florida red tide experience

  Kate Nierenberg, Julie Hollenbeck, Lora E. Fleming, Wendy Stephan, Andrew Reich, Lorraine C. Backer, Robert Currier, Barbara Kirkpatrick
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  ABSTRACT: To enhance information sharing and garner increased support from the public for scientific research, funding agencies now typically require that research groups receiving support convey their work to stakeholders. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) funded Aerosolized Florida Red Tide P01 research group (Florida Red Tide Research Group) has employed a variety of outreach strategies to meet this requirement. Messages developed from this project began a decade ago and have evolved from basic print material (fliers and posters) to an interactive website, to the use of video and social networking technologies, such as Facebook and Twitter. The group was able to track dissemination of these information products; however, evaluation of their effectiveness presented much larger challenges. The primary lesson learned by the Florida Red Tide Research Group is that the best ways to reach specific stakeholders are to develop unique products or services to address specific stakeholders’ needs, such as the Beach Conditions Reporting System. Based on the experience of the Group, the most productive messaging products result when scientific community engages potential stakeholders and outreach experts during the very initial phases of a project.Research highlights► We review outreach efforts from a 10 year red tide and human health study. ► Changes in outreach methods are due to the evolution of media techniques available. ► Changes from pamphlets to websites, videos and social networks are beneficial. ► Benefits include automated evaluations and data collection.
  Harmful Algae 05/2011; 10(4):374-380. · 3.08 Impact Factor
• Article: Review of Florida red tide and human health effects

  Lora E. Fleming, Barbara Kirkpatrick, Lorraine C. Backer, Cathy J. Walsh, Kate Nierenberg, John Clark, Andrew Reich, Julie Hollenbeck, Janet Benson, Yung Sung Cheng, [......], Adam Wanner, Eliana Mendes, Stuart Shalat, Porter Hoagland, Wendy Stephan, Judy Bean, Sharon Watkins, Tainya Clarke, Margaret Byrne, Daniel G. Baden
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  ABSTRACT: This paper reviews the literature describing research performed over the past decade on the known and possible exposures and human health effects associated with Florida red tides. These harmful algal blooms are caused by the dinoflagellate, Karenia brevis, and similar organisms, all of which produce a suite of natural toxins known as brevetoxins. Florida red tide research has benefited from a consistently funded, long-term research program, that has allowed an interdisciplinary team of researchers to focus their attention on this specific environmental issue—one that is critically important to Gulf of Mexico and other coastal communities. This long-term interdisciplinary approach has allowed the team to engage the local community, identify measures to protect public health, take emerging technologies into the field, forge advances in natural products chemistry, and develop a valuable pharmaceutical product. The review includes a brief discussion of the Florida red tide organisms and their toxins, and then focuses on the effects of these toxins on animals and humans, including how these effects predict what we might expect to see in exposed people.
  Harmful Algae 01/2011; 10(2):224-233. · 3.08 Impact Factor
• Article: Aerosolized Red Tide Toxins (Brevetoxins) and Asthma: Continued health effects after 1 hour beach exposure.

  Barbara Kirkpatrick, Lora E Fleming, Judy A Bean, Kate Nierenberg, Lorraine C Backer, Yung Sung Cheng, Richard Pierce, Andrew Reich, Jerome Naar, Adam Wanner, William M Abraham, Yue Zhou, Julie Hollenbeck, Daniel G Baden
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  ABSTRACT: Blooms of the toxic dinoflagellate, Karenia brevis, produce potent neurotoxins in marine aerosols. Recent studies have demonstrated acute changes in both symptoms and pulmonary function in asthmatics after only 1 hour of beach exposure to these aerosols. This study investigated if there were latent and/or sustained effects in asthmatics in the days following the initial beach exposure during periods with and without an active Florida red tide.Symptom data and spirometry data were collected before and after 1 hour of beach exposure. Subjects kept daily symptom diaries and measured their peak flow each morning for 5 days following beach exposure. During non-exposure periods, there were no significant changes in symptoms or pulmonary function either acutely or over 5 days of follow-up. After the beach exposure during an active Florida red tide, subjects had elevated mean symptoms which did not return to the pre-exposure baseline for at least 4 days. The peak flow measurements decreased after the initial beach exposure, decreased further within 24 hours, and continued to be suppressed even after 5 days. Asthmatics may continue to have increased symptoms and delayed respiratory function suppression for several days after 1 hour of exposure to the Florida red tide toxin aerosols.
  Harmful Algae 01/2011; 10(2):138-143. · 3.08 Impact Factor
• Article: The BEACHES Study: health effects and exposures from non-point source microbial contaminants in subtropical recreational marine waters.

