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JAMA Neurology Jul 2023An increased risk of Parkinson disease (PD) has been associated with exposure to the solvent trichloroethylene (TCE), but data are limited. Millions of people in the US...
IMPORTANCE
An increased risk of Parkinson disease (PD) has been associated with exposure to the solvent trichloroethylene (TCE), but data are limited. Millions of people in the US and worldwide are exposed to TCE in air, food, and water.
OBJECTIVE
To test whether the risk of PD is higher in veterans who served at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, whose water supply was contaminated with TCE and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs), compared with veterans who did not serve on that base.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
This population-based cohort study examined the risk for PD among all Marines and Navy personnel who resided at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina (contaminated water) (n = 172 128), or Camp Pendleton, California (uncontaminated water) (n = 168 361), for at least 3 months between 1975 and 1985, with follow-up from January 1, 1997, until February 17, 2021. Veterans Health Administration and Medicare databases were searched for International Classification of Diseases diagnostic codes for PD or other forms of parkinsonism and related medications and for diagnostic codes indicative of prodromal disease. Parkinson disease diagnoses were confirmed by medical record review.
EXPOSURES
Water supplies at Camp Lejeune were contaminated with several VOCs. Levels were highest for TCE, with monthly median values greater than 70-fold the permissible amount.
MAIN OUTCOME AND MEASURES
Risk of PD in former residents of Camp Lejeune relative to residents of Camp Pendleton. In those without PD or another form of parkinsonism, the risk of being diagnosed with features of prodromal PD were assessed individually and cumulatively using likelihood ratio tests.
RESULTS
Health data were available for 158 122 veterans (46.4%). Demographic characteristics were similar between Camp Lejeune (5.3% women, 94.7% men; mean [SD] attained age of 59.64 [4.43] years; 29.7% Black, 6.0% Hispanic, 67.6% White; and 2.7% other race and ethnicity) and Camp Pendleton (3.8% women, 96.2% men; mean [SD] age, 59.80 [4.62] years; 23.4% Black, 9.4% Hispanic, 71.1% White, and 5.5% other race and ethnicity). A total of 430 veterans had PD, with 279 from Camp Lejeune (prevalence, 0.33%) and 151 from Camp Pendleton (prevalence, 0.21%). In multivariable models, Camp Lejeune veterans had a 70% higher risk of PD (odds ratio, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.39-2.07; P < .001). No excess risk was found for other forms of neurodegenerative parkinsonism. Camp Lejeune veterans also had a significantly increased risk of prodromal PD diagnoses, including tremor, anxiety, and erectile dysfunction, and higher cumulative prodromal risk scores.
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE
The study's findings suggest that the risk of PD is higher in persons exposed to TCE and other VOCs in water 4 decades ago. Millions worldwide have been and continue to be exposed to this ubiquitous environmental contaminant.
Topics: Aged; Male; Humans; Female; United States; Middle Aged; Child, Preschool; Military Personnel; Trichloroethylene; Parkinson Disease; Cohort Studies; Environmental Exposure; Medicare
PubMed: 37184848
DOI: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2023.1168 -
ACS Omega Nov 2023Hydraulic fracturing uses a large amount of fresh water for its operation; conventional wells can consume up to 200 000 gallons of water, while unconventional wells... (Review)
Review
Hydraulic fracturing uses a large amount of fresh water for its operation; conventional wells can consume up to 200 000 gallons of water, while unconventional wells could consume up to 16 million gallons. However, the world's fresh water supply is rapidly depleting, making this a critical and growing problem. Freshwater shortages during large-scale hydraulic fracturing in regions that lack water, such as the Arabian Peninsula and offshore operations, need to be addressed. One of the ways to address this problem is to substitute fresh water with seawater, which is a sustainable, cheap, and technically sufficient fluid that can be utilized as a fracturing fluid. However, its high salinity caused by the multitude of ions in it could induce several problems, such as scaling and precipitation. This, in turn, could potentially affect the viscosity and rheology of the fluid. There are a variety of additives that can be used to lessen the effects of the various ions found in seawater. This review explains the mechanisms of different additives (e.g., polymers, surfactants, chelating agents, cross-linkers, scale inhibitors, gel stabilizers, and foams), how they interact with seawater, and the related implications in order to address the above challenges and develop a sustainable and compatible seawater-based fracturing fluid. This review also describes several previous technologies and works that have treated seawater in order to produce a fluid that is stable at higher temperatures, that has a considerably reduced scaling propensity, and that has utilized a stable polymer network to efficiently carry proppant downhole. In addition, some of these previous works included field testing to evaluate the performance of the seawater-based fracturing fluid.
PubMed: 37969974
DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.3c05145 -
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Jan 2024Environmental analytical chemistry has evolved into a well-established interdisciplinary field (analytical chemistry, pollution chemistry, chemical engineering, etc...
