Articles

Emerging trends in geospatial artificial intelligence (geoAI): potential applications for environmental epidemiology

Geospatial artificial intelligence (geoAI) is an emerging scientific discipline that combines innovations in spatial science, artificial intelligence methods in machine learning (e.g., deep learning), data min...

Authors: Trang VoPham, Jaime E. Hart, Francine Laden and Yao-Yi Chiang

Association of neighborhood greenness with self-perceived stress, depression and anxiety symptoms in older U.S adults

Neighborhood environment, such as green vegetation, has been shown to play a role in coping with stress and mental ill health. Yet, epidemiological evidence of the association between greenness and mental heal...

Authors: Vivian C. Pun, Justin Manjourides and Helen H. Suh

Susceptibility to short-term ozone exposure and cardiovascular and respiratory mortality by previous hospitalizations

Ozone (O₃) has been associated with cardiorespiratory mortality although few studies have explored susceptible populations based on prior disease.

Authors: Auriba Raza, Marcus Dahlquist, Tomas Lind and Petter L. S. Ljungman

Does precautionary information about electromagnetic fields trigger nocebo responses? An experimental risk communication study

Regarding electromagnetic fields from mobile communication technologies, empirical studies have shown that precautionary information given to lay recipients increases their risk perceptions, i.e. the belief th...

Authors: Christoph Boehmert, Adam Verrender, Mario Pauli and Peter Wiedemann

Early life swimming pool exposure and asthma onset in children – a case-control study

Trichloramine exposure in indoor swimming pools has been suggested to cause asthma in children. We aimed to investigate the risk of asthma onset among children in relation to individual trichloramine exposure.

Authors: Martin Andersson, Helena Backman, Gunnar Nordberg, Annika Hagenbjörk, Linnea Hedman, Kåre Eriksson, Bertil Forsberg and Eva Rönmark

Relationships between aeroallergen levels and hospital admissions for asthma in the Brussels-Capital Region: a daily time series analysis

Outdoor pollen grain and fungal spore concentrations have been associated with severe asthma exacerbations at the population level. The specific impact of each taxon and the concomitant effect of air pollution...

Authors: Ariane Guilbert, Bianca Cox, Nicolas Bruffaerts, Lucie Hoebeke, Ann Packeu, Marijke Hendrickx, Koen De Cremer, Sandrine Bladt, Olivier Brasseur and An Van Nieuwenhuyse

Longitudinal associations of long-term exposure to ultrafine particles with blood pressure and systemic inflammation in Puerto Rican adults

Few longitudinal studies have examined the association between ultrafine particulate matter (UFP, particles < 0.1 μm aerodynamic diameter) exposure and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. We used data f...

Authors: Laura Corlin, Mark Woodin, Jaime E. Hart, Matthew C. Simon, David M. Gute, Joanna Stowell, Katherine L. Tucker, John L. Durant and Doug Brugge

Childhood and adolescent phenol and phthalate exposure and the age of menarche in Latina girls

The age of menarche has been associated with metabolic and cardiovascular disease, as well as cancer risk. The decline in menarcheal age over the past century may be partially attributable to increased exposur...

Authors: Alexandra M. Binder, Camila Corvalan, Antonia M. Calafat, Xiaoyun Ye, Verónica Mericq, Ana Pereira and Karin B. Michels

Cholinesterase research outreach project (CROP): point of care cholinesterase measurement in an Australian agricultural community

Australian farmers are routinely exposed to a wide variety of agrichemicals, including herbicides and insecticides. Organophosphate (OP) insecticides are widely used for agricultural production, horticulture a...

Authors: Jacqueline Cotton, John Edwards, Muhammad Aziz Rahman and Susan Brumby

The effect of industry-related air pollution on lung function and respiratory symptoms in school children

Heavy industry emits many potentially hazardous pollutants into the air which can affect health. However, the effects of air pollution from heavy industry on lung function and respiratory symptoms have been in...

