Articles

Is there adaptation in the ozone mortality relationship: A multi-city case-crossover analysis

Ozone has been associated with daily mortality, mainly in the summer period. Despite the ample literature on adaptation of inflammatory and pulmonary responses to ozone, and the link, in cohort studies, betwee...

Authors: Antonella Zanobetti and Joel Schwartz

Exposure from the Chernobyl accident had adverse effects on erythrocytes, leukocytes, and, platelets in children in the Narodichesky region, Ukraine: A 6-year follow-up study

After the Chernobyl nuclear accident on April 26, 1986, all children in the contaminated territory of the Narodichesky region, Zhitomir Oblast, Ukraine, were obliged to participate in a yearly medical examinat...

Authors: Eugenia Stepanova, Wilfried Karmaus, Marina Naboka, Vitaliy Vdovenko, Tim Mousseau, Viacheslav M Shestopalov, John Vena, Erik Svendsen, Dwight Underhill and Harris Pastides

Reproductive toxicity of seafood contaminants: Prospective comparisons of Swedish east and west coast fishermen's families

Cohorts comprising fishermen's families on the east coast of Sweden have been found to have a high consumption of contaminated fish as well as high body burdens of persistent organochlorine pollutants (POPs). ...

Authors: Anna Axmon, Lars Rylander and Anna Rignell-Hydbom

Use of wireless telephones and self-reported health symptoms: a population-based study among Swedish adolescents aged 15–19 years

Despite the last years of rapid increase in use of wireless phones little data on the use of these devices has been systematically assessed among young persons. The aim of this descriptive cross-sectional stud...

Authors: Fredrik Söderqvist, Michael Carlberg and Lennart Hardell

Land use regression modeling of intra-urban residential variability in multiple traffic-related air pollutants

There is a growing body of literature linking GIS-based measures of traffic density to asthma and other respiratory outcomes. However, no consensus exists on which traffic indicators best capture variability i...

Authors: Jane E Clougherty, Rosalind J Wright, Lisa K Baxter and Jonathan I Levy

The effect of ambient air pollution on respiratory health of school children: a panel study

Adverse respiratory effects of particulate air pollution have been identified by epidemiological studies. We aimed to examine the health effects of ambient particulate air pollution from wood burning on school...

Authors: Michael J Epton, Robin D Dawson, Wendy M Brooks, Simon Kingham, Teresa Aberkane, Jo-Anne E Cavanagh, Christopher M Frampton, Tracey Hewitt, Julie M Cook, Susan McLeod, Fiona McCartin, Katherine Trought and Leslie Brown

Influence of genetic factors on toluene diisocyanate-related symptoms: evidence from a cross-sectional study

Toluene diisocyanate (TDI) is a highly reactive compound used in the production of, e.g., polyurethane foams and paints. TDI is known to cause respiratory symptoms and diseases. Because TDI causes symptoms in ...

Authors: Karin Broberg, Håkan Tinnerberg, Anna Axmon, Margareta Warholm, Agneta Rannug and Margareta Littorin

Vehicle emissions and consumer information in car advertisements

The advertising of vehicles has been studied from a safety perspective but not in terms of vehicle air pollutants. We aimed to examine the content and trends of greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution-relat...

Authors: Nick Wilson, Anthony Maher, George Thomson and Michael Keall

Cancer mortality in IBM Endicott plant workers, 1969–2001: an update on a NY production plant

In response to concerns expressed by workers at a public meeting, we analyzed the mortality experience of workers who were employed at the IBM plant in Endicott, New York and died between 1969–2001. An epidemi...

Authors: Richard W Clapp and Kate Hoffman

Biological exposure assessment to tetrachloroethylene for workers in the dry cleaning industry

The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility of conducting biological tetrachloroethylene (perchloroethylene, PCE) exposure assessments of dry cleaning employees in conjunction with evaluation of po...

Authors: Lauralynn T McKernan, Avima M Ruder, Martin R Petersen, Misty J Hein, Christy L Forrester, Wayne T Sanderson, David L Ashley and Mary A Butler

Metals and kidney markers in adult offspring of endemic nephropathy patients and controls: a two-year follow-up study

The etiology of Balkan Endemic Nephropathy, (BEN), a tubulointerstitial kidney disease, is unknown. Although this disease is endemic in rural areas of Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, and Serbia, similar ma...

Authors: Wilfried Karmaus, Plamen Dimitrov, Valeri Simeonov, Svetla Tsolova, Angel Bonev and Rossitza Georgieva

Breath acidification in adolescent runners exposed to atmospheric pollution: A prospective, repeated measures observational study

Vigorous outdoors exercise during an episode of air pollution might cause airway inflammation. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of vigorous outdoor exercise during peak smog season on breat...

