Environmental Epidemiology

PURPOSE: To examine associations of prenatal biomarkers of pesticide exposure with birth size measures and length of gestation among newborns from the Infants' Environmental Health (ISA) birth cohort, Costa Rica. METHODS: We included 386 singleton liveborn newborns with data on birth size measures, length of gestation, and maternal urinary biomarkers of chlorpyrifos, synthetic pyrethroids, mancozeb, pyrimethanil, and 2, 4-D during pregnancy. We associated biomarkers of exposure with birth outcomes using multivariate linear regression and generalized additive models...

BACKGROUND: Air conditioners can prevent heat-related illness and mortality, but the increased use of air conditioners may enhance susceptibility to heat-related illnesses during large-scale power failures. Here, we examined the risks of heat-related illness ambulance transport (HIAT) and mortality associated with typhoon-related electricity reduction (ER) in the summer months in the Tokyo metropolitan area. METHODS: We conducted event study analyses to compare temperature-HIAT and mortality associations before and after the power outage (July to September 2019)...

BACKGROUND: Triclosan is an endocrine-disrupting chemical, but associations with pubertal outcomes remain unclear. We examined associations of gestational and childhood triclosan with adolescent hormone concentrations and pubertal stage. METHODS: We quantified urinary triclosan concentrations twice during pregnancy and seven times between birth and 12 years in participants recruited from Cincinnati, OH (2003-2006). We averaged concentrations across pregnancy and childhood and separately considered individual exposure periods in multiple informant models...

BACKGROUND: There is a vast body of literature covering the association between air pollution exposure and nonaccidental mortality. However, the role of socioeconomic status (SES) in this relationship is still not fully understood. OBJECTIVES: We investigated if individual and contextual SES modified the relationship between short-term exposure to ozone (O3 ), nitrogen dioxide (NO2 ), and particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter <10 µm (PM10 ) on cardiovascular, respiratory, and all nonaccidental mortality...

BACKGROUND: Although the effects of temperature on genitourinary morbidity and mortality have been investigated in several countries, it remains largely unexplored in Japan. We investigated the association between ambient temperature and genitourinary emergency ambulance dispatches (EADs) in Japan and the modifying roles of sex, age, and illness severity. METHODS: We conducted a time-stratified case-crossover study with conditional quasi-Poisson regression to estimate the association between mean temperature and genitourinary EADs in all prefectures of Japan between 2015 and 2019...

BACKGROUND: Pollen exposure is associated with substantial respiratory morbidity, but its potential impact on cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains less understood. This study aimed to investigate the associations between daily levels of 13 pollen types and emergency department (ED) visits for eight CVD outcomes over a 26-year period in Atlanta, GA. METHODS: We acquired pollen data from Atlanta Allergy & Asthma, a nationally certified pollen counting station, and ED visit data from individual hospitals and the Georgia Hospital Association...

Recognition of the importance to environmental epidemiology of ethical and philosophical deliberation led, in 1996, to the establishment of Ethics Guidelines for the profession. In 1999, these guidelines were adopted by the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology. The guidelines were revised in 2012 and again in 2023 to ensure continued relevance to the major issues facing the field. Comprising normative standards of professional conduct, the guidelines are structured into four subsections: (1) obligations to individuals and communities who participate in research; (2) obligations to society; (3) obligations regarding funders/sponsors and employers; and (4) obligations to colleagues...

BACKGROUND: Light exposure is the most powerful resetting signal for circadian rhythms. The objective of this study was to develop and validate a high-resolution geospatial light exposure model that measures environmental circadian misalignment (or solar jetlag) as the mismatch between the social clock and sun clock, which occurs from geographic variation in light exposure leading to delayed circadian phase from relatively less morning light exposure and greater evening light exposure with increasing westward position within a time zone...

BACKGROUND: Exposure to ambient PM2.5 is known to affect lipid metabolism through systemic inflammation and oxidative stress. Evidence from developing countries, such as India with high levels of ambient PM2.5 and distinct lipid profiles, is sparse. METHODS: Longitudinal nonlinear mixed-effects analysis was conducted on >10,000 participants of Centre for cArdiometabolic Risk Reduction in South Asia (CARRS) cohort in Chennai and Delhi, India. We examined associations between 1-month and 1-year average ambient PM2...

