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PubMedDate not supplied

Effects of pollution on health of residents in an industrial area in Sri Lanka.

The authors conducted a cross-sectional comparative prevalence study to evaluate the effect of pollution on individuals who lived in an industrial zone in Sri Lanka. In this study, 81 male and female children who were 1-12 yr of age and 158 adults (51 males, 107 females) in the industrial zone were matched with 73 children (32 males, 41 females) and 146 adults (58 males, 88 females), respectively, who lived in a nonindustrialized area and whose ages were similar to those of the exposed individuals. The authors used a pretested questionnaire and a detailed clinical examination, including peak expiratory flow rate measurements, to assess the prevalence of illness. Children in the industrial area were 2.3 times more likely to have unexplained episodic cough (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.98, 10.3) and 2.8 times more likely to have rhinitis (95% CI = 1.1, 7.1). The adult population was 2.1 times more likely to have unexplained episodic cough (95% CI = 1.13, 7.09), 3.7 times more likely to have unexplained headaches (95% CI = 2.2, 6.3), and adults had a significantly greater reduction in expiratory flow (peak expiratory flow rate = 446 - 92x [industrial area] + 91x [male] - 0.8x [years lived in the area]).

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Outdoor air pollution and female lung cancer in Taiwan.

To investigate the relationship between air pollution and female lung cancer, the authors conducted a matched case-control study using female deaths that occurred in Taiwan from 1994 through 2003. Data on all eligible female lung cancer deaths were obtained from the Bureau of Vital Statistics of the Taiwan Provincial Department of Health. The control group consisted of women who died from causes other than cancer or diseases associated with respiratory problems. The controls were pair matched to the cases by sex, year of birth, and year of death. Each matched control was selected randomly from the set of possible controls for each case. A municipality-based aggregate index of long-term exposure to air pollution was created by dividing the annual average of the measured values for each pollutant by the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for that pollutant. The ratios for each pollutant were scaled to a 100-point scale and then averaged together to generate an index value representing the net burden of these pollutants, with each weighted equally. The subjects were divided into tertiles according to the levels of the index just described. Women who lived in the group of municipalities with highest levels of air pollution exposure index were at a statistically significant increased lung cancer risk compared to the group living in municipalities with the lowest air pollution exposure index after controlling for possible confounders (OR = 1.28, 95% CI = 1.02-1.61). The findings of this study warrant further investigation of the role of air pollutants in the etiology of lung cancer.

Aged↗
PubMed2006

Studies of multiple sclerosis in communities concerned about environmental exposures.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease that differentially affects women, people 30-60 years old, and Caucasians. Evidence indicates that it is a complex disease determined by both environmental factors and genetic susceptibility. People across the United States have expressed concern about perceived clusters of MS in their communities and the role of environmental exposures in the development of the disease. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) has funded several studies to address this issue, including a cluster investigation, several prevalence studies, and a case-control study. The cluster investigation illustrated that there are few data regarding the number of individuals with MS in the United States. Prevalence studies were conducted in Ohio, Missouri, and Texas to address this deficiency. The results support a regional difference in MS prevalence, although the reason for this difference is unclear. The results also underscore the need for additional epidemiological information about the distribution of MS in other areas of the United States and information on the underlying etiology of the disease. A case-control study is currently being conducted to examine potential risk factors for MS, including the role of environmental exposures and genetic susceptibility. Future research on MS should focus on large-scale studies and include collaboration among researchers with varied fields of expertise, such as epidemiology, neurology, and genetics.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

A survey of environmental contamination with ascarid ova, Wallingford, Connecticut.

Few studies have been conducted in the United States to quantify the potential risk associated with encountering zoonotic ascarid ova in the environment. In an effort to raise awareness and to better understand the risk of acquiring visceral larva migrans in south central Connecticut, this environmental survey was conducted to determine the prevalence of ascarid ova (Toxocara canis, Toxocara cati, Baylisascaris columnaris, and Baylisascaris procyonis) in public areas of Wallingford, Connecticut, to compare prevalence levels among these public areas, and to determine what host species are primarily responsible for environmental contamination. A preliminary study was conducted to determine if ascarid ova of different species could be identified by size and appearance utilizing light microscopy alone; results did not support the differentiation of species via these methods. To determine the prevalence of environmental contamination with ascarid ova, samples of approximately 250 g of soil were collected from park green areas, playgrounds, public housing areas, parkways, and a school. Ova were detected in 46 (14.4%) of 319 samples collected. Ova were collected from three of the 60 (5.0%) park green area samples, 11 of the 40 (27.5%) playground samples, six of the 98 (6.1%) public housing samples, and 26 of the 96 (27.1%) parkway samples. Public areas of Wallingford, Connecticut are frequently contaminated by potentially infectious ascarid ova. Of particular concern is the high degree of contamination of playgrounds and the potential risk these areas pose to children's health.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Environmental epidemiology and risk factors for autoimmune disease.

