TY - JOUR AB - BACKGROUND: The independent effects of short-term exposure to increased air temperature and air pollution on mortality are well-documented. There is some evidence indicating that elevated concentrations of air pollutants may lead to increased heat-related mortality, but this evidence is not consistent. Most of these effects have been documented through time-series studies using city-wide data, rather than at a finer spatial level. In our study, we examined the possible modification of the heat effects on total and cause-specific mortality by air pollution at municipality level in the Attica region, Greece, during the warm period of the years 2000 to 2016. METHODS: A municipality-specific over-dispersed Poisson regression model during the warm season (May-September) was used to investigate the heat effects on mortality and their modification by air pollution. We used the two-day average of the daily mean temperature and daily mean PM10, NO2 and 8 hour-max ozone (O3), derived from models, in each municipality as exposures. A bivariate tensor smoother was applied for temperature and each pollutant alternatively, by municipality. Α random-effects meta-analysis was used to obtain pooled estimates of the heat effects at different pollution levels. Heterogeneity of the between-levels differences of the heat effects was evaluated with a Q-test. RESULTS: A rise in mean temperature from the 75th to the 99th percentile of the municipality-specific temperature distribution resulted in an increase in total mortality of 12.4% (95% Confidence Interval (CI):7.76-17.24) on low PM10 days, and 21.25% (95% CI: 17.83-24.76) on high PM10 days. The increase on mortality was 10.09% (95% CI: - 5.62- 28.41) on low ozone days, and 14.95% (95% CI: 10.79-19.27) on high ozone days. For cause-specific mortality an increasing trend of the heat effects with increasing PM10 and ozone levels was also observed. An inconsistent pattern was observed for the modification of the heat effects by NO2, with higher heat effects estimated in the lower level of the pollutant. CONCLUSIONS: Our results support the evidence of elevated heat effects on mortality at higher levels of PM10 and 8 h max O3. Under climate change, any policy targeted at lowering air pollution levels will yield significant public health benefits. AU - Zafeiratou, S.* AU - Samoli, E.* AU - Analitis, A.* AU - Dimakopoulou, K.* AU - Giannakopoulos, C.* AU - Varotsos, K.V.* AU - Schneider, A.E. AU - Stafoggia, M.* AU - Aunan, K.* AU - Katsouyanni, K.* C1 - 69866 C2 - 55292 CY - Campus, 4 Crinan St, London N1 9xw, England TI - Modification of heat-related effects on mortality by air pollution concentration, at small-area level, in the Attica prefecture, Greece. JO - Environ. Health VL - 23 IS - 1 PB - Bmc PY - 2024 ER - TY - JOUR AU - Garí, M. AU - Moos, R.* AU - Bury, D.* AU - Kasper-Sonnenberg, M.* AU - Jankowska, A.* AU - Andysz, A.* AU - Hanke, W.* AU - Nowak, D.* AU - Bose-O'Reilly, S.* AU - Koch, H.M.* AU - Polanska, K.* C1 - 67720 C2 - 54028 TI - Correction: Human-Biomonitoring derived exposure and Daily Intakes of Bisphenol A and their associations with neurodevelopmental outcomes among children of the Polish Mother and Child Cohort Study. JO - Environ. Health VL - 22 IS - 1 PY - 2023 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Climate change, urbanisation, chemical pollution and disruption of ecosystems, including biodiversity loss, affect our health and wellbeing. Research is crucial to be able to respond to the current and future challenges that are often complex and interconnected by nature. The HERA Agenda, summarised in this commentary, identifies six thematic research goals in the environment, climate and health fields. These include research to 1) reduce the effects of climate change and biodiversity loss on health and environment, 2) promote healthy lives in cities and communities, 3) eliminate harmful chemical exposures, 4) improve health impact assessment and implementation research, 5) develop infrastructures, technologies and human resources and 6) promote research on transformational change towards sustainability. Numerous specific recommendations for research topics, i.e., specific research goals, are presented under each major research goal. Several methods were used to define the priorities, including web-based surveys targeting researchers and stakeholder groups as well as a series of online and face-to-face workshops, involving hundreds of researchers and other stakeholders. The results call for an unprecedented effort to support a better understanding of the causes, interlinkages and impacts of environmental stressors on health and the environment. This will require breakdown of silos within policies, research, actors as well as in our institutional arrangements in order to enable more holistic approaches and solutions to emerge. The HERA project has developed a unique and exciting opportunity in Europe to consensuate priorities in research and strengthen research that has direct societal impact. AU - Drakvik, E.