Authors: Jill M Ferdinands, Carol A Gotway Crawford, Roby Greenwald, David Van Sickle, Eric Hunter and W Gerald Teague

A comparison of self reported air pollution problems and GIS-modeled levels of air pollution in people with and without chronic diseases

To explore various contributors to people's reporting of self reported air pollution problems in area of living, including GIS-modeled air pollution, and to investigate whether those with respiratory or other ...

Authors: Fredrik Niclas Piro, Christian Madsen, Øyvind Næss, Per Nafstad and Bjørgulf Claussen

Mortality and life expectancy of Yokkaichi Asthma patients, Japan: Late effects of air pollution in 1960–70s

The incidence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and bronchial asthma began increasing in early 1960s in the population of Yokkaichi-city (Mie Prefecture, Japan). The cause of the disease was sulf...

Authors: Peng Guo, Kazuhito Yokoyama, Masami Suenaga and Hirotaka Kida

The impact of the environment on health by country: a meta-synthesis

Health gains that environmental interventions could achieve are main questions when choosing environmental health action to prevent disease. The World Health Organization has recently released profiles of envi...

Authors: Annette Prüss-Üstün, Sophie Bonjour and Carlos Corvalán

Household vacuum cleaners vs. the high-volume surface sampler for collection of carpet dust samples in epidemiologic studies of children

Levels of pesticides and other compounds in carpet dust can be useful indicators of exposure in epidemiologic studies, particularly for young children who are in frequent contact with carpets. The high-volume ...

Authors: Joanne S Colt, Robert B Gunier, Catherine Metayer, Marcia G Nishioka, Erin M Bell, Peggy Reynolds, Patricia A Buffler and Mary H Ward

An ecological time-series study of heat-related mortality in three European cities

Europe has experienced warmer summers in the past two decades and there is a need to describe the determinants of heat-related mortality to better inform public health activities during hot weather. We investi...

Authors: Ai Ishigami, Shakoor Hajat, R Sari Kovats, Luigi Bisanti, Magda Rognoni, Antonio Russo and Anna Paldy

Translocation pathways for inhaled asbestos fibers

We discuss the translocation of inhaled asbestos fibers based on pulmonary and pleuro-pulmonary interstitial fluid dynamics. Fibers can pass the alveolar barrier and reach the lung interstitium via the paracel...

Authors: G Miserocchi, G Sancini, F Mantegazza and Gerolamo Chiappino

Collaborative research: Accomplishments & potential

Although a substantial part of scientific research is collaborative and increasing globalization will probably lead to its increase, very few studies actually investigate the advantages, disadvantages, experie...

Authors: Klea Katsouyanni

PCB-containing wood floor finish is a likely source of elevated PCBs in residents' blood, household air and dust: a case study of exposure

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are persistent pollutants identified worldwide as human blood and breast milk contaminants. Because they bioaccumulate, consumption of meat, fish, and dairy products predicts h...

Authors: Ruthann A Rudel, Liesel M Seryak and Julia G Brody

Lessons from the removal of lead from gasoline for controlling other environmental pollutants: A case study from New Zealand

It took over two decades to achieve the removal of leaded gasoline in this country. This was despite international evidence and original research conducted in New Zealand on the harm to child cognitive functio...

Authors: Nick Wilson and John Horrocks

Outdoor air pollution and emergency department visits for asthma among children and adults: A case-crossover study in northern Alberta, Canada

Recent studies have observed positive associations between outdoor air pollution and emergency department (ED) visits for asthma. However, few have examined the possible confounding influence of aeroallergens,...

Authors: Paul J Villeneuve, Li Chen, Brian H Rowe and Frances Coates

GSTM1 and APE1 genotypes affect arsenic-induced oxidative stress: a repeated measures study

Chronic arsenic exposure is associated with an increased risk of skin, bladder and lung cancers. Generation of oxidative stress may contribute to arsenic carcinogenesis.

Authors: Carrie V Breton, Molly L Kile, Paul J Catalano, Elaine Hoffman, Quazi Quamruzzaman, Mahmuder Rahman, Golam Mahiuddin and David C Christiani

Disease proportions attributable to environment

Population disease proportions attributable to various causal agents are popular as they present a simplified view of the contribution of each agent to the disease load. However they are only summary figures t...

Authors: Rodolfo Saracci and Paolo Vineis

An outbreak of cardiovascular syndromes requiring urgent medical treatment and its association with environmental factors: an ecological study

In April 2005, syndromic surveillance based on statistical control chart methods in Sydney, Australia, signalled increasing incidence of urgent emergency department visits for cardiovascular and chest pain syn...

