Current Environmental Health Reports最新文献

Purpose of review: Cadmium (Cd) remains a persistent threat to human and environmental health. To better understand causal relationships between genotype and disease phenotypes, a genetically tractable model, zebrafish (Danio rerio) has emerged. We summarize recent empirical evidence on the targets, mechanisms, and potential therapies for Cd toxicity.

Recent findings: Recent results show that waterborne Cd exhibits organ specific accumulation including in the eye, brain, heart, and gonads triggering oxidative stress, inflammation, gut dysbiosis, and altered methylation patterns that persist across generations. Novel mechanisms of Cd toxicity include the gut-brain axis, ionic antagonism, the Wnt/β-catenin pathway, and epigenetics, leading to potential therapeutics such as probiotics, selenium, and antioxidants. Based on the reviewed literature, more studies should examine the effects of dietary Cd on zebrafish behavior, brains, and cardiovascular function. Given that humans and wildlife are chronically exposed to Cd, leading to gonadal Cd accumulation, studies should conduct early-life exposures across the zebrafish lifespan and assess endpoints across generations to capture germline and epigenetic effects and mechanisms. The zebrafish's biomedical toolkit, along with high-content screening, should be utilized to develop and refine therapies.

Purpose of review: Oil and gas development is a rapidly expanding industry that may impact population health. However, much of the research to date is conducted state-by-state, partially due to exposure data limitations. New developments related to national-scale oil and gas development data sources offer the opportunity to extend studies beyond single-state analyses. We review the current data options, highlighting their advantages, disadvantages, and ideal use-cases.

Recent findings: Five data sources suitable for national-scale epidemiologic analyses of oil and gas development were identified. Private sector data offer detailed production information but have limited accessibility. Nongovernmental sources are often specialized, focusing on specific aspects like chemical or methane exposure. Government agency data, while typically less detailed, provide useful linkage tools for cross-industry analysis. This review clarifies the strengths and limitations of these sources, facilitating national-level exposure assessment and broadening the geographic reach of oil and gas development-related epidemiology in the U.S.

Purpose of review: Studies examining the effects of social factors on the epigenome have proliferated over the last two decades. Social epigenetics research to date has broadly demonstrated that social factors spanning childhood adversity, to neighborhood disadvantage, educational attainment, and economic instability are associated with alterations to DNA methylation that may have a functional impact on health. These relationships are particularly relevant to brain-based health outcomes such as psychiatric disorders, which are strongly influenced by social exposures and are also the leading cause of disability worldwide. However, social epigenetics studies are limited by the many challenges faced by both epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS) and the study of social factors.

Findings: In this manuscript, we provide a framework to achieve greater rigor and reproducibility in social epigenetics research. We discuss current limitations of the social epigenetics field, as well as existing and new solutions to improve rigor and reproducibility. Readers will gain a better understanding of the current considerations and processes that could maximize rigor when conducting social epigenetics research, as well as the technologies and approaches that merit attention and investment to propel continued discovery into the future.

Purpose of review: The influence of basic biological differences between males and females has been historically overlooked. This is especially true when considering the differences in disease severity and progression brought on by exposure to toxic metals. A current area of interest is understanding how exposure to toxic heavy metals manifests differently in males and females. The present work assesses the potential sex-differences in diseases induced by arsenic, lead, cadmium, and chromium. These specific heavy metals are included in a wealth of literature supporting their induction of diseases that negatively impact health.

Recent findings: Arsenic toxicity appears to effect males significantly more than females. This is largely due to males having decreased arsenic methylation ability compared to females. Lead is a potent neurotoxicant that induces developmental and behavioral deficits in young children. While these deficits are seen in both sexes, the specific aspects of behavior and development affected differ between males and females. Research shows females absorb more cadmium from the gastrointestinal tract, correlating with a rich history of cadmium-induced renal dysfunction. Occupational exposure is a significant factor when considering chromium toxicity. Males are much more likely to work in industrial positions where chromium exposure is common, resulting in more males suffering the consequences of chromium exposure than females. Understanding how sex influences the pathogenesis of metal-induced diseases will allow for the elucidation of sex-specific mechanisms, which can be used to create more targeted and effective therapies to treat metal-induced diseases in males and females.

Background: Community air pollution science serves as a vital tool in public health and urban planning, enabling communities to advocate for policy changes that improve public health outcomes. Despite its potential, there is a noticeable gap in translating research findings into policy actions.

Objectives: This review aims to assess the focus of studies on community air pollution science published between 1990-2023 and identify the extent to which these studies address the research-to-policy gap.

Methods: We conducted a comprehensive review of 131 studies that utilize low-cost sensors for monitoring air pollution. The review specifically looked for how these studies contribute to bridging the research-to-policy gap.

Results: Our findings indicate a significant emphasis on evaluating the performance of low-cost sensors, with 90% of the studies centered on this aspect. Only 10% of the studies explicitly aimed at addressing the research-to-policy gap. Among these, 10 studies employed distinct theories of change to tackle this issue effectively.

Conclusion: There is a critical need for a paradigm shift in community science research to enhance the impact of scientific findings on policy-making. This shift should include strategies such as equitable sensor distribution, a broader focus on regions in the Global South, and proactive engagement with policymakers from the early stages of research.

Recommendations: Future research should prioritize closing the research-to-policy gap by incorporating these strategies to ensure that community air pollution science fully realizes its potential in shaping public health policies.

