Environmental Epidemiology

Concentrations of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances and blood glucose in pregnant women

Evidence on the association between exposure to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) and blood glucose concentrations in pregnant women is inconsistent. This study aimed to examine the associa...

Authors: Yanfeng Ren, Longmei Jin, Fen Yang, Hong Liang, Zhaofeng Zhang, Jing Du, Xiuxia Song, Maohua Miao and Wei Yuan

Long-term exposure to a mixture of industrial SO₂, NO₂, and PM_2.5 and anti-citrullinated protein antibody positivity

Studies of associations between industrial air emissions and rheumatic diseases, or diseases-related serological biomarkers, are few. Moreover, previous evaluations typically studied individual (not mixed) emi...

Authors: Naizhuo Zhao, Audrey Smargiassi, Marianne Hatzopoulou, Ines Colmegna, Marie Hudson, Marvin J. Fritzler, Philip Awadalla and Sasha Bernatsky

Reduced neurobehavioral functioning in agricultural workers and rural inhabitants exposed to pesticides in northern Chile and its association with blood biomarkers inhibition

Previous biomonitoring studies have shown that people in the rural population of Coquimbo, the major agricultural area in northern Chile are being occupationally and environmentally exposed to organophosphate/...

Authors: Muriel Ramírez-Santana, Liliana Zúñiga-Venegas, Sebastián Corral, Nel Roeleveld, Hans Groenewoud, Koos Van der Velden, Paul T. J. Scheepers and Floria Pancetti

Systematic review and meta-analysis of case-crossover and time-series studies of short term outdoor nitrogen dioxide exposure and ischemic heart disease morbidity

Nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) is a pervasive urban pollutant originating primarily from vehicle emissions. Ischemic heart disease (IHD) is associated with a considerable public health burden worldwide, but whether NO₂ e...

Authors: David M. Stieb, Carine Zheng, Dina Salama, Rania Berjawi, Monica Emode, Robyn Hocking, Ninon Lyrette, Carlyn Matz, Eric Lavigne and Hwashin H. Shin

Weight and head circumference at birth in function of placental paraben load in Belgium: an ENVIRONAGE birth cohort study

Parabens are a group of esters of para-hydroxybenzoic acid utilized as antimicrobial preservatives in many personal care products. Epidemiological studies regarding the adverse effects of parabens on fetuses a...

Authors: Karen Vrijens, Ilse Van Overmeire, Koen De Cremer, Kristof Y. Neven, Riccardo M. Carollo, Christiane Vleminckx, Joris Van Loco and Tim S. Nawrot

Intracranial tumors of the central nervous system and air pollution – a nationwide case-control study from Denmark

Inconclusive evidence has suggested a possible link between air pollution and central nervous system (CNS) tumors. We investigated a range of air pollutants in relation to types of CNS tumors.

Authors: Aslak Harbo Poulsen, Ulla Arthur Hvidtfeldt, Mette Sørensen, Robin Puett, Matthias Ketzel, Jørgen Brandt, Camilla Geels, Jesper H. Christensen and Ole Raaschou-Nielsen

Pregnancy-induced changes in serum concentrations of perfluoroalkyl substances and the influence of kidney function

Epidemiological associations between maternal concentrations of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and birth weight are inconsistent. There is concern that studies based on samples collected in late pregnancy ma...

Authors: Christel Nielsen, Ulrika Andersson Hall, Christian Lindh, Ulf Ekström, Yiyi Xu, Ying Li, Agneta Holmäng and Kristina Jakobsson

Risk assessment of temperature and air pollutants on hospitalizations for mental and behavioral disorders in Curitiba, Brazil

Extreme ambient temperatures and air quality have been directly associated with various human diseases from several studies around the world. However, few analyses involving the association of these environmen...

Authors: Iara da Silva, Daniela Sanches de Almeida, Elizabeth Mie Hashimoto and Leila Droprinchinski Martins

Ambient particulate matter and biomass burning: an ecological time series study of respiratory and cardiovascular hospital visits in northern Thailand

Exposure to particulate matter (PM) emitted from biomass burning is an increasing concern, particularly in Southeast Asia. It is not yet clear how the source of PM influences the risk of an adverse health outc...

Authors: W. Mueller, M. Loh, S. Vardoulakis, H. J. Johnston, S. Steinle, N. Precha, W. Kliengchuay, K. Tantrakarnapa and J. W. Cherrie

Oxidative damage mediates the association between polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure and lung function

Exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is related to decreased lung function. However, whether oxidative damage is involved in this relationship remains unclear. This study was aimed to explore th...