Authors: Arnold D. Bergstra, Bert Brunekreef and Alex Burdorf

Childhood fish oil supplementation modifies associations between traffic related air pollution and allergic sensitisation

Studies of potential adverse effects of traffic related air pollution (TRAP) on allergic disease have had mixed findings. Nutritional studies to examine whether fish oil supplementation may protect against dev...

Authors: Anna L. Hansell, Ioannis Bakolis, Christine T. Cowie, Elena G. Belousova, Kitty Ng, Christina Weber-Chrysochoou, Warwick J. Britton, Stephen R. Leeder, Euan R. Tovey, Karen L. Webb, Brett G. Toelle and Guy B. Marks

Occupational exposure to asphalt mixture during road paving is related to increased mitochondria DNA copy number: a cross-sectional study

Asphalt workers are exposed to polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from hot mix asphalt via both inhalation and dermal absorption. The use of crumb rubber modified (CRM) asphalt may result in higher exposure to P...

Authors: Yiyi Xu, Christian H. Lindh, Bo A. G. Jönsson, Karin Broberg and Maria Albin

Exposure to hazardous air pollutants and risk of incident breast cancer in the Nurses’ Health Study II

Findings from a recent prospective cohort study in California suggested increased risk of breast cancer associated with higher exposure to certain carcinogenic and estrogen-disrupting hazardous air pollutants ...

Authors: Jaime E. Hart, Kimberly A. Bertrand, Natalie DuPre, Peter James, Verónica M. Vieira, Trang VoPham, Maggie R. Mittleman, Rulla M. Tamimi and Francine Laden

Exploring the endocrine activity of air pollutants associated with unconventional oil and gas extraction

In the last decade unconventional oil and gas (UOG) extraction has rapidly proliferated throughout the United States (US) and the world. This occurred largely because of the development of directional drilling...

Authors: Ashley L. Bolden, Kim Schultz, Katherine E. Pelch and Carol F. Kwiatkowski

Glyphosate exposure in pregnancy and shortened gestational length: a prospective Indiana birth cohort study

Glyphosate (GLY) is the most heavily used herbicide worldwide but the extent of exposure in human pregnancy remains unknown. Its residues are found in the environment, major crops, and food items that humans, ...

Authors: S. Parvez, R. R. Gerona, C. Proctor, M. Friesen, J. L. Ashby, J. L. Reiter, Z. Lui and P. D. Winchester

Correction to: Early-life exposure to PM2.5 and risk of acute asthma clinical encounters among children in Massachusetts: a case-crossover analysis

After publication of the article [1], it was brought to our attention that a number in Table 1 is incorrect.

Authors: Roxana Khalili, Scott M. Bartell, Xuefei Hu, Yang Liu, Howard H. Chang, Candice Belanoff, Matthew J. Strickland and Verónica M. Vieira

Early life Triclosan exposure and child adiposity at 8 Years of age: a prospective cohort study

Triclosan is an antimicrobial agent that may affect the gut microbiome and endocrine system to influence adiposity. However, little data from prospective studies examining prenatal and childhood exposures exis...

Authors: Geetika Kalloo, Antonia M. Calafat, Aimin Chen, Kimberly Yolton, Bruce P. Lanphear and Joseph M. Braun

Prenatal exposure to TCDD and atopic conditions in the Seveso second generation: a prospective cohort study

2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) is a toxic environmental contaminant that can bioaccumulate in humans, cross the placenta, and cause immunological effects in children, including altering their risk of ...

Authors: Morgan Ye, Marcella Warner, Paolo Mocarelli, Paolo Brambilla and Brenda Eskenazi

Short-term effects of ambient fine particulate matter pollution on hospital visits for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Beijing, China

Little is known about the effect of ambient fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in China. The objective of this study was to explore the short-term effects of PM_2.5 on ...

