Environ Health Glob
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Environ Health Glob · Jan 2011
Identification of sources of lead exposure in French children by lead isotope analysis: a cross-sectional study.
The amount of lead in the environment has decreased significantly in recent years, and so did exposure. However, there is no known safe exposure level and, therefore, the exposure of children to lead, although low, remains a major public health issue. With the lower levels of exposure, it is becoming more difficult to identify lead sources and new approaches may be required for preventive action. This study assessed the usefulness of lead isotope ratios for identifying sources of lead using data from a nationwide sample of French children aged from six months to six years with blood lead levels ≥25 μg/L. ⋯ In France, lead isotope ratios could provide valuable additional information in about a third of routine environmental investigations.
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Environ Health Glob · Jan 2011
Heavy vehicle traffic is related to wheeze among schoolchildren: a population-based study in an area with low traffic flows.
An association between traffic air pollution and respiratory symptoms among children has been reported. However, the effects of traffic air pollution on asthma and wheeze have been very sparsely studied in areas with low traffic intensity in cold climate with poor dispersion. We evaluated the impact of vehicle traffic on childhood asthma and wheeze by objective exposure assessment. ⋯ This study showed that already at low levels of exposure, vehicle traffic is related to an increased risk of wheeze among children. Thus, the global burden of traffic air pollution may be underestimated.
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Environ Health Glob · Jan 2011
Work related complaints of neck, shoulder and arm among computer office workers: a cross-sectional evaluation of prevalence and risk factors in a developing country.
Complaints of arms, neck and shoulders (CANS) is common among computer office workers. We evaluated an aetiological model with physical/psychosocial risk-factors. ⋯ The prevalence of work-related CANS among computer office workers in Sri Lanka, a developing, South Asian country is high and comparable to prevalence in developed countries. Work-related physical factors, psychosocial factors and lack of awareness were all important associations of CANS and effective preventive strategies need to address all three areas.
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Environ Health Glob · Jan 2011
Impact of two recent extreme heat episodes on morbidity and mortality in Adelaide, South Australia: a case-series analysis.
Extreme heatwaves occurred in Adelaide, South Australia, in the summers of 2008 and 2009. Both heatwaves were unique in terms of their duration (15 days and 13 days respectively), and the 2009 heatwave was also remarkable in its intensity with a maximum temperature reaching 45.7 °C. It is of interest to compare the health impacts of these two unprecedented heatwaves with those of previous heatwaves in Adelaide. ⋯ While only incremental increases in morbidity and mortality above previous findings occurred in 2008, health impacts of the 2009 heatwave stand out. These findings send a signal that the intense and long 2009 heatwave may have exceeded the capacity of the population to cope. It is important that risk factors contributing to the adverse health outcomes are investigated to further improve preventive strategies.
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Environ Health Glob · Jan 2011
Risk assessment of diesel exhaust and lung cancer: combining human and animal studies after adjustment for biases in epidemiological studies.
Risk assessment requires dose-response data for the evaluation of the relationship between exposure to an environmental stressor and the probability of developing an adverse health effect. Information from human studies is usually limited and additional results from animal studies are often needed for the assessment of risks in humans. Combination of risk estimates requires an assessment and correction of the important biases in the two types of studies. In this paper we aim to illustrate a quantitative approach to combining data from human and animal studies after adjusting for bias in human studies. For our purpose we use the example of the association between exposure to diesel exhaust and occurrence of lung cancer. ⋯ Adjustment for the main sources of uncertainty produced lower risk estimates showing that ignoring bias leads to risk estimates potentially biased upwards.