Background: Long-term exposure to pesticides is often assessed using semi-quantitative models. To improve these models, a better understanding of how occupational factors determine exposure (e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAssessment of occupational pesticide exposure in epidemiological studies of chronic diseases is challenging. Biomonitoring of current pesticide levels might not correlate with past exposure relevant to disease aetiology, and indirect methods often rely on workers' imperfect recall of exposures, or job titles. We investigated how the applied exposure assessment method influenced risk estimates for some chronic diseases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Occupational epidemiological studies on pesticide use commonly rely on self-reported questionnaire or interview data to assess exposure. Insight into recall accuracy is important, as misclassification of exposures due to imperfect recall can bias risk estimates.
Methods: We assessed the ability of workers in three UK cohorts (Prospective Investigation of Pesticide Applicators' Health [PIPAH], Pesticide Users' Health Study [PUHS], and Study of Health in Agricultural Work [SHAW]) to remember their working history related to pesticide exposure over time periods ranging from 3 to 14 years prior.
Objectives: To define the prevalence and incidence of asthma in a large working population of pesticide workers and to assess which exposures are potentially of relevance to causing or aggravating this condition.
Methods: A baseline cross-sectional study at recruitment (2013-2017, n=5817), with follow-up in 2018 (n=2578), was carried out in predominantly Great Britain based pesticide workers. At baseline, participants completed a health and work questionnaire which included questions on demographic, lifestyle, socioeconomic and work-related factors, pesticide use and doctor diagnosed health conditions.
Objectives: To evaluate smallholder farmers' recall of pesticide use and exposure determinants over a two-year period in a low-income country context.
Methods: The Pesticide Use in Tropical Settings (PESTROP) study in Uganda consists of 302 smallholder farmers who were interviewed in 2017. In the same season in 2019, these farmers were re-questioned concerning pesticide use (e.
Soil Pb concentrations at urban agriculture sites (UAS) commonly exceed recommended safe levels. There is a lack of evidence regarding uptake of Pb by gardeners using such sites for food crops. Our study aimed to elucidate whether gardening in soil with raised Pb levels results in Pb body burdens of concern to health, and to assess confounding factors influencing Pb body burden.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF: Respiratory hazards of farming have been identified for centuries, with little focus on gender differences. We used data from the AGRICOH consortium, a collective of prospective cohorts of agricultural workers, to assess respiratory disease prevalence among adults in 18 cohorts representing over 200,000 farmers, farm workers, and their spouses from six continents.: Cohorts collected data between 1992 and 2016 and ranged in size from 200 to >128,000 individuals; 44% of participants were female.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Exposure to certain pesticides has been associated with several chronic diseases. However, to determine the role of pesticides in the causation of such diseases, an assessment of historical exposures is required. Exposure measurement data are rarely available; therefore, assessment of historical exposures is frequently based on surrogate self-reported information, which has inherent limitations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: The purpose of the study is to monitor the exposure and health of workers in Great Britain who use pesticides as a part of their job, and to gain a better understanding of the relationship between long-term exposure to pesticides and health.
Participants: Study participants are professional pesticide users who are certified in the safe use of pesticides or who were born before 1965 and apply pesticides under 'grandfather rights'. Overall response rate was 20%; participants are mostly male (98%) and the average age is 54 years, ranging from 17 to over 80 years.