It has long been recognized that environmental influences play an important role in the risk of developing chronic rheumatic disease. Defining specific pathogenic environmental mediators that may trigger the development or progression of autoimmune disease remains a focus of increasing investigative effort. Factors promoting disease may not be identical to factors that influence the severity or progression of the disorder. Human monozygotic twin studies, animal studies, and genetic models demonstrate that genetic influences strongly determine whether one will develop autoimmunity, however, genes affecting the metabolism of exogenous agents that may trigger disease expression have only recently drawn attention. In this article the authors review recent reports that advance our understanding of previously recognized environmental risk factors and challenge accepted beliefs that increased estrogenic exposures predate the incidence of autoimmune disorders, systemic lupus erythematosus in particular.

Arthritis, Rheumatoid↗
PubMed2006

Agent Orange, dioxins, and other chemicals of concern in Vietnam: update 2006.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to find sites in Vietnam where there was human exposure from Agent Orange herbicide sprayed between 1962 and 1971, as determined by congener-specific measurement of dioxins, including 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzodioxin (TCDD), the dioxin that contaminated Agent Orange, in blood. METHODS: Blood was collected from residents of eight heavily sprayed regions in the south of Vietnam and analyzed for TCDD and in some cases the dioxin-like dibenzofurans and dioxin-like PCBs. RESULTS: Six of the eight newly studied sites did not show substantial or any elevated TCDD in blood. Marked elevation of TCDD in Vietnamese blood was found in one new location with a suggestion of slightly elevated TCDD in a second location. CONCLUSIONS: In newly studied locations in Vietnam, we found some persons with elevation of TCDD consistent with exposure to dioxin from Agent Orange. In our previous studies, we found PCBs, PCDDs, and PCDFs as well as pesticides in human milk, blood, or in food. Health effects from Agent Orange need to be differentiated from effects caused by chemicals other than TCDD from Agent Orange.

2,4,5-Trichlorophenoxyacetic Acid↗
PubMed2000

Building sickness syndrome in healthy and unhealthy buildings: an epidemiological and environmental assessment with cluster analysis.

OBJECTIVES: Building sickness syndrome remains poorly understood. Aetiological factors range from temperature, humidity, and air movement to internal pollutants, dust, lighting, and noise factors. The reported study was designed to investigate whether relations between symptoms of sick building syndrome and measured environmental factors existed within state of the art air conditioned buildings with satisfactory maintenance programmes expected to provide a healthy indoor environment. METHODS: Five buildings were studied, three of which were state of the art air conditioned buildings. One was a naturally ventilated control building and one a previously studied and known sick building. A questionnaire was administered to the study population to measure the presence of building related symptoms. This was followed by a detailed environmental survey in identified high and low symptom areas within each building. These areas were compared for their environmental performance. RESULTS: Two of the air conditioned buildings performed well with a low prevalence of building related symptoms. Both of these buildings out performed the naturally ventilated building for the low number of symptoms and in many of the environmental measures. One building (C), expected to perform well from a design viewpoint had a high prevalence of symptoms and behaved in a similar manner to the known sick building. Environmental indices associated with symptoms varied from building to building. Consistent associations between environmental variables were found for particulates (itchy eyes, dry throat, headache, and lethargy) across all buildings. There were persisting relations between particulates and symptoms (headache, lethargy, and dry skin) even in the building with the lowest level of symptoms and of measured airborne particulates (building B). There were also consistent findings for noise variables with low frequency noise being directly associated with symptoms (stuffy nose, itchy eyes, and dry skin) and higher frequency noise being relatively protective across all buildings. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first epidemiological study of expected state of the art, air conditioned buildings. These buildings can produce an internal environment better than that of naturally ventilated buildings for both reported symptoms and environmental variables. The factors associated with symptoms varied widely across the different buildings studied although consistent associations for symptoms were found with increased exposure to particulates and low frequency noise.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

An evaluation of the Baltimore Community Lead Education and Reduction Corps (CLEAR Corps) program.

This evaluation examines the effectiveness of the Baltimore Community Lead Education and Reduction Corps (CLEARCorps) program in reducing lead dust levels in low-income urban housing in Baltimore, Maryland, through minor lead-reduction activities and tenant lead-poisoning prevention education. Lead dust data collected before and after lead-reduction activities show statistically significant mean declines for floors, window sills, and window wells. Limited data using tests also show that follow-up lead dust levels collected 6 months after the CLEARCorps intervention were significantly lower than preintervention lead levels. Although there are many important of this analysis, the findings suggest that in-place management may be an effective method in reducing childhood lead poisoning in high-risk areas.

Baltimore↗
PubMed1993

National recording of environmental incidents in Scotland.

