Hygiene and environmental health advances最新文献

Decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-209), a widely used and environmentally significant legacy brominated flame retardant, is frequently found in farmland soil near electronic waste disposal sites and manufacturing facilities. Due to their high adsorption and dehalogenation capabilities, nanoparticles have become a prominent solution for soil remediation. Herein, Cu/Fe bimetallic nanoparticles (BNPs) were prepared and the use of these particles was investigated for the removal of BDE-209 from soil. Optimal conditions, including 9.1 wt% Cu loading and acidic environments, were identified to enhance the removal efficiency. The process involves desorption from soil, adsorption onto BNPs, and subsequent degradation. The contributions of adsorption and degradation were investigated by isolating the BNPs after the experiments conducted herein. Initially, adsorption played an important role, accounting for 25 %–38 % of the total removal, but this decreased to 14 % to 20 % as the reaction progressed, reaching at the equilibrium adsorption capacity after ∼3 h. Notably, hydroxylated polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) congeners were absent in all soil, BNP, and aqueous solution samples, indicating that stepwise debromination primarily drives the degradation process.

Cohort studies are traditionally focused on human participants. The emergence of the “Planetary Health” and “One Health” paradigms has expanded the scope of cohort studies to include animal participants. Despite this, plants remain largely overlooked in traditional biomedical research. This gap prompts the introduction of the concept of a “plant cohort,” which involves treating plants as participants in cohort studies. By collecting comprehensive data on plant characteristics and biosamples, plant cohorts may assist in enhancing our understanding of the interactions between plants, ecosystems, and human health. However, establishing plant cohorts presents unique challenges, including interdisciplinary collaboration and data collection methods. Nonetheless, the potential contribution of plant cohorts to environmental health and human well-being may warrant further exploration and research.

Immunocompromised patients in the hematology department are usually hospitalized in areas protected by the high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtration system. Renovations may require moving these patients at risk for invasive fungal infection to areas without HEPA. Mobile air handling units may be a solution in these cases. For renovation purposes, we evaluated the efficiency of mobile air handling units called Plasmair® as well as their optimization, by comparing two generations of devices.

Particle counts were performed to determine a particle cleanliness classification according to the ISO 14644–1 standard (high ISO classes correspond to a degraded particulate cleanliness). Mycological air samples were also taken to determine the percentage of positive samples and the median number of filamentous fungi colonies.

Without air treatment, only 18 % (38/216) of particle counts were classified as ISO 6. With the use of mobile air treatment units, this proportion increased to 71 % (205/288). The positivity rate of mycological samples without air treatment was 86 % (31/36) with a median number of fungal colonies of 3 (1–5)/0.5m³. A significant decrease in fungal pressure was observed when using Plasmair®. Percentages of positive air samples and the median number of colonies found between the old generation Plasmair® (T2006) and the new generation Plasmair® (Guardian) were significantly different, respectively 55.6 % (20/36) versus 22.2 % (8/36) and 1(0–1) versus 0 (0–0).

Finally, we confirm Plasmair® were effective in reducing airborne fungal pressure, the new generation especially. However, they were not effective enough to obtain negative mycological air samples as usually observed with the HEPA system, whatever the generation.

Unsheltered individuals have limited access to restroom facilities. With this, many unsheltered individuals are forced to urinate, defecate, and engage in other hygiene practices outdoors. They may also lack access to necessary hygiene toiletries or wait to urinate or defecate until they are able to gain access to a facility. These challenges can lead to health issues, like urinary tract infections (UTIs), diarrhea, rashes, etc. The study objective was to understand the relationship between lack of access to basic hygiene facilities and health effects among unsheltered individuals. A verbal survey (English and Spanish) was used to explore the relationship between hygiene and unsheltered status. In Fall 2022, a researcher accompanied the homeless outreach team from El Rio Health, a Federally Qualified Health Center in Tucson, Arizona to verbally consent and recruit participants. Thirty consenting unsheltered adults ranging in ages from 29 to 68 years old participated in the study. Access to water was the greatest reported hygiene barrier, followed by access to soap, concerns for privacy, and concerns for safety. Eleven of thirty participants experienced a UTI at least once since becoming unsheltered and nine of thirty experienced a yeast infection at least once, with female participants having a statistically significant (p < 0.05) higher rate of occurrence than male participants. In addition, 19/30 of participants experienced a rash at least once and 17/30 of participants experienced diarrhea at least once. However, 20/30 of participants did not seek medical care for their health-related issues. Low healthcare utilization when there is a high need for care highlights the importance of community outreach and care for those experiencing homelessness. Next steps include replicating the project on a larger scale to determine generalizability.