Environmental analytical chemistry has evolved into a well-established interdisciplinary field (analytical chemistry, pollution chemistry, chemical engineering, etc [...].
PubMed: 38257362
DOI: 10.3390/molecules29020450 -
Journal of Environmental Management Oct 2023Food waste is a multi-faceted and complex problem for urban circular economies with far-reaching environmental impacts. Effectively addressing this problem requires a...
Food waste is a multi-faceted and complex problem for urban circular economies with far-reaching environmental impacts. Effectively addressing this problem requires a comprehensive understanding of the food waste impacts on food, energy, water, and climate (FEWC) systems. Despite complex dynamics in the FEWC nexus, the most popular guidance for food waste management is the food waste hierarchy framework - which fails to account for ensuing impacts on all nexus elements. Aiming to optimise the framework, we adopt a participatory approach to develop the first comprehensive and replicable system dynamics model of the FEWC footprints of urban food waste throughout the agri-food supply chain. The quantitative model compares different food waste management options, and relevant policies in Bristol, UK (2018-2030). Unlike the guidance of the traditional waste hierarchy framework, our findings show that the preferability of each option can vary for each sector within the supply chain and for each FEWC element. Our results show that increasing food surplus redistribution in the supply sectors and reducing food waste in consumer sectors are the most preferable approaches to reduce the environmental impacts of food. Feeding food leftover to pets at household level also has a promising impact. Other options involve trade-offs between energy and carbon footprints, while having minimal impact on water footprint. We conclude that the traditional food waste hierarchy is too simplified to provide reliable guidance for environmentally sustainable food waste management and policy. Instead, we present an improved food waste hierarchy framework that accounts for the scale of preferability of each option for different sectors and different FEWC nexus elements. This novel framework thus provides more nuanced and more robust understanding of food waste impacts on the FEWC nexus in urban circular economies, thereby enabling the development of policy and management options that are optimised for environmental sustainability.
Topics: Refuse Disposal; Food; Waste Management; Carbon Footprint; Water
PubMed: 37406496
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.118554 -
Physiological Research Apr 2024Sodium is the main osmotically active ion in the extracellular fluid and its concentration goes hand in hand with fluid volume. Under physiological conditions,... (Review)
Review
Sodium is the main osmotically active ion in the extracellular fluid and its concentration goes hand in hand with fluid volume. Under physiological conditions, homeostasis of sodium and thus amount of fluid is regulated by neural and humoral interconnection of body tissues and organs. Both heart and kidneys are crucial in maintaining volume status. Proper kidney function is necessary to excrete regulated amount of water and solutes and adequate heart function is inevitable to sustain renal perfusion pressure, oxygen supply etc. As these organs are bidirectionally interconnected, injury of one leads to dysfunction of another. This condition is known as cardiorenal syndrome. It is divided into five subtypes regarding timeframe and pathophysiology of the onset. Hemodynamic effects include congestion, decreased cardiac output, but also production of natriuretic peptides. Renal congestion and hypoperfusion leads to kidney injury and maladaptive activation of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system and sympathetic nervous system. In cardiorenal syndromes sodium and water excretion is impaired leading to volume overload and far-reaching negative consequences, including higher morbidity and mortality of these patients. Keywords: Cardiorenal syndrome, Renocardiac syndrome, Volume overload, Sodium retention.
Topics: Humans; Cardio-Renal Syndrome; Animals; Homeostasis; Water-Electrolyte Balance; Sodium; Kidney; Water-Electrolyte Imbalance; Water
PubMed: 38710052
DOI: 10.33549/physiolres.935110 -
Environmental Science & Technology Jul 2023Improvements in water and sanitation should reduce cholera risk though the associations between cholera and specific water and sanitation access measures remain unclear....
Improvements in water and sanitation should reduce cholera risk though the associations between cholera and specific water and sanitation access measures remain unclear. We estimated the association between eight water and sanitation measures and annual cholera incidence access across sub-Saharan Africa (2010-2016) for data aggregated at the country and district levels. We fit random forest regression and classification models to understand how well these measures combined might be able to predict cholera incidence rates and identify high cholera incidence areas. Across spatial scales, piped or "other improved" water access was inversely associated with cholera incidence. Access to piped water, septic or sewer sanitation, and septic, sewer, or "other improved" sanitation were associated with decreased district-level cholera incidence. The classification model had moderate performance in identifying high cholera incidence areas (cross-validated-AUC 0.81, 95% CI 0.78-0.83) with high negative predictive values (93-100%) indicating the utility of water and sanitation measures for screening out areas that are unlikely to be at high cholera risk. While comprehensive cholera risk assessments must incorporate other data sources (e.g., historical incidence), our results suggest that water and sanitation measures could alone be useful in narrowing the geographic focus for detailed risk assessments.