One of the main problems in determining the environmental status of a territory is the common failure to accurately record the occurrence of environmental incidents. All too often control of pollution is the responsibility of various independent central and local government departments without overall cooperation and recording of incidents. If an official recording mechanism is not in place no determination of the number of environmental incidents that occur in a given period of time can be determined, no relation of connected incidents can be made, no lessons can be learned and passed on to all those working in the pollution control field, and no assessment of improved environmental standards can be achieved. In Scotland for the past 3 years a central system for recording environmental health incidents has been in place and many benefits from this administrative arrangement are already evident. The implementation, management benefits and results obtained from the programme are given and suggestions are made as to how this programme could be extended internationally.

Disease↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Methodologic considerations in estimating burden of disease from environmental risk factors at national and global levels.

Evidence from environmental burden-of-disease studies can provide valuable input in the decision-making process in environmental health, facilitating priority setting and cost effectiveness evaluation. This paper discusses important aspects of environmental burden-of-disease estimates in the light of) published examples. To produce reliable and comparable burden-of-disease estimates for environmental and occupational risk factors, harmonized methods are needed. Such methods should address the feasibility of data collection at national, regional, and global levels, the reliability of estimates, the uncertainty around estimates, and scenario tools to investigate the health gains of options for preventive action in different domains of policy. Any such method will require a framework (i.e., causal inference model) able to take into account the contributions of distal and proximal causes, and the possible interactions between risk factors.

Environmental Illness↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Persistent toxic substances and public health in Spain.

In Spain, there are substantial gaps in available information about contamination of food, humans, and the environment by persistent toxic substances (PTSs), although studies have shown detectable concentrations of DDE, PCBs, hexachlorobenzene, or hexachlorocyclohexane in 80-100% of the population. Spain will soon try to implement the Stockholm treaty on persistent organic pollutants (POPs). A country that ratifies the treaty is required to develop a National Implementation Plan (NIP). Such NIPs should provide for studies of factors that influence body concentrations of PTSs in the population, and thus ultimately reduce PTS data gaps. Spain's PTS-related problems are similar to those of many other countries. Elucidation of their causes, consequences, and possible solutions will be of benefit beyond national boundaries.

Environmental Exposure↗
PubMed2001

Occupational exposure to lead and induction of genetic damage.

To investigate whether occupational exposure to lead is genotoxic, we evaluated data from 103 lead-exposed workers and 78 matched controls. These data correspond to three different sampling periods, and we measured genetic damage as increases in the frequency of binucleated cells with micronuclei (BNMN) in peripheral blood lymphocytes. The levels of exposure were determined according to the lead levels in blood. Clearly significant increases in BNMN were observed in the exposed groups when compared to the control group. In addition, for the overall population (n = 181), we observed a clear relationship between lead levels in blood and BNMN (r = 0.497; p < 0.001). When we examined four exposure levels--very low exposure (< 1.20 microM/L), low exposure (1.20-1.91 microM/L), high exposure (1.92-2.88 microM/L), and very high exposure (> 2.88 microM/L)--we found significant differences in the genetic damage induction. We conclude that exposure to levels of lead higher than 1.20 microM/L may pose an increase in genetic risk. In addition, our data show that blood lead level is a good indicator of genetic damage induction.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Exposure to indoor pesticides during pregnancy in a multiethnic, urban cohort.

Evidence is growing that indoor pesticide exposure is of considerable magnitude in the United States and that pesticide concentrations may be especially high in urban areas. Of particular concern is exposure of pregnant women because animal data suggest that exposure to pesticides during pregnancy and early life may impair neurodevelopment in the offspring. To investigate the relationship between prenatal exposure to indoor pesticides and infant growth and development, we are conducting a prospective, multiethnic cohort study of mothers and infants delivered at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. This article provides data on pesticide exposure based on questionnaire items and analysis of maternal urinary metabolite levels among 386 women. Both the questionnaire and laboratory data revealed that exposure to indoor pesticides was considerable. The proportion of women estimated from questionnaire data as having been exposed during pregnancy to indoor pesticides (approximately 70%) was somewhat lower than the 80-90% of American households who reportedly used pesticides in previous surveys, but some of the latter surveys included both indoor and outdoor pesticide use. Urinary metabolite levels of 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol (TCPy; median = 11.3 micro g/g creatinine), phenoxybenzoic acid (PBA; median =19.3 micro g/g creatinine), and pentachlorophenol (PCP; median =7.3 micro g/g creatinine) were higher than those reported in other studies of adults in the United States. Furthermore, no associations were evident between the pesticide questionnaire data and the urinary metabolites. Assessments of sociodemographic and building characteristics with questionnaire data and the metabolite levels revealed no consistent trends. Significant temporal variations were observed for urinary PBA but not TCPy or PCP. The temporal variations for PBA were consistent with seasonal spraying of pyrethroid pesticides. These data underscore the need to assess the potentially adverse effects of pesticide exposure on fetuses and infants and the importance of finding alternative methods for pest management to reduce pesticide exposures.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Predicting children's short-term exposure to pesticides: results of a questionnaire screening approach.

