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JAMA Cardiology Jun 2024Climate change may increase the risk of adverse cardiovascular outcomes by causing direct physiologic changes, psychological distress, and disruption of health-related...
IMPORTANCE
Climate change may increase the risk of adverse cardiovascular outcomes by causing direct physiologic changes, psychological distress, and disruption of health-related infrastructure. Yet, the association between numerous climate change-related environmental stressors and the incidence of adverse cardiovascular events has not been systematically reviewed.
OBJECTIVE
To review the current evidence on the association between climate change-related environmental stressors and adverse cardiovascular outcomes.
EVIDENCE REVIEW
PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library were searched to identify peer-reviewed publications from January 1, 1970, through November 15, 2023, that evaluated associations between environmental exposures and cardiovascular mortality, acute cardiovascular events, and related health care utilization. Studies that examined only nonwildfire-sourced particulate air pollution were excluded. Two investigators independently screened 20 798 articles and selected 2564 for full-text review. Study quality was assessed using the Navigation Guide framework. Findings were qualitatively synthesized as substantial differences in study design precluded quantitative meta-analysis.
FINDINGS
Of 492 observational studies that met inclusion criteria, 182 examined extreme temperature, 210 ground-level ozone, 45 wildfire smoke, and 63 extreme weather events, such as hurricanes, dust storms, and droughts. These studies presented findings from 30 high-income countries, 17 middle-income countries, and 1 low-income country. The strength of evidence was rated as sufficient for extreme temperature; ground-level ozone; tropical storms, hurricanes, and cyclones; and dust storms. Evidence was limited for wildfire smoke and inadequate for drought and mudslides. Exposure to extreme temperature was associated with increased cardiovascular mortality and morbidity, but the magnitude varied with temperature and duration of exposure. Ground-level ozone amplified the risk associated with higher temperatures and vice versa. Extreme weather events, such as hurricanes, were associated with increased cardiovascular risk that persisted for many months after the initial event. Some studies noted a small increase in cardiovascular mortality, out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, and hospitalizations for ischemic heart disease after exposure to wildfire smoke, while others found no association. Older adults, racial and ethnic minoritized populations, and lower-wealth communities were disproportionately affected.
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE
Several environmental stressors that are predicted to increase in frequency and intensity with climate change are associated with increased cardiovascular risk, but data on outcomes in low-income countries are lacking. Urgent action is needed to mitigate climate change-associated cardiovascular risk, particularly in vulnerable populations.
PubMed: 38865135
DOI: 10.1001/jamacardio.2024.1321 -
Environment International Jun 2024Fusion energy investigation has stepped to a new stage adopting deuterium and tritium as fuels from the previous stage concentrating hydrogen plasma physics. Special... (Review)
Review
Fusion energy investigation has stepped to a new stage adopting deuterium and tritium as fuels from the previous stage concentrating hydrogen plasma physics. Special radiation safety issues would be introduced during this stage. In addition to industrial and military uses, tungsten is also regarded as the most promising plasma facing material for fusion reactors. During the operation of fusion reactors, tungsten-based plasma facing materials can be activated via neutron nuclear reaction. Meanwhile, activated tungsten dust can be produced when high-energy plasma interacts with the tungsten-based plasma facing materials, namely plasma wall interaction. Activated tungsten dust would be an emerging environmental pollutant with radiation toxicity containing various radionuclides in addition to the chemical toxicity of tungsten itself. Nonetheless, the historical underestimation of its environmental availability has led to limited research on tungsten compared to other environmental contaminants. This paper presents the first systematic review on the safety issue of emerging activated tungsten dust, encompassing source terms, environmental behaviors, and health effects. The key contents are as follows: 1) to detail the source terms of activated tungsten dust from aspects of tungsten basic properties, generation mechanism, physical morphology and chemical component, radioactivity, as well as potential release pathways, 2) to illustrate the environmental behaviors from aspects of atmospheric dispersion and deposition, transformation and migration in soil, as well as plant absorption and distribution, 3) to identify the toxicity and health effects from aspects of toxicity to plants, distribution in human body, as well as health effects by radiation and chemical toxicity, 4) based on the research progress, research and development issues needed are also pointed out to better knowledge of safety issue of activated tungsten dust, which would be beneficial to the area of fusion energy and ecological impact caused by the routine tungsten related industrial and military applications.
Topics: Tungsten; Dust; Humans
PubMed: 38810497
DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2024.108774 -
Revista Alergia Mexico (Tecamachalco,... Feb 2024Review the historical records of house dust mites in the countries of the Pacific and continental Caribbean of Latin America.
OBJECTIVE
Review the historical records of house dust mites in the countries of the Pacific and continental Caribbean of Latin America.
