Assessing environmental noise exposure: does the size of the neighbourhood matter?

International audience; In environmental epidemiology, studies rely on the quantification of subject'sexposures in a surface defined as the subject exposure area. For outdoor exposure, this area is often considered as the subject's neighbourhood. But, depending on the authors, the size and the nature of this neighbourhood differs, making difficult to compare results. In order to study the impact of the sampling surface on the noise exposure values affected to a subject, a high definition environmental noise model has been builton a middle-sized French city. Outdoor neighbourhood noise indices were computed at 10,394 residential buildings, using eight different sizes of buffers defined by di…

Origin and diversity of testate amoebae shell composition: Example of Bullinularia indica living in Sphagnum capillifolium

Testate amoebae are free-living shelled protists that build a wide range of shells with various sizes, shapes, and compositions. Recent studies showed that xenosomic testate amoebae shells could be indicators of atmospheric particulate matter (PM) deposition. However, no study has yet been conducted to assess the intra-specific mineral, organic, and biologic grain diversity of a single xenosomic species in a natural undisturbed environment. This study aims at providing new information about grain selection to develop the potential use of xenosomic testate amoebae shells as bioindicators of the multiple-origin mineral/organic diversity of their proximal environment. To fulfil these objective…

Multiple pregnancies and environmental exposure: An impact of air pollution on fetal growth?

Introduction Multiple pregnancies display all the complications of singletons, but in highest frequencies, especially for fetal growth abnormalities. In singletons, air pollution seems to be negatively associated with fetal growth. A similar relationship in multiple pregnancies can be expected. However, multiple pregnancies are systematically excluded from the studies of the impact of air pollution on pregnancy outcomes. This study aims to analyze in a population of multiple pregnancies the relationship between fetal growth restriction (FGR), small for gestational age (SGA) and environmental chronic exposure to air pollution in moderately polluted cities. Methods All the multiple pregnancie…

Grossesse et vulnérabilité en milieu urbain : description du cumul de facteurs de risque. Besançon, France

Introduction De nombreux facteurs de risque d’issue defavorable de la grossesse ont ete identifies. Ils sont d’ordre socioeconomique, demographique, comportemental, nutritionnel, medico-obstetrical ou encore environnemental. La facon dont ils se cumulent est pourtant rarement etudiee. L’objectif de cette etude etait de decrire la distribution et le cumul d’expositions a ces facteurs, chez une population de femmes enceintes vivant en milieu urbain. Materiel et methodes Les femmes residant a Besancon et ayant accouche d’une grossesse unique au Centre hospitalier universitaire entre 2005 et 2009 ont ete incluses. Les donnees individuelles recueillies sont issues du dossier obstetrical : situat…

Multiple pregnancies and air pollution in moderately polluted cities: Is there an association between air pollution and fetal growth?

Background: Multiple pregnancies (where more than one fetus develops simultaneously in the womb) are systematically excluded from studies of the impact of air pollution on pregnancy outcomes. This study aims to analyze, in a population of multiple pregnancies, the relationship between fetal growth restriction (FGR), small for gestational age (SGA) and exposure to air pollution in moderately polluted cities. Methods: All women with multiple pregnancies living in the city of Besançon or in the urban area of Dijon and who delivered at a university hospital between 2005 and 2009 were included. FGR and SGA were obtained from medical records. Outdoor residential nitrogen dioxide (NO2) exposure wa…

Impact sanitaire de l’exposition sonore en milieu urbain, la combinaison de 3 « E » : épidémiologie, expologie, environnement

National audience; La quantification de l’impact du bruit sur la santé, relève d’une démarche complexe et mobilise des champs de compétence larges et différents. L’objectif de cet article est de proposer le point de vue volontairement orienté sur l’un de ses champs de compétence, centré sur une approche en population humaine. Sont ainsi décrits les concepts de l’épidémiologie, de l’expologie et leurs applications sur les approches en lien avec l’environnement, en particulier le milieu urbain. La dimension sociétale d’inégalité sociale et environnementale est également rappelée. Le principe de l’évaluation d’un impact sanitaire (appelé également évaluation du risque sanitaire) est succinctem…

Does low to moderate environmental exposure to noise and air pollution influence preterm delivery in medium-sized cities?