* AU - Kogevinas, M.* AU - Bergman, A.* AU - Devouge, A.* AU - Barouki, R.* AU - HERA (Health and Environment Research Agenda) Consortium (Peters, A.) C1 - 65059 C2 - 52020 TI - Priorities for research on environment, climate and health, a European perspective. JO - Environ. Health VL - 21 IS - 1 PY - 2022 ER - TY - JOUR AB - BACKGROUND: Short-term exposure to ambient nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is associated with adverse respiratory and cardiovascular outcomes. Supplementation of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) has shown protection against exposure to fine particulate matter. This study aims to investigate whether habitual omega-3 PUFA intake differentially modify the associations between respiratory and cardiovascular responses and short-term exposure to ambient NO2. METHODS: Sixty-two healthy participants were enrolled into low or high omega-3 groups based on their habitual omega-3 PUFA intake. Each participant was repeatedly assessed for lung function, blood lipids, markers of coagulation and fibrinolysis, vascular function, and heart rate variability (HRV) in up to five sessions, each separated by at least 7 days. This study was carried out in the Research Triangle area of North Carolina, USA between October 2016 and September 2019. Daily ambient NO2 concentrations were obtained from an area air quality monitoring station on the day of outcome assessment (Lag0), 4 days prior (Lag1-4), as well as 5-day moving average (5dMA). The associations between short-term exposure to NO2 and the measured indices were evaluated using linear mixed-effects models stratified by omega-3 levels and adjusted by covariates including relative humidity and temperature. RESULTS: The average concentration of ambient NO2 during the study periods was 5.3±3.8 ppb which was below the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). In the high omega-3 group, an interquartile range (IQR) increase in short-term NO2 concentrations was significantly associated with increased lung function [e.g. 1.2% (95%CI: 0.2%, 2.2%) in FVC at lag1, 2.6% (95%CI: 0.4%, 4.8%) in FEV1 at 5dMA], decreased blood lipids [e.g. -2.6% (95%CI: -4.4%, -0.9%) in total cholesterol at lag2, -3.1% (95%CI: -6.1%, 0.0%) in HDL at 5dMA, and -3.1% (95%CI: -5.5%, -0.7%) in LDL at lag2], improved vascular function [e.g. 8.9% (95%CI: 0.6%, 17.2%) increase in FMD and 43.1% (95%CI: -79.8%, -6.3%) decrease in endothelin-1 at 5dMA], and changed HRV parameters [e.g. -7.2% (95%CI: -13.6%, -0.8%) in HFn and 13.4% (95%CI: 0.2%, 28.3%) in LF/HF ratio at lag3]. In the low omega-3 group, an IQR increase in ambient NO2 was associated with elevations in coagulation markers (von Willebrand Factor, D-dimer) and a decrease in HRV (very-low frequency); however, null associations were observed between short-term NO2 exposure and changes in lung function, blood lipids, and vascular function. CONCLUSIONS: The results in this study imply that dietary omega-3 PUFA consumption may offer respiratory and vascular benefits in response to short-term exposure of healthy adults to NO2 levels below the NAAQS. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov ( NCT02921048 ). AU - Chen, H.* AU - Zhang, S. AU - Shen, W.* AU - Salazar, C.* AU - Schneider, A.E. AU - Wyatt, L.* AU - Rappold, A.G.* AU - Diaz-Sanchez, D.* AU - Devlin, R.B.* AU - Samet, J.M.* AU - Tong, H.* C1 - 63808 C2 - 51765 CY - Campus, 4 Crinan St, London N1 9xw, England TI - The influence of dietary intake of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on the association between short-term exposure to ambient nitrogen dioxide and respiratory and cardiovascular outcomes among healthy adults. JO - Environ. Health VL - 20 IS - 1 PB - Bmc PY - 2021 ER - TY - JOUR AB - BACKGROUND: Bisphenol A (BPA) is an industrial chemical mostly used in the manufacture of plastics, resins and thermal paper. Several studies have reported adverse health effects with BPA exposures, namely metabolic disorders and altered neurodevelopment in children, among others. The aim of this study was to explore BPA exposure, its socio-demographic and life-style related determinants, and its association with neurodevelopmental outcomes in early school age children from Poland. METHODS: A total of 250 urine samples of 7 year-old children from the Polish Mother and Child Cohort Study (REPRO_PL) were analyzed for BPA concentrations using high performance liquid chromatography with online sample clean-up coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (online-SPE-LC-MS/MS). Socio-demographic