METHODS
A systematic review was carried out, adapting the PRISMA method, in digital repositories using a combination of the terms in Spanish: "ácaros domésticos" "alergia" and in English: "dust mites" "allergy" with the names of the countries "Costa Rica". "Panamá" "Venezuela" "Colombia" "Ecuador" "Peru" between 1970-2022. The inclusion criteria were presence of the mite species, city or municipality, country, height above sea level and year. A database was built in Microsoft Excel Office 365. Maps were created using QGIS 3.30 geographic information systems and descriptive statistics were used to analyze the findings.
RESULTS
From the search and identification, 3959 references were obtained, of which 133 were considered potentially eligible, of these 45 met inclusion criteria, and only 32 presented records of domestic mite species. Historically there were 424 records and 27 species (18 genera and 9 families). The countries with the most studies and records were Colombia (14 and 242), Panama (8 and 64) and Peru (5 and 74). 66% (281/424) of the records were of the species (81), followed by (58), (40), (39), . (33) and (30). The species with the greatest altitudinal range were , (2-4800 m.a.s.l) and (2- 3399 m.a.s.l).
CONCLUSIONS
A synthesis was presented on the historical geographical and altitudinal distribution of house dust mites in countries of the Pacific and continental Caribbean of Latin America, which in turn allowed us to determine the species with the greatest records, highlighting those of importance in allergology. These findings are an input for acarological surveillance in public health.
Topics: Animals; History, 20th Century; History, 21st Century; Latin America; Pyroglyphidae; Pacific Ocean; Caribbean Region
PubMed: 38683087
DOI: 10.29262/ram.v71i1.1307 -
Journal of Hazardous Materials Jun 2024Phthalate esters (PAEs) are a class of plasticizers that are readily released from plastic products, posing a potential exposure risk to human body. At present, much... (Review)
Review
Phthalate esters (PAEs) are a class of plasticizers that are readily released from plastic products, posing a potential exposure risk to human body. At present, much attention is paid on PAE concentrations in indoor dust with the understanding of PAEs toxicity. This study collected 8187 data on 10 PAEs concentrations in indoor dusts from 26 countries and comprehensively reviewed the worldwide distribution, influencing factors, and health risks of PAEs. Di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) is the predominant PAE with a median concentration of 316 μg·g in indoor dust. Polyvinyl chloride wallpaper and flooring and personal care products are the main sources of PAEs indoor dust. The dust concentrations of DEHP show a downward trend over the past two decades, while high dust concentrations of DiNP are found from 2011 to 2016. The median dust contents of 8 PAEs in public places are higher than those in households. Moreover, the concentrations of 9 PAEs in indoor dusts from high-income countries are higher than those from upper-middle-income countries. DEHP in 69.8% and 77.8% of the dust samples may pose a potential carcinogenic risk for adults and children, respectively. Besides, DEHP in 16.9% of the dust samples may pose a non-carcinogenic risk to children. Nevertheless, a negligible risk was found for other PAEs in indoor dust worldwide. This review contributes to an in-depth understanding of the global distribution, sources and health risks of PAEs in indoor dust.
Topics: Dust; Air Pollution, Indoor; Phthalic Acids; Humans; Esters; Plasticizers; Risk Assessment; Environmental Exposure; Air Pollutants
PubMed: 38678719
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.134423 -
Toxicology Jun 2024E-waste -the aftermath of large amount of electrical and electronic equipment ferried into Africa from which Nigeria receives a significant chunk, is composed of...
E-waste -the aftermath of large amount of electrical and electronic equipment ferried into Africa from which Nigeria receives a significant chunk, is composed of components known to be hazardous to health. Composition of series of heavy metals (HMs) in e-waste is traceable to many health conditions including cancer which is hitherto incompletely understood. This study harmonizes primary data on HMs from e-waste in different Nigerian environmental media including the air, soil, surface dust, water and plant. We estimated the possible health implications, single and aggregative soil and water pollution indices both in adult and children categories, carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks secondary to HM exposure and mapped out the possible mechanism of carcinogenesis. Analysis showed that soil, water, surface dust and plant matrices in Nigerian environment are variedly but considerably contaminated with combination of HMs. The significantly high values of the hazard quotient and hazard index of both water and surface dust matrices are indicative of adverse health effect of the non-carcinogenic risk. The highest HQ is generated by Pb and Cr through dermal exposure to soil and surface dust with mean values of 1718.48, 1146.14, 1362.10 and 1794.61 respectively among Nigerian children followed by the oral exposure. This pattern of observation is similar to that obtained for adult category. HI due to Pb and Cr in soil constitutes the highest HI (2.05E+03 and 1.18E+03 respectively) followed by surface dust. However, this study precipitates the observation that children are more at health risk than adults in contaminated environment. Carcinogenic risk also follows the same pattern of expression in the Nigerian environment. We conclude that exposure to e-waste poses significant carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health risks and the induction of toxicity may be mediated via DNA damage, oxidative stress and inflammatory/immune cells dysfunction in Nigerian environment.
