Environment international
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Environment international · Feb 2018
Urinary polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon metabolites, Club cell secretory protein and lung function.
Exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) has been associated with lung function decline. However, the underlying mechanisms for the association remain unclear. ⋯ CC16 play an important role in the association between high molecular weight PAHs and FVC. Individuals with low plasma CC16 level might suffer a decline in lung function when exposed to high level of high molecular weight PAHs.
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Environment international · Feb 2018
A multi-country analysis on potential adaptive mechanisms to cold and heat in a changing climate.
Temporal variation of temperature-health associations depends on the combination of two pathways: pure adaptation to increasingly warmer temperatures due to climate change, and other attenuation mechanisms due to non-climate factors such as infrastructural changes and improved health care. Disentangling these pathways is critical for assessing climate change impacts and for planning public health and climate policies. We present evidence on this topic by assessing temporal trends in cold- and heat-attributable mortality risks in a multi-country investigation. ⋯ Our findings suggest a decrease in heat-mortality impacts over the past decades, well beyond those expected from a pure adaptation to changes in temperature due to the observed warming. This indicates that there is scope for the development of public health strategies to mitigate heat-related climate change impacts. In contrast, no clear conclusions were found for cold. Further investigations should focus on identification of factors defining these changes in susceptibility.
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Environment international · Feb 2018
Randomized Controlled TrialPregnancy outcomes and ethanol cook stove intervention: A randomized-controlled trial in Ibadan, Nigeria.
Household air pollution (HAP) exposure has been linked to adverse pregnancy outcomes. ⋯ Transition from traditional biomass/kerosene fuel to ethanol reduced adverse pregnancy outcomes. However, the difference in birthweight was statistically significant only after covariate adjustment and the other significant differences were in tertiary endpoints. Our results are suggestive of a beneficial effect of ethanol use. Larger trials are required to validate these findings.
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Environment international · Feb 2018
Nutritional status and diet as predictors of children's lead concentrations in blood and urine.
Lead exposure remains an important public health problem. Contaminated foods may act as a source of lead exposure, while certain nutrients may reduce lead absorption. We examined the cross-sectional associations of dietary patterns and the intake of several nutrients and foods with blood (Pb-B) and urinary (Pb-U) lead concentrations in children (5-8y) from Montevideo, Uruguay. ⋯ Dietary intake of iron or iron-rich foods was not associated with biomarkers of lead. Conversely, children consuming more calcium, dairy, milk and yogurt had lower Pb-B and log-Pb-U. Our findings appear consistent with existing recommendations on including calcium-rich, but not iron- or vitamin-C-rich foods in the diets of lead-exposed children, especially where the consumption of these foods is low.
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Environment international · Jan 2018
A county-level estimate of PM2.5 related chronic mortality risk in China based on multi-model exposure data.
Ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution is currently a serious environmental problem in China, but evidence of health effects with higher resolution and spatial coverage is insufficient. ⋯ PM2.5-attributable health risk is closely associated with high population density and high levels of pollution in China. Further estimates using long-term historical exposure data and concentration-response (C-R) relationships should be completed in the future to investigate longer-term trends in the effects of PM2.5.