Authors: Yaohua Tian, Xiao Xiang, Juan Juan, Jing Song, Yaying Cao, Chao Huang, Man Li and Yonghua Hu

Early-life exposure to PM_2.5 and risk of acute asthma clinical encounters among children in Massachusetts: a case-crossover analysis

Associations between ambient particulate matter < 2.5 μm (PM_2.5) and asthma morbidity have been suggested in previous epidemiologic studies but results are inconsistent for areas with lower PM_2.5 levels. We estim...

Authors: Roxana Khalili, Scott M. Bartell, Xuefei Hu, Yang Liu, Howard H. Chang, Candice Belanoff, Matthew J. Strickland and Verónica M. Vieira

In-utero exposure to phenols and phthalates and the intelligence quotient of boys at 5 years

There are concerns that developmental exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals such as phenolic compounds and phthalates could affect child cognitive function. Epidemiological studies tackling this question ...

Authors: Dorothy Nakiwala, Hugo Peyre, Barbara Heude, Jonathan Y. Bernard, Rémi Béranger, Rémy Slama and Claire Philippat

Cumulative exposure to environmental pollutants during early pregnancy and reduced fetal growth: the Project Viva cohort

Reduced fetal growth is associated with perinatal and later morbidity. Prenatal exposure to environmental pollutants is linked to reduced fetal growth at birth, but the impact of concomitant exposure to multip...

Authors: Lisa B. Rokoff, Sheryl L. Rifas-Shiman, Brent A. Coull, Andres Cardenas, Antonia M. Calafat, Xiaoyun Ye, Alexandros Gryparis, Joel Schwartz, Sharon K. Sagiv, Diane R. Gold, Emily Oken and Abby F. Fleisch

Transgenerational effects of polychlorinated biphenyls: 1. Development and physiology across 3 generations of rats

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are persistent organic environmental contaminants and known endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs). Previous studies demonstrated that developmental exposure to the weakly estro...

Authors: Jan A. Mennigen, Lindsay M. Thompson, Mandee Bell, Marlen Tellez Santos and Andrea C. Gore

Letter to editor: Blood pressure, hypertension and lead exposure

A significant association of office diastolic blood pressure with low-level blood lead exposure was reported in a Brazilian adult population. However, caution should be taken to interpret these results. The mu...

Authors: Wen-Yi Yang and Jan A. Staessen

Efficacy of N,N‘bis-(2-mercaptoethyl) isophthalamide on mercury intoxication: a randomized controlled trial

Chronic mercury intoxication is a severe health issue and occurs especially in gold mining communities. Common chelators used for improving mercury elimination are not everywhere available and challenged by po...

Authors: Paul Schutzmeier, Augusto Focil Baquerizo, Wilson Castillo-Tandazo, Nicholas Focil and Stephan Bose-O’Reilly

Respiratory health effects of exposure to low levels of airborne endotoxin – a systematic review

Elevated endotoxin levels have been measured in ambient air around livestock farms, which is a cause of concern for neighbouring residents. There is clear evidence that occupational exposure to high concentrat...

Authors: Azadèh Farokhi, Dick Heederik and Lidwien A. M. Smit

A review of the experimental evidence on the toxicokinetics of carbon monoxide: the potential role of pathophysiology among susceptible groups

Acute high level carbon monoxide (CO) exposure can cause immediate cardio-respiratory arrest in anyone, but the effects of lower level exposures in susceptible persons are less well known. The percentage of CO...

Authors: Prabjit Barn, Luisa Giles, Marie-Eve Héroux and Tom Kosatsky

Bisphenol a increases risk for presumed non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in Hispanic adolescents in NHANES 2003–2010

Bisphenol-A (BPA) is a ubiquitous chemical and recognized endocrine disruptor associated with obesity and related disorders. We explored the association between BPA levels and suspected non-alcoholic fatty liv...

Authors: Sofia G. Verstraete, Janet M. Wojcicki, Emily R. Perito and Philip Rosenthal

Can profiles of poly- and Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in human serum provide information on major exposure sources?