Topics: Humans; Carcinogens; Electronic Waste; Environmental Exposure; Environmental Monitoring; Environmental Pollutants; Metals, Heavy; Nigeria; Risk Assessment; Waste Management
PubMed: 38653375
DOI: 10.1016/j.tox.2024.153811 -
Environmental Pollution (Barking, Essex... Apr 2024Chronic respiratory diseases are a dealing cause of death and disability worldwide. Their prevalence is steadily increasing and the exposure to environmental... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
Chronic respiratory diseases are a dealing cause of death and disability worldwide. Their prevalence is steadily increasing and the exposure to environmental contaminants, including Flame Retardants (FRs), is being considered as a possible risk factor. Despite the widespread and continuous exposure to FRs, the role of these contaminants in chronic respiratory diseases is yet not clear. This study aims to systematically review the association between the exposure to FRs and chronic respiratory diseases. Searches were performed using the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, PUBMED, SCOPUS, ISI Web of Science (Science and Social Science Index), WHO Global Health Library and CINAHL EBSCO. Among the initial 353 articles found, only 9 fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were included. No statistically significant increase in the risk for chronic respiratory diseases with exposure to FRs was found and therefore there is not enough evidence to support that FRs pose a significantly higher risk for the development or worsening of respiratory diseases. However, a non-significant trend for potential hazard was found for asthma and rhinitis/rhinoconjunctivitis, particularly considering urinary organophosphate esters (OPEs) including TNBP, TPHP, TCEP and TCIPP congeners/compounds. Most studies showed a predominance of moderate risk of bias, therefore the global strength of the evidence is low. The limitations of the studies here reviewed, and the potential hazardous effects herein identified highlights the need for good quality large-scale cohort studies in which biomarkers of exposure should be quantified in biological samples.
Topics: Humans; Flame Retardants; Organophosphorus Compounds; Organophosphates; Asthma; Environmental Monitoring; Dust; Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers
PubMed: 38458527
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2024.123733 -
Journal of Toxicology and Environmental... Apr 2024The relationship of occupational exposure to endotoxins with different histologic subtypes of lung cancer has not been established. Our objective was to conduct a... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
The relationship of occupational exposure to endotoxins with different histologic subtypes of lung cancer has not been established. Our objective was to conduct a systematic review with meta-analysis to assess the effect of exposure to endotoxins on the development of small cell lung cancer (SCLC). A bibliographic search was conducted using MEDLINE, Embase, CENTRAL, and Web of Science databases until December 2022, including all cohort and/or case-control studies that examined occupational exposure to endotoxins and SCLC. Risk of bias was assessed using the U.S. Office of Health Assessment and Translation tool. A random effects model was applied, publication bias were assessed, and a sensitivity analysis was conducted. Four papers were selected for meta-analysis purposes. A total of 144 incident cases of SCLC and 897 population or hospital controls were included. Occupational exposure to endotoxins was considered for textile/leather industry and agricultural sector workers exposed to endotoxins originating from wool, cotton, or leather dust. Except for one study, all investigations were classified as having a low probability of risk of biases. The results of the meta-analysis were not statistically significant (pooled OR: 0.86; 95% CI:0.69-1.08). In addition, neither between-study heterogeneity (I=0%;p=0.92) nor publication bias was observed (p=0.49). The results of the sensitivity analysis, after including five studies that assessed the risk of SCLC among textile industry and crop/livestock farm workers (not specifically exposed to endotoxins), showed a negative statistically non-significant association and low between-study heterogeneity (pooled OR: 0.90; 95% CI:0.79-1.02; I=22%;p=0.23). Subjects exposed to occupational exposure to endotoxins seem to exhibit a negative association with the development of SCLC, although the results are not conclusive.
Topics: Humans; Small Cell Lung Carcinoma; Lung Neoplasms; Endotoxins; Textiles; Occupational Exposure; Dust; Occupational Diseases
PubMed: 38369511
DOI: 10.1080/10937404.2024.2316151 -
The Journal of Allergy and Clinical... May 2024Although randomized controlled trials (RCT) are the reference standard of evidence in allergen immunotherapy (AIT), nonrandomized studies (NRS) are needed to confirm...
IR (index of reactivity)-house dust mite sublingual immunotherapy liquid formulation for allergic rhinoconjunctivitis: Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized and nonrandomized studies.
BACKGROUND
Although randomized controlled trials (RCT) are the reference standard of evidence in allergen immunotherapy (AIT), nonrandomized studies (NRS) are needed to confirm their results in more representative populations, particularly for treatment duration and persistence. However, when discrepancies are observed between RCT and NRS, NRS reliability decreases because these discrepant results are generally attributed to the methodologic flaws of NRS.