Topics: Humans; Water; Sanitation; Cholera; Water Supply; Africa South of the Sahara
PubMed: 37409942
DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c01317 -
FEMS Microbiology Reviews Sep 2023Microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) is a phenomenon of increasing concern that affects various materials and sectors of society. MIC describes the effects,... (Review)
Review
Microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) is a phenomenon of increasing concern that affects various materials and sectors of society. MIC describes the effects, often negative, that a material can experience due to the presence of microorganisms. Unfortunately, although several research groups and industrial actors worldwide have already addressed MIC, discussions are fragmented, while information sharing and willingness to reach out to other disciplines are limited. A truly interdisciplinary approach, which would be logical for this material/biology/chemistry-related challenge, is rarely taken. In this review, we highlight critical non-biological aspects of MIC that can sometimes be overlooked by microbiologists working on MIC but are highly relevant for an overall understanding of this phenomenon. Here, we identify gaps, methods, and approaches to help solve MIC-related challenges, with an emphasis on the MIC of metals. We also discuss the application of existing tools and approaches for managing MIC and propose ideas to promote an improved understanding of MIC. Furthermore, we highlight areas where the insights and expertise of microbiologists are needed to help progress this field.
Topics: Biofilms; Corrosion; Metals
PubMed: 37437902
DOI: 10.1093/femsre/fuad041 -
Scientific Reports Aug 2023A novel newsvendor model-based framework for regional industrial water resources allocation that considers uncertainties in water supply and demand was proposed in this...
A novel newsvendor model-based framework for regional industrial water resources allocation that considers uncertainties in water supply and demand was proposed in this study. This framework generates optimal water allocation schemes while minimizing total costs. The total cost of water allocation consists of the allocated water cost, the opportunity loss for not meeting water demand, and the loss of the penalty for exceeding water demand. The uncertainties in water demand and supply are expressed by cumulative distribution functions. The optimal water allocation for each water use sector is determined by the water price, the unit loss of the penalty and opportunity loss, and the cumulative distribution functions. The model was then applied to monthly water allocation for domestic, industrial, and agricultural water use in two counties of Huizhou City, China, whose water supply mainly depends on Baipenzhu Reservoir. The water demand for each water use sector and the monthly reservoir inflow showed good fits with the uniform and P-III distributions, respectively. The water demand satisfied ratio for each water use sector was stable and increased for the optimal water allocation scheme from the newsvendor model-based framework, and the costs were lower compared with the actual water allocation scheme. The novel framework is characterized by less severe water shortages, lower costs, and greater similarity to actual water use compared with the traditional deterministic multi-objective analysis model, and demonstrates strong robustness in the advantages of lower released surplus water and higher water demand satisfied ratio. This novel framework yields the optimal water allocation for each water use sector by integrating the properties of the market (i.e., determining the opportunity loss for not meeting water demand) with the government (i.e., determining the water price and the loss of the penalty for exceeding water demand) under the strictest water resources management systems.
PubMed: 37608208
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-40692-7 -
Scientific Reports Aug 2023Due to increased manufacture and recycling of lithium batteries across the world, we may anticipate a rise in lithium pollution in the aquatic environment and drinking...
Due to increased manufacture and recycling of lithium batteries across the world, we may anticipate a rise in lithium pollution in the aquatic environment and drinking water reservoirs. In order to investigate the current status regarding the lithium content in Hungarian tap waters, samples were collected from the public drinking water supply systems of 19 county seats in Hungary during seasonally selected times. Depending on the water sources, such as bank-filtrated river water, surface water from open reservoirs, and groundwater, the lithium concentrations varied between 0.90-4.23, 2.12-11.7 and 1.11-31.4 µg/L, respectively, while the median values were 3.52, 5.02 and 8.55 µg/L, respectively. The lithium concentration in the bottled Hungarian mineral waters was also determined since the daily intake of lithium can be influenced by the consumption of mineral waters. The concentrations ranged from 4.2 to 209 µg/L, while the median value was only 17.8 µg/L. Additionally, a correlation was only found between lithium and potassium concentrations. The lithium concentration was also assessed at ten sampling locations in the Hungarian segment of the Danube River since the Danube water is also a water source for additional drinking water utilities using bank filtration technology. The mean and median lithium concentrations were 2.78 and 2.64 µg/L, respectively.
Topics: Drinking Water; Hungary; Lithium; Rivers; Water Supply; Mineral Waters; Minerals; Water Pollutants, Chemical
PubMed: 37532748
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-38864-6 -
Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease Sep 2023Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are indeed a group of illnesses (Table 1) affecting hundreds of millions of individuals living in tropical and sub-tropical...
Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are indeed a group of illnesses (Table 1) affecting hundreds of millions of individuals living in tropical and sub-tropical geographical regions of the globe, particularly in socioeconomic vulnerability areas where access to adequate sanitation, a clean water supply, and healthcare is limited [...].
PubMed: 37888590
DOI: 10.3390/tropicalmed8100462