Environment international
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Environment international · Dec 2018
Associations between prenatal maternal urinary concentrations of personal care product chemical biomarkers and childhood respiratory and allergic outcomes in the CHAMACOS study.
Personal care product chemicals may be contributing to risk for asthma and other atopic illnesses. The existing literature is conflicting, and many studies do not control for multiple chemical exposures. ⋯ While some biomarkers, particularly those from low molecular weight phthalates, were associated with an atopic cytokine profile and poorer lung function, no biomarkers were associated with a corresponding increase in atopic disease.
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Environment international · Dec 2018
The fraction of lung cancer incidence attributable to fine particulate air pollution in France: Impact of spatial resolution of air pollution models.
Outdoor air pollution is a leading environmental cause of death and cancer incidence in humans. We aimed to estimate the fraction of lung cancer incidence attributable to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure in France, and secondarily to illustrate the influence of the input data and the spatial resolution of information on air pollution levels on this estimate. The population attributable fraction (PAF) was estimated using a nationwide spatially refined chemistry-transport model with a 2-km spatial resolution, neighbourhood-scale population density data, and a relative risk from a published meta-analysis. ⋯ Other sensitivity analyses resulted in even higher PAFs. Improvements in air pollution are crucial for quantitative health impacts assessment studies. Actions to reduce PM2.5 levels could substantially reduce the burden of lung cancer in France.
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Environment international · Nov 2018
The Australian Child Health and Air Pollution Study (ACHAPS): A national population-based cross-sectional study of long-term exposure to outdoor air pollution, asthma, and lung function.
Most studies of long-term air pollution exposure and children's respiratory health have been performed in urban locations with moderate pollution levels. We assessed the effect of outdoor nitrogen dioxide (NO2), as a proxy for urban air pollution, on current asthma and lung function in Australia, a low-pollution setting. We undertook a national population-based cross-sectional study of children aged 7-11 years living in 12 Australian cities. ⋯ Increased NO2 exposure was significantly associated with decreased percent predicted FEV1 (-1.35 percentage points [95% CI: -2.21, -0.49]) and FVC (-1.19 percentage points [95% CI: -2.04, -0.35], and an increase in FeNO of 71% (95% CI: 38%, 112%). Exposure to outdoor NO2 was associated with adverse respiratory health effects in this population-based sample of Australian children. The relatively low NO2 levels at which these effects were observed highlight the potential benefits of continuous exposure reduction.
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Environment international · Nov 2018
Subtle excess in lifetime cancer risk related to CT scanning in Spanish young people.
CT scan is a life-saving medical diagnostic tool, entailing higher levels of ionising radiation exposure than conventional radiography, which may result in an increase in cancer risk, particularly in children. Information about the use and potential health effects of CT scan imaging among young people in Spain is scarce. ⋯ Despite the undeniable medical effectiveness of CT scans, this risk assessment suggests a small excess in cancer cases which underlines the need for justification and optimisation in paediatric scanning. Given the intrinsic uncertainties of these risk projection exercises, care should be taken when interpreting the predicted risks.
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Environment international · Oct 2018
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyCardiovascular function and ozone exposure: The Multicenter Ozone Study in oldEr Subjects (MOSES).
To date, there have been relatively few studies of acute cardiovascular responses to controlled ozone inhalation, although a number of observational studies have reported significant positive associations between both ambient ozone levels and acute cardiovascular events and long-term ozone exposure and cardiovascular mortality. ⋯ In this multicenter study of older healthy women and men, there was no convincing evidence for acute effects of 3-h, relatively low-level ozone exposures on cardiovascular function. However, we cannot exclude the possibility of effects with higher ozone concentrations, more prolonged exposure, or in subjects with underlying cardiovascular disease. Further, we cannot exclude the possibility that exposure to ambient ozone and other pollutants in the days before the experimental exposures obscured or blunted cardiovascular biomarker response to the controlled ozone exposures.