Humans are exposed to poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) from diverse sources and this has been associated with negative health impacts. Advances in analytical methods have enabled routine detection o...

Authors: Xindi C. Hu, Clifton Dassuncao, Xianming Zhang, Philippe Grandjean, Pál Weihe, Glenys M. Webster, Flemming Nielsen and Elsie M. Sunderland

Further analysis of the relationship between atmospheric lead emissions and aggressive crime: an ecological study

Authors: Mark Patrick Taylor, Miriam K. Forbes, Brian Opeskin, Nick Parr and Bruce P. Lanphear

Prenatal exposure to persistent organic pollutants and child overweight/obesity at 5-year follow-up: a prospective cohort study

Prenatal exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs), may influence offspring weight gain. More prospective epidemiological studies are needed to compliment the growing body of evidence from animal studies.

Authors: Hilde B. Lauritzen, Tricia L. Larose, Torbjørn Øien, Torkjel M. Sandanger, Jon Ø. Odland, Margot van de Bor and Geir W. Jacobsen

Prenatal exposure to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances and childhood atopic dermatitis: a prospective birth cohort study

Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) have been reported to suppress immune function. However, previous studies on prenatal exposure to PFASs and allergic disorders in offspring provided incons...

Authors: Qian Chen, Rong Huang, Li Hua, Yifeng Guo, Lisu Huang, Yanjun Zhao, Xia Wang and Jun Zhang

Correction to: Health effects of milder winters: a review of evidence from the United Kingdom

After publication of the article [1], it has been brought to our attention that there is an error in the abstract. The line that reads “a 1 °C fall during winter months led to reductions of 4.5%, 3.9% and 11.2...

Authors: Shakoor Hajat

Arsenic exposure and risk of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) among U.S. adolescents and adults: an association modified by race/ethnicity, NHANES 2005–2014

While associated with obesity, the cause of the rapid rise in prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in children, which is highest among Hispanics, is not well understood. Animal experiments ha...

Authors: Jennifer K. Frediani, Eric A. Naioti, Miriam B. Vos, Janet Figueroa, Carmen J. Marsit and Jean A. Welsh

Representative survey on idiopathic environmental intolerance attributed to electromagnetic fields in Taiwan and comparison with the international literature

Electromagnetic hypersensitivity refers to health effects attributed to electromagnetic fields (EMF) exposure and has been formally named “idiopathic environmental intolerance attributed to electromagnetic fie...

Authors: Po-Chang Huang, Meng-Ting Cheng and How-Ran Guo

The association between daily concentrations of air pollution and visits to a psychiatric emergency unit: a case-crossover study

Air pollution is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Experimental studies, and a few epidemiological studies, suggest that air pollution may cause acute exacerbation of psychiatric ...

Authors: Anna Oudin, Daniel Oudin Åström, Peter Asplund, Steinn Steingrimsson, Zoltan Szabo and Hanne Krage Carlsen

Estimate of incidence and cost of recreational waterborne illness on United States surface waters

Activities such as swimming, paddling, motor-boating, and fishing are relatively common on US surface waters. Water recreators have a higher rate of acute gastrointestinal illness, along with other illnesses i...

Authors: Stephanie DeFlorio-Barker, Coady Wing, Rachael M. Jones and Samuel Dorevitch

Heavy metal exposure and nasal Staphylococcus aureus colonization: analysis of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)

Heavy metals including lead and cadmium can disrupt the immune system and the human microbiota. and are increasingly of concern with respect to the propogation of antibiotic-resistence. Infection by methicilli...

Authors: Shoshannah Eggers, Nasia Safdar and Kristen MC Malecki

Hair product use, age at menarche and mammographic breast density in multiethnic urban women

Select hair products contain endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) that may affect breast cancer risk. We hypothesize that, if EDCs are related to breast cancer risk, then they may also affect two important br...

