Long-term exposure to low air pollutant concentrations and hospitalisation for respiratory diseases in older men: A prospective cohort study in Perth, Australia.

Background: Acute exposure to ambient air pollution even at low concentrations has been associated with increased hospitalisation for respiratory diseases but the effects of long-term exposure are less certain. In this study, we investigated the associations between long-term exposures to PM, PM absorbance and NO and hospitalisation for asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pneumonia in a cohort of older men living in Perth, Western Australia, a city where the levels of air pollutants are well below the world standards.

Materials And Methods: The study population of 11,156 men with no prior hospitalisation for respiratory disease was drawn from the Health in Men Study (HIMS) cohort of men aged >65 years living in Perth, Western Australia between 1996-1999.

Prenatal exposure to mixtures of persistent environmental chemicals and fetal growth outcomes in Western Australia.

Background: Environmental chemicals have been implicated in the etiology of impaired fetal growth. However, few studies have assessed the effects of chemical mixtures or considered the possibility of non-monotonic exposure-response relationships for chemicals that act through the endocrine system.

Methods: We assessed exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ethers, organochlorine pesticides, metals, and perfluorinated alkyl substances in blood and urine samples collected approximately two weeks prior to delivery in 166 non-smoking pregnant women, and subsequent birth weight, length, and head circumference of neonates who were part of the Australian Maternal Exposures to Toxic Substances (AMETS) study.

The longitudinal association between natural outdoor environments and mortality in 9218 older men from Perth, Western Australia.

Background/aim: Natural outdoor environments may mitigate harmful environmental factors associated with city living. We studied the longitudinal relationship between natural ('green and blue') outdoor environments and mortality in a cohort of older men residing in Perth, Western Australia.

Methods: We studied a cohort of 9218 men aged 65 years and older from the Health In Men Study.

Twelve tips for implementing effective service learning.

Service learning is an educational methodology that facilitates transformation of students' knowledge, attitudes and attitudes around holistic care through work with community organizations. To implement academically, defensible service learning requires faculty endorsement, consideration of course credit, an enthusiastic champion able to negotiate agreements with organizations, organizations' identification of their own projects so they are willing to both fund and supervise them, curricular underpinning that imparts the project skills necessary for success, embedding at a time when students' clinical identity is being formed, small packets of curriculum elements delivered "just in time" as students engage with their project, flexible online platform/s, assessment that is organically related to the project, providing cross cultural up-skilling, and focused on the students' responsibility for their own product. The result is a learning experience that is engaging for medical students, links the university to the community, and encourages altruism which is otherwise reported to decline through medical school.

Polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) concentrations in plasma of pregnant women from Western Australia.

PBDEs are a class of brominated flame retardants applied to consumer goods to reduce their flammability. These compounds are lipophilic, persistent and bioaccumulate through the food web. PBDEs have been detected in human blood, adipose tissue and breast milk.

Maternal exposure to organochlorine pesticides in Western Australia.

Background: Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) persist over long periods of time. Little is known about levels of OCPs in the plasma of non smoking pregnant women in Western Australia. The aim of this study was to (1) determine exposure concentrations in a sample of pregnant women in Western Australia; (2) to determine the significant environmental, lifestyle and activity contributors to maternal exposure concentrations of OCPs and (3) to compare the measured maternal exposure concentrations with those measured in other countries.

Concentrations of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in residential dust samples from Western Australia.

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are one of the most common types of brominated flame retardants applied to foams, plastics and textiles to prevent fires. These flame retardants are now regulated and are either banned or being voluntarily phased. However, as these chemicals are persistent humans continue to be exposed.