The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of hematological and hepatic alterations and possible association with serum levels of beta-hexachlorocyclohexane (beta-HCH), p,p′-DDE, and ...hexachlorobenzene (HCB) among residents in an area heavily contaminated with organochlorine (OC) pesticides. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 415 male and 432 female residents aged >14 years. Serum samples were collected and analyzed for OC pesticides concentrations and biochemical parameters. Frequencies of hematological and hepatic alterations were calculated for each gender. Association between beta-HCH, p,p′-DDE (1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl) ethylene), and HCB levels and presence of alterations was determined by logistic regression stratified by gender and controlling for confounders. Highest frequencies were observed for eosinophilia (23% men and 18% women), low hemoglobin (12% men and 15% women), and low erythrocyte count (12% men). High levels of bilirubin, glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT), and glutamic-pyruvic transaminase (GPT) were observed, respectively, in 10, 11, and 12% of men and <10% of women. Gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) was elevated in 26 and 25% of males and females, respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed associations between eosinophilia and beta-HCH in men (OR = 1.06, 95%CI = 1.01-1.12) and women (OR = 1.05, 96%CI = 0.99-1.11), p,p′-DDE in men (OR = 1.03, 95%CI = 0.99-1.06) and women (OR = 1.02, 95%CI = 0.99-1.06), and HCB in women (OR = 1.54, 95%IC = 0.85-4.45). Beta-HCH was found to be associated with increased risk of elevated bilirubin in females (OR = 1.18, 95%CI = 1.07-1.29) and males (OR = 4.21, 95%CI = 1.87-9.47 for fourth vs. first quintile). Thus, OC pesticides may exert adverse effects on hematopoietic tissue and liver in populations chronically exposed to high levels of these compounds.
Allergic fungal sinusitis (AFS) is a condition that has an allergic basis caused by exposure to fungi in the sinonasal tract leading to chronic inflammation. Despite standard treatment modalities, ...which typically include surgery and medical management of allergies, patients still have a high rate of recurrence. Subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT) has been used as adjuvant treatment for AFS. Evidence exists to support the use of sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) as a safe and efficacious method of treating allergies, but no studies have assessed the utility of SLIT in the management of allergic fungal sinusitis. A record review of cases of AFS that are currently or previously treated with sublingual immunotherapy from 2007 to 2011 was performed. Parameters of interest included serum IgE levels, changes in symptoms, Lund-McKay scores, decreased sensitization to fungal allergens associated with AFS, and serum IgE levels. Ten patients with diagnosed AFS were treated with SLIT. No adverse effects related to the use of SLIT therapy were identified. Decreases in subjective complaints, exam findings, Lund-McKay scores, and serum IgE levels were observed. Thus, sublingual immunotherapy appears to be a safe adjunct to the management of AFS that may improve patient outcomes.
Allergic contact dermatitis Kimber, Ian; Basketter, David A; Gerberick, G.Frank ...
International Immunopharmacology,
02/2002, Letnik:
2, Številka:
2
Book Review, Journal Article
Recenzirano
Allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) is a common occupational and environmental health issue. In common with other forms of allergy the disease progresses in two stages; an initial phase during which ...sensitization is acquired, followed later (after subsequent exposure to the same chemical allergen) by elicitation of a cutaneous inflammatory reaction. The development of skin sensitization is associated with, and requires, the activation and clonal expansion of allergen responsive T lymphocytes and it is these cells that orchestrates the cutaneous allergic reaction. In recent years much has been learned of the characteristics of immune responses to skin sensitizing chemicals and of the roles played by dendritic cells, cytokines and chemokines. Some of the more interesting cellular and molecular mechanisms are reviewed briefly in this article. A more detailed appreciation of responses induced by chemical allergens has in turn facilitated the design of novel approaches to the toxilogical evaluation of skin sensitization. Real progress has been made, not only in the development of improved methods for hazard identification and characterization, but also in the application of new paradigms for risk assessment. The newer methods now available and the opportunities that exist for further advances are considered. Finally, progress has been made in the characterization of skin sensitization in humans and in the clinical management of ACD. This article seeks to consider skin sensitization and ACD in holistic fashion, bridging experimental observations with clinical disease and basic mechanisms with practical toxicology.
COPD is the third most frequent cause of death globally, with much of this burden attributable to household biomass smoke exposure in developing countries. As biomass smoke exposure is also ...associated with cardiovascular disease, lower respiratory infection, lung cancer, and cataracts, it presents an important target for public health intervention.