Authors: Jasmine A. McDonald, Parisa Tehranifar, Julie D. Flom, Mary Beth Terry and Tamarra James-Todd

Exposure to ambient air pollution and calcification of the mitral annulus and aortic valve: the multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis (MESA)

Long-term exposure to high ambient air pollution has been associated with coronary artery calcium (CAC), a marker of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Calcifications of left-sided heart valves are also markers of ...

Authors: Martin Tibuakuu, Miranda R. Jones, Ana Navas-Acien, Di Zhao, Eliseo Guallar, Amanda J. Gassett, Lianne Sheppard, Matthew J. Budoff, Joel D. Kaufman and Erin D. Michos

Aerospace medical association letter to the editor

Authors: Philip J. Scarpa Jr and Jeffrey C. Sventek

A multivariate analysis of CalEnviroScreen: comparing environmental and socioeconomic stressors versus chronic disease

The health-risk assessment paradigm is shifting from single stressor evaluation towards cumulative assessments of multiple stressors. Recent efforts to develop broad-scale public health hazard datasets provide...

Authors: Ben K. Greenfield, Jayant Rajan and Thomas E. McKone

Correction to: Parma consensus statement on metabolic disruptors

After publication of the article [1], it has been brought to our attention that the thirteenth author of this article has had their name spelt incorrectly. In the original article the spelling “Laura Rizzir” w...

Authors: Jerrold J. Heindel, Frederick S. vom Saal, Bruce Blumberg, Patrizia Bovolin, Gemma Calamandrei, Graziano Ceresini, Barbara A. Cohn, Elena Fabbri, Laura Gioiosa, Christopher Kassotis, Juliette Legler, Michele La Merrill, Laura Rizzi, Ronit Machtinger, Alberto Mantovani, Michelle A. Mendez…

Scoping the proximal and distal dimensions of climate change on health and wellbeing

The impacts of climate on health and wellbeing occur in time and space and through a range of indirect, complicated mechanisms. This diversity of pathways has major implications for national public health plan...

Authors: George Paterson Morris, Stefan Reis, Sheila Anne Beck, Lora Elderkin Fleming, William Neil Adger, Timothy Guy Benton and Michael Harold Depledge

Impact of extreme weather events and climate change for health and social care systems

This review, commissioned by the Research Councils UK Living With Environmental Change (LWEC) programme, concerns research on the impacts on health and social care systems in the United Kingdom of extreme weat...

Authors: Sarah Curtis, Alistair Fair, Jonathan Wistow, Dimitri V. Val and Katie Oven

Calculation of the disease burden associated with environmental chemical exposures: application of toxicological information in health economic estimation

Calculation of costs and the Burden of Disease (BoD) is useful in developing resource allocation and prioritization strategies in public and environmental health. While useful, the Disability-Adjusted Life Yea...

Authors: Philippe Grandjean and Martine Bellanger

Health effects of milder winters: a review of evidence from the United Kingdom

Cold-related mortality and morbidity remains an important public health problem in the UK and elsewhere. Health burdens have often reported to be higher in the UK compared to other countries with colder climat...

Authors: Shakoor Hajat

Food-borne disease and climate change in the United Kingdom

This review examined the likely impact of climate change upon food-borne disease in the UK using Campylobacter and Salmonella as example organisms. Campylobacter is an important food-borne disease and an increasi...

Authors: Iain R. Lake

Potential impact of climate change on emerging vector-borne and other infections in the UK

Climate is one of several causes of disease emergence. Although half or more of infectious diseases are affected by climate it appears to be a relatively infrequent cause of human disease emergence. Climate mo...

Authors: Matthew Baylis

Health impacts of climate change and health and social inequalities in the UK

This article examines how social and health inequalities shape the health impacts of climate change in the UK, and what the implications are for climate change adaptation and health care provision. The evidenc...

Authors: Jouni Paavola