Residential proximity to agricultural pesticide use and risk-taking behaviors in young adults from the CHAMACOS study.

Background: Prenatal pesticide exposure has been associated with poorer neurodevelopment during childhood, which could lead to greater risk-taking behaviors and delinquency in adolescence. This association may be augmented by adversity exposure.

Objectives: Evaluate the relationship between prenatal pesticide exposure and risk-taking behavior in young adults at 18-years of age.

Exposure to common-use pesticides, manganese, lead, and thyroid function among pregnant women from the Infants' Environmental Health (ISA) study, Costa Rica.

Background: Pesticides and metals may disrupt thyroid function, which is key to fetal brain development.

Objectives: To evaluate if current-use pesticide exposures, lead and excess manganese alter free thyroxine (FT4), free triiodothyronine (FT3), and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) concentrations in pregnant women from the Infants' Environmental Health Study (ISA).

Methods: At enrollment, we determined women's (n = 400) specific-gravity corrected urinary pesticide (μg/L) metabolite concentrations of mancozeb (ethylene thiourea (ETU)), pyrimethanil, thiabendazole, chlorpyrifos, synthetic pyrethroids, and 2,4-D.

Parental age and the risk of childhood acute myeloid leukemia: results from the Childhood Leukemia International Consortium.

Background: Parental age has been associated with several childhood cancers, albeit the evidence is still inconsistent.

Aim: To examine the associations of parental age at birth with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) among children aged 0-14 years using individual-level data from the Childhood Leukemia International Consortium (CLIC) and non-CLIC studies.

Material/methods: We analyzed data of 3182 incident AML cases and 8377 controls from 17 studies [seven registry-based case-control (RCC) studies and ten questionnaire-based case-control (QCC) studies].

Prenatal Mancozeb Exposure, Excess Manganese, and Neurodevelopment at 1 Year of Age in the Infants' Environmental Health (ISA) Study.

Background: Although growing evidence suggests that early-life excess manganese (Mn) impairs neurodevelopment, data on the neurodevelopmental effects of mancozeb, a fungicide containing Mn, and its main metabolite ethylenethiourea (ETU) are limited.

Objective: We examined whether prenatal mancozeb exposure and excess Mn were associated with neurodevelopment in 355 1-y-old infants living near banana plantations with frequent aerial mancozeb spraying in Costa Rica.

Methods: We measured urinary ETU, hair Mn, and blood Mn concentrations in samples collected 1-3 times during pregnancy from mothers enrolled in the Infants' Environmental Health (ISA) study.

Advanced parental age as risk factor for childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia: results from studies of the Childhood Leukemia International Consortium.

Advanced parental age has been associated with adverse health effects in the offspring including childhood (0-14 years) acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), as reported in our meta-analysis of published studies. We aimed to further explore the association using primary data from 16 studies participating in the Childhood Leukemia International Consortium. Data were contributed by 11 case-control (CC) studies (7919 cases and 12,942 controls recruited via interviews) and five nested case-control (NCC) studies (8801 cases and 29,690 controls identified through record linkage of population-based health registries) with variable enrollment periods (1968-2015).

Predictors of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substance (PFAS) Plasma Concentrations in 6-10 Year Old American Children.

Certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are suspected developmental toxicants, but data on PFAS concentrations and exposure routes in children are limited. We measured plasma PFASs in children aged 6-10 years from the Boston-area Project Viva prebirth cohort, and used multivariable linear regression to estimate associations with sociodemographic, behavioral, and health-related factors, and maternal PFASs measured during pregnancy. PFAS concentrations in Project Viva children (sampled 2007-2010) were similar to concentrations among youth participants (aged 12-19 years) in the 2007-8 and 2009-10 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES); mean concentrations of most PFASs declined from 2007 to 2010 in Project Viva and NHANES.

Seroprevalence of human T-lymphotropic virus in blood bank donors at Fundación Valle del Lili, Cali, Colombia, 2008-2014.

Introduction: Human lymphotropic virus (HTLV I/II) is a retrovirus that is prevalent across the Colombian Pacific coast, and is potentially transmissible by transfusion. Blood bank screening has been regulated since 2004, in order to reduce transmission of HTLV I/II through donation. Information on the seroprevalence of the virus in southwestern Colombia is limited.

Parental Tobacco Smoking and Acute Myeloid Leukemia: The Childhood Leukemia International Consortium.

The association between tobacco smoke and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is well established in adults but not in children. Individual-level data on parental cigarette smoking were obtained from 12 case-control studies from the Childhood Leukemia International Consortium (CLIC, 1974-2012), including 1,330 AML cases diagnosed at age <15 years and 13,169 controls. We conducted pooled analyses of CLIC studies, as well as meta-analyses of CLIC and non-CLIC studies.

Prenatal Exposure to Perfluoroalkyl Substances and Adiposity in Early and Mid-Childhood.

Background: Few studies have examined whether prenatal exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) is associated with childhood adiposity.

Objective: We examined associations of prenatal exposure to PFASs with adiposity in early and mid-childhood.

Methods: We measured plasma PFAS concentrations in 1,645 pregnant women (median, 9.

