Environmental medicine, part 2 - health effects of and protection from ubiquitous airborne solvent exposure.
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Chemicals known as solvents are part of a broad class of chemicals called volatile organic compounds. These compounds are used in a variety of settings, are ubiquitous, and off-gas readily into the atmosphere. Asa result of their overuse, they can be found in detectable level virtually all samples of both indoor and outdoor air. Certain of these compounds are detectable in adipose samples of all U.S. residents Once in the body they can lead to a variety of neurological, immunological, endocrinological, genitourinary, and hematopoietic problems. Some individuals also have metabolic defects that diminish the liver's clearing capacity for these compounds. Supplementation may be of benefit to help clear these compounds from the body and to prevent adverse health effects. (+info)
Plastic wall materials in the home and respiratory health in young children.
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OBJECTIVES: The relation between the presence of plastic wall materials in the home and respiratory health in children was assessed. METHODS: This population-based cross-sectional study involved 2568 Finnish children aged 1 to 7 years. RESULTS: In logistic regression models, lower respiratory tract symptoms--persistent wheezing (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 3.42, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.13, 10.36), cough (OR = 2.41, 95% CI = 1.04, 5.63), and phlegm (OR = 2.76, 95% CI = 1.03, 7.41)--were strongly related to the presence of plastic wall materials, whereas upper respiratory symptoms were not. The risk of asthma (OR = 1.52, 95% CI = 0.35, 6.71) and pneumonia (OR = 1.81, 95% CI = 0.62, 5.29) was also increased in children exposed to such materials. CONCLUSIONS: Emissions from plastic materials indoors may have adverse effects on the lower respiratory tracts of small children. (+info)
Lifetime environmental exposure to tobacco smoke and primary lung cancer of non-smoking Taiwanese women.
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BACKGROUND: For a female population with a high lung cancer mortality rate, such as Taiwanese women, who smoke relatively rarely, but live in an environment with high male smoking prevalence, the risk and population burden of lung cancer due to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) are relatively important. METHODS: An age-matched case-control study was designed to investigate the effects of cumulative environmental exposure to tobacco smoke during childhood and adult life on lung cancer risk among non-smoking women in Taiwan. Information on passive smoking from all possible sources and life periods were obtained from interviews with 268 and 445 lifetime non-smoking cases and controls. Conditional logistic regression and synergism 'S' index were applied to the data to assess the independent and joint effects of passive smoking in different life stages while controlling for possible confounding variables. RESULTS: Risks of contracting lung cancer among women near-distantly exposed to the highest level of ETS in childhood (>20 smoker-years) and in adult life (>40 smoker-years) were 1.8-fold (95% CI: 1.2-2.9) and 2.2-fold (95% CI: 1.4-3.7) higher than that among women being never exposed to ETS, and the two variables accounted for about 37% of tumours in this non-smoking female population. Children were found to be more susceptible to ETS than adults and such early exposure was found to modify the effect of subsequent tobacco smoke exposure in adult life based on an additive interaction model. CONCLUSIONS: Environmental tobacco smoke exposure occurring in childhood potentiates the effect of high doses of exposure in adult life in determining the development of lung cancer. Smoking prohibition would be expected to protect about 37% of non-smoking Taiwanese women against lung cancer. (+info)
Indoor air pollution in developing countries and acute lower respiratory infections in children.
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BACKGROUND: A critical review was conducted of the quantitative literature linking indoor air pollution from household use of biomass fuels with acute respiratory infections in young children, which is focused on, but not confined to, acute lower respiratory infection and pneumonia in children under two years in less developed countries. Biomass in the form of wood, crop residues, and animal dung is used in more than two fifths of the world's households as the principal fuel. METHODS: Medline and other electronic databases were used, but it was also necessary to secure literature from colleagues in less developed countries where not all publications are yet internationally indexed. RESULTS: The studies of indoor air pollution from household biomass fuels are reasonably consistent and, as a group, show a strong significant increase in risk for exposed young children compared with those living in households using cleaner fuels or being otherwise less exposed. Not all studies were able to adjust for confounders, but most of those that did so found that strong and significant risks remained. CONCLUSIONS: It seems that the relative risks are likely to be significant for the exposures considered here. Since acute lower respiratory infection is the chief cause of death in children in less developed countries, and exacts a larger burden of disease than any other disease category for the world population, even small additional risks due to such a ubiquitous exposure as air pollution have important public health implications. In the case of indoor air pollution in households using biomass fuels, the risks also seem to be fairly strong, presumably because of the high daily concentrations of pollutants found in such settings and the large amount of time young children spend with their mothers doing household cooking. Given the large vulnerable populations at risk, there is an urgent need to conduct randomised trials to increase confidence in the cause-effect relationship, to quantify the risk more precisely, to determine the degree of reduction in exposure required to significantly improve health, and to establish the effectiveness of interventions. (+info)
Smoke knows no boundaries: legal strategies for environmental tobacco smoke incursions into the home within multi-unit residential dwellings.
