Environmental Health最新文献

Background: While prenatal exposure to alkylphenols (APs) has been demonstrated to be associated with neurodevelopmental impairments in animals, the evidence from epidemiological studies remains limited and inconclusive. This study aimed to explore the link between AP exposure during pregnancy and the intelligence quotient (IQ) of preschool children.

Methods: A total of 221 mother-child pairs from the Guangxi Zhuang Birth Cohort were recruited. Nonylphenol (NP), 4-tert-octylphenol (4-T-OP), 4-n-nonylphenol (4-N-NP), and 4-n-octylphenol were measured in maternal serum in early pregnancy. Childhood IQ was evaluated by the Fourth Edition of Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of the Intelligence at 3 to 6 years of age. The impact of APs on childhood IQ were evaluated by generalized linear models (GLMs), restricted cubic spline (RCS), and Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR).

Results: In GLMs, prenatal exposure to NP and the second tertile of 4-T-OP exhibited an inverse association with full-scale IQ (FSIQ) (β = -2.38; 95% CI: -4.59, -0.16) and working memory index (WMI) (β = -5.24; 95% CI: -9.58, -0.89), respectively. Prenatal exposure to the third tertile of 4-N-NP showed a positive association with the fluid reasoning index (β = 4.95; 95% CI: 1.14, 8.77) in total children, as well as in girls when stratified by sex. A U-shaped relationship between maternal 4-T-OP and WMI was noted in total children and girls by RCS (all P nonlinear < 0.05). The combined effect primarily driven by NP, of maternal AP mixtures at concentrations above the 50th percentile exhibited an inverse trend on FSIQ in total children and girls in BKMR.

Conclusions: Prenatal exposure to various APs affects IQ in preschool children, and there may be nonmonotonic and sex-specific effects. Further investigation across the population is required to elucidate the potential neurotoxic effects of APs.

Background: Change in asthma burden attributed to specific environmental risk factor has not been evaluated.

Objective: We aimed to explore the age, period, and cohort effects on asthma burden attributable to smoking and occupational asthmagens in different socio-demographic index (SDI) regions and the region and sex disparities.

Methods: Risk factor-specific asthma deaths and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) rates were extracted from Global Burden of Disease study 2019, estimated by standard Combined Cause of Death Model and DisMod-MR 2.1 modeling tool. Age-period-cohort analysis was conducted to decompose age, period, and cohort effects on asthma burden.

Results: Smoking- and occupational asthmagens-related asthma deaths and DALYs rates dropped by > 45% during 1990-2019. In 2019, Africa, South and Southeast Asia had higher asthma burden than other regions. Male had higher asthma burden than female. Among nearly all age groups, low-middle SDI region had the highest smoking-related asthma burden, and low SDI region had the highest occupational asthmagens-related asthma burden. Inverse "V" shaped trend was observed in the above regions with increasing age. For smoking-related asthma deaths and DALYs rates, the most significant improvement of period rate ratio (RR) occurred in high SDI region, decreased from 1.67 (1.61, 1.74) to 0.34 (0.33, 0.36) and 1.61 (1.57, 1.66) to 0.59 (0.57, 0.61), respectively, as well as the cohort effect on smoking-related asthma burden. For occupational asthmagens-related asthma deaths and DALYs rates, the most sharply decrease of period and cohort RR appeared in the high and high-middle SDI regions. Low SDI region showed least progress in period and cohort RR of smoking- and occupational asthmagens-linked asthma burden.

Conclusion: Smoking- and occupational asthmagens-related asthma burden sharply decreases, but region and sex disparities exist. Policy makers from low SDI region should reinforce tobacco control and prioritize workplace protection.

Background: The eruption of the Tajogaite volcano began on the island of La Palma on September 19, 2021, lasting for 85 days. This study aims to present the design and methodology of the ISVOLCAN (Health Impact on the Population of La Palma due to the Volcanic Eruption) cohort, as well as the preliminary findings from the first 1002 enrolled participants.

Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted with random selection of adult participants from the general population, with an estimated sample size of 2600 individuals. The results of the first 857 participants are presented, along with a group of 145 voluntary participants who served as interveners during the eruption. Data on epidemiology and volcano exposure were collected, and participants underwent physical examinations, including anthropometry, blood pressure measurement, spirometry, and venous blood extraction for toxicological assessment.

Results: In the general population (n = 857), descriptive analysis revealed that the participants were mostly middle-aged individuals (50.8 ± 16.4), with a predominance of females. Before the eruption, the participants resided at a median distance of 6.7 km from the volcano in the Western region and 10.9 km in the Eastern region. Approximately 15.4% of the sample required evacuation, whose 34.8% returning to their homes on average after 3 months. A significant number of participants reported engaging in daily tasks involving cleaning of volcanic ash both indoors and outdoors. The most reported acute symptoms included ocular irritation, insomnia, mood disorders (anxiety-depression), and respiratory symptoms. Multivariate analysis results show that participants in the western region had a higher likelihood of lower respiratory tract symptoms (OR 1.99; 95% CI:1.33-2.99), depression and anxiety (OR 1.95; 95% CI:1.30-2.93), and insomnia (OR 2.03; 95% CI:1.33-3.09), compared to those in the eastern region.

Conclusion: The ongoing follow-up of the ISVOLCAN cohort will provide valuable insights into the short, medium, and long-term health impact related to the material emitted during the Tajogaite eruption, based on the level of exposure suffered by the affected population.

Background: Catch-up growth issues among children born small for gestational age (SGA) present a substantial public health challenge. Prenatal exposure to heavy metals can cause adverse effects on birth weight. However, comprehensive studies on the accurate assessment of individual blood concentrations of heavy metals and their effect on the failure to achieve catch-up growth remain unavailable. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of uterine exposure to toxic metals cadmium, lead, and mercury and essential trace metals manganese and selenium at low concentrations on the postnatal growth of children born SGA.

Methods: Data on newborn birth size and other factors were obtained from the medical record transcripts and self-administered questionnaires of participants in the Japan Environment and Children's Study. The blood concentrations of lead, cadmium, mercury, selenium, and manganese in pregnant women in their second or third trimester were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. These heavy metal concentrations were also assessed in pregnant women's cord blood. Furthermore, the relationship between each heavy metal and height measure/catch-up growth in SGA children aged 4 years was analyzed using linear and logistic regression methods. These models were adjusted for confounders.

Results: We studied 4683 mother-child pairings from 103,060 pregnancies included in the Japan Environment and Children's Study. Of these, 278 pairs were also analyzed using cord blood. At 3 and 4 years old, 10.7% and 9.0% of children who were born below the 10th percentile of body weight had height standard deviation scores (SDSs) below 2, respectively. Cord blood cadmium concentrations were associated with the inability to catch up in growth by 3 or 4 years old and the height SDS at 3 years old. In maternal blood, only manganese was positively associated with the height SDS of SGA children aged 2 years; however, it was not significantly associated with catch-up growth in these children.

Conclusion: Cadmium exposure is associated with failed catch-up development in SGA children. These new findings could help identify children highly at risk of failing to catch up in growth, and could motivate the elimination of heavy metal (especially cadmium) pollution to improve SGA children's growth.

Background: Green space exposures may promote child mental health and well-being across multiple domains and stages of development. The aim of this study was to investigate associations between residential green space exposures and child mental and behavioral health at age 4-6 years.

Methods: Children's internalizing and externalizing behaviors in the Conditions Affecting Neurocognitive Development and Learning in Early Childhood (CANDLE) cohort in Shelby County, Tennessee, were parent-reported on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). We examined three exposures-residential surrounding greenness calculated as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), tree cover, and park proximity-averaged across the residential history for the year prior to outcome assessment. Linear regression models were adjusted for individual, household, and neighborhood-level confounders across multiple domains. Effect modification by neighborhood socioeconomic conditions was explored using multiplicative interaction terms.