Authors: Limin Cao, Yun Zhou, Aijun Tan, Tingming Shi, Chunmei Zhu, Lili Xiao, Zhuang Zhang, Shijie Yang, Ge Mu, Xing Wang, Dongming Wang, Jixuan Ma and Weihong Chen

A large prospective investigation of outdoor light at night and obesity in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study

Research has suggested that artificial light at night (LAN) may disrupt circadian rhythms, sleep, and contribute to the development of obesity. However, almost all previous studies are cross-sectional, thus, t...

Authors: Dong Zhang, Rena R. Jones, Tiffany M. Powell-Wiley, Peng Jia, Peter James and Qian Xiao

Translational data analytics in exposure science and environmental health: a citizen science approach with high school students

Translational data analytics aims to apply data analytics principles and techniques to bring about broader societal or human impact. Translational data analytics for environmental health is an emerging discipl...

Authors: Ayaz Hyder and Andrew A. May

Do acute changes in ambient air pollution increase the risk of potentially fatal cardiac arrhythmias in patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillators?

Daily changes in ambient air pollution have been associated with cardiac morbidity and mortality. Precipitating a cardiac arrhythmia in susceptible individuals may be one mechanism. We investigated the influen...

Authors: Robert Dales, Douglas S. Lee, Xuesong Wang, Sabit Cakmak, Mieczyslaw Szyszkowicz, Robin Shutt and David Birnie

Impacts of ambient air pollution on glucose metabolism in Korean adults: a Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey study

Exposure to air pollution was reported to affect glucose metabolism, increasing the risk of diabetes mellitus. We conducted an epidemiological study on glucose metabolism and air pollution by exploring the lev...

Authors: Myung-Jae Hwang, Jong-Hun Kim, Youn-Seo Koo, Hui-Young Yun and Hae-Kwan Cheong

Relationship between different particle size fractions and all-cause and cause-specific emergency ambulance dispatches

Evidence on the relationship between different particle size fractions and emergency ambulance dispatches (EAD) remains limited and sparse.

Authors: Xiaojie Wang, Junzhang Tian, Ziyi Li, Jun Lai, Xin Huang, Yongcong He, Zebing Ye and Guowei Li

Occupational pesticide exposure and the risk of death in patients with Parkinson’s disease: an observational study in southern Brazil

Multiple studies have suggested that various pesticides are associated with a higher risk of developing Parkinson’s disease (PD) and may influence the progression of the disease. However, the evidence regardin...

Authors: Márcio Schneider Medeiros, Sumanth P. Reddy, Mariana P. Socal, Artur Francisco Schumacher-Schuh and Carlos Roberto Mello Rieder

Cancer rates not explained by smoking: a county-level analysis

Debates over the importance of “lifestyle” versus “environment” contributions to cancer have been going on for over 40 years. While it is clear that cigarette smoking is the most significant cancer risk factor...

Authors: Douglas J. Myers, Polly Hoppin, Molly Jacobs, Richard Clapp and David Kriebel

PM_2.5 exposure on daily cardio-respiratory mortality in Lima, Peru, from 2010 to 2016

There have been no studies of air pollution and mortality in Lima, Peru. We evaluate whether daily environmental PM_2.5 exposure is associated to respiratory and cardiovascular mortality in Lima during 2010 to 201...

Authors: Vilma Tapia, Kyle Steenland, Bryan Vu, Yang Liu, Vanessa Vásquez and Gustavo F. Gonzales

Respiratory health and eruptions of the Nyiragongo and Nyamulagira volcanoes in the Democratic Republic of Congo: a time-series analysis

Nyamulagira and Nyiragongo are active volcanoes situated close to Goma (North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo). These volcanoes are among the most prolific sources of volcanic SO₂ pollution on earth.

Authors: Caroline Michellier, Patrick de Marie Chimusa Katoto, Michèle Dramaix, Benoit Nemery and François Kervyn

Association of polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) levels with biomarkers of placental development and disease during mid-gestation

Polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) exposures have been associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. A hypothesized mechanism is via alterations in placental development and function. However, we lack biomarke...