Lung function in Guatemalan women exposed to wood smoke from open fires was measured throughout the Randomized Exposure Study of Pollution Indoors and Respiratory Effects (RESPIRE) stove intervention trial and continued during the Chronic Respiratory Effects of Early Childhood Exposure to Respirable Particulate Matter (CRECER) cohort study. In RESPIRE, early stove households received a chimney woodstove at the beginning of the 18-month trial, and delayed stove households received a stove at trial completion. Personal exposure to wood smoke was assessed with exhaled breath carbon monoxide (CO) and personal CO tubes. Change in lung function between intervention groups and as a function of wood smoke exposure was assessed using random effects models.
Of 306 women participating in both studies, acceptable spirometry was collected in 129 early stove and 136 delayed stove households (n = 265), with a mean follow-up of 5.6 years. Despite reduced wood smoke exposures in early stove households, there were no significant differences in any of the measured spirometric variables during the study period (FEV1, FVC, FEV1/FVC ratio, and annual change) after adjustment for confounding.
In these young Guatemalan women, there was no association between lung function and early randomization to a chimney stove or personal wood smoke exposure. Future stove intervention trials should incorporate cleaner stoves, longer follow-up, or potentially susceptible groups to identify meaningful differences in lung function.
The increase in allergies is a phenomenon that is being observed in all fast-developing countries. For a long time, science has taken as a starting point that solely a genetic predisposition is ...a precondition for the development of an allergy. Today, knowledge of environmental factors that can alter genes or the transcription of genes in the cells, has improved. Epidemiological studies have meanwhile identified several environmental factors that have a protective or supporting effect on allergy development. The environmental microbiome has recently gained central interest. A common theme in most of the studies is diversity: reduced diversity is correlated with enhanced risk for chronic inflammatory diseases and allergy.It is now of great interest for research to further analyze such environment-gene and/or environment-human interactions on all levels - from organs to cells to small and microstructures such as genes. For immunologists, it is specifically about understanding the influencing factors and effector pathways of allergens, and to apply thereby obtained insights in the follow-up for the ultimate goal of allergy research - prevention.
A 2002 analysis documented $54.9 billion in annual costs of environmentally mediated diseases in US children. However, few important changes in federal policy have been implemented to prevent ...exposures to toxic chemicals. We therefore updated and expanded the previous analysis and found that the costs of lead poisoning, prenatal methylmercury exposure, childhood cancer, asthma, intellectual disability, autism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder were $76.6 billion in 2008. To prevent further increases in these costs, efforts are needed to institute premarket testing of new chemicals; conduct toxicity testing on chemicals already in use; reduce lead-based paint hazards; and curb mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants.
Abstract
Background and Objectives
Contextual contributors to sleep problems are important to examine among older adults because sleep problems are associated with a number of adverse outcomes in ...late life. We examine whether disordered neighborhoods are a key contextual determinant of sleep problems in late life, as well as how subjective social power—a sense of personal control and subjective social status—mediates and moderates this association. Central to this contribution is the use of econometric techniques that holistically control for time-stable factors that may bias estimated associations.
Research Design and Methods
Three waves (2006, 2010, 2014) of the psychosocial subsample of the Health and Retirement Study (N = 7,130) are analyzed with random-effects models that adjust for repeated observations, as well as fixed-effects models that additionally control for all time-stable confounders.
Results
Neighborhood disorder is associated with greater sleep problems in random-effects models, but this association is substantially weakened in a fixed-effects model. Personal control mediates this association, but does not moderate it. Subjective social status does not mediate the association, but does moderate it.
Discussion and Implications
Although neighborhood disorder is associated with sleep problems in older adults, this association is likely to be overestimated in analyses that do not compressively control for time-stable confounders. Rather than acting as dual mediators and moderators, perceived control and subjective social status play distinct roles in this association, with seniors at lower levels of subjective social status especially at risk for sleep problems due to neighborhood disorder.
Over the past 20 years, exposure to mycotoxin producing mold has been recognized as a significant health risk. Scientific literature has demonstrated mycotoxins as possible causes of human disease in ...water-damaged buildings (WDB). This study was conducted to determine if selected mycotoxins could be identified in human urine from patients suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Patients (n = 112) with a prior diagnosis of CFS were evaluated for mold exposure and the presence of mycotoxins in their urine. Urine was tested for aflatoxins (AT), ochratoxin A (OTA) and macrocyclic trichothecenes (MT) using Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assays (ELISA). Urine specimens from 104 of 112 patients (93%) were positive for at least one mycotoxin (one in the equivocal range). Almost 30% of the cases had more than one mycotoxin present. OTA was the most prevalent mycotoxin detected (83%) with MT as the next most common (44%). Exposure histories indicated current and/or past exposure to WDB in over 90% of cases. Environmental testing was performed in the WDB from a subset of these patients. This testing revealed the presence of potentially mycotoxin producing mold species and mycotoxins in the environment of the WDB. Prior testing in a healthy control population with no history of exposure to a WDB or moldy environment (n = 55) by the same laboratory, utilizing the same methods, revealed no positive cases at the limits of detection.
