The NIEHS and Community-Based Participatory Research
This month's NIEHS News (p. A500) covers the institute's community-based participatory research program, in which scientists and community members join together to plan and conduct research on environmental health hazards and then take the findings to local residents through dissemination and intervention.
Environmental Health in Brazil
The Focus (p. A504) examines the environmental health status of Brazil, a nation that faces growing air and water pollution, inadequate drinking water and waste disposal, increases in some vectorborne diseases, and widespread pesticide use.
Reuniting Environmental and Public Health
As the fields of environmental and public health have become more specialized and insulated from one another, the result is that policy making in one field often ignores important data contributed by the other. This month's Spheres of Influence (p. A512) takes a look at this schism and describes current projects aimed at reintegrating the two disciplines.
Getting Food to Market Safely
The Innovations (p. A516) describes advances in food packaging technology--including the use of bacterial proteins and a new breathable film wrap--that better protect foods as they travel from the fields to the market.
Endocrine Disruptors Pose Ecological Risk
A Review of risk assessment for endocrine disruptors by Hutchinson et al. (p. 1007) recommends a tiered approach that integrates exposure and hazard characterization with assays using amphibians, fish, birds, and mammals, and assigns priority to research on endocrine physiology.
Monomethylarsonous Acid in Human Urine
Monomethylarsonous acid (MMA) is a key intermediate in the metabolic pathway of arsenic biomethylation, which involves step-wise reduction of pentavalent to trivalent arsenic species followed by oxidative addition of a methyl group. Le et al. (p. 1015) confirmed the presence of MMA in urine samples from people in Inner Mongolia who drink arsenic-contaminated well water.
Secondhand Smoke and Menstrual Pain
Dysmenorrhea, or painful menses, is a common gynecologic disorder in women of reproductive age. Chen et al. (p. 1019) examined the association between exposure to environmental tobacco smoke and a novel occurrence of dysmenorrhea in Chinese women, and report a positive dose-response relationship. (Also see Science Selections, p. A520)
Dust and Endotoxin in the Home
Endotoxin is a proinflammatory component of bacterial membranes that causes airway inflammation when inhaled as part of house dust, and exposure has not been well characterized. Park et al. (p. 1023) report the variation inside and between homes, the seasonal and indoor climatic influences on endotoxin levels, and the seasonal patterns of outdoor endotoxin levels.
Chemical Data for Predictive Toxicology
Helma et al. (p. 1029) propose methods for the routine quality control of machine learning methods that are used to predict structural alerts for toxicity gleaned from large chemical datasets. The authors present potential sources of errors associated with compound identification, structural representation, and calculation of chemical descriptors.
Baltic Sea Fish as a Source of Organohalogens
Sjödin et al. (p. 1035) showed that the consumption of fatty fish from the Baltic Sea was associated with plasma concentrations of PCBs, DDT/DDE, hexachlorobenzene, and pentachlorophenol in Latvian and Swedish men. Both age and amount of fish eaten were significantly correlated with concentrations of the contaminants.
Selenium in Breast Milk
Zachara and Pilecki (p. 1043) examined 905 milk samples from Polish women between 12 and 75 days of lactation and found selenium in suboptimal concentrations. The average amount of selenium consumed by breast-fed infants was 75% of the recommended dose for normal infant growth, indicating that supplementation should be provided.
Asbestos and Cancer in Turkey
Zeren et al. (p. 1047) examined 50 cases of malignant mesothelioma in individuals who had no occupational exposure to asbestos, and showed that environmental inhalation of asbestos is still a major health problem in southern Turkey.
Personal Exposure to Different Particle Sizes
Particle mass concentrations and size distributions were determined in microenvironments by Levy et al. (p. 1051). In general, larger particles were elevated in the vicinity of human activity and smaller ones were elevated in the vicinity of combustion sources; this implies that personal exposures can depend on activity patterns and that the accuracy of personal exposure information can be improved by microenvironmental concentration information.
Headache in Cell Phone Users
A cross-sectional study by Chia et al. (p. 1059) examined the prevalence of specific central nervous system symptoms among hand phone users in 808 Singapore residents. The authors report a significant increase in the prevalence of headache with increasing duration of cell phone usage, whereas prevalence of headache was reduced more than 20% among those using hand-free equipment for cell phones.
Particulates and Human Lung Remodeling
Pinkerton et al. (p. 1063) used lung autopsy specimens to examine the relationship between intrapulmonary particle distribution and remodeling of airway paths in the lungs. The authors report that accumulation of particles is significantly affected by lung anatomy, with the greatest retention in the minute terminal branches of the lungs, accompanied by remodeling of this transitional zone.
Particulates and Heart/Lung Diseases
The association between particulate air pollution and hospital admission for heart and lung disease in 10 U.S. cities was examined by Zanobetti et al. (p. 1071). Using a model that considers simultaneously the effects of PM10 up to lags of 5 days, the authors found increases in several diseases for every 10 µg/m3 increase in PM10, with no confounding by sulfur dioxide, ozone, or carbon monoxide. (Also see Science Selections, p. A520)
Cotinine Signals Fetal Exposure to Smoking
Pichini et al. (p. 1079) examined biomarkers of fetal exposure to tobacco smoke in 441 mothers and offspring from Barcelona, Spain. Cord serum cotinine appeared to be the most adequate biomarker of fetal exposure to cigarette smoke at the end of pregnancy for distinguishing active smoking from passive smoking and for distinguishing exposure to environmental tobacco smoke from nonexposure.
Malformed Frogs
Sower et al. (p. 1085) reported malformed frogs in 13 of 16 sites in New Hampshire. Malformed frogs exhibited 3-fold reductions in brain and testicular hormone production, suggesting that endocrine-disrupting chemicals may have caused abnormal development subsequently expressed as malformations in adults.
Evaluating Household Lead with Isotopes
Gwiazda and Smith (p. 1091) recommend the use of lead isotope measurements to supplement the normal evaluation of lead hazards in the household. The authors show that economical lead isotope methods can identify the source(s) of lead actually being ingested by children and can also exclude extraneous sources to eliminate the need for unnecessary cleanup procedures.
Cavities and Lead Exposure in Children
Campbell et al. (p. 1099) examined 248 second and fifth graders who had prior blood lead examinations between 18 and 37 months of age to determine if there was an association between lead and dental caries. In this limited sample there was no evidence that lead exposure above 10 µg/dL as a toddler was a strong predictor of dental caries among school age children. (Also see Science Selections, p. A521)
Organophosphate Intoxication in a Plastic Bottle Recycling Plant
Wang et al. (p. 1103) report the case of a young man who was exposed to organophosphates when pesticide-contaminated water was absorbed into his foot through the damaged sole of his shoe. The authors encourage employers to provide periodic health examinations that include testing of serum acetylcholinesterase levels, and to require appropriate training and safety equipment for workers.
Last Updated: November 9, 2000