and lifestyle-related data was collected by questionnaires or additional biomarker measurements. Emotional and behavioral symptoms in children were assessed using mother-reported Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Cognitive and psychomotor development was evaluated by Polish adaptation of the Intelligence and Development Scales (IDS) performed by trained psychologists. RESULTS: Urinary BPA concentrations and back-calculated daily intakes (medians of 1.8 μg/l and 46.3 ng/kg bw/day, respectively) were similar to other European studies. Urinary cotinine levels and body mass index, together with maternal educational level and socio-economic status, were the main determinants of BPA levels in Polish children. After adjusting for confounding factors, BPA has been found to be positively associated with emotional symptoms (β: 0.14, 95% CI: 0.022; 0.27). Cognitive and psychomotor development were not found to be related to BPA levels. CONCLUSIONS: This study represents the first report of BPA levels and their determinants in school age children in Poland. The exposure level was found to be related to child emotional condition, which can have long-term consequences including social functioning and scholastic achievements. Further monitoring of this population in terms of overall chemical exposure is required. AU - Garí, M. AU - Moos, R.* AU - Bury, D.* AU - Kasper-Sonnenberg, M.* AU - Jankowska, A.* AU - Andysz, A.* AU - Hanke, W.* AU - Nowak, D.* AU - Bose-O'Reilly, S.* AU - Koch, H.M.* AU - Polanska, K.* C1 - 62880 C2 - 51136 CY - Campus, 4 Crinan St, London N1 9xw, England TI - Human-Biomonitoring derived exposure and Daily Intakes of Bisphenol A and their associations with neurodevelopmental outcomes among children of the Polish Mother and Child Cohort Study. JO - Environ. Health VL - 20 IS - 1 PB - Bmc PY - 2021 ER - TY - JOUR AU - Scherb, H. AU - Hayashi, K.* C1 - 60609 C2 - 49976 CY - Campus, 4 Crinan St, London N1 9xw, England TI - Response to the “Letter to the Editor” by Alfred Körblein, “Short term increase in low birthweight babies after Fukushima”. JO - Environ. Health VL - 19 IS - 1 PB - Bmc PY - 2020 ER - TY - JOUR AB - We thank Sani Rachman Soleman et al. for three specific points of criticism concerning our investigation of the ecological association between low birth weight (LBW) and radioactive contamination in Japan after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accidents:1.Ecological variables are not justified enough to adjust potential confounding.2.The spatiotemporal regression model does not consider temporal reduction in radiation dose rate.3.Dose-response plot between dose rates and odds ratios overestimates R2and underestimates p-value. This criticism is a good starting point to explain some of the technical backgrounds of our approach in more detail. AU - Scherb, H. AU - Hayashi, K.* C1 - 60608 C2 - 49969 CY - Campus, 4 Crinan St, London N1 9xw, England TI - Response to the “letter to the editor” by Sani Rachman Soleman et al., “spatiotemporal association of low birth weight with Cs-137 deposition at the prefecture level in Japan after the Fukushima nuclear power plant accidents”. JO - Environ. Health VL - 19 IS - 1 PB - Bmc PY - 2020 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Background Perinatal mortality increased in contaminated prefectures after the Fukushima Daichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accidents in Japan in 2011. Elevated counts of surgeries for cryptorchidism and congenital heart malformations were observed throughout Japan from 2012 onward. The thyroid cancer detection rate (2011 to 2016) was associated with the dose-rate at the municipality level in the Fukushima prefecture. Since the birth weight is a simple and objective indicator for gestational development and pregnancy outcome, the question arises whether the annual birth weight distribution was distorted in a dose-rate-dependent manner across Japan after Fukushima. Methods The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare provides prefecture-specific annual counts for 26.158 million live births from 1995 to 2018, of which 2.366 million births (9.04%) with weights < 2500 g. Prefecture-specific spatiotemporal trends of the low birth weight proportions were analyzed. Logistic regression allowing for level-shifts from 2012 onward was employed to test whether those level-shifts were proportional to the prefecture-specific dose-rates derived from Cs-137 deposition in the 47 Japanese prefectures. Results The overall trend of the low birth weight prevalence (LBWp) in Japan discloses a jump in 2012 with a jump odds ratio (OR) 1.020, 95%-confidence interval (1.003,1.037),p-value 0.0246. A logistic regression of LBWp on the