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Air pollution in relation to very short-term risk of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction: Case-crossover analysis of SWEDEHEART.
Sahlén, A, Ljungman, P, Erlinge, D, Chan, MY, Yap, J, Hausenloy, DJ, Yeo, KK, Jernberg, T
International journal of cardiology. 2019;:26-30
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Studies have related air pollution to myocardial infarction (MI) events over days or weeks, with few data on very short-term risks. We studied risk of ST-segment elevation MI (STEMI) within hours of exposure to air pollution while adjusting for weather. METHODS We performed a case-crossover study of STEMI cases in Stockholm, Sweden (Jan 2000-June 2014) based on SWEDEHEART. Exposures during hazard periods up to 24 h prior to admission were compared to bidirectionally sampled control periods. Risks attributable to sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone and particulate pollutants (PM2.5, PM10) were studied in conditional logistic regression models for interquartile range increments. RESULTS Risk of STEMI (n = 14,601) was associated with NO2 (strongest at 15-h lag) and with PM2.5 (strongest at 20-h lag), in single-pollutant models adjusting for air temperature and humidity (NO2: odds ratio (OR; 95% confidence interval) 1.065 (1.031-1.101); PM2.5: 1.026 (1.001-1.054)). After adjusting models for atmospheric pressure (significantly associated with STEMI risk at 14-24-h lags), NO2 remained highly statistically significant (1.057 (1.022-1.094)) but not PM2.5 (1.024 (0.997-1.052)). No associations were seen for SO2, ozone or PM10. CONCLUSION Risk of STEMI rises within hours of exposure to air pollutants, with strongest impact of NO2. These findings are complementary to earlier reports which have not acknowledged widely the importance of very short-term fluctuations in air pollution.
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2.
Association of Prenatal and Perinatal Exposures to Particulate Matter With Changes in Hemoglobin A1c Levels in Children Aged 4 to 6 Years.
Moody, EC, Cantoral, A, Tamayo-Ortiz, M, Pizano-Zárate, ML, Schnaas, L, Kloog, I, Oken, E, Coull, B, Baccarelli, A, Téllez-Rojo, MM, et al
JAMA network open. 2019;(12):e1917643
Abstract
IMPORTANCE Environmental risk factors for childhood type 2 diabetes, an increasing global problem, are understudied. Air pollution exposure has been reported to be a risk factor for this condition. OBJECTIVE To examine the association between prenatal and perinatal exposures to fine particulate matter with a diameter less than 2.5 μm (PM2.5) and changes in hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), a measure of glycated hemoglobin and marker of glucose dysregulation, in children aged 4 to 7 years. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS The Programming Research in Obesity, Growth, Environment, and Social Stressors (PROGRESS) study, a birth cohort study conducted in Mexico City, Mexico, recruited pregnant women from July 3, 2007, to February 21, 2011, through public health maternity clinics. The present analysis includes 365 mother-child pairs followed up until the child was approximately 7 years of age. This study included data from only study visits at approximately 4 to 5 years (visit 1) and 6 to 7 years (visit 2) post partum because HbA1c levels were not measured in earlier visits. The data were analyzed from March 11, 2018, to May 3, 2019. EXPOSURES Daily PM2.5 exposure estimates at participants' home addresses from 4 weeks prior to mothers' date of last menstrual period (LMP), a marker of the beginning of pregnancy, to 12 weeks after the due date. Exposure was estimated from satellite measurements and calibrated against ground PM2.5 measurements, land use, and meteorological variables. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Outcomes included HbA1c levels at 4 to 5 years and 6 to 7 years of age, and the change in the level from the former age group to the latter. RESULTS The sample included 365 children, of whom 184 (50.4%) were girls. The mean (range) age of the children was 4.8 (4.0-6.4) years at visit 1, and 6.7 (6.0-9.7) years at visit 2. At the time of delivery, the mean (range) age of the mothers was 27.7 (18.3-44.4) years, with a mean (range) prepregnancy body mass index of 26.4 (18.5-43.5). The mean (SD) prenatal PM2.5 exposure (22.4 μg/m3 [2.7 μg/m3]) was associated with an annual increase in HbA1c levels of 0.25% (95% CI, 0.004%-0.50%) from age 4 to 5 years to 6 to 7 years compared with exposure at 12 μg/m3, the national regulatory standard in Mexico. Sex-specific effect estimates were statistically significant for girls (β = 0.21%; 95% CI, 0.10% to 0.32%) but not for boys (β = 0.31%; 95% CI, -0.09% to 0.72%). The statistically significant windows of exposure were from week 28 to 50.6 after the mother's LMP for the overall cohort and from week 11 to the end of the study period for girls. Lower HbA1c levels were observed at age 4 to 5 years in girls (β = -0.72%; 95% CI, -1.31% to -0.13%, exposure window from week 16 to 37.3) and boys (β = -0.98%; 95% CI, -1.70% to -0.26%, exposure window from the beginning of the study period to week 32.7), but no significant association was found in the overall cohort (β = -0.13%; 95% CI, -1.27% to 1.01%). There was no significant association between PM2.5 exposure and HbA1c level at age 6 to 7 years in any group. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE The findings of this study suggest that prenatal and perinatal exposures to PM2.5 are associated with changes in HbA1c, which are indicative of glucose dysregulation, in early childhood. Further research is needed because this finding may represent a risk factor for childhood or adolescent diabetes.