UV light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have been regarded as feasible alternatives for traditional UV lamps since the early 2000s, owing to their improved safety features, environmental advantages, and efficiency. Because of the inherent challenges associated with lower intensity of LEDs over extended distances, our findings demonstrated the optimized disinfection efficiency using various LED setups. This study evaluated the antimicrobial effectiveness of single, six, and eight-LED configurations against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), specifically emphasizing attaining the utmost disinfection efficiency within an extended range of up to 60 cm. With an 8-LED configuration, the study achieved a substantial reduction of 6.10×10⁴ CFU/mL from an initial level of 5.20×10⁹ CFU/mL, corresponding to 4.9-log₁₀ inactivation, requiring a dose of 264 µJ-cm⁻². 2.9-log₁₀ inactivation was achieved using a 6-LED, yielding lower yet comparable efficiency requiring 192 µJ-cm⁻² of dose. However, with 60 µJ-cm⁻² of dose, a single LED could only reduce the bacterial burden from the initial level to merely 0.2-log₁₀ inactivation, corresponding to 2.9 × 10⁹ CFU/mL, under similar exposure settings. In conclusion, UV-LEDs show promise for disinfection, with LED configuration and distance significantly impacting their efficiency, holding perspective for various applications, particularly within healthcare facilities.

Objective

Dual use of combustible cigarettes and e-cigarettes is common among U.S. tobacco users, yet misperceptions about the harm of dual use persist, often oversimplifying its multifaceted exposure and health impacts. To address this gap, we evaluated the association of prolonged dual use (consecutive use for more than 1 year) with psychosocial factors, including perceptions of absolute and relative harm of e-cigarettes, social norms, and intentions to quit smoking, among U.S. adult smokers over time.

Methods

Using the data from Waves 1 to 5 (2013–2019) from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study, we characterized dual use and prolonged dual use by sociodemographics and psychosocial factors among U.S. adult smokers. We examined the association between dual use, including prolonged dual use, and psychosocial factors over time using logistic regression.

Results

Dual use of smokers decreased from 19.8 % in 2013 to 16.4 % in 2019, and prolonged dual use among dual users decreased from 40.0 % in 2013 to 27.4 % in 2019. Prolonged dual users, independent of frequency of use, presented significantly higher cigarette dependence than temporary dual users. The perception of absolute e-cigarette harm (perceiving e-cigarettes as very or extremely harmful) was negatively associated with prolonged dual use. No significant association was found between prolonged dual use and perception of relative e-cigarette harm (perceiving e-cigarettes are less harmful that cigarettes) as well with intentions to quit smoking and beliefs that most people disapprove of e-cigarette use.

Conclusion

: Increased perceptions of absolute harm of e-cigarettes, rather than relative harm, appear to decrease prolonged dual use. Public health strategies should consider further emphasis in educating users of the absolute harm, as opposed to endorsing e-cigarette use as a harm reduction alternative, in their tobacco cessation efforts to further discourage dual use.