Authors: Julia R. Varshavsky, Joshua F. Robinson, Yan Zhou, Kenisha A. Puckett, Elaine Kwan, Sirirak Buarpung, Rayyan Aburajab, Stephanie L. Gaw, Saunak Sen, Sabrina Crispo Smith, Julie Frankenfield, June-Soo Park, Susan J. Fisher and Tracey J. Woodruff

Perfluoroalkyl substances exposure in early pregnancy and preterm birth in singleton pregnancies: a prospective cohort study

Preterm birth (PTB, < 37 completed weeks’ gestation) is one of the global public health concerns. Epidemiologic evidence on the potential impact of perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) on PTB is still limited and ...

Authors: Xiaona Huo, Lin Zhang, Rong Huang, Liping Feng, Weiye Wang and Jun Zhang

Indoor air pollution concentrations and cardiometabolic health across four diverse settings in Peru: a cross-sectional study

Indoor air pollution is an important risk factor for health in low- and middle-income countries.

Authors: Josiah L. Kephart, Magdalena Fandiño-Del-Rio, Kirsten Koehler, Antonio Bernabe-Ortiz, J. Jaime Miranda, Robert H. Gilman and William Checkley

Measuring the impact of sea surface temperature on the human incidence of Vibrio sp. infection in British Columbia, Canada, 1992–2017

Vibrio growth in the environment is related to sea surface temperature (SST). The incidence of human Vibrio illness increased sharply in British Columbia (BC) between 2008 and 2015 for unknown reasons, culminatin...

Authors: Eleni Galanis, Michael Otterstatter and Marsha Taylor

Plasma concentration of brominated flame retardants and postmenopausal breast cancer risk: a nested case-control study in the French E3N cohort

Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are lipophilic substances with endocrine-disrupting properties. To date, only few investigations, mainly retrospective case-control studies, have explored the link between in...

Authors: Francesca Romana Mancini, German Cano-Sancho, Oceane Mohamed, Iris Cervenka, Hanane Omichessan, Philippe Marchand, Marie-Christine Boutron-Ruault, Patrick Arveux, Gianluca Severi, Jean-Philippe Antignac and Marina Kvaskoff

Drought severity and all-cause mortality rates among adults in the United States: 1968–2014

Little is known about the effect of drought on all-cause mortality, especially in higher income countries such as the United States. As the frequency and severity of droughts are likely to increase, understand...

Authors: Katie M. Lynch, Robert H. Lyles, Lance A. Waller, Azar M. Abadi, Jesse E. Bell and Matthew O. Gribble

Long-term exposure to particulate air pollution and brachial artery flow-mediated dilation in the Old Order Amish

Atmospheric particulate matter (PM) has been associated with endothelial dysfunction, an early marker of cardiovascular risk. Our aim was to extend this research to a genetically homogenous, geographically sta...

Authors: Shabnam Salimi, Jeff D. Yanosky, Dina Huang, Jessica Montressor-Lopez, Robert Vogel, Robert M. Reed, Braxton D. Mitchell and Robin C. Puett

Assessing short-term impact of PM₁₀ on mortality using a semiparametric generalized propensity score approach

The shape of the exposure-response curve describing the effects of air pollution on population health has crucial regulatory implications, and it is important in assessing causal impacts of hypothetical polici...

Authors: Laura Forastiere, Michele Carugno and Michela Baccini

Perinatal urinary benzophenone-3 concentrations and glucose levels among women from a fertility clinic

Subfertile women have higher risk of glucose intolerance during pregnancy. Studies suggest associations between several endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and pregnancy glucose levels. However, the associat...

Authors: Zifan Wang, Lidia Mínguez-Alarcón, Paige L. Williams, Andrea Bellavia, Jennifer B. Ford, Myra Keller, John C. Petrozza, Antonia M. Calafat, Russ Hauser and Tamarra James-Todd

The association between ambient temperature and sperm quality in Wuhan, China

Few epidemiological investigations have focused on the influence of environmental temperature on human sperm quality. Here, we evaluated the potential association between ambient temperature and human sperm qu...

Authors: Xiaochen Wang, Xiaojia Tian, Bo Ye, Yi Zhang, Xiaotong Zhang, Shichun Huang, Cunlu Li, Simin Wu, Rui Li, Yuliang Zou, Jingling Liao, Jing Yang and Lu Ma

Occupational exposure to ionizing radiation and risk of lymphoma subtypes: results of the Epilymph European case-control study

Evidence linking risk of lymphoma and B-cell lymphoma subtypes to ionizing radiation is inconclusive, particularly at low exposure levels.

