Environ Health Glob
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Environ Health Glob · Jan 2013
Multicenter StudyExposure to aircraft and road traffic noise and associations with heart disease and stroke in six European countries: a cross-sectional study.
Although a number of studies have found an association between aircraft noise and hypertension, there is a lack of evidence on associations with other cardiovascular disease. For road traffic noise, more studies are available but the extent of possible confounding by air pollution has not been established. ⋯ Exposure to aircraft noise over many years may increase risks of heart disease and stroke, although more studies are needed to establish how much the risks associated with road traffic noise may be explained by air pollution.
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Environ Health Glob · Jan 2013
Traffic-related exposures and biomarkers of systemic inflammation, endothelial activation and oxidative stress: a panel study in the US trucking industry.
Experimental evidence suggests that inhaled particles from vehicle exhaust have systemic effects on inflammation, endothelial activation and oxidative stress. In the present study we assess the relationships of short-term exposures with inflammatory endothelial activation and oxidative stress biomarker levels in a population of trucking industry workers. ⋯ Our findings suggest associations between weekly average exposures of PM2.5 on markers of oxidative stress and OC on IL-6 levels.
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Environ Health Glob · Jan 2013
Association between environmental factors and current asthma, rhinoconjunctivitis and eczema symptoms in school-aged children from Oropeza Province--Bolivia: a cross-sectional study.
In recent years, the prevalence of asthma, rhinoconjunctivitis and eczema symptoms in childhood has considerably increased in developing countries including Bolivia, possibly due to changes in lifestyle, environmental and domestic factors. This study aimed to assess the association between environmental factors and asthma, rhinoconjuctivitis and eczema symptoms in school-aged children from Oropeza Province in Chuquisaca, Bolivia. ⋯ Our results support previous findings reported for poor communities especially in Latin America, showing that lower hygiene conditions did not have protective effect against asthma and rhinoconjunctivitis and eczema symptoms.
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Environ Health Glob · Jan 2013
The relationship between adolescents' well-being and their wireless phone use: a cross-sectional study.
The exposure of young people to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMFs) has increased rapidly in recent years with their increased use of cellphones and use of cordless phones and WiFi. We sought to ascertain associations between New Zealand early-adolescents' subjective well-being and self-reported use of, or exposure to, wireless telephone and internet technology. ⋯ There were more statistically significant associations (36%) than could be expected by chance (5%). Several were dose-dependent relationships. To safeguard young people's well-being, we suggest limiting their use of cellphones and cordless phones to less than 15 minutes daily, and employing a speaker-phone device for longer daily use. We recommend parental measures are taken to prevent young people being woken by their cellphones.
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Environ Health Glob · Jun 2012
The challenge of social networking in the field of environment and health.
The fields of environment and health are both interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary, and until recently had little engagement in social networking designed to cross disciplinary boundaries. The EU FP6 project HENVINET aimed to establish integrated social network and networking facilities for multiple stakeholders in environment and health. The underlying assumption is that increased social networking across disciplines and sectors will enhance the quality of both problem knowledge and problem solving, by facilitating interactions. Inter- and trans-disciplinary networks are considered useful for this purpose. This does not mean that such networks are easily organized, as openness to such cooperation and exchange is often difficult to ascertain. ⋯ The main challenge in the field of environment and health is not so much a lack of scientific problem knowledge, but rather the ability to effectively communicate, share and use available knowledge for policy making. Structured social network facilities can be useful by policy makers to engage with the research community. It is beneficial for scientists to be able to integrate the perspective of policy makers in the research agenda, and to assist in co-production of policy-relevant information. A diversity of methods need to be applied for network building: according to the fit-for-purpose-principle. It is useful to know which combination of methods and in which time frame produces the best results.Networking projects such as HENVINET are created not only for the benefit of the network itself, but also because the applying of the different methods is a learning tool for future network building. Finally, it is clear that the importance of specialized professionals in enabling effective communication between different groups should not be underestimated.