The ability of questionnaires to predict children's exposure to pesticides was examined as part of the Minnesota Children's Pesticide Exposure Study (MNCPES). The MNCPES focused on a probability sample of 102 children between the ages of 3 and 13 years living in either urban (Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN) or nonurban (Rice and Goodhue Counties in Minnesota) households. Samples were collected in a variety of relevant media (air, food, beverages, tap water, house dust, soil, urine), and chemical analyses emphasized three organophosphate insecticides (chlorpyrifos, diazinon, malathion) and a herbicide (atrazine). Results indicate that the residential pesticide-use questions and overall screening approach used in the MNCPES were ineffective for identifying and oversampling children/households with higher levels of individual target pesticides.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Metals in urine and peripheral arterial disease.

Exposure to metals may promote atherosclerosis. Blood cadmium and lead were associated with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) in the 1999-2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). In the present study we evaluated the association between urinary levels of cadmium, lead, barium, cobalt, cesium, molybdenum, antimony, thallium, and tungsten with PAD in a cross-sectional analysis of 790 participants > or =40 years of age in NHANES 1999-2000. PAD was defined as a blood pressure ankle brachial index < 0.9 in at least one leg. Metals were measured in casual (spot) urine specimens by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. After multivariable adjustment, subjects with PAD had 36% higher levels of cadmium in urine and 49% higher levels of tungsten compared with noncases. The adjusted odds ratio for PAD comparing the 75th to the 25th percentile of the cadmium distribution was 3.05 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.97 to 9.58]; that for tungsten was 2.25 (95% CI, 0.97 to 5.24). PAD risk increased sharply at low levels of antimony and remained elevated beyond 0.1 microg/L. PAD was not associated with other metals. In conclusion, urinary cadmium, tungsten, and possibly antimony were associated with PAD in a representative sample of the U.S. population. For cadmium, these results strengthen previous findings using blood cadmium as a biomarker, and they support its role in atherosclerosis. For tungsten and antimony, these results need to be interpreted cautiously in the context of an exploratory analysis but deserve further study. Other metals in urine were not associated with PAD at the levels found in the general population.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

The influence of time, sex and geographic factors on levels of perfluorooctane sulfonate and perfluorooctanoate in human serum over the last 25 years.

Perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) are important perfluorochemicals (PFCs) in various applications. Recently, it has been shown that these chemicals are widespread in the environment, wildlife and humans. But the kinds of factors that affect their levels in serum are unclear, and it is also not clear whether exposure to them is increasing or not. To investigate the impacts of time, geographical location and sex on the levels of these chemicals, we measured PFOS and PFOA concentrations in human sera samples collected both historically and recently in Miyagi, Akita and Kyoto Prefectures in Japan. The PFOS and PFOA levels in sera [Geometric Mean (Geometric Standard Deviation)] (microg/L) in 2003 ranged from 3.5 (2.9) in Miyagi to 28.1 (1.5) in Kyoto for PFOS and from 2.8 (1.5) to 12.4 (1.4) for PFOA. Historical samples collected from females demonstrated that PFOS and PFOA concentrations have increased by factors of 3 and 14, respectively, over the past 25 yr. There are large sex differences in PFOS and PFOA concentrations in serum at all locations. Furthermore, there are predominant regional differences for both PFOS and PFOA concentrations. In Kyoto the concentrations of PFOA in dwellers who had lived in the Kinki area for more than 2 yr were significantly higher than in people who had recently moved into the area, in both sexes. This finding suggests that there are sources of PFOA in the Kinki area that have raised the PFOA serum levels of its inhabitants. Further studies are needed to elucidate these sources in the Kinki area of Japan.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Early markers of nephrotoxicity: detection of children at risk from environmental pollution.

The current investigation is the largest to date concerned with the assessment of the value of different urinary biomarkers to detect nephrotoxic effects in children exposed to cadmium and lead. A battery of tests which had proved valuable in previous studies on men and women where used, together with a number of more recently developed biomarkers. No significant effect of sex and age were found but the location of the children (site) was important. The results indicated that there might have been variability in either the assay procedures or sample handling between the different sites. A small group of tests were found to be elevated following toxic exposure and should be used in future studies. However, there was considerable variation in the degree of exposure amongst the control groups from different countries and in the test groups. This made pooling of the data difficult but the study does highlight the way forward and demonstrates that children can be at risk from environmental exposure to toxins at a lower level than is acceptable for adults.

Adolescent↗