Authors: Robin M Turner, David J Muscatello, Wei Zheng, Alan Willmore and Glenn Arendts

Participation in environmental health research by placenta donation – a perception study

Much environmental health research depends on human volunteers participating with biological samples. The perception study explores why and how people participate in a placenta perfusion study in Copenhagen. T...

Authors: Uffe Lind, Tina Mose and Lisbeth E Knudsen

Endocrine disruptors and spontaneous premature labor: a case control study

Premature labor is a poorly understood condition. Estrogen is thought to play a key role and therefore the labor process may be affected by endocrine disruptors. We sought to determine whether or not an enviro...

Authors: Stephen L Wood, John J Jarrell, Cheryl Swaby and Sui Chan

Efficiency of two-phase methods with focus on a planned population-based case-control study on air pollution and stroke

We plan to conduct a case-control study to investigate whether exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) increases the risk of stroke. In case-control studies, selective participation can lead to bias and loss of effici...

Authors: Anna Oudin, Jonas Björk and Ulf Strömberg

Maternal fish and shellfish intake and pregnancy outcomes: A prospective cohort study in Brittany, France

Recommendations about risks and benefits of seafood intake during pregnancy have been published in the last decade, but the specific health effects of the different categories of seafood remain unknown. Fish a...

Authors: Laurence Guldner, Christine Monfort, Florence Rouget, Ronan Garlantezec and Sylvaine Cordier

AhR transcriptional activity in serum of Inuits across Greenlandic districts

Human exposure to lipophilic persistent organic pollutants (POPs) including polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/furans (PCDDs/PCDFs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticide is ubiquitous. The...

Authors: Manhai Long, Bente Deutch and Eva C Bonefeld-Jorgensen

Public health guidance on cardiovascular benefits and risks related to fish consumption

Historically, concerns with fish consumption have addressed risks from contaminants (e.g., methylmercury (MeHg), and PCBs). More recently public health concerns have widened in appreciation of the specific ben...

Authors: Alan H Stern

Mercury in human brain, blood, muscle and toenails in relation to exposure: an autopsy study

The main forms of mercury (Hg) exposure in the general population are methylmercury (MeHg) from seafood, inorganic mercury (I-Hg) from food, and mercury vapor (Hg⁰) from dental amalgam restorations. While the dis...

Authors: Lars Björkman, Birgitte F Lundekvam, Torgils Lægreid, Bjørn I Bertelsen, Inge Morild, Peer Lilleng, Birger Lind, Brita Palm and Marie Vahter

Perceived annoyance and asthmatic symptoms in relation to vehicle exhaust levels outside home: a cross-sectional study

Exhaust emissions from vehicles is a well known problem with both epidemiological and experimental studies showing increasing adverse health effects with elevating levels. Many of the studies concerning vehicl...

Authors: Lars Modig and Bertil Forsberg

Association between respiratory tract diseases and secondhand smoke exposure among never smoking flight attendants: a cross-sectional survey

Little is known about long-term adverse health consequences experienced by flight attendants exposed to secondhand smoke (SHS) during the time smoking was allowed on airplanes. We undertook this study to evalu...

Authors: Jon O Ebbert, Ivana T Croghan, Darrell R Schroeder, Judith Murawski and Richard D Hurt

Environmental Health: the first five years

Authors: Philippe Grandjean and David Ozonoff

Effects of ambient air pollution on functional status in patients with chronic congestive heart failure: a repeated-measures study

Studies using administrative data report a positive association between ambient air pollution and the risk of hospitalization for congestive heart failure (HF). Circulating levels of B-type natriuretic peptide...

Authors: Gregory A Wellenius, Gloria Y Yeh, Brent A Coull, Helen H Suh, Russell S Phillips and Murray A Mittleman

Serum PCB levels and congener profiles among US construction workers

The presence of PCB in caulking (sealant) material found in masonry buildings has been well-documented in several countries. A recent investigation of 24 buildings in the greater Boston area found that 8 build...

Authors: Robert F Herrick, John D Meeker, Russ Hauser, Larisa Altshul and George A Weymouth

Parameter and model uncertainty in a life-table model for fine particles (PM_2.5): a statistical modeling study

The estimation of health impacts involves often uncertain input variables and assumptions which have to be incorporated into the model structure. These uncertainties may have significant effects on the results...

Authors: Marko Tainio, Jouni T Tuomisto, Otto Hänninen, Juhani Ruuskanen, Matti J Jantunen and Juha Pekkanen

Near-highway pollutants in motor vehicle exhaust: A review of epidemiologic evidence of cardiac and pulmonary health risks

There is growing evidence of a distinct set of freshly-emitted air pollutants downwind from major highways, motorways, and freeways that include elevated levels of ultrafine particulates (UFP), black carbon (B...