International audience; Background: Preterm birth (PB) is an important predictor of childhood morbidity and educational performance. Beyond the known risk factors, environmental factors, such as air pollution and noise, have been implicated in PB. In urban areas, these pollutants coexist. Very few studies have examined the effects of multi-exposure on the pregnancy duration. The objective of this study was to analyse the relationship between PB and environmental chronic multi-exposure to noise and air pollution in medium-sized cities.Methods: A case-control study was conducted among women living in the city of Besançon (121 671 inhabitants) or in the urban unit of Dijon (243 936 inhabitants…

Lead concentrations in feathers and blood of common blackbirds (Turdus merula) and in earthworms inhabiting unpolluted and moderately polluted urban areas

9 pages; International audience; Despite the dramatic decrease of atmospheric lead (Pb) concentrations in urban areas of most industrialised countries, we hypothesised that urban common blackbirds (Turdus merula) may still be contaminated by Pb concentrations of toxicological concern due to transfer from soil through the food chain. We sampled blackbirds and earthworms, one of their main preys, in Besan?, a middle-size city of Eastern France (where atmospheric Pb concentrations decreased from 0.5 microg/m(3) in 1987 to nearly 0 in 2002) and in a rural reference site. Lead concentrations were determined in the tissues of the different functional groups of earthworms (anecic, epigeous and end…

PubPrivLands, une étude des effets combinés du bruit, de la pollution de l’air et des espaces verts en milieu urbain

Les espaces verts urbains procurent une multitude de services écosystémiques. Les bénéfices pour la population sont de mieux en mieux connus, en particulier sur les aspects de bien-être, de pratique d’activité physique, de statut pondéral, et également de prévention des maladies cardiovasculaires. Cependant, en milieu urbain, d’autres expositions environnementales, notamment le bruit et la pollution de l’air, sont présentes et influencent le statut sanitaire de la population urbaine. La part relative des bénéfices liés aux espaces verts (proximité, accessibilité…) et des effets délétères en lien avec le bruit et la pollution de l’air reste à ce jour mal connue. L’objectif de l’étude est d’a…

A more cost-effective geomatic approach to modelling PM10 dispersion across Europe

International audience; PM10 concentrations in most major European cities exceed the limits set by the European Directive and are expected to continue to do so in the coming years. Moreover, PM10s can be transported over long distances impacting air quality, public health and ecosystem functionality far from their sources of emission. Modelling remains one of the only options for tracking PM10 deposition in remote areas with no monitoring stations. Even so, air pollution models based on atmospheric physics usually imply substantial economic, logistical and computational investment. In this work, we present a new geomatic approach to modelling mean annual PM10 concentrations across Europe. O…

Optimisation d’un modèle atmosphérique transnational de prédiction de la concentration journalière d’ozone : intégration de paramètres météorologiques pour une évaluation de l’exposition à l’échelle kilométrique

International audience; L'ozone (O3) est un polluant atmosphérique secondaire formé lors de réactions photochimiques, en présence de précurseurs (NOx, COV, CO). L'exposition à l'O3 est délicate à modéliser car ce polluant présente une forte variabilité spatiotemporelle. Le but des présents travaux est d'optimiser l'évaluation des concentrations journalières d'O3 modélisées à échelle kilométrique, à l'aide de modèles MARS et de données météorologiques. La plateforme de modélisation PREVEST a généré une prédiction de concentrations maximales journalières d'O3 pour un maillage de 3km de côté. La station de mesure de la qualité de l'air du réseau ATMO-Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Besançon-Prévoyanc…

Vulnerability during pregnancy in an urban environment : do environmental and individual risk factors cumulate?