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3.
The Effects of Air Pollution on the Development of Atopic Disease.
Hassoun, Y, James, C, Bernstein, DI
Clinical reviews in allergy & immunology. 2019;(3):403-414
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Abstract
Air pollution is defined as the presence of noxious substances in the air at levels that impose a health hazard. Thus, there has been long-standing interest in the possible role of indoor and outdoor air pollutants on the development of respiratory disease. In this regard, asthma has been of particular interest but many studies have also been conducted to explore the relationship between air pollution, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis. Traffic-related air pollutants or TRAP refers to a broad group of pollutants including elemental carbon, black soot, nitrogen dioxide (NO2), nitric oxide (NO), sulfur dioxide (SO2), particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), carbon monoxide (CO), and carbon dioxide (CO2). In this review, we aim to examine the current literature regarding the impact of early childhood exposure to TRAP on the development of asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis. Although there is growing evidence suggesting significant associations, definitive conclusions cannot be made with regard to the effect of TRAP on these diseases. This conundrum may be due to a variety of factors, including different definitions used to define TRAP, case definitions under consideration, a limited number of studies, variation in study designs, and disparities between studies in consideration of confounding factors. Regardless, this review highlights the need for future studies to be conducted, particularly with birth cohorts that explore this relationship further. Such studies may assist in understanding more clearly the pathogenesis of these diseases, as well as other methods by which these diseases could be treated.
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Prenatal Particulate Air Pollution and DNA Methylation in Newborns: An Epigenome-Wide Meta-Analysis.
Gruzieva, O, Xu, CJ, Yousefi, P, Relton, C, Merid, SK, Breton, CV, Gao, L, Volk, HE, Feinberg, JI, Ladd-Acosta, C, et al
Environmental health perspectives. 2019;(5):57012
Abstract
BACKGROUND Prenatal exposure to air pollution has been associated with childhood respiratory disease and other adverse outcomes. Epigenetics is a suggested link between exposures and health outcomes. OBJECTIVES We aimed to investigate associations between prenatal exposure to particulate matter (PM) with diameter [Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text]) or [Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text]) and DNA methylation in newborns and children. METHODS We meta-analyzed associations between exposure to [Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text]) and [Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text]) at maternal home addresses during pregnancy and newborn DNA methylation assessed by Illumina Infinium HumanMethylation450K BeadChip in nine European and American studies, with replication in 688 independent newborns and look-up analyses in 2,118 older children. We used two approaches, one focusing on single cytosine-phosphate-guanine (CpG) sites and another on differentially methylated regions (DMRs). We also related PM exposures to blood mRNA expression. RESULTS Six CpGs were significantly associated [false discovery rate (FDR) [Formula: see text]] with prenatal [Formula: see text] and 14 with [Formula: see text] exposure. Two of the [Formula: see text] CpGs mapped to FAM13A (cg00905156) and NOTCH4 (cg06849931) previously associated with lung function and asthma. Although these associations did not replicate in the smaller newborn sample, both CpGs were significant ([Formula: see text]) in 7- to 9-y-olds. For cg06849931, however, the direction of the association was inconsistent. Concurrent [Formula: see text] exposure was associated with a significantly higher NOTCH4 expression at age 16 y. We also identified several DMRs associated with either prenatal [Formula: see text] and or [Formula: see text] exposure, of which two [Formula: see text] DMRs, including H19 and MARCH11, replicated in newborns. CONCLUSIONS Several differentially methylated CpGs and DMRs associated with prenatal PM exposure were identified in newborns, with annotation to genes previously implicated in lung-related outcomes. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP4522.