Traffic-related air pollution and health in Canada Brauer, Michael; Reynolds, Conor; Hystad, Perry
Canadian Medical Association journal (CMAJ),
2013-Dec-10, 2013-12-10, 20131210, Letnik:
185, Številka:
18
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Emerging evidence specifically links the traffic-related component of air pollution to negative effects on health. A comprehensive critical review of the epidemiologic and toxicologic literature ...published in 2010 concluded that exposure to traffic-related air pollution was causally linked to worsening asthma.2 The evidence was characterized as bordering on sufficient for a causal link with incident childhood asthma,2 whereas associations with adult-onset asthma, deteriorating lung function, cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction and the progression of atherosclerosis were deemed suggestive but insufficient to infer causality. Subsequent evidence shows a strengthened case for causal relationships between exposure to traffic-related air pollution and incident asthma, as summarized in a meta-analysis,3 and with lung cancer, as stated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer's classification of diesel engine exhaust as carcinogenic to humans.4 Increasing support for the role of traffic-related air pollution in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality is summarized in a recent scientific statement from the American Heart Association, which concluded that "traffic-related pollution as a whole appears to be a specific source associated with cardiovascular risk."5 This conclusion is supported by experimental and epidemiologic evidence that suggests that air pollution leads to systemic inflammation, oxidative stress and imbalance in the autonomic nervous system.5 Based on available data on census block points and the National Road Network,2,6 about 10 million people - 32% of the Canadian population - live in areas where they are exposed to trafficrelated air pollution (exposure zones). These elevated exposure zones are defined as the 500 m on either side of highways (average daily traffic ≥ 18 000 vehicles) or the 100 m on either side of major urban roads (average daily traffic ≥ 15 000 vehicles, ≥ 2 lanes spanning several kilometres, speed limit > 50 km/h).6 Using alternative metrics gives a lower-bound estimate of 4.1 million people (people living within 100 m of a major road or highway; ~13% of the Canadian population) and an upper-bound estimate of 16.9 million people (people living within 500 m of a major road or highway; ~54% of the Canadian population) living in areas of high exposure. This high prevalence of exposure, in addition to evidence of associated health problems, suggests that traffic-related air pollution is a substantial public health concern in Canada and points to the need for policies to reduce population exposure.
Summary Background The population exposed to potentially hazardous substances through inappropriate and unsafe management practices related to disposal and recycling of end-of-life electrical and ...electronic equipment, collectively known as e-waste, is increasing. We aimed to summarise the evidence for the association between such exposures and adverse health outcomes. Methods We systematically searched five electronic databases (PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, PsycNET, and CINAHL) for studies assessing the association between exposure to e-waste and outcomes related to mental health and neurodevelopment, physical health, education, and violence and criminal behaviour, from Jan 1, 1965, to Dec 17, 2012, and yielded 2274 records. Of the 165 full-text articles assessed for eligibility, we excluded a further 142, resulting in the inclusion of 23 published epidemiological studies that met the predetermined criteria. All studies were from southeast China. We assessed evidence of a causal association between exposure to e-waste and health outcomes within the Bradford Hill framework. Findings We recorded plausible outcomes associated with exposure to e-waste including change in thyroid function, changes in cellular expression and function, adverse neonatal outcomes, changes in temperament and behaviour, and decreased lung function. Boys aged 8–9 years living in an e-waste recycling town had a lower forced vital capacity than did those living in a control town. Significant negative correlations between blood chromium concentrations and forced vital capacity in children aged 11 and 13 years were also reported. Findings from most studies showed increases in spontaneous abortions, stillbirths, and premature births, and reduced birthweights and birth lengths associated with exposure to e-waste. People living in e-waste recycling towns or working in e-waste recycling had evidence of greater DNA damage than did those living in control towns. Studies of the effects of exposure to e-waste on thyroid function were not consistent. One study related exposure to e-waste and waste electrical and electronic equipment to educational outcomes. Interpretation Although data suggest that exposure to e-waste is harmful to health, more well designed epidemiological investigations in vulnerable populations, especially pregnant women and children, are needed to confirm these associations. Funding Children's Health and Environment Program, Queensland Children's Medical Research Institute, The University of Queensland, Australia.
PDF
