Search results for "POLLUTION"
showing 10 items of 2765 documents
DNA methylation patterns in newborns exposed to tobacco in utero
2015
[Background] Maternal smoking during pregnancy is a major risk factor for adverse health outcomes. The main objective of the study was to assess the impact of in utero tobacco exposure on DNA methylation in children born at term with appropriate weight at birth.
Factors affecting the choice of cooking fuel, cooking place and respiratory health in the Accra metropolitan area, Ghana.
2005
Indoor air pollution resulting from the combustion of solid fuels has been identified as a major health threat in the developing world. This study examines how the choice of cooking fuel, place of cooking and behavioural risk factors affect respiratory health infections in Accra, Ghana. About 65·3% of respondents use charcoal and 4·2% use unprocessed wood. A total of 241 (25·4%) respondents who cook had had respiratory health symptoms in the two weeks preceding the study. Household socioeconomic status and educational attainment of respondents were found to have a significant impact on respiratory health through their particular influence on the choice of cooking fuel. Households that use w…
Selenium status during pregnancy: Influential factors and effects on neuropsychological development among Spanish infants
2017
Selenium(Se) has been positively associated with neurodevelopment in early life. However, its margin of safety is rather narrow, and few prospective studies have evaluated its potential neurotoxic effects at intermediate levels. We aimed to explore the association between maternal Se concentrations and child neuropsychological development, including the genetic effect modification of the Se metabolizing gene INMT. Study subjects were 650 mother-child pairs from the Spanish Childhood and Environment Project (INMA, 2003-2005). Infant neuropsychological development was assessed around 12 months of age by the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. Sociodemographic and dietary characteristics were…
Incidence of thyroid cancer in Italian contaminated sites
2020
Some human literature suggests a possible role of endocrine disruptors (EDs) exposure in thyroid cancer (TC) development. We investigated TC incidence in selected Italian National Priority Contaminated Sites (NPCS) with documented presence of EDs considered thyroid carcinogens. Adjusted Standardized Incidence Ratios (SIRs), with their 90% confidence intervals, were computed by gender, and age-specific groups (aged 15–39 years, and 40 years or over) for each NPCS in the period 2006 to 2013. In the age group of 15–39 years, a significant excess of TC risk was found in two NPCSs in males
Modelling the non-linear multiple-lag effects of ambient temperature on mortality in Santiago and Palermo: a constrained segmented distributed lag ap…
2008
Objectives: Exposure to ambient temperature can affect mortality levels for days or weeks following exposure, making modelling such effects in regression analysis of daily time-series data complex. Methods: We propose a new approach involving a multi-lag segmented approximation to account for the non-linear effect of temperature and the use of two different penalised spline bases to model the distributed lag of both heat and cold exposure. Compared with standard splines, the novel penalised framework is more flexible at short lags where change in coefficients is greatest, and selection of the maximum lag appears substantially less important in determining the overall pattern of the effect. …
Estimated radiation exposure of German commercial airline cabin crew in the years 1960-2003 modeled using dose registry data for 2004-2015.
2016
Exposure to ionizing radiation of cosmic origin is an occupational risk factor in commercial aircrew. In a historic cohort of 26,774 German aircrew, radiation exposure was previously estimated only for cockpit crew using a job-exposure matrix (JEM). Here, a new method for retrospectively estimating cabin crew dose is developed. The German Federal Radiation Registry (SSR) documents individual monthly effective doses for all aircrew. SSR-provided doses on 12,941 aircrew from 2004 to 2015 were used to model cabin crew dose as a function of age, sex, job category, solar activity, and male pilots' dose; the mean annual effective dose was 2.25 mSv (range 0.01–6.39 mSv). In addition to an inverse …
The associations of indoor environment and psychosocial factors on the subjective evaluation of Indoor Air Quality among lower secondary school stude…
2017
Subjective evaluation of Indoor Air Quality (subjective IAQ) reflects both building-related and psychosocial factors, but their associations have rarely been studied other than on the individual level in occupational settings and their interactions have not been assessed. Therefore, we studied whether schools' observed indoor air problems and psychosocial factors are associated with subjective IAQ and their potential interactions. The analysis was performed with a nationwide sample (N = 195 schools/26946 students) using multilevel modeling. Two datasets were merged: (i) survey data from students, including information on schools' psychosocial environment and subjective IAQ, and (ii) data fr…
Exposure to toxic agents alters organic elemental composition in human fingernails.
2008
Abstract Background and objective: The human fingernail plate is highly keratinized. The keratin structure is held together by disulfide bonds. The organic elements sulfur and nitrogen occur almost exclusively in amino acids of the nail plate. This study analyzed whether occupational exposure to harmful chemical agents alters the organic elemental composition in fingernails. Subjects and methods: Participants were 71 occupationally exposed workers (49 hairdressers, 22 painters) and 49 unexposed controls. Aspects of exposure were assessed by questionnaire. Nail clippings of index and little fingers were analyzed for sulfur (S), nitrogen (N), carbon (C), and hydrogen (H) contents, using an au…
Polychlorinated diphenyl ethers, dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans in finnish human tissues compared to environmental samples
1995
Finnish human samples from the Helsinki area and Arctic cod samples from Vestertana Fjord (Norway) were analyzed for polychlorinated diphenyl ethers (PCDE) and 2,3,7,8-chloro substituted dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD) and dibenzofurans (PCDF). The PCDE, PCDD and PCDF contents in human and animal samples from Finland and elsewhere were briefly reviewed. PCDEs were non-detectable in human liver and testis, but some PCDE congeners were identified in human adipose tissue and fat of boiled Arctic cod liver composite. The contents of PCDEs in Finnish human samples were similar to those reported in the literature for human tissues from North America. The estimated concentrations of PCDEs 99, 147 + 153 (…
Serum concentrations of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the inhabitants of a Sicilian city.
2012
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides are common environmental contaminants that have been associated with human health problems. OBJECTIVES: To assess serum concentrations of several organochlorine contaminants in general population living in a city with an ancient agricultural tradition and to identify possible exposure sources in Sicily. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 101 individuals. Each participant answered a face-to-face questionnaire submitted by well-trained personnel and provided a serum sample which was analyzed for the concentrations of PCBs, HCB, HCHs and DDTs by using gas-chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. RESULTS: HCB, p…