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[Air pollution and atopic eczema : Systematic review of findings from environmental epidemiological studies].
Krämer, U, Behrendt, H
Der Hautarzt; Zeitschrift fur Dermatologie, Venerologie, und verwandte Gebiete. 2019;(3):169-184
Abstract
BACKGROUND Among the many risk factors for the development of atopic eczema (AE), the influence of air pollution has recently been discussed more often. A systematic review about this topic however is lacking. AIMS Which effects of outdoor air pollution (particles, nitric oxides, sulfur dioxide, ozone or general traffic exhaust emissions) on AE can be demonstrated in a systematic analysis of available environmental epidemiologic studies? METHODS All environmental epidemiologic studies on AE and air pollution found in the literature database PubMed were identified. The most important key figures of these studies were tabulated, the quality of evidence was graded and the studies described. RESULTS A total of 57 studies were identified. Only one of the 15 cross-sectional studies with a large-scale exposure assessment found a significant association between AE and air pollution. In contrast 23 of 30 studies with small-scale exposure assessment found a significant association between AE and traffic related emissions-especially from trucks. Of the 30 studies, 14 were cohort studies (1 adult, 13 birth cohorts). The sole adult cohort found an association with intrinsic AE. In the East Asian cohorts (all published since 2015), an association between maternal exposure to traffic-related pollution and incidence of AE in the offspring was found. This was less clear in cohorts from Europe/US or simply not investigated. In 5/5 panel studies (all from South Korea), symptom severity of AE was found to be significantly and positively related to outdoor air pollution. CONCLUSIONS In a systematic analysis of environmental epidemiologic studies about air pollution and AE rather good evidence was found that, based on small-scale exposure measurements, especially truck traffic emissions increased AE prevalence, while large-scale exposure to larger particles (PM10) or SO2 was without effect. Considering pathophysiologic aspects traffic exhaust emissions seem to affect both skin barrier function and activation of immune responses.
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Effects of water deficit stress on agronomic and physiological responses of rice and greenhouse gas emission from rice soil under elevated atmospheric CO2.
Kumar, A, Nayak, AK, Das, BS, Panigrahi, N, Dasgupta, P, Mohanty, S, Kumar, U, Panneerselvam, P, Pathak, H
The Science of the total environment. 2019;(Pt 2):2032-2050
Abstract
Rice is the foremost staple food in the world, safeguarding the global food and nutritional security. Rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and water deficits are threatening global rice productivity and sustainability. Under real field conditions these climatic factors often interact with each other resulting in impacts that are remarkably different compared to individual factor exposure. Rice soils exposed to drought and elevated CO2 (eCO2) alters the biomass, diversity and activity of soil microorganisms affecting greenhouse gas (GHG) emission dynamics. In this review we have discussed the impacts of eCO2 and water deficit on agronomic, biochemical and physiological responses of rice and GHGs emissions from rice soils. Drought usually results in oxidative stress due to stomatal closure, dry weight reduction, formation of reactive oxygen species, decrease in relative water content and increase in electrolyte leakage at almost all growth and developmental phases of rice. Elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration reduces the negative effects of drought by improving plant water relations, reducing stomatal opening, decreasing transpiration, increasing canopy photosynthesis, shortening crop growth period and increasing the antioxidant metabolite activities in rice. Increased scientific understanding of the effects of drought and eCO2 on rice agronomy, physiology and GHG emission dynamics of rice soil is essential for devising adaptation options. Integration of novel agronomic practices viz., crop establishment methods and alternate cropping systems with improved water and nutrient management are important steps to help rice farmers cope with drought and eCO2. The review summarizes future research needs for ensuring sustained global food security under future warmer, drier and high CO2 conditions.