BACKGROUND: Studies show that more than 5.1 million deaths annually are attributed to nonoptimal temperatures, including extreme cold and extreme heat. However, those studies mostly report average estimates across large geographical areas. The health risks attributed to nonoptimal temperatures in British Columbia (BC) are reported incompletely or limit the study area to urban centers. In this study, we aim to estimate the attributable deaths linked to nonoptimal temperatures in all five regional health authorities (RHAs) of BC from 2001 to 2021...

INTRODUCTION: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a major public health concern, and various environmental factors have been associated with the development of this disease. This study aimed to investigate the longitudinal effects of multiple environmental exposures on the risk of incident T2D in a German population-based cohort. METHODS: We used data from the KORA cohort study (Augsburg, Germany) and assessed exposure to air pollutants, traffic noise, greenness, and temperature at the participants' residencies...

BACKGROUND: Direct potable reuse (DPR) involves adding purified wastewater that has not passed through an environmental buffer into a water distribution system. DPR may help address water shortages and is approved or is under consideration as a source of drinking water for several water-stressed population centers in the United States, however, there are no studies of health outcomes in populations who receive DPR drinking water. Our objective was to determine whether the introduction of DPR for certain public water systems in Texas was associated with changes in birth defect prevalence...

BACKGROUND: Although the causes of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism have not been identified, exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals, such as polybrominated biphenyl (PBB), during fetal development and early life has been suspected to impact neurological development. This study aims to investigate the association between prenatal and early life exposure to PBB and the development of ADHD and autism later in life. METHODS: Data from the Michigan PBB Registry, a cohort of Michigan residents who had been exposed to PBB in a mass contamination event in 1973, was leveraged for this nested case-control analysis among two distinct samples: (1) Those who self-reported ADHD or autism diagnosis, and (2) mothers who reported their child's ADHD or autism diagnosis...

BACKGROUND: In the past decade, electrical power disruptions (outages) have increased in the United States, especially those attributable to weather events. These outages have a range of health impacts but are largely unstudied in children. Here, we investigated the association between outages and unintentional injury hospitalizations, a leading cause of childhood morbidity. METHODS: The study setting was New York State (NYS) from 2017 to 2020. Outage exposure was defined as ≥10%, ≥20%, and ≥50% of customers from a power operating locality without power, ascertained from NYS Department of Public Service records and stratified by rural, urban non-New York City (NYC), and NYC regions...

BACKGROUND: Fine particulate matter (PM2.5 ) exposure has been linked to anxiety and depression in adults; however, there is limited research in the younger populations, in which symptoms often first arise. METHODS: We examined the association between early-life PM2.5 exposure and symptoms of anxiety and depression in a cohort of 8-11-year-olds in Mexico City. Anxiety and depressive symptoms were assessed using the Spanish versions of the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale and Children's Depression Inventory...

BACKGROUND: Children in agricultural areas are exposed to organophosphate (OP) and pyrethroid (PYR) insecticides. This explorative study investigated child exposure to OPs and PYRs, comparing temporal and spatial exposure variability within and among urine, wristbands, and dust samples. METHODS: During spraying season 2018, 38 South African children in two agricultural areas (Grabouw/Hex River Valley) and settings (farm/village) participated in a seven-day study...

It is often difficult for policymakers to make informed decisions without evidence-based support, resulting in potentially ineffective policies. The purpose of this article is to advocate for collaboration and communication between researchers and policymakers to enhance evidence-based policymaking. The workshop hosted by the International Society of Environmental Epidemiology-Eastern Mediterranean Chapter further explores the challenges of connecting researchers and policymakers. The article highlights the gap between researchers and policymakers, attributed to different visions and objectives, time constraints, and communication issues...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: Early-life exposure to nonessential (toxic) and essential trace elements can influence child development. Although infant formula powders and the water used to reconstitute them can contain higher concentrations of many elements compared with human milk, the influence of feeding mode on reliable biomarkers of infant exposure has rarely been demonstrated. METHODS: We evaluated associations between urinary biomarkers and feeding mode (exclusively human milk, exclusively formula, or combination-fed) for four toxic (arsenic, cadmium, nickel, and uranium) and three essential elements (cobalt, molybdenum, and selenium) using general linear models...

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have indicated that renal disease mortality is sensitive to ambient temperatures. However, most have been limited to the summer season with inconclusive evidence for changes in population vulnerability over time. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to examine the association between short-term exposure to ambient temperatures and mortality due to renal diseases in Japan, and how this association varied over time. METHODS: We conducted a two-stage, time-stratified case-crossover study from 1979 to 2019 across 47 prefectures of Japan...