Authors: Doug Brugge, John L Durant and Christine Rioux

Reducing ultraviolet radiation exposure among outdoor workers: State of the evidence and recommendations

Outdoor workers have high levels of exposure to ultraviolet radiation and the associated increased risk of skin cancer. This paper describes a review of: 1) descriptive data about outdoor workers' sun exposure...

Authors: Karen Glanz, David B Buller and Mona Saraiya

Emergency room visits for respiratory conditions in children increased after Guagua Pichincha volcanic eruptions in April 2000 in Quito, Ecuador Observational Study: Time Series Analysis

This study documented elevated rates of emergency room (ER) visits for acute upper and lower respiratory infections and asthma-related conditions in the children of Quito, Ecuador associated with the eruption ...

Authors: Elena N Naumova, Hugo Yepes, Jeffrey K Griffiths, Fernando Sempértegui, Gauri Khurana, Jyotsna S Jagai, Edgar Játiva and Bertha Estrella

Pharmacoenvironmentology – a component of pharmacovigilance

According to WHO, Pharmacovigilance activities are done to monitor detection, assessment, understanding and prevention of any obnoxious adverse reactions to drugs at therapeutic concentration on animal and hum...

Authors: Syed Ziaur Rahman, Rahat Ali Khan, Varun Gupta and Misbah Uddin

Sarcoma risk and dioxin emissions from incinerators and industrial plants: a population-based case-control study (Italy)

It is not clear whether environmental exposure to dioxin affects the general population. The aim of this research is to evaluate sarcoma risk in relation to the environmental pollution caused by dioxin emitted...

Authors: Paola Zambon, Paolo Ricci, Emanuela Bovo, Alessandro Casula, Massimo Gattolin, Anna Rita Fiore, Francesco Chiosi and Stefano Guzzinati

Impact of air pollution on hospital admissions in Southwestern Ontario, Canada: Generating hypotheses in sentinel high-exposure places

Southwestern Ontario (SWO) in Canada has been known as a 'hot spot' in terms of environmental exposure and potential effects. We chose to study 3 major cities in SWO in this paper. We compared age-standardized...

Authors: Karen Y Fung, Isaac N Luginaah and Kevin M Gorey

Bias magnification in ecologic studies: a methodological investigation

As ecologic studies are often inexpensive to conduct, consideration of the magnitude and direction of ecologic biases may be useful in both study design and sensitivity analysis of results. This paper examines...

Authors: Thomas F Webster

Impact of ambient air pollution on gestational age is modified by season in Sydney, Australia

The effect of individual pollutants and the period(s) during pregnancy when pollutant levels are likely to have most impact on preterm birth is not clear. We evaluated the effect of prenatal exposure to six co...

Authors: Bin Jalaludin, Trish Mannes, Geoffrey Morgan, Doug Lincoln, Vicky Sheppeard and Stephen Corbett

Erratum to: Cluster of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) associated with an oil field waste site: a cross sectional study

Authors: James Dahlgren, Harpreet Takhar, Pamela Anderson-Mahoney, Jenny Kotlerman, Jim Tarr and Raphael Warshaw

Dietary exposure to methyl mercury and PCB and the associations with semen parameters among Swedish fishermen

Dietary POP exposure have shown negative effects on sperm motility and sperm chromatin integrity, as well as an increased proportion of Y-chromosome bearing sperms. However, it has been suggested that in epide...

Authors: Anna Rignell-Hydbom, Anna Axmon, Thomas Lundh, Bo A Jönsson, Tarmo Tiido and Marcello Spano

Native and foreign born as predictors of pediatric asthma in an Asian immigrant population: a cross sectional survey

Asthma prevalence is lower in less developed countries and among some recent immigrant populations in the US, but the reasons for this are not clear. One possibility is that early childhood infections are prot...

Authors: Doug Brugge, Angela C Lee, Mark Woodin and Christine Rioux

Assessment and prevention of acute health effects of weather conditions in Europe, the PHEWE project: background, objectives, design

The project "Assessment and prevention of acute health effects of weather conditions in Europe" (PHEWE) had the aim of assessing the association between weather conditions and acute health effects, during both...

Authors: Paola Michelozzi, Ursula Kirchmayer, Klea Katsouyanni, Annibale Biggeri, Glenn McGregor, Bettina Menne, Pavlos Kassomenos, Hugh Ross Anderson, Michela Baccini, Gabriele Accetta, Antonis Analytis and Tom Kosatsky