International audience; Apart from demographic, socio-economic, behavioral, nutritional and medico-obstetrical factors, environmental factors have been suggested to be associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as preterm birth, low birth weight or hypertensive disorders. According to a recent review of the literature, there is some suggestive evidence of adverse associations with environmental noise especially for low birth weight. However, the way these individual and environmental vulnerabilities combine has been scarcely studied. The objective of this study was to describe the accumulation of individual, socio-economics, medical and environmental vulnerability markers and to asses…

Exposition environnementale au bruit et à la pollution de l'air au cours de la grossesse avec comorbidités associées

L’objectif était d’analyser le lien entre l’exposition environnementale au bruit et à la pollution de l’air en milieu urbain et la prématurité chez les femmes dont le risque d’accouchement prématuré était augmenté par la présence d’une ou plusieurs comorbidités. Méthode. Une étude cas-témoins a été conduite sur les grossesses uniques accompagnées d’au moins une comorbidité. Les accouchements ont eu au CHU de Besançon ou de Dijon entre 2005 et 2009. Le niveau sonore de nuit (Lnight en façade du bâtiment d’habitation) et la concentration en dioxyde d’azote (NO2) dans les 50 m autour de l’habitation ont été modélisés à l’adresse déclarée au moment de l’accouchement. Une régression logistique c…

Pneumothorax and the environment: A systematic review of the impact of air pollution and meteorology, and a meta-analysis on meteorology factors.

Abstract A relationship between the occurrence of spontaneous pneumothorax (SP) and meteorological factors has been observed but with contradictory results. The objectives of this systematic review was to synthesis the current body of evidence to the relationships between the occurrence of SP and environmental determinants such as meteorological factors and air pollutants. We conducted a systematic search of MEDLINE, Scopus, Cochrane Library and gray literature from inception up to 31st December 2020, to find published scientific research articles based on the following eligibility criteria: original studies and population-based articles describing the relationship between meteorological fa…

Characterisation and distribution of deposited trace elements transported over long and intermediate distances in north-eastern France using Sphagnum peatlands as a sentinel ecosystem

Abstract Trace elements in the form of particulate matter can be transported downwind from their emission sources and may have negative effects on human health and ecosystems. The transport of trace elements is often studied by monitoring their accumulation in mosses. The aim of this study was to characterise and describe the distribution of deposited trace elements transported over long and intermediate distances in north-eastern France, a location far from the main emission sources. We analysed the trace element accumulation in Sphagnum capillifolium in 54 ombrotrophic peatlands distributed in six regions of France (Alps, Jura, Massif Central, Morvan, Rhone corridor and Vosges). The conce…

Cinderella's helping pigeons of the microbial world: The potential of testate amoebae for identifying cryptotephra

Cryptotephra (particles <125μm) is a key record for monitoring past and current volcanic activity. However, its extraction from the host sediment and analysis is often long and difficult because of its small size. Finding a simple method to extract cryptotephra from environmental samples would therefore make its analysis much easier. We hypothesized that arcellinid testate amoebae may hold such a potential. These free-living shelled protists are among the earliest microorganisms to colonize volcanic tephra, and build their shell by agglutinating minerals from their environment. We analyzed by X-ray Spectrometry the mineral signature of tephra from the 2011 Puyehue-Cordon Caulle Volcanic Com…

Effet du contexte paysager sur la cinétique de population du campagnol terrestre (Arvicola terrestris scherman)

Noise in urban areas: How does the definition of "neighborhood" impact exposure assessment?

International audience; Environmental epidemiological studies commonly quantify subjects' noise exposure level in their neighborhood. How this neighborhood is defined can vary across studies, leading to different approaches whose impacts on exposure levels remain unclear. This article examines the impact of the neighborhood's definition on environmental noise exposure estimates. L Aeq,24h exposures in the vicinity of 10,825 residential buildings were estimated using a high-definition noise map, built on a middle-sized French city. Various definitions of neighborhood (address point, façade, buffers, and official zoning) were used to produce different exposure estimates. Influence of urban en…