Environews
FOCUS | The Global Sweep of Pollutants: Satellite Snapshots Capture Long-Distance Movement
Surveillance provided by satellites offers scientists new insights into the movement of specific pollutants across continents. For some pollutants, such as particulate matter, satellite data offer a rich picture, whereas others, such as sulfur dioxide, are harder to track. This article (p. A338) takes a look at how well satellites fare in detecting and monitoring specific air pollutants, and discusses the benefits of applying satellite-generated data to current and future air pollution mitigation efforts.
SPHERES OF INFLUENCE | Recovering the Good Earth: China's Growing Organic Market
The organic food market has experienced a boom in recent years as more consumers focus on health- and environment-conscious eating habits. China, already a world leader in the export of consumer goods, ranks as the second highest producer of organic food by area, exporting a variety of organic produce on an annual basis, although domestic organic consumption is growing at a considerably slower rate. This article (p. A346) looks at some of the pricing and regulatory issues affecting China's organic products market and discusses the possibilities for growth.
Commentary
CHILDREN'S HEALTH | Children and the Dual Impact of Fossil Fuel Emissions
Perera (p. 987) highlights current scientific evidence indicating that fetuses and young children are at heightened risk of developmental impairment, asthma, and cancer from fossil fuel pollutants and from the predicted effects of climate disruption such as heat waves, flooding, infectious disease, malnutrition, and trauma. The author argues that consideration of the full spectrum of health risks to children from fossil fuel combustion should promote environmental and energy policies that reduce fossil fuel dependence and maximize health benefits to this susceptible population.
Review
HEALTH POLICY | Integrating Health into Environmental Impact Assessment
The National Environmental Policy Act and related state laws require many public agencies to analyze and disclose potentially significant environmental effects of agency actions, including effects on human health. Bhatia and Wernham (p. 991) reviewed the purpose and procedures of environmental impact assessment (EIA), existing regulatory requirements for health effects analysis, and potential barriers to and opportunities for improving integration of human health concerns within the EIA process. The authors recommend greater collaboration among institutions responsible for EIA, public health institutions, and affected stakeholders along with guidance, resources, and training for integrated health impact assessment/EIA practice.
CANCER | Pentachlorophenol and Cancer Risk
Pentachlorophenol, a fungicide widely used as a wood preservative, was classified in 1999 by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a possible human carcinogen. Cooper and Jones (p. 1001) reviewed currently available data to determine the extent to which recent studies assist in distinguishing the effect of pentachlorophenol from that of its contaminants (e.g., dioxins and other chlorophenols). The updated cohort study focusing on pentachlorophenol provides increased statistical power and precision, and demonstrates associations between hematopoietic cancer and pentachlorophenol exposure not observed in earlier evaluations of this cohort.
Research
RISK CHARACTERIZATION | Frog Abnormalities and Road Proximity
Skeletal and eye abnormalities in amphibians appear to be increasing while global populations decline. Reeves et al. (p. 1009) investigated the relationship between anthropogenic influences and the probability of skeletal and eye abnormalities in Alaskan wood frogs (Rana sylvatica) by examining frog breeding sites on five National Wildlife Refuges. They found that prevalence of skeletal abnormalities, but not eye abnormalities, increased with proximity to roads; the only significant predictor of eye abnormalities was the year sampled.
BIOMONITORS | Diet and Nondiet Predictors of Urinary 3PBA in NHANES
3-Phenoxybenzoic acid (3PBA), a pyrethroid metabolite, was detected in 75% of urine samples analyzed for pesticides in the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999–2002. NHANES also includes 24-hr diet data and information on household pesticide use, activities, occupation, demographics, and other exposure factors. Riederer et al. (p. 1015) explored the relative importance of diet versus nondiet predictors in explaining variability in urinary 3PBA. They also explored whether the NHANES data could be used to identify particular foods driving 3PBA levels.
RESPIRATORY DISEASE | Effect of 0.06 ppm Ozone on Lung Function
Ozone, a potent photochemical oxidant, produces transient, reversible decrements in the lung function of acutely exposed individuals. In a recent study of healthy young adults exposed to O3, significant effects were seen on lung function with exposure to 0.08 ppm O3 but not to 0.06 ppm O3. Brown et al. (p. 1023) reevaluated the existing lung function data of the volunteers previously exposed to 0.06 ppm O3 and found that exposure to 0.06 ppm O3 causes a biologically small but highly statistically significant decrease in mean FEV1 (forced expiratory volume in 1 sec) responses of young healthy adults.
EPIDEMIOLOGY | Estimating Community Drug Abuse by Wastewater Analysis
The social and medical problems of drug abuse are a matter of increasing global concern. Zuccato et al. (p. 1027) tested a sewage epidemiology approach: they measured selected drug target residues in wastewater to monitor local consumption of cocaine, opiates, cannabis, and amphetamines. The authors obtained reproducible and characteristic profiles of illicit drug use in three cities, quickly revealing changes in local consumption (e.g., cocaine consumption rose significantly on weekends in Milan, Italy). Profiles of local drug consumption based on wastewater measurements are in line with national annual prevalence estimates. This method may provide a potential source of real-time epidemiologic information.
Also see Science Selections, p. A351
CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE | Interstrain Variation in HR Regulation with PM and Ozone
Increased ambient particulate matter (PM) levels are associated with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, as shown by numerous epidemiology studies, but few studies have investigated the role of copollutants, such as ozone, in this association. To determine if PM and O3 induce adverse cardiovascular effects in mice and whether these effects are strain dependent, Hamade et al. (p. 1033) measured heart rat (HR) and HR variability parameters in three strains of inbred mice. Their results show important interstrain differences with respect to PM- and O3-induced cardiac effects. This interstrain variation suggests that genetic factors may modulate HR regulation in response to and recuperation from acute copollutant exposures.