Purpose of review: Migrant and ethnic minority (MEM) outdoor workers might be at increased risk for heat-related illnesses (HRI), due to environmental exposures, heavy physical work, limited control over workplace conditions and language and cultural barriers. This review aims to synthesize the literature on health impacts of occupational heat exposure among MEM outdoor workers, including risk factors, heat-related perception and behaviour and healthcare utilization.

Recent findings: Seventy-six publications were included. Most were conducted in the US, where the weighted prevalence for at least one HRI symptom was 48.8%. These numbers were higher in most non-US countries. On average, in the US, 60.9% reported being concerned about heat and 60.4% having had HRI training. Many workers reported drinking more water when hot (91.7%) and feeling comfortable taking water breaks (92%) while fewer reported acclimatizing at the start of the season (43.7%) or changing working hours (34%) or activities (32.2%) due to heat. Qualitative studies reported reasons for working faster with less breaks, including fear of losing work and earning more when getting paid by the piece. Data on access to healthcare was limited. While research advances on MEM workers´ heat-related vulnerability, risk factors and healthcare utilization, there is a need to strengthen prevention efforts to reduce the burden of heat in this population.

Purpose of review: Environmental heat exposure is associated with adverse mental health outcomes in the general population; however, the mental health effects of heat exposure in occupational populations have not been fully characterized. We sought to: (1) review primary research studies on the relationship of occupational heat exposure with mental health outcomes; and (2) synthesize the literature with a proposed framework to identify gaps and opportunities for future research, using an equity lens.

Recent findings: Ten peer-reviewed studies between 1997 and 2024 that met our selection criteria included five cross-sectional, one longitudinal, one mixed-methods, one qualitative, and two experimental/quasi-experimental studies of varying quality. Studies were conducted across five continents covering agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting; public administration and healthcare; utilities; mining, oil and gas extraction; and glass manufacturing industries. Occupational heat exposure was associated with mental health outcomes including stress, anxiety, mental disorders and burnout in seven of ten studies. The literature on occupational heat exposure and mental health outcomes among workers is emerging. Future research should address research gaps through high-quality etiologic and solutions-oriented intervention research and should be informed by a framework that considers both upstream and downstream factors, including work psychosocial factors and social determinants of health. Research with worker populations with high current and projected occupational heat exposure and/or a high prevalence of factors associated with an increased risk of adverse mental health outcomes should be prioritized. Work equity should be addressed through partner-engaged methods and co-development of culturally appropriate products, incorporating the contexts and needs of populations at disproportionate risk of adverse mental health outcomes.

Purpose of review: Heat vulnerability mapping (or heat risk mapping) is commonly used as a cost-effective tool to assess neighborhood health burdens for policy development and implementations. Some local governments have adopted this strategy to develop community action plans to cope with an increasing threat from heat exposure. However, various data/methods for mapping have yielded inconsistent results. For a compact city with high population density, issues from generic mapping techniques would become more apparent due to its complexity of social/environmental structures.

Recent findings: We explored the similarities/differences in existing heat vulnerability mapping approaches. Previous models (1) failed to characterize extreme heat variations (e.g. days with different temperature extremes, difference between single hot days and prolonged heat events); (2) generally lacked a validation of associations between mapping results and various health outcomes (e.g. only relying on mortality data for validation but no validation of morbidities or clinical visits); (3) had a low ability to incorporate spatiotemporal variability of demographic patterns (e.g. difference in daytime/nighttime population patterns due to daily mobility); (4) were unable to adopt perceived heat exposure (e.g. Universal Thermal Climate Index); and (5) did not measure heat vulnerability at street-/building-levels even though 3-dimensional urban forms exist across major cities. Additionally, most applications (including those from local governments) were developed from a top-down perspective without a participatory design. A location-specific, evidence-based framework based on various exposure patterns and health outcomes with bottom-up strategies for implementations is needed for minimizing bias from "one-size-fits-all" strategies for action plans across high-density cities.

Purpose of review: Environmental health researchers are increasingly concerned about characterizing exposure to environmental chemical mixtures (co-exposure to multiple chemicals simultaneously). We discuss approaches for quantifying an overall summary score or index that reflects an individual's total exposure burden to components of the mixture. We focus on unsupervised methods, in which the summary score is not computed in relation to a pre-specified health outcome.

Recent findings: Sum-scores and principal components analysis (PCA) are common approaches for quantifying a total exposure burden metric but have several limitations: 1) they require imputation when using exposure biomarkers with high frequency of non-detection, 2) they do not account for exposure heterogeneity, 3) sum-scores assume the same measurement error for all people, while there is no error term inherent to the PCA model as its primary purpose is dimension reduction, and 4) in pooled analyses, both approaches are limited to analyzing the set of exposure variables that are in common across all studies, potentially discarding valuable information. Meanwhile, item response theory (IRT) is a novel and promising alternative to calculate an exposure burden score that addresses the above limitations. It allows for the inclusion of exposure analytes with high frequency of non-detects without the need for imputation. It can account for exposure heterogeneity to calculate fair metrics for all people, through assessment of differential item functioning and mixture IRT. IRT also quantifies measurement errors of the exposure burden score that are individual-specific, such that it appropriately assigns a larger standard error to an individual who has missing data on one or more exposure variables. Lastly, IRT enhances cross-study harmonization by enabling the creation of exposure burden calculators to set a common scale across studies, and allows for the inclusion of all exposure variables within a chemical class, even if they were only measured in a subset of participants. Summarizing total exposure burden, through the creation of fair and informative index scores, is a promising tool for environmental health research as environmental exposures are increasingly used for biomonitoring and clinical recommendations.