additional dose-rate after the FDNPP accidents adjusted for prefecture-specific spatiotemporal base-line trends yields an OR per mu Sv/h of 1.098 (1.058, 1.139),p-value < 0.0001. Further adjusting the logistic regression for the annual population size and physician density of the prefectures, as well as for the counts of the dead, the missing, and the evacuees due to earthquake and tsunami (as surrogate measures for medical infrastructure and stress) yields an OR per mu Sv/h of 1.109 (1.032, 1.191),p-value 0.0046. Conclusions This study shows increased low birth weight prevalence related to the Cs-137 deposition and the corresponding additional dose-rate in Japan from 2012 onward. Previous evidence suggesting compromised gestational development and pregnancy outcome under elevated environmental ionizing radiation exposure is corroborated. AU - Scherb, H. AU - Hayashi, K.* C1 - 59692 C2 - 48963 CY - Campus, 4 Crinan St, London N1 9xw, England TI - Spatiotemporal association of low birth weight with Cs-137 deposition at the prefecture level in Japan after the Fukushima nuclear power plant accidents: An analytical-ecologic epidemiological study. JO - Environ. Health VL - 19 IS - 1 PB - Bmc PY - 2020 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Background: Environmental pollutant exposure may play certain roles in the pathogenesis and progression of diabetes mellitus including gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). We hypothesize that heavy metal exposure may trigger GDM during pregnancy. The objective of this study was to investigate the possible associations between selected heavy metal exposure and GDM risk. Methods: This investigation is a retrospective case-control study nested within a cohort of 1359 pregnant women. These participants were recruited in Xiamen Maternity and Child Care Hospital, China, during June to July, 2012. All their newborns' meconium samples were collected. By reviewing the antenatal care records, 166 GDM mothers were screened out from the 1359 participants; 137 of 166 GDM mothers offered their newborns' meconium samples for the metal analysis. Those 137 mothers were set as the case group. Similarly, 294 healthy mothers without any gestational complication were initially screened out from the rest 1193 non-GDM mothers. 190 of the 294 healthy mothers offered their newborns' meconium samples for the metal analysis. Those 190 mothers were set as the control group. Arsenic (As), mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and chromium (Cr) levels in these case-control meconium samples were measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The possible association between the metal levels and maternal GDM risk of studied subjects was assessed by binary logistic regression. Results: GDM prevalence of 12.21% was observed in the investigated 1359 participants. The concentrations of As, Hg, Cr and Cd in studied cases were significantly higher (p < 0.05) than those of controls. After adjustments for maternal age, pre-pregnant body mass index, gravidity, parity, hepatitis B virus infection, and newborn sex, As, Cd and Cr were found to be positively associated with GDM prevalence in dose-dependent manners. Among them, As was detected in all samples and its levels associated the maternal GDM with the adjusted odds ratios of 3.28 [95% CI 1.24, 8.71], 3.35 [95% CI 1.28, 8.75] and 5.25 [95% CI 1.99, 13.86] for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th quartiles, respectively. Conclusions: The present work implies that exposure to some of the selected metals (noticeably As) may contribute to maternal GDM risk during pregnancy. AU - Peng, S.* AU - Liu, L.* AU - Zhang, X.* AU - Heinrich, J. AU - Zhang, J.* AU - Schramm, K.-W. AU - Huang, Q.* AU - Tian, M.* AU - Eqani, S.A.* AU - Shen, H.* C1 - 44344 C2 - 36854 CY - London TI - A nested case-control study indicating heavy metal residues in meconium associate with maternal gestational diabetes mellitus risk. JO - Environ. Health VL - 14 IS - 1 PB - Biomed Central Ltd PY - 2015 ER - TY - JOUR AB - BACKGROUND: Exposomics is the cutting-edge concept of screening the environmental risk factors for disease. In the novel "top-down" approach, we estimate the molecular exposome by measuring all body fluid analytes in a case-controlled study. However, to detect diverse pollutants, a sufficient sample size and multiple analytical methods are required. This may lead to dramatically increased costs and research workload. METHODS: To help reduce complexity, we suggest a sample pooling strategy along with a scheme for combining both general unknown or multi-targeted screening with targeted analysis. The sample pooling method was tested using computer simulations. RESULTS: By comprehensively analysis of pooled samples, it is possible to identify environmental risk factors. Factors are initially screened in the pooled case and control population samples, then in the randomized grouped and pooled case and control subpopulation samples. In the sample grouping, five or more pools were suggested for groups having 30 individuals per pool. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that sample pooling is a useful strategy for exposomics research, which provides a hypothesis-free method for pollutant risk screening. AU - Shen, H.* AU - Xu, W.* AU - Peng, S.* AU - Scherb, H. AU - She, J.* AU - Voigt, K. AU - Alamdar, A.* AU - Schramm, K.-W. C1 - 30765 C2 - 33844 CY - London TI - Pooling samples for "top-down" molecular exposomics research: The methodology. JO - Environ. Health VL - 13 IS - 1 PB - Biomed Central Ltd PY - 2014 ER - TY - JOUR AB - BACKGROUND: Inflammation is a key factor in the pathogenesis of respiratory diseases. Early life exposure to microbial agents may have an effect on the development of the immune system and on respiratory health later in life.In the present work we aimed to evaluate the associations between early life microbial exposures, and fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) at school age. METHODS: Endotoxin, extracellular polysaccharides (EPS) and beta(1,3)-D-glucan were measured in living room dust collected at 2--3 months of age in homes of participants of three prospective European birth cohorts (LISA, n = 182; PIAMA, n = 244; and INMA, n = 355). Home dampness and pet ownership were periodically reported by the parents through questionnaires. FeNO was measured at age 8 for PIAMA and at age 10/11 for LISA and INMA. Cohort-specific associations between the indoor microbial exposures and FeNO were evaluated using multivariable regression analyses. Estimates were combined using random-effects meta-analyses. RESULTS: FeNO at school age was lower in children exposed to endotoxin at age 2--3 months (beta -0.05, 95% confidence interval (CI) -0.10;-0.01) and in children with reported dog ownership during the first two years of life (GM ratio 0.82, CI 0.70-0.96). FeNO was not significantly associated with early life exposure to EPS, beta(1,3)-D-glucan, indoor dampness and cat ownership. CONCLUSION: Early life exposure to bacterial endotoxin and early life dog ownership are associated with lower FeNO at school age. Further studies are needed to confirm our results and to unravel the underlying mechanisms and possible clinical relevance of this finding.   AU - Casas, L.* AU - Tischer, C.G. AU - Wouters, I.M.* AU - Torrent, M.* AU - Gehring, U.* AU - García-Esteban, R.* AU - Thiering, E. AU - Postma, D.S.* AU - de Jongste, J.* AU - Smit, H.A.* AU - Borras-Santos, A.* AU - Zock, J.P.* AU - Hyvärinen, A.* AU - Heinrich, J. AU - Sunyer, J.* C1 - 28576 C2 - 33466 TI - Early life microbial exposure and fractional exhaled nitric oxide in school-age children: A prospective birth cohort study. JO - Environ. Health VL - 12 IS - 1 PB - Biomed Central PY - 2013 ER - TY - JOUR AB - ABSTRACT: Environmental exposures during pregnancy and early life may have adverse health effects. Single birth cohort studies often lack statistical power to tease out such effects reliably. To improve the use of existing data and to facilitate collaboration among these studies, an inventory of the environmental exposure and health data in these studies was made as part of the ENRIECO (Environmental Health Risks in European Birth Cohorts) project. The focus with regard to exposure was on outdoor air pollution, water contamination, allergens and biological organisms, metals, pesticides, smoking and second hand tobacco smoke (SHS), persistent organic pollutants (POPs), noise, radiation, and occupational exposures. The review lists methods and data on environmental exposures in 37 European birth cohort studies. Most data is currently available for smoking and SHS (N=37 cohorts), occupational exposures (N=33), outdoor air pollution, and allergens and microbial agents (N=27). Exposure modeling is increasingly used for long-term air pollution exposure assessment; biomonitoring is used for assessment of exposure to metals, POPs and other chemicals; and environmental monitoring for house dust mite exposure assessment. Collaborative analyses with data from several birth cohorts have already been performed successfully for outdoor air pollution, water contamination, allergens, biological contaminants, molds, POPs and SHS. Key success factors for collaborative analyses are common definitions of main exposure and health variables. Our review emphasizes that such common definitions need ideally be arrived at in the study design phase. However, careful comparison of methods used in existing studies also offers excellent opportunities for collaborative analyses. Investigators can use this review to evaluate the potential for future collaborative analyses with respect to data availability and methods used in the different cohorts and to identify potential partners for a specific research question. AU - Gehring, U.