Severe asthma has been shown to occur in the combined presence of high pollen and thunderstorm conditions, also known as ‘thunderstorm asthma.’ First studied as severe epidemic events, recent longitudinal work studied less dramatic but more frequent occurrences. We explore thunderstorm asthma-related emergency department visits in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area and evaluated risk differences by sex and age. We define a thunderstorm asthma exposure event as the daily occurrence of 2 or more lightning strikes during high pollen periods, and use daily counts of asthma-related emergency department visits to estimate relative and absolute risk of severe asthma during thunderstorm asthma events for the full population and for sex and age subgroups. The overall population had a 1.06 (95 % CI: 1.02, 1.09) times higher risk of asthma-related ED visits during thunderstorm asthma events compared to days without thunderstorm asthma events. Children under 18 show no higher risk (RR 1.02; 95 % CI: 0.97 1.08), but adults 18–44 years (RR 1.08; 95 % CI: 1.02, 1.13) and 45 and up (RR 1.08; 95 % CI 1.02, 1.15) show higher relative risk. Absolute risk measures show similar patterns to the age and sex results, but age-sex subgroups show more variation in absolute vs relative risk. Our results support an association between ED visits and thunderstorm asthma and provide evidence of varying risks by sex across the life course. These differences in risk have implications for clinical treatment of this allergic type of asthma and for future research into this poorly recognized environmental exposure.

Plain Language Summary: Recent research has highlighted the existence of Thunderstorm asthma events, a phenomenon in which pollen grains rupture in the conditions that occur with a thunderstorm, releasing sub-pollen particles that are capable of triggering severe asthma in susceptible populations. Where severe asthma is a disease that usually impacts children, we find in this study that asthma ED visits associated with thunderstorm asthma events more frequently impact adults, particularly males 18–44 and females 45 and up.

Background

Since the twentieth century, endocrine-disrupting substances (EDCs) such as phthalates and organophosphates have been utilised in various goods. The long-term usage of these products may have negative effects on people's health. Most EDCs are metabolized through kidneys, but there are few research investigating renal damage from exposure to EDCs in the elderly. This study aims to examine the effects of EDCs exposure on renal function in the elderly population.

Methods

In this cross-sectional study, a total of 200 elder from a community in northeast China were enrolled. All subjects were investigated by questionnaire, physical examination, and biological sample collection. Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was used to classify renal function group. Lasso regression was used to screen out the EDCs related to renal function. After covariate adjustment, binary logistic regression was used to analyze the relationship between decreased renal function and EDCs. Weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression was used to assess the association of combined-EDCs with decreased renal function, subgroup analyses were performed to identify potentially sensitive populations to the effects of EDCs on decreased renal function.

Results

Binary logistic regression showed that 3,5-di-tert-butyl-4-hydroxybenzoic acid (BHT-COOH), Mono(3-carboxypropyl) phthalate (MCPP), and Methyl paraben (MeP) were negatively associated with decreased renal function, with odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals of 0.591 (0.366, 0.954), 0.990 (0.981, 0.999) and 0.997 (0.995, 0.999), respectively. WQS regression found DPP (Weights = 22.5%) to have the greatest effect on decreased renal function in the elderly. Moreover, significant potential interactions were observed among MEHP&MOcP with hypertension on decreased renal function (P_interaction = 0.014), as well as BPS and MEHP&MocP with Overweight/obesity on decreased renal function (P_interaction = 0.032, 0.024).

Conclusions

BHT-COOH, MCPP, and MeP were negatively associated with decreased renal function in the elderly. Elders with hypertension and who are overweight /obesity may be more sensitive to EDCs.

Despite the growing concern over the impact of ambient fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) on respiratory health, studies on the association between PM_2.5 and childhood asthma in Vietnam have remained relatively sparse.

The study aimed to evaluate the short-term effects of PM_2.5 on asthma hospital admissions in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), the most populous city in Vietnam. The PM_2.5 database from 2016 to 2019 was collected at two fixed monitoring stations. The health database was collected from all three children's hospitals. A time-series regression analysis was conducted to examine the associations between the daily PM_2.5 concentration and hospitalizations for asthma.

A total of 11,223 records of children under five years old hospitalized for asthma were collected, of which 64 % were male and 70 % were aged 2 to under five years old. The daily mean PM_2.5 concentration over the study period was 28.2 μg/m³. Each 10 μg/m³ increase in PM_2.5 at lag₂, lag_3, and lag₀₄, we found that the excess risk of total asthma hospital admission was 2.71 %, 2.63 %, and 3.9 %, respectively. According to the subgroup analysis, female gender and children aged from two to under five years had more significant effects.

PM_2.5 poses a risk to children's health; therefore, the local authority should prioritize improving the air quality.