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OBJECTIVE: To describe legal theories that non-smoking residents of multiple occupancy buildings may employ when affected by environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) from neighbouring units. DESIGN: Legal research was conducted in several US states. Research was performed among statutes and regulations. State health regulations were examined as well as common law claims of nuisance, warranties of habitability, and the right of quiet enjoyment. RESULTS: Through the use of state regulations, such as a sanitary code, several states provide general language for protecting the health of residents in multi-unit buildings. State law also supports more traditional claims of nuisance, warranties of habitability, and the right of quiet enjoyment. CONCLUSIONS: The use of state regulations has the potential to provide an effective, existing vehicle for resolution of ETS incursion problems. The general health protection language of the regulations, in conjunction with the latest evidence of the harmful effects of ETS, gives state agencies authority to regulate environmental tobacco smoke incursions among apartments in multi-unit dwellings. Where state regulations are not available, other common law legal remedies may be available. (+info)
Emergence and preservation of a chronically sick building.
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STUDY OBJECTIVE: To investigate the merits of case studies as complementary methodological approaches in the study of the sick building syndrome. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: A Swedish office building with longstanding health problems, and its inhabitants. DESIGN: This paper is a case study based both on historical and present, quantitative as well as qualitative, documentary material, produced over the years by distinct parties, and on semi-structured interviews. RESULTS: Long drawn conflictive processes within the building were identified. It was revealed that the organisation for dealing with environmental problems was split, and ineffective with poor patterns of communication. It was suggested that this generated a situation of chronic stress leading to the persistence of symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: By their capacity to identify internal processes within building contexts, case study methodology can contribute to a better understanding and management of sick building syndrome. The results of this study suggest that psychosocial factors, among them organisational structures and communication patterns, should be given close attention. (+info)
Indoor coal combustion emissions, GSTM1 and GSTT1 genotypes, and lung cancer risk: a case-control study in Xuan Wei, China.
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The lung cancer mortality rate in Xuan Wei County, China is among the highest in the country and has been associated with exposure to indoor smoky coal emissions that contain high levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. This risk may be modified by variation in metabolism genes, including GSTM1, which encodes an enzyme known to detoxify polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. To investigate the relationship between GST genotypes and lung cancer risk in Xuan Wei County, we analyzed GSTM1 and GSTT1 genotypes in a population-based case-control study. A total of 122 lung cancer patients and 122 controls, individually matched by age, sex, and home fuel type, were studied. Compared to subjects who used less than 130 tons of smoky coal during their lifetime, heavier users (> or =130 tons) had a 2.4-fold (95% confidence interval, 1.3-4.4) increased risk of lung cancer. The GSTM1-null genotype was associated with a 2.3-fold (95% confidence interval, 1.3-4.2) increased risk of lung cancer. Furthermore, there was some evidence that smoky coal use was more strongly associated with lung cancer risk among GSTM1-null versus GSTM1-positive individuals. In contrast, the GSTT1 genotype was not significantly associated with lung cancer risk. Our data suggest that the GSTM1-null genotype may enhance susceptibility to air pollution from indoor coal combustion emissions. (+info)
Illnesses associated with use of automatic insecticide dispenser units--selected states and United States, 1986-1999.
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To control indoor flying insects, restaurants and other businesses commonly use pyrethrin and pyrethroid insecticides sprayed from automatic dispensing units. Usually placed near entrances, these units are designed to kill flying insects in food service or work areas. On May 18, 1999, the Florida Department of Health (FDH) was notified by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) that during May 12-17, three persons developed pesticide-related illnesses associated with improperly placed automatic insecticide dispensers. After FDH conducted a follow-up investigation and notified CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) of this event, surveillance data were reviewed to identify additional cases of pesticide-related illnesses associated with automatic insecticide dispensers. Data were provided by the Toxic Exposure Surveillance System (TESS), the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR), the Montana Department of Agriculture (MDA), the National Pesticide Telecommunications Network (NPTN), and the Washington State Department of Health (WSDH)*. This report describes cases, summarizes surveillance data for pesticide-related illnesses associated with automatic insecticide dispensers, and provides recommendations for safe dispenser use. (+info)