* AU - Casas, M.* AU - Brunekreef, B.* AU - Bergström, A.* AU - Bonde, J.P.* AU - Botton, J.* AU - Chévrier, C.* AU - Cordier, S.* AU - Heinrich, J. AU - Hohmann, C.* AU - Keil, T.* AU - Sunyer, J.* AU - Tischer, C.G. AU - Toft, G.* AU - Wickman, M.* AU - Vrijheid, M.* AU - Nieuwenhuijsen, M.* C1 - 22994 C2 - 30975 TI - Environmental exposure assessment in European birth cohorts: Results from the ENRIECO project. JO - Environ. Health VL - 12 IS - 1 PB - BioMed Central PY - 2013 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Current day concentrations of ambient air pollution have been associated with a range of adverse health effects, particularly mortality and morbidity due to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. In this review, we summarize the evidence from epidemiological studies on long-term exposure to fine and coarse particles, nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and elemental carbon on mortality from all-causes, cardiovascular disease and respiratory disease. We also summarize the findings on potentially susceptible subgroups across studies. We identified studies through a search in the databases Medline and Scopus and previous reviews until January 2013 and performed a meta-analysis if more than five studies were available for the same exposure metric. There is a significant number of new studies on long-term air pollution exposure, covering a wider geographic area, including Asia. These recent studies support associations found in previous cohort studies on PM2.5. The pooled effect estimate expressed as excess risk per 10 mu g/m(3) increase in PM2.5 exposure was 6% (95% CI 4, 8%) for all-cause and 11% (95% CI 5, 16%) for cardiovascular mortality. Long-term exposure to PM2.5 was more associated with mortality from cardiovascular disease (particularly ischemic heart disease) than from non-malignant respiratory diseases (pooled estimate 3% (95% CI -6, 13%)). Significant heterogeneity in PM2.5 effect estimates was found across studies, likely related to differences in particle composition, infiltration of particles indoors, population characteristics and methodological differences in exposure assessment and confounder control. All-cause mortality was significantly associated with elemental carbon (pooled estimate per 1 mu g/m(3) 6% (95% CI 5, 7%)) and NO2 (pooled estimate per 10 mu g/m(3) 5% (95% CI 3, 8%)), both markers of combustion sources. There was little evidence for an association between long term coarse particulate matter exposure and mortality, possibly due to the small number of studies and limitations in exposure assessment. Across studies, there was little evidence for a stronger association among women compared to men. In subjects with lower education and obese subjects a larger effect estimate for mortality related to fine PM was found, though the evidence for differences related to education has been weakened in more recent studies. AU - Hoek, G.* AU - Krishnan, R.M.* AU - Beelen, R.* AU - Peters, A. AU - Ostro, B.* AU - Brunekreef, B.* AU - Kaufman, J.D.* C1 - 25752 C2 - 31910 TI - Long-term air pollution exposure and cardio-respiratory mortality: A review. JO - Environ. Health VL - 12 IS - 1 PB - Biomed Central PY - 2013 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Background: The ratio of male to female offspring at birth may be a simple and non-invasive way to monitor the reproductive health of a population. Except in societies where selective abortion skews the sex ratio, approximately 105 boys are born for every 100 girls. Generally, the human sex ratio at birth is remarkably constant in large populations. After the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident in April 1986, a long lasting significant elevation in the sex ratio has been found in Russia, i.e. more boys or fewer girls compared to expectation were born. Recently, also for Cuba an escalated sex ratio from 1987 onward has been documented and discussed in the scientific literature. Presentation of the hypothesis: By the end of the eighties of the last century in Cuba as much as about 60% of the food imports were provided by the former Soviet Union. Due to its difficult economic situation, Cuba had neither the necessary insight nor the political strength to circumvent the detrimental genetic effects of imported radioactively contaminated foodstuffs after Chernobyl. We propose that the long term stable sex ratio increase in Cuba is essentially due to ionizing radiation. Testing of the hypothesis: A synoptic trend analysis