Manganese concentrations in drinking water from villages near banana plantations with aerial mancozeb spraying in Costa Rica: Results from the Infants' Environmental Health Study (ISA).

Elevated manganese (Mn) in drinking water has been reported worldwide. While, naturally occurring Mn in groundwater is generally the major source, anthropogenic contamination by Mn-containing fungicides such as mancozeb may also occur. The main objective of this study was to examine factors associated with Mn and ethylenethiourea (ETU), a degradation product of mancozeb, in drinking water samples from villages situated near banana plantations with aerial spraying of mancozeb.

Clinical characteristics, beliefs, and coping strategies among older patients with overactive bladder.

Aims: To describe clinical characteristics and assess beliefs and coping strategies in older patients with overactive bladder (OAB) attending urology and gynecology clinics in Spain.

Methods: This non-interventional, multicenter, cross-sectional study collected demographic and clinical details from individuals aged ≥60 years with a diagnosis of OAB and score ≥3 on the Patient Perception of Intensity of Urgency Scale. Symptoms were assessed using the Bladder Control Self-Assessment Questionnaire (B-SAQ) and Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) rated using a simple visual analogue scale.

Prenatal DDT and DDE exposure and child IQ in the CHAMACOS cohort.

Although banned in most countries, dichlorodiphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT) continues to be used for vector control in some malaria endemic areas. Previous findings from the Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas (CHAMACOS) cohort study found increased prenatal levels of DDT and its breakdown product dichlorodiphenyl-dichloroethylene (DDE) to be associated with altered neurodevelopment in children at 1 and 2years of age. In this study, we combined the measured maternal DDT/E concentrations during pregnancy obtained for the prospective birth cohort with predicted prenatal DDT and DDE levels estimated for a retrospective birth cohort.

Manganese in teeth and neurodevelopment in young Mexican-American children.

Introduction: Manganese (Mn) is an essential nutrient but higher exposure has been associated with poorer neurodevelopment in children.

Methods: We measured Mn levels in prenatal (Mnpre) (n=197) and postnatal (Mnpost) dentin (n=193) from children's shed teeth using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy and examined the relationship with children's scores on the Mental Development Index (MDI) and Psychomotor Development Index (PDI) on the Bayley Scales of Infant Development at 6, 12, and 24-months. We explored non-linear associations and interactions by sex, blood lead concentrations and maternal iron status during pregnancy.

Sociodemographic and Perinatal Predictors of Early Pregnancy Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substance (PFAS) Concentrations.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), used in food packaging and stain-resistant coatings, are suspected developmental toxicants that are ubiquitous and persistent in the environment. We measured plasma PFAS concentrations during early pregnancy (median = 9.7 weeks gestation) among 1645 women in the Boston-area Project Viva cohort, recruited during 1999-2002.

Biomarkers of manganese exposure in pregnant women and children living in an agricultural community in California.

Manganese (Mn) is an essential nutrient but at high exposure levels is a neurotoxicant. There is no well-validated biomarker to assess perinatal Mn exposure. A total of 75 mother-child pairs provided blood, urine, and/or deciduous tooth samples.

Aerial application of mancozeb and urinary ethylene thiourea (ETU) concentrations among pregnant women in Costa Rica: the Infants' Environmental Health Study (ISA).

Background: Mancozeb and its main metabolite ethylene thiourea (ETU) may alter thyroid function; thyroid hormones are essential for fetal brain development. In Costa Rica, mancozeb is aerially sprayed at large-scale banana plantations on a weekly basis.

Objectives: Our goals were to evaluate urinary ETU concentrations in pregnant women living near large-scale banana plantations, compare their estimated daily intake (EDI) with established reference doses (RfDs), and identify factors that predict their urinary ETU concentrations.

Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases in Costa Rica: a feasibility study toward a national screening program.

Background: The integration of mental and neurologic services in healthcare is a global priority. The universal Social Security of Costa Rica aspires to develop national screening of neurodegenerative disorders among the elderly, as part of the non-communicable disease agenda.

Objective: This study assessed the feasibility of routine screening for Parkinson's disease (PD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) within the public healthcare system of Costa Rica.

Indigenous children living nearby plantations with chlorpyrifos-treated bags have elevated 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol (TCPy) urinary concentrations.

Background: The US Environmental Protection Agency voluntary phased-out residential use of chlorpyrifos in 2001. In contrast, in Costa Rica, chlorpyrifos-treated bags are increasingly used to protect banana and plantain fruits from insects and to fulfill product standards, even in populated areas.

Objectives: To evaluate children's exposure to chlorpyrifos in villages situated nearby banana plantations and plantain farms in Costa Rica.

Registration of fatal occupational injuries in Costa Rica, 2005-2006.

Data on fatal occupational injuries (FOIs) for Latin America are controversial. Costa Rican national rates are inconsistent with estimates extrapolated from other countries. We reviewed the files for all possible FOIs in Costa Rica for 2005-2006 at the National Insurance Institute and at the Center of Forensic Sciences by formality/informality of work, sex, age, economic activity, occupation, and cause of death.