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Nitrous oxide emissions from a full-scale biological aerated filter (BAF) subject to seawater infiltration.
Vieira, A, Marques, R, Galinha, C, Povoa, P, Carvalho, G, Oehmen, A
Environmental science and pollution research international. 2019;(20):20939-20948
Abstract
The increase of salt concentrations in influent wastewaters will be a consequence of the sea level rises in coastal areas due to climate change and the future use of seawater to flush toilets as a cost-attractive option for alternative water resources. Yet, little is known about the salinity effect on full-scale wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) performance and on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, such as nitrous oxide (N2O). This study aimed at quantifying the N2O emissions of a full-scale biological aerated filter (BAF) and to correlate the dynamic behavior of the emissions with the process conditions and the periods of infiltration of seawater. A full-scale BAF was monitored for 3 months to assess both their gaseous and liquid N2O fluxes. The total average daily N2O emissions of the plant were 6.16 g N-N2O/kg of NH4-N removed. For the first time at full-scale, a correlation between the N2O emissions and the wastewater influent conductivity (salinity) was found, in which the increase in seawater infiltration in the sewer at high tide augments the daily N2O production and emission to 13.78 g N-N2O/kg of NH4-N removed. The proportional increase in influent conductivity and the N2O emission factor in this WWTP suggested that periods of high conductivity could serve as an indicator of increased N2O emissions by the plant. Furthermore, the operational conditions and the wastewater influent characteristics that influence the N2O emissions were identified as being the dissolved oxygen (DO) dynamics due to the filter washing steps, leading to rapid transitions from oxic to sub-oxic conditions, as well as the (re-)adaptation of microbial consortia due to the dynamics of the biofilm thickness associated to the daily washing process. This study shows the impact that the washing process and seawater infiltration has on the N2O emissions of a BAF and contributes to a better understanding of the operational conditions impacting the emissions in WWTPs.
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Association between Outdoor Air Pollution and Childhood Leukemia: A Systematic Review and Dose-Response Meta-Analysis.
Filippini, T, Hatch, EE, Rothman, KJ, Heck, JE, Park, AS, Crippa, A, Orsini, N, Vinceti, M
Environmental health perspectives. 2019;(4):46002
Abstract
BACKGROUND A causal link between outdoor air pollution and childhood leukemia has been proposed, but some older studies suffer from methodological drawbacks. To the best of our knowledge, no systematic reviews have summarized the most recently published evidence and no analyses have examined the dose-response relation. OBJECTIVE We investigated the extent to which outdoor air pollution, especially as resulting from traffic-related contaminants, affects the risk of childhood leukemia. METHODS We searched all case-control and cohort studies that have investigated the risk of childhood leukemia in relation to exposure either to motorized traffic and related contaminants, based on various traffic-related metrics (number of vehicles in the closest roads, road density, and distance from major roads), or to measured or modeled levels of air contaminants such as benzene, nitrogen dioxide, 1,3-butadiene, and particulate matter. We carried out a meta-analysis of all eligible studies, including nine studies published since the last systematic review and, when possible, we fit a dose-response curve using a restricted cubic spline regression model. RESULTS We found 29 studies eligible to be included in our review. In the dose-response analysis, we found little association between disease risk and traffic indicators near the child's residence for most of the exposure range, with an indication of a possible excess risk only at the highest levels. In contrast, benzene exposure was positively and approximately linearly associated with risk of childhood leukemia, particularly for acute myeloid leukemia, among children under 6 y of age, and when exposure assessment at the time of diagnosis was used. Exposure to nitrogen dioxide showed little association with leukemia risk except at the highest levels. DISCUSSION Overall, the epidemiologic literature appears to support an association between benzene and childhood leukemia risk, with no indication of any threshold effect. A role for other measured and unmeasured pollutants from motorized traffic is also possible. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP4381.
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Impacts of atmospheric particulate matter pollution on environmental biogeochemistry of trace metals in soil-plant system: A review.