Results: Children were on average 4.2 years (range 3.8-6.0) at outcome assessment. Among CANDLE mothers, 65% self-identified as Black, 29% as White, and 6% as another or multiple races; 41% had at least a college degree. Higher residential surrounding greenness was associated with lower internalizing behavior scores (-0.66 per 0.1 unit higher NDVI; 95% CI: -1.26, -0.07) in fully-adjusted models. The association between tree cover and internalizing behavior was in the hypothesized direction but confidence intervals included the null (-0.29 per 10% higher tree cover; 95% CI: -0.62, 0.04). No associations were observed between park proximity and internalizing behavior. We did not find any associations with externalizing behaviors or the attention problems subscale. Estimates were larger in neighborhoods with lower socioeconomic opportunity, but interaction terms were not statistically significant.

Conclusions: Our findings add to the accumulating evidence of the importance of residential green space for the prevention of internalizing problems among young children. This research suggests the prioritization of urban green spaces as a resource for child mental health.

Background: Redlining has been associated with worse health outcomes and various environmental disparities, separately, but little is known of the interaction between these two factors, if any. We aimed to estimate whether living in a historically-redlined area modifies the effects of exposures to ambient PM_2.5 and extreme heat on mortality by non-external causes.

Methods: We merged 8,884,733 adult mortality records from thirteen state departments of public health with scanned and georeferenced Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) maps from the University of Richmond, daily average PM_2.5 from a sophisticated prediction model on a 1-km grid, and daily temperature and vapor pressure from the Daymet V4 1-km grid. A case-crossover approach was used to assess modification of the effects of ambient PM_2.5 and extreme heat exposures by redlining and control for all fixed and slow-varying factors by design. Multiple moving averages of PM_2.5 and duration-aware analyses of extreme heat were used to assess the most vulnerable time windows.

Results: We found significant statistical interactions between living in a redlined area and exposures to both ambient PM_2.5 and extreme heat. Individuals who lived in redlined areas had an interaction odds ratio for mortality of 1.0093 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.0084, 1.0101) for each 10 µg m^-3 increase in same-day ambient PM_2.5 compared to individuals who did not live in redlined areas. For extreme heat, the interaction odds ratio was 1.0218 (95% CI 1.0031, 1.0408).

Conclusions: Living in areas that were historically-redlined in the 1930's increases the effects of exposures to both PM_2.5 and extreme heat on mortality by non-external causes, suggesting that interventions to reduce environmental health disparities can be more effective by also considering the social context of an area and how to reduce disparities there. Further study is required to ascertain the specific pathways through which this effect modification operates and to develop interventions that can contribute to health equity for individuals living in these areas.

Once an external factor has been deemed likely to influence human health and a dose response function is available, an assessment of its health impact or that of policies aimed at influencing this and possibly other factors in a specific population can be obtained through a quantitative risk assessment, or health impact assessment (HIA) study. The health impact is usually expressed as a number of disease cases or disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) attributable to or expected from the exposure or policy. We review the methodology of quantitative risk assessment studies based on human data. The main steps of such studies include definition of counterfactual scenarios related to the exposure or policy, exposure(s) assessment, quantification of risks (usually relying on literature-based dose response functions), possibly economic assessment, followed by uncertainty analyses. We discuss issues and make recommendations relative to the accuracy and geographic scale at which factors are assessed, which can strongly influence the study results. If several factors are considered simultaneously, then correlation, mutual influences and possibly synergy between them should be taken into account. Gaps or issues in the methodology of quantitative risk assessment studies include 1) proposing a formal approach to the quantitative handling of the level of evidence regarding each exposure-health pair (essential to consider emerging factors); 2) contrasting risk assessment based on human dose-response functions with that relying on toxicological data; 3) clarification of terminology of health impact assessment and human-based risk assessment studies, which are actually very similar, and 4) other technical issues related to the simultaneous consideration of several factors, in particular when they are causally linked.