  Jay M Fleisher, Lora E Fleming, Helena M Solo-Gabriele, Jonathan K Kish, Christopher D Sinigalliano, Lisa Plano, Samir M Elmir, John D Wang, Kelly Withum, Tomoyuki Shibata, Maribeth L Gidley, Amir Abdelzaher, Guoqing He, Cristina Ortega, Xiaofang Zhu, Mary Wright, Julie Hollenbeck, Lorraine C Backer
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  ABSTRACT: Microbial water-quality indicators, in high concentrations in sewage, are used to determine whether water is safe for recreational purposes. Recently, the use of these indicators to regulate recreational water bodies, particularly in sub/tropical recreational marine waters without known sources of sewage, has been questioned. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the risk to humans from exposure to subtropical recreational marine waters with no known point source, and the possible relationship between microbe densities and reported symptoms in human subjects with random-exposure assignment and intensive individual microbial monitoring in this environment. A total of 1303 adult regular bathers were randomly assigned to bather and non-bather groups, with subsequent follow-up for reported illness, in conjunction with extensive environmental sampling of indicator organisms (enterococci). Bathers were 1.76 times more likely to report gastrointestinal illness [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.94-3.30; P = 0.07]; 4.46 times more likely to report acute febrile respiratory illness (95% CI 0.99-20.90; P = 0.051) and 5.91 times more likely to report a skin illness (95% CI 2.76-12.63; P < 0.0001) relative to non-bathers. Evidence of a dose-response relationship was found between skin illnesses and increasing enterococci exposure among bathers [1.46 times (95% CI 0.97-2.21; P = 0.07) per increasing log(10) unit of enterococci exposure], but not for gastrointestinal or respiratory illnesses. This study indicated that bathers may be at increased risk of several illnesses relative to non-bathers, even in the absence of any known source of domestic sewage impacting the recreational marine waters. There was no dose-response relationship between gastroenteritis and increasing exposure to enterococci, even though many current water-monitoring standards use gastroenteritis as the major outcome illness.
  International Journal of Epidemiology 10/2010; 39(5):1291-8. · 6.41 Impact Factor
• Article: Evaluation of conventional and alternative monitoring methods for a recreational marine beach with nonpoint source of fecal contamination.

  Tomoyuki Shibata, Helena M Solo-Gabriele, Christopher D Sinigalliano, Maribeth L Gidley, Lisa R W Plano, Jay M Fleisher, John D Wang, Samir M Elmir, Guoqing He, Mary E Wright, Amir M Abdelzaher, Cristina Ortega, David Wanless, Anna C Garza, Jonathan Kish, Troy Scott, Julie Hollenbeck, Lorraine C Backer, Lora E Fleming
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  ABSTRACT: The objectives of this work were to compare enterococci (ENT) measurements based on the membrane filter, ENT(MF) with alternatives that can provide faster results including alternative enterococci methods (e.g., chromogenic substrate (CS), and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR)), and results from regression models based upon environmental parameters that can be measured in real-time. ENT(MF) were also compared to source tracking markers (Staphylococcus aureus, Bacteroidales human and dog markers, and Catellicoccus gull marker) in an effort to interpret the variability of the signal. Results showed that concentrations of enterococci based upon MF (<2 to 3320 CFU/100 mL) were significantly different from the CS and qPCR methods (p < 0.01). The correlations between MF and CS (r = 0.58, p < 0.01) were stronger than between MF and qPCR (r ≤ 0.36, p < 0.01). Enterococci levels by MF, CS, and qPCR methods were positively correlated with turbidity and tidal height. Enterococci by MF and CS were also inversely correlated with solar radiation but enterococci by qPCR was not. The regression model based on environmental variables provided fair qualitative predictions of enterococci by MF in real-time, for daily geometric mean levels, but not for individual samples. Overall, ENT(MF) was not significantly correlated with source tracking markers with the exception of samples collected during one storm event. The inability of the regression model to predict ENT(MF) levels for individual samples is likely due to the different sources of ENT impacting the beach at any given time, making it particularly difficult to to predict short-term variability of ENT(MF) for environmental parameters.
  Environmental Science & Technology 10/2010; 44(21):8175-81. · 4.80 Impact Factor
• Article: Traditional and molecular analyses for fecal indicator bacteria in non-point source subtropical recreational marine waters.

