Environ Health Glob
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Environ Health Glob · Feb 2013
Risk-based indicators of Canadians' exposures to environmental carcinogens.
Tools for estimating population exposures to environmental carcinogens are required to support evidence-based policies to reduce chronic exposures and associated cancers. Our objective was to develop indicators of population exposure to selected environmental carcinogens that can be easily updated over time, and allow comparisons and prioritization between different carcinogens and exposure pathways. ⋯ The ability to track changes in potential population exposures to environmental carcinogens over time, as well as to compare between different substances and exposure pathways, is necessary to support comprehensive, evidence-based prevention policy. We used estimates of lifetime excess cancer risk as indicators that, although based on a number of simplifying assumptions, help to identify important data gaps and prioritize more detailed data collection and exposure assessment needs.
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Environ Health Glob · Jan 2013
New Zealand adolescents' cellphone and cordless phone user-habits: are they at increased risk of brain tumours already? A cross-sectional study.
Cellphone and cordless phone use is very prevalent among early adolescents, but the extent and types of use is not well documented. This paper explores how, and to what extent, New Zealand adolescents are typically using and exposed to active cellphones and cordless phones, and considers implications of this in relation to brain tumour risk, with reference to current research findings. ⋯ While cellphones were very popular for entertainment and social interaction via texting, cordless phones were most popular for calls. If their use continued at the reported rate, many would be at increased risk of specific brain tumours by their mid-teens, based on findings of the Interphone and Hardell-group studies.
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Environ Health Glob · Jan 2013
ReviewHealth hazards of China's lead-acid battery industry: a review of its market drivers, production processes, and health impacts.
Despite China's leaded gasoline phase out in 2000, the continued high rates of lead poisoning found in children's blood lead levels reflect the need for identifying and controlling other sources of lead pollution. From 2001 to 2007, 24% of children in China studied (N = 94,778) were lead poisoned with levels exceeding 100 μg/L. These levels stand well above the global average of 16%. ⋯ This paper is the first to integrate the market factors, production processes, and health impacts of China's growing lead-acid battery industry to illustrate its vast public health consequences. The implications of this review are two-fold: it validates calls for a nationwide assessment of lead exposure pathways and levels in China as well as for a more comprehensive investigation into the health impacts of the lead-acid battery industry. The continuous growth of this industry signals the urgent need for effective regulatory action to protect the health and lives of China's future generations.
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Environ Health Glob · Jan 2013
Structural equation modeling of parasympathetic and sympathetic response to traffic air pollution in a repeated measures study.
Traffic-related air pollution has been associated to a range of adverse health impacts, including decreased heart rate variability (HRV). The association between traffic-related pollution and HRV, however, has varied by traffic-related or HRV marker as well as by study, suggesting the need for a more comprehensive and integrative approach to examining air pollution-mediated biological impacts on these outcomes. In a Bayesian framework, we examined the effect of traffic pollution on HRV using structural equation models (SEMs) and looked at effect modification by participant characteristics. ⋯ BC was associated with adverse changes LF/HF in the elderly. Traffic pollution may decrease parasympathetic tone among diabetic elderly.
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Environ Health Glob · Jan 2013
Modification by hemochromatosis gene polymorphisms of the association between traffic-related air pollution and cognition in older men: a cohort study.
Previous studies found effect modification of associations between traffic-related air pollution and cardiovascular outcomes by polymorphisms in the hemochromatosis gene (HFE). As traffic-related air pollution may impact cognition through effects on cardiovascular health or through mechanisms which may also influence cardiovascular outcomes, we hypothesized that HFE polymorphisms would also modify a previously observed association between traffic-related air pollution exposure and cognition in older men. ⋯ Our data suggest that older adults who lack an HFE C282Y variant may be more susceptible to an adverse effect of traffic-related air pollution exposure on cognition. This finding and the proposed biological mechanism require confirmation.