Authors: Giannina Satta, Matteo Loi, Nickolaus Becker, Yolanda Benavente, Silvia De Sanjose, Lenka Foretova, Anthony Staines, Marc Maynadie, Alexandra Nieters, Federico Meloni, Ilaria Pilia, Marcello Campagna, Marco Pau, Lydia B. Zablotska and Pierluigi Cocco

Reducing exposure to high levels of perfluorinated compounds in drinking water improves reproductive outcomes: evidence from an intervention in Minnesota

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) have been detected in drinking water supplies around the world and are the subject of intense regulatory debate. While they have been associated with several illness...

Authors: Gina Waterfield, Martha Rogers, Philippe Grandjean, Maximilian Auffhammer and David Sunding

Economic valuation of health benefits from using geologic data to communicate radon risk potential

Radon exposure is the second leading cause of lung cancer worldwide and represents a major health concern within and outside the United States. Mitigating exposure to radon is especially critical in places wit...

Authors: Scott J. Chiavacci, Carl D. Shapiro, Emily J. Pindilli, Clyde F. Casey, Mary Kay Rayens, Amanda T. Wiggins, William M. Andrews Jr and Ellen J. Hahn

Endotoxin clustering with allergens in house dust and asthma outcomes in a U.S. national study

Endotoxin is ubiquitous in the environment, but its clustering with indoor allergens is not well characterized. This study examined the clustering patterns of endotoxin with allergens in house dust and their a...

Authors: Angelico Mendy, Jesse Wilkerson, Pӓivi M. Salo, Darryl C. Zeldin and Peter S. Thorne

A risk-based model to assess environmental justice and coronary heart disease burden from traffic-related air pollutants

Communities need to efficiently estimate the burden from specific pollutants and identify those most at risk to make timely informed policy decisions. We developed a risk-based model to estimate the burden of ...

Authors: James P. Fabisiak, Erica M. Jackson, LuAnn L. Brink and Albert A. Presto

Associations between perfluoroalkyl substances and serum lipids in a Swedish adult population with contaminated drinking water

Exposures to perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have shown positive associations with serum lipids in previous studies. While many studies on lipids investigated associations with perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (...

Authors: Ying Li, Lars Barregard, Yiyi Xu, Kristin Scott, Daniela Pineda, Christian H. Lindh, Kristina Jakobsson and Tony Fletcher

Maternal phthalate exposure and asthma, rhinitis and eczema in 552 children aged 5 years; a prospective cohort study

Prenatal phthalate exposure has been suggested to alter immune responses and increase the risk of asthma, eczema and rhinitis. However, few studies have examined the effects in prospective cohorts and only one...

Authors: Camilla Jøhnk, Arne Høst, Steffen Husby, Greet Schoeters, Clara Amalie Gade Timmermann, Henriette Boye Kyhl, Iben Have Beck, Anna-Maria Andersson, Hanne Frederiksen and Tina Kold Jensen

Pesticide exposure and risk of aggressive prostate cancer among private pesticide applicators

Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers among men in developed countries; however, little is known about modifiable risk factors. Some studies have implicated organochlorine and org...

Authors: Larissa A. Pardo, Laura E. Beane Freeman, Catherine C. Lerro, Gabriella Andreotti, Jonathan N. Hofmann, Christine G. Parks, Dale P. Sandler, Jay H. Lubin, Aaron Blair and Stella Koutros

The impact of PM_2.5 on mortality in older adults: evidence from retirement of coal-fired power plants in the United States

Evidence of causal relationship between mortality of older adults and low- concentration PM_2.5 remains limited.

Authors: Maoyong Fan and Yi Wang

Parameters of ovarian reserve in relation to urinary concentrations of parabens

Parabens are synthetic chemicals commonly used in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, food and beverage processing as antimicrobial preservatives. In experimental animals, parabens exposure was associated with adverse...

Authors: Joanna Jurewicz, Michał Radwan, Bartosz Wielgomas, Anetta Karwacka, Anna Klimowska, Paweł Kałużny, Paweł Radwan and Wojciech Hanke

The disease burden attributable to 18 occupational risks in China: an analysis for the global burden of disease study 2017

China has more than 18% of the global population and over 770 million workers. However, the burden of disease attributable to occupational risks is unavailable in China. We aimed to estimate the burden of dise...

Authors: Jie Li, Peng Yin, Haidong Wang, Xinying Zeng, Xiao Zhang, Lijun Wang, Jiangmei Liu, Yunning Liu, Jinling You, Zhenping Zhao, Shicheng Yu and Maigeng Zhou

The impact of long-term PM_2.5 exposure on specific causes of death: exposure-response curves and effect modification among 53 million U.S. Medicare beneficiaries

The shape of the exposure-response curve for long-term ambient fine particulate (PM_2.5) exposure and cause-specific mortality is poorly understood, especially for rural populations and underrepresented minorities...