of Russian and Cuban annual sex ratios discloses upward jumps in 1987. The estimated jump height from 1986 to 1987 in Russia measures 0.51% with a 95% confidence interval (0.28, 0.75), p value < 0.0001. In Cuba the estimated jump height measures 2.99% (2.39, 3.60), p value < 0.0001. The hypothesis may be tested by reconstruction of imports from the world markets to Cuba and by radiological analyses of remains in Cuba for Cs-137 and Sr-90. Implications of the hypothesis: If the evidence for the hypothesis is strengthened, there is potential to learn about genetic radiation risks and to prevent similar effects in present and future exposure situations. AU - Scherb, H. AU - Kusmierz, R. AU - Voigt, K. C1 - 27316 C2 - 32638 TI - Increased sex ratio in Russia and Cuba after Chernobyl: A radiological hypothesis. JO - Environ. Health VL - 12 IS - 1 PB - Biomed Central PY - 2013 ER - TY - JOUR AB - BACKGROUND: More people die in the winter from cardiac disease, and there are competing hypotheses to explain this. The authors conducted a study in 48 US cities to determine how much of the seasonal pattern in cardiac deaths could be explained by influenza epidemics, whether that allowed a more parsimonious control for season than traditional spline models, and whether such control changed the short term association with temperature. METHODS: The authors obtained counts of daily cardiac deaths and of emergency hospital admissions of the elderly for influenza during 1992-2000. Quasi-Poisson regression models were conducted estimating the association between daily cardiac mortality, and temperature. RESULTS: Controlling for influenza admissions provided a more parsimonious model with better Generalized Cross-Validation, lower residual serial correlation, and better captured Winter peaks. The temperature-response function was not greatly affected by adjusting for influenza. The pooled estimated increase in risk for a temperature decrease from 0 to 5degreesC was 1.6% (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.1-2.1%). Influenza accounted for 2.3% of cardiac deaths over this period. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that including epidemic data explained most of the irregular seasonal pattern (about 18% of the total seasonal variation), allowing more parsimonious models than when adjusting for seasonality only with smooth functions of time. The effect of cold temperature is not confounded by epidemics. AU - von Klot, S. AU - Zanobetti, A.* AU - Schwartz, J.* C1 - 11216 C2 - 30553 TI - Influenza epidemics, seasonality, and the effects of cold weather on cardiac mortality. JO - Environ. Health VL - 11 IS - 1 PB - Biomed Central PY - 2012 ER - TY - JOUR AB - Associations between air temperature and mortality have been consistently observed in Europe and the United States; however, there is a lack of studies for Asian countries. Our study investigated the association between air temperature and cardio-respiratory mortality in the urban area of Beijing, China. Death counts for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases for adult residents (≥15 years), meteorological parameters and concentrations of particulate air pollution were obtained from January 2003 to August 2005. The effects of two-day and 15-day average temperatures were estimated by Poisson regression models, controlling for time trend, relative humidity and other confounders if necessary. Effects were explored for warm (April to September) and cold periods (October to March) separately. The lagged effects of daily temperature were investigated by polynomial distributed lag (PDL) models. We observed a J-shaped exposure-response function only for 15-day average temperature and respiratory mortality in the warm period, with 21.3°C as the threshold temperature. All other exposure-response functions could be considered as linear. In the warm period, a 5°C increase of two-day average temperature was associated with a RR of 1.098 (95% confidence interval (95%CI): 1.057-1.140) for cardiovascular and 1.134 (95%CI: 1.050-1.224) for respiratory mortality; a 5°C decrease of 15-day average temperature was associated with a RR of 1.040 (95%CI: 0.990-1.093) for cardiovascular mortality. In the cold period, a 5°C increase of two-day average temperature was associated with a RR of 1.149 (95%CI: 1.078-1.224) for respiratory mortality; a 5°C decrease of 15-day average temperature was associated with a RR of 1.057 (95%CI: 1.022-1.094) for cardiovascular mortality. The effects remained robust after considering particles as additional confounders. Both increases and decreases in air temperature are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular mortality. The effects of heat were immediate while the ones of cold became predominant with longer time lags. Increases in air temperature are also associated with an immediate increased risk of respiratory mortality. AU - Liu, L. AU - Breitner-Busch, S. AU - Pan, X.