OBJECTIVE
We compared the benefit of sublingual AIT (SLIT) for allergic rhinoconjunctivitis in NRS versus RCT focusing on a single product/allergen to reduce heterogeneity.
METHODS
For meta-analysis, house dust mite (HDM) SLIT liquid formulation studies were sourced from computerized (Medline, Web of Science, and LILACS databases, to January 2023) and manual literature searches. Populations, treatments, and outcome data were combined (DerSimonian-Laird method). Noncomparative NRS were compared to RCT' SLIT arm before and after treatment. Efficacy was determined as the standardized mean difference (SMD) in symptom score (SS) and medication score (MS).
RESULTS
Data from 12 NRS (682 patients) and 8 RCT (176 patients) were analyzed. The benefit with index of reactivity (IR)-HDM SLIT liquid formulation was found significant for, first, SS in both NRS (SMD = -1.27; 95% confidence interval [CI], -1.64, -0.90) and RCT (SMD = -0.56; 95% CI, -0.90, -0.21), and second, MS with SMD equal to -1.35 (95% CI, -1.77, -0.93) and -0.46 (95% CI, -0.67, -0.25), respectively. Metaregression showed that symptom improvement was correlated with treatment duration with consistent results in NRS and RCT with 12-month SS data: -0.87 (interquartile range, -1.02, -0.77) and -0.75 (interquartile range, -0.93, -0.41), respectively.
CONCLUSION
This meta-analysis showed comparable clinical benefit of IR-HDM SLIT liquid formulation increasing over time in both NRS and RCT, suggesting that NRS may reliably integrate RCT results and be considered for guidelines.
PubMed: 38328804
DOI: 10.1016/j.jacig.2024.100208 -
Effects and mechanisms of bisphenols exposure on neurodegenerative diseases risk: A systemic review.The Science of the Total Environment Apr 2024Environmental bisphenols (BPs) pose a global threat to human health because of their extensive use as additives in plastic products. BP residues are increasing in... (Review)
Review
Environmental bisphenols (BPs) pose a global threat to human health because of their extensive use as additives in plastic products. BP residues are increasing in various environmental media (i.e., water, soil, and indoor dust) and biological and human samples (i.e., serum and brain). Both epidemiological and animal studies have determined an association between exposure to BPs and an increased risk of neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), including cognitive abnormalities and behavioral disturbances. Hence, understanding the biological responses to different BPs is essential for prevention, and treatment. This study provides an overview of the underlying pathogenic molecular mechanisms as a valuable basis for understanding neurodegenerative disease responses to BPs, including accumulation of misfolded proteins, reduction of tyrosine hydroxylase and dopamine, abnormal hormone signaling, neuronal death, oxidative stress, calcium homeostasis, and inflammation. These findings provide new insights into the neurotoxic potential of BPs and ultimately contribute to a comprehensive health risk evaluation.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Neurodegenerative Diseases; Alzheimer Disease; Parkinson Disease; Brain; Oxidative Stress
PubMed: 38325473
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170670 -
Journal of Occupational Health Jan 2024The purpose of this study was to present a systematic review of the health-related problems of factory workers in the textile and fashion industry. These workers endure...
OBJECTIVES
The purpose of this study was to present a systematic review of the health-related problems of factory workers in the textile and fashion industry. These workers endure long sitting postures, poor workspace conditions, and long working hours to complete their overload of tasks. This situation results in several health problems that affect the productivity, mental health, and well-being of the workers.
METHODS
The relevant data (21 article publications) were obtained from the Scopus database. Analysis of the 21 articles was grouped under 3 research themes based on the critical reading of the content and abstracts: respiratory problems, musculoskeletal disorders, and psychological stressors and other health issues.
RESULTS
The findings show that factory workers are exposed to dust particles of cotton and other raw materials, fumes, and chemicals from manufacturing processes. This prolonged exposure without the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) leads to respiratory diseases like byssinosis that affect the workers' health. Additionally, working in a particular posture due to the workstation design for prolonged hours causes musculoskeletal disorders or pains. Workers also suffer from anxiety, depression, and stress from workload and pressure, hence making them unstable with reduced productivity.
CONCLUSIONS
The findings of the study reinforce the need for a safe workspace and spacious work environment, provision of PPE, training in occupational hazards, frequent health checks, and ergonomic assessment of workstations to reduce prolonged work postures. Stakeholders, employers, policymakers, and governments should collaborate to safeguard and protect the well-being and health of the workers at these factories.
Topics: Humans; Occupational Exposure; Occupational Diseases; Byssinosis; Textiles; Musculoskeletal Diseases; Textile Industry
PubMed: 38289711
DOI: 10.1093/joccuh/uiae007