The Science of the total environment
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Sci. Total Environ. · Jun 1998
On the carcinogenic risk evaluation of diesel exhaust: benzene in airborne particles and alterations of heme metabolism in lymphocytes as markers of exposure.
Diesel exhaust consists of a complex mixture of chemicals which contain known genotoxicants, one of which is benzene. Therefore the concentration of benzene may be used in the evaluation of full external exposure to diesel exhaust. Our attention is focused on the determination of the distribution of benzene between the gas and particulate phases in the breathing zone of bus-garage workers. ⋯ At the same time ferrochelatase activity was decreased and protoporphyrin contents were elevated. In addition the concentration of porphyrin associated with DNA was significantly increased. Thus, the measurement of some metabolites of heme synthesis in lymphocytes could be a useful biomonitoring index for the determination of a sensitive subgroup of workers who undergo the higher risk of cancer development.
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Sci. Total Environ. · Nov 1997
Environmental pollution and child health in the Aral Sea region in Kazakhstan.
The deterioration of human health with increasing infant mortality rate, declining life expectancy at birth and increasing prevalence of serious infectious diseases in Russia and other former Soviet Republics is thought to be due to a combination of several factors such as inadequate nutrition, poor sanitation, collapse of the health care system and pollution from Soviet agriculture and industries. In the Aral Sea region in Kazakhstan, the environmental problems are of near catastrophic proportions. As a result of the implementation of a massive irrigation scheme to support the cotton fields in the former desert land, the water flow to the Aral Sea was reduced to less than half. ⋯ In addition, the blood lipid concentration of the beta-isomer of the hexachlorocyclohexanes was extremely high and of DDT-compounds was elevated up to 20 times. The concentrations of lead in red blood cells was moderately elevated and that of cadmium slightly elevated compared to the findings in Stockholm children. To study the role of these pollutants in the diseases found in children from the Aral Sea region accurate epidemiological studies have to be performed.
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Sci. Total Environ. · Jun 1995
ReviewMethodology for assessment of exposure to environmental factors in application to epidemiological studies: assessment of exposure to natural ionizing radiation.
This paper reviews the recent progress of passive measurement methods of gamma radiation and radon. Relatively cheap and reliable dosimeters are now available. ⋯ Besides direct measurements of the radiation intensity, additional information (e.g., history of residence, house ventilation habits) is required to reconstruct historical exposure levels for epidemiological investigations. The availability and correctness of this information may influence the validity of exposure estimates.