  Christopher D Sinigalliano, Jay M Fleisher, Maribeth L Gidley, Helena M Solo-Gabriele, Tomoyuki Shibata, Lisa R W Plano, Samir M Elmir, David Wanless, Jakub Bartkowiak, Rene Boiteau, [......], Amir M Abdelzaher, Guoqing He, Cristina Ortega, Xiaofang Zhu, Mary E Wright, Jonathan Kish, Julie Hollenbeck, Troy Scott, Lorraine C Backer, Lora E Fleming
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  ABSTRACT: The use of enterococci as the primary fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) for the determination of recreational water safety has been questioned, particularly in sub/tropical marine waters without known point sources of sewage. Alternative FIB (such as the Bacteroidales group) and alternative measurement methods (such as rapid molecular testing) have been proposed to supplement or replace current marine water quality testing methods which require culturing enterococci. Moreover, environmental parameters have also been proposed to supplement current monitoring programs. The objective of this study was to evaluate the health risks to humans from exposure to subtropical recreational marine waters with no known point source. The study reported symptoms between one set of human subjects randomly assigned to marine water exposure with intensive environmental monitoring compared with other subjects who did not have exposure. In addition, illness outcomes among the exposed bathers were compared to levels of traditional and alternative FIB (as measured by culture-based and molecular-based methods), and compared to easily measured environmental parameters. Results demonstrated an increase in self-reported gastrointestinal, respiratory and skin illnesses among bathers vs. non-bathers. Among the bathers, a dose-response relationship by logistic regression modeling was observed for skin illness, where illness was positively related to enterococci enumeration by membrane filtration (odds ratio = 1.46 [95% confidence interval = 0.97-2.21] per increasing log10 unit of enterococci exposure) and positively related to 24 h antecedent rain fall (1.04 [1.01-1.07] per increasing millimeters of rain). Acute febrile respiratory illness was inversely related to water temperature (0.74 [0.56-0.98] per increasing degree of water temperature). There were no significant dose-response relationships between report of human illness and any of the other FIB or environmental measures. Therefore, for non-point source subtropical recreational marine waters, this study suggests that humans may be at increased risk of reported illness, and that the currently recommended and investigational FIB may not track gastrointestinal illness under these conditions; the relationship between other human illness and environmental measures is less clear.
  Water Research 07/2010; 44(13):3763-72. · 4.86 Impact Factor
• Source

  Available from: Tainya Clarke

  Article: Exposure and effect assessment of aerosolized red tide toxins (brevetoxins) and asthma.

  Lora E Fleming, Judy A Bean, Barbara Kirkpatrick, Yung Sung Cheng, Richard Pierce, Jerome Naar, Kate Nierenberg, Lorraine C Backer, Adam Wanner, Andrew Reich, [......], Sharon Watkins, Mike Henry, Julia Zaias, William M Abraham, Janet Benson, Amy Cassedy, Julie Hollenbeck, Gary Kirkpatrick, Tainya Clarke, Daniel G Baden
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  ABSTRACT: In previous studies we demonstrated statistically significant changes in reported symptoms for lifeguards, general beach goers, and persons with asthma, as well as statistically significant changes in pulmonary function tests (PFTs) in asthmatics, after exposure to brevetoxins in Florida red tide (Karenia brevis bloom) aerosols. In this study we explored the use of different methods of intensive ambient and personal air monitoring to characterize these exposures to predict self-reported health effects in our asthmatic study population. We evaluated health effects in 87 subjects with asthma before and after 1 hr of exposure to Florida red tide aerosols and assessed for aerosolized brevetoxin exposure using personal and ambient samplers. After only 1 hr of exposure to Florida red tide aerosols containing brevetoxin concentrations > 57 ng/m(3), asthmatics had statistically significant increases in self-reported respiratory symptoms and total symptom scores. However, we did not see the expected corresponding changes in PFT results. Significant increases in self-reported symptoms were also observed for those not using asthma medication and those living >/= 1 mile from the coast. These results provide additional evidence of health effects in asthmatics from ambient exposure to aerosols containing very low concentrations of brevetoxins, possibly at the lower threshold for inducing a biologic response (i.e., toxicity). Consistent with the literature describing self-reported symptoms as an accurate measure of asthmatic distress, our results suggest that self-reported symptoms are a valuable measure of the extent of health effects from exposure to aerosolized brevetoxins in asthmatic populations.
  Environmental Health Perspectives 07/2009; 117(7):1095-100. · 7.04 Impact Factor
• Article: Aerosolized red tide toxins (brevetoxins) and asthma: Continued health effects after 1h beach exposure

  Barbara Kirkpatrick, Lora E. Fleming, Judy A. Bean, Kate Nierenberg, Lorraine C. Backer, Yung Sung Cheng, Richard Pierce, Andrew Reich, Jerome Naar, Adam Wanner, William M. Abraham, Yue Zhou, Julie Hollenbeck, Daniel G. Baden
  [show abstract] [hide abstract]
  ABSTRACT: Blooms of the toxic dinoflagellate, Karenia brevis, produce potent neurotoxins in marine aerosols. Recent studies have demonstrated acute changes in both symptoms and pulmonary function in asthmatics after only 1 h of beach exposure to these aerosols. This study investigated if there were latent and/or sustained effects in asthmatics in the days following the initial beach exposure during periods with and without an active Florida red tide.Symptom data and spirometry data were collected before and after 1 h of beach exposure. Subjects kept daily symptom diaries and measured their peak flow each morning for 5 days following beach exposure. During non-exposure periods, there were no significant changes in symptoms or pulmonary function either acutely or over 5 days of follow-up. After the beach exposure during an active Florida red tide, subjects had elevated mean symptoms which did not return to the pre-exposure baseline for at least 4 days. The peak flow measurements decreased after the initial beach exposure, decreased further within 24 h, and continued to be suppressed even after 5 days. Asthmatics may continue to have increased symptoms and delayed respiratory function suppression for several days after 1 h of exposure to the Florida red tide toxin aerosols.
  Harmful Algae 10(2):138-143. · 3.08 Impact Factor