Luo, X, Bing, H, Luo, Z, Wang, Y, Jin, L
Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex : 1987). 2019;(Pt 1):113138
Abstract
Atmospheric particulate matter (PM) pollution and soil trace metal (TM) contamination are binary environmental issues harming ecosystems and human health, especially in the developing China with rapid urbanization and industrialization. Since PMs contain TMs, the air-soil nexus should be investigated synthetically. Although the PMs and airborne TMs are mainly emitted from urban or industrial areas, they can reach the rural and remote mountain areas owing to the ability of long-range transport. After dry or wet deposition, they will participate in the terrestrial biogeochemical cycles of TMs in various soil-plant systems, including urban soil-greening trees, agricultural soil-food crops, and mountain soil-natural forest systems. Besides the well-known root uptake, the pathway of leaf deposition and foliar absorption contribute significantly to the plant TM accumulation. Moreover, the aerosols can also exert climatic effects by absorption and scattering of solar radiation and by the cloud condensation nuclei activity, thereby indirectly impact plant growth and probably crop TM accumulation through photosynthesis, and then threat health. In particular, this systematic review summarizes the interactions of PMs-TMs in soil-plant systems including the deposition, transfer, accumulation, toxicity, and mechanisms among them. Finally, current knowledge gaps and prospective are proposed for future research agendas. These analyses would be conducive to improving urban air quality and managing the agricultural and ecological risks of airborne metals.
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[Breathing: Ambient Air Pollution and Health - Part II].
Schulz, H, Karrasch, S, Bölke, G, Cyrys, J, Hornberg, C, Pickford, R, Schneider, A, Witt, C, Hoffmann, B
Pneumologie (Stuttgart, Germany). 2019;(6):347-373
Abstract
The second part of the DGP-statement on adverse health effects of ambient air pollution provides an overview of the current ambient air quality in Germany and its development in the past 20 years. Further, effects of air pollution on the cardiovascular system und underlying pathophysiological mechanisms are introduced. Air pollutants form a highly complex and dynamic system of thousands of organic and inorganic components from natural and anthropogenic sources. The pollutants are produced locally or introduced by long-range transport over hundreds of kilometers and are additionally subjected to local meteorological conditions. According to air quality regulations ambient air quality is monitored under uniform standards including immission of particulate matter, up to 2.5 µm (PM2.5) or 10 µm (PM10) in aerodynamic diameter, and of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) or ozone (O3). The clean air measures of recent years led to a continuous decline of air pollution in the past 20 years in Germany. Accordingly, the focus is nowadays directed at population-related health hazards caused by low concentrations of air pollution. Exceeded limits for sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, benzene and lead are not detected anymore. Also the number of days with increased ozone concentration declined, although the annual mean concentration is unaltered. Decreasing concentrations of particulate matter and NO2 have been observed, however, about 40 % of the monitoring stations at urban traffic sites still measure values exceeding current limits for NO2. Moreover, the stricter, solely health-based WHO-standards for PM2.5, PM10 and NO2 are still not met so that an optimal protection from air pollution-related health hazards is currently not given for the German population. In recent years, the findings of numerous cross-sectional and longitudinal studies underscored adverse effects of air pollution on the cardiovascular system, especially for particulate matter, although the level of evidence still varies for the different health outcomes. Further, the studies show that cardiovascular health hazards on the population level are of higher relevance than those for the respiratory system. The existing evidence for cardiovascular mortality, hospitalization, ischemic heart diseases, myocardial infarction and stroke can be regarded as strong, while that for heart failure is rather moderate. While the evidence for air pollution-related short-term alteration of the cardiac autonomic balance can be considered as sufficient, long-term effects are still unclear. Likewise, the heterogeneous findings on air pollution-related arrhythmia do currently not allow a distinct conclusion in this regard. A large number of studies support the observation that both, short- and long-term air pollution exposure contribute to increased blood pressure, may impair vascular homeostasis, induce endothelial dysfunction and promote the progression of atherosclerotic lesions. These effects provide reasonable biological explanation for the fatal events associated with exposure to air pollution. Short-term exposure may not pose a significant risk on healthy individuals but may be considered as precursor for fatal events in susceptible populations, while repetitive or long-term exposure may contribute to the development of cardiovascular diseases even in healthy subjects.