* AU - Franck, U.* AU - Leitte, AM.* AU - Wiedensohler, A.* AU - von Klot, S. AU - Wichmann, H.-E. AU - Peters, A. AU - Schneider, A.E. C1 - 6246 C2 - 28868 TI - Associations between air temperature and cardio-respiratory mortality in the urban area of Beijing, China: A time-series analysis. JO - Environ. Health VL - 10 IS - 1 PB - BioMed Central PY - 2011 ER - TY - JOUR AB - BACKGROUND: The present study aimed at developing a standardized heat wave definition to estimate and compare the impact on mortality by gender, age and death causes in Europe during summers 1990-2004 and 2003, separately, accounting for heat wave duration and intensity. METHODS: Heat waves were defined considering both maximum apparent temperature and minimum temperature and classified by intensity, duration and timing during summer. The effect was estimated as percent increase in daily mortality during heat wave days compared to non heat wave days in people over 65 years. City specific and pooled estimates by gender, age and cause of death were calculated. RESULTS: The effect of heat waves showed great geographical heterogeneity among cities. Considering all years, except 2003, the increase in mortality during heat wave days ranged from + 7.6% in Munich to + 33.6% in Milan. The increase was up to 3-times greater during episodes of long duration and high intensity. Pooled results showed a greater impact in Mediterranean (+ 21.8% for total mortality) than in North Continental (+ 12.4%) cities. The highest effect was observed for respiratory diseases and among women aged 75-84 years. In 2003 the highest impact was observed in cities where heat wave episode was characterized by unusual meteorological conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Climate change scenarios indicate that extreme events are expected to increase in the future even in regions where heat waves are not frequent. Considering our results prevention programs should specifically target the elderly, women and those suffering from chronic respiratory disorders, thus reducing the impact on mortality. AU - D'Ippoliti, D.* AU - Michelozzi, P.* AU - Marino, C.* AU - de'Donato, F.* AU - Menne, B.* AU - Katsouyanni, K.* AU - Kirchmayer, U.* AU - Analitis, A.* AU - Medina-Ramon, M.* AU - Paldy, A.* AU - Atkinson, R.* AU - Kovats, S.* AU - Bisanti, L.* AU - Schneider, A.E. AU - Lefranc, A.* AU - Iñiguez, C.* AU - Perucci, C.A.* C1 - 1479 C2 - 27545 TI - The impact of heat waves on mortality in 9 European cities: Results from the EuroHEAT project. JO - Environ. Health VL - 9 IS - 1 PB - BioMed Central Ltd. PY - 2010 ER - TY - JOUR AB - With its inclusion under Action 3 in the Environment and Health Action Plan 2004-2010 of the European Commission, human biomonitoring is currently receiving an increasing amount of attention from the scientific community as a tool to better quantify human exposure to, and health effects of, environmental stressors. Despite the policy support, however, there are still several issues that restrict the routine application of human biomonitoring data in environmental health impact assessment. One of the main issues is the obvious need to routinely collect human samples for large-scale surveys. Particularly the collection of invasive samples from susceptible populations may suffer from ethical and practical limitations. Children, pregnant women, elderly, or chronically-ill people are among those that would benefit the most from non-invasive, repeated or routine sampling. Therefore, the use of non-invasively collected matrices for human biomonitoring should be promoted as an ethically appropriate, cost-efficient and toxicologically relevant alternative for many biomarkers that are currently determined in invasively collected matrices. This review illustrates that several non-invasively collected matrices are widely used that can be an valuable addition to, or alternative for, invasively collected matrices such as peripheral blood sampling. Moreover, a well-informed choice of matrix can provide an added value for human biomonitoring, as different non-invasively collected matrices can offer opportunities to study additional aspects of exposure to and effects from environmental contaminants, such as repeated sampling, historical overview of exposure, mother-child transfer of substances, or monitoring of substances with short biological half-lives. AU - Smolders, R.* AU - Schramm, K.-W. AU - Nickmilder, M.* AU - Schoeters, G.* C1 - 1075 C2 - 26109 TI - Applicability of non-invasively collected matrices for human biomonitoring. JO - Environ. Health VL - 8 IS - 1 PB - Biomed Central Ltd PY - 2009 ER -