BIOMONITORS | Computational Toxicology of Chloroform
A difficulty in interpreting population-based biomonitoring data is the reconstruction of corresponding external exposure in cases where no such data are available. Lyons et al. (p. 1040) demonstrated the use of a computational framework that integrates physiologically based pharmacokinetic modeling, Bayesian inference, and Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation to obtain a population estimate of environmental chloroform source concentrations consistent with human biomonitoring data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and for which no corresponding exposure data were collected.
GENE EXPRESSION | Tumor Promotion by PFOA
Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is a potent hepatocarcinogen and peroxisome proliferator (PP) in rodents. Humans are not susceptible to peroxisome proliferation and are considered refractory to carcinogenesis by PPs. Rainbow trout also appear to be insensitive to peroxisome proliferation by the PP dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), but they are still susceptible to enhanced hepatocarcinogenesis after chronic exposure. Tilton et al. (p. 1047) used trout as a unique in vivo tumor model to study the potential for PFOA carcinogenesis in the absence of peroxisome proliferation compared with the structurally diverse PPs clofibrate and DHEA. The authors identified mechanisms of carcinogenesis from hepatic gene expression profiles phenotypically anchored to tumor outcome.
Also see Science Selections, p. A351
Environmental Medicine
RISK ASSESSMENT | Dietary Modifiers of Arsenic-Related Skin Lesions
An estimated 25–40 million of Bangladesh's population (127 million) have been exposed to high levels of naturally occurring arsenic from drinking groundwater. The mitigating effects of diet on arsenic-related premalignant skin lesions are largely unknown. Zablotska et al. (p. 1056) investigated the effects of B vitamins and antioxidants on arsenic-related skin lesions. Riboflavin, pyridoxine, folic acid, and vitamins A, C, and E significantly modified the risk of arsenic-related skin lesions. The deleterious effect of ingested arsenic, at a given exposure level, was significantly reduced (ranging from 46% reduction for pyridoxine to 68% for vitamin C) for persons in the highest quintiles of vitamin intake.
Also see Science Selections, p. A350
Children's Health
ASTHMA | Ozone and Hospitalization for Asthma
Asthma is the most important chronic disease of childhood, and children with asthma are susceptible to ozone-associated adverse effects on their disease. Moore et al. (p. 1063) evaluated time trends in associations between declining warm-season O3 concentrations and hospitalization for asthma in children in Southern California. They found that O3 was the only pollutant associated with increased hospital admissions over the study period. Inclusion of a variety of demographic and weather variables accounted for all of the non-O3 temporal changes in hospitalizations.
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH | Risk Factors for Hypospadias
Akre et al. (p. 1071) conducted a case–control study in Sweden and Denmark during 2000–2005 using self-administered questionnaires completed by mothers of hypospadias cases and matched controls to assess the association between risk of hypospadias and indicators of placental function and endogenous hormone levels, exposure to exogenous hormones, maternal diet during pregnancy, and other environmental factors. A pregnancy diet lacking meat and fish appeared to increase the risk of hypospadias in the offspring. Other risk associations were compatible with a role for placental insufficiency in the etiology of hypospadias.
Also see Science Selections, p. A350
RESPIRATORY DISEASE | Genes and Air Pollution in Children
Air pollutants may induce airway inflammation and sensitization due to generation of reactive oxygen species. The genetic background to these mechanisms could be important effect modifiers. Melén et al. (p. 1077) assessed interactions between exposure to air pollution and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the β2-adrenergic receptor (ADRB2), glutathione S-transferase P1 (GSTP1), and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) genes for development of childhood allergic disease. In children, GSTP1 and TNF variants appear to modify the effect of long-term exposure to ambient air pollution from traffic, supporting a role of genes controlling the antioxidative system and inflammatory response in allergy.
CHILD DEVELOPMENT | Prenatal Mercury Exposure and Child Outcomes
Lederman et al. (p. 1085) investigatedwhether prenatal mercury exposure, including potential releases from the World Trade Center (WTC) disaster, adversely affects fetal growth and child development. The authors determined total mercury in maternal and umbilical cord blood from nonsmoking women who delivered at term in lower Manhattan after 11 September 2001, and measured birth outcomes and child development. Blood mercury was not significantly raised in women living or working close to the WTC site in the weeks after the disaster. Higher cord blood mercury was associated with reductions in developmental scores at 36 and 48 months of age, after adjusting for the positive effects of fish/seafood consumption during pregnancy.
FETAL DEVELOPMENT | Phenols, Phthalates, and Birth Outcomes
Many phthalates and phenols are hormonally active and are suspected to alter the course of development. Wolff et al. (p. 1092) investigated prenatal exposures to phthalate and phenol metabolites and their associations with body size measures of the infants at birth. Although the authors observed a range of phthalate and phenol exposures during pregnancy, few were associated with birth size. The association of 2,5-dichlorophenol and benzophenone-3 with reduced or increased birth weight could be important in very early or small-size births. In addition, positive associations of urinary metabolites with some outcomes may be due in part to unresolved confounding with maternal anthropometric factors.
Mini-Monograph
EPIDEMIOLOGY | Spatial Epidemiology
Spatial epidemiology, which is increasingly being used to assess health risks associated with environmental hazards, combines methods from epidemiology, statistics, and geographic information science to enable the visualization of uncertainty and ensure that more meaningful inferences are made from data. The Mini-Monograph (p. 1098) describes design issues in small-area studies, methodologic issues and approaches, use of space–time models, comparison of methods for spatial analysis, and multilevel modeling of socioeconomic status and breast cancer.