Authors: Bingyu Wang, Ki-Do Eum, Fatemeh Kazemiparkouhi, Cheng Li, Justin Manjourides, Virgil Pavlu and Helen Suh

Associations of noise kurtosis, genetic variations in NOX3 and lifestyle factors with noise-induced hearing loss

Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is a complex disease caused by environmental and genetic risk factors. This study was to explore the association of noise kurtosis, triphosphopyridine nucleotide oxidase 3 (NOX3)...

Authors: Tianyu Zhao, Yinan Wang, Zheng Li, Xiaojun Xu, Song Lei, Liu Huang, Liangwen Xu, Meibian Zhang and Lei Yang

Lung function and systemic inflammation associated with short-term air pollution exposure in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients in Beijing, China

Exposure to air pollution is associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, findings on the effects of air pollution on lung function and systemic inflammation in Chinese COPD patients ...

Authors: Nannan Gao, Wenshuai Xu, Jiadong Ji, Yanli Yang, Shao-Ting Wang, Jun Wang, Xiang Chen, Shuzhen Meng, Xinlun Tian and Kai-Feng Xu

Predictors of Beta-Hexachlorocyclohexane blood levels among people living close to a chemical plant and an illegal dumping site

Hexachlorocyclohexane is a synthetic chemical with several isomers, including β-Hexachlorocyclohexane (β-HCH). In 2005, a large contamination of crude milk from some bovine farms along the Sacco River (Central...

Authors: S. Narduzzi, F. Fantini, F. Blasetti, P. Rantakokko, H. Kiviranta, F. Forastiere, P. Michelozzi and D. Porta

Road proximity, air pollution, noise, green space and neurologic disease incidence: a population-based cohort study

Emerging evidence links road proximity and air pollution with cognitive impairment. Joint effects of noise and greenness have not been evaluated. We investigated associations between road proximity and exposur...

Authors: Weiran Yuchi, Hind Sbihi, Hugh Davies, Lillian Tamburic and Michael Brauer

Association between exposure to traffic-related air pollution and pediatric allergic diseases based on modeled air pollution concentrations and traffic measures in Seoul, Korea: a comparative analysis

Pediatric allergic diseases are a major public health concern, and previous studies have suggested that exposure to traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) exposure is a risk factor. These studies have typically ass...

Authors: Kyung-Duk Min, Seon-Ju Yi, Hwan-Cheol Kim, Jong-Han Leem, Ho-Jang Kwon, Soyoung Hong, Kyoo Sang Kim and Sun-Young Kim

Associations of Perfluoroalkyl substances with blood lipids and Apolipoproteins in lipoprotein subspecies: the POUNDS-lost study

The associations of perfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) exposure with blood lipids and lipoproteins are inconsistent, and existing studies did not account for metabolic heterogeneity of lipoprotein subspecies. Thi...

Authors: Gang Liu, Bo Zhang, Yang Hu, Jennifer Rood, Liming Liang, Lu Qi, George A. Bray, Lilian DeJonge, Brent Coull, Philippe Grandjean, Jeremy D. Furtado and Qi Sun

Mortality associated with wildfire smoke exposure in Washington state, 2006–2017: a case-crossover study

Wildfire events are increasing in prevalence in the western United States. Research has found mixed results on the degree to which exposure to wildfire smoke is associated with an increased risk of mortality.

Authors: Annie Doubleday, Jill Schulte, Lianne Sheppard, Matt Kadlec, Ranil Dhammapala, Julie Fox and Tania Busch Isaksen

Cumulative solar ultraviolet radiation exposure and basal cell carcinoma of the skin in a nationwide US cohort using satellite and ground-based measures

Basal cell carcinoma of the skin (BCC) is the most common cancer in populations of European ancestry. Although consistently linked with basal cell carcinoma of the skin in case-control studies, few prospective...

Authors: Mark P. Little, Martha S. Linet, Michael G. Kimlin, Terrence Lee, Zaria Tatalovich, Alice J. Sigurdson and Elizabeth K. Cahoon

Comments on Vimercati et al., 2019, “Asbestos exposure and malignant mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis testis: a systematic review and the experience of the Apulia (southern Italy) mesothelioma register”

Authors: Gabor Mezei, Ellen T. Chang, Fionna S. Mowat and Suresh H. Moolgavkar