Biological monitoring to assess exposure to diisocyanates in the workplace is becoming increasingly widespread due to its relative ease of use and ability to look at all exposure routes. Currently, biological monitoring measures the corresponding isocyanate-derived diamine in urine, after hydrolysis. Because of this, any exposure to the diamines themselves released during the industrial process could confound the assessment of diisocyanate exposure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe KG1 myeloid leukaemia was used as source of dendritic cells (DC) to discriminate between respiratory and contact sensitising chemicals. A cocktail of cytokines was used to differentiate KG1 to dendritic like cells (termed dKG1) and the effects of nine chemicals (respiratory and contact sensitisers) and an irritant control on surface marker expression, 'antigen presenting' function and cytokine expression investigated. The stability of these chemicals when dissolved was characterised using MALDI ToF MS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe study was designed to conduct human in vivo and in vitro studies on the gastrointestinal absorption of nanoparticles, using titanium dioxide as a model compound, and to compare nanoparticle behaviour with that of larger particles. A supplier's characterisation data may not fully describe a particle formulation. Most particles tested agreed with their supplied characterisation when assessed by particle number but significant proportions of 'nanoparticle formulations' were particles >100nm when assessed by particle weight.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Whole blood is the established matrix for biological monitoring of inorganic lead; however blood sampling is an invasive procedure. Saliva offers a potential non-invasive alternative. This study determines lead in whole blood and saliva.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHypertension (HT) is associated with environmental noise exposure and is a risk factor for a range of health outcomes. The study aims were to identify key HT related health outcomes and to quantify and monetize the impact on health outcomes attributable to environmental noise-related HT. A reiterative literature review identified key HT related health outcomes and their quantitative links with HT.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOccup Environ Med
June 2012
Objectives: Asbestos is an inflammatory agent, and there is evidence that inflammatory processes are involved in the development of cardiovascular disease. Whether asbestos is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease has not been established. The objective of this study was to investigate cardiovascular disease mortality in a large cohort of workers occupationally exposed to asbestos.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Workers in the asbestos industry tend to have high smoking rates compared to the general population. Both asbestos exposure and cigarette smoking are recognized risk factors for lung cancer mortality, but the exact nature of the interaction between the two remains uncertain. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of smoking and smoking cessation among asbestos workers in Great Britain (GB) and investigate the interaction between asbestos exposure and smoking.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Ascertainment of asbestosis and mesothelioma from underlying cause of death underestimates the burden of these diseases. The aims of this study were to estimate the true frequency of asbestosis and mesothelioma among asbestos workers in Great Britain (GB), and to identify factors associated with the risk of death with these diseases.
Methods: The GB Asbestos Survey was established in 1971 to monitor long-term health outcomes among workers covered by regulations to control asbestos at work.
The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma gene (PPARG) has been implicated in the etiology of type 2 diabetes mellitus and has been investigated in numerous epidemiologic studies. In this Human Genome Epidemiology review, the authors assessed this relation in an updated meta-analysis of 60 association studies. Electronic literature searches were conducted on September 14, 2009.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Epidemiologic studies suggest that greater consumption of fruit and vegetables may decrease the risk of diabetes mellitus, but the evidence is limited and inconclusive. Plasma vitamin C level is a good biomarker of fruit and vegetable intake, but, to our knowledge, no prospective studies have examined its association with diabetes risk. This study aims to examine whether fruit and vegetable intake and plasma vitamin C level are associated with the risk of incident type 2 diabetes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Randomized trials have demonstrated that Type 2 diabetes is preventable among high-risk individuals. To date, such individuals have been identified through population screening using the oral glucose tolerance test.
Objective: To assess whether a risk score comprising only routinely collected non-biochemical parameters was effective in identifying those at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.
The descriptive epidemiology of type 2 diabetes suggests that gene-lifestyle interactions are critical to the development of the condition. However, unravelling the molecular detail of these interactions is a complex task. The existing literature is based on small intervention studies or cross-sectional observational quantitative trait studies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: To assess the incidence of diabetes among sub-groups of the population defined by the presence of one or more simple risk factors, and to investigate population stratification as a means of identifying groups at high risk of diabetes.
Methods: Data from EPIC-Norfolk (1993-1998), a population-based cohort study of 24,714 men and women aged 40-78 years without self-reported diabetes at baseline, were analyzed. During 12 years of follow-up, 608 new cases of diabetes were recorded.
The role of dietary fat in the etiology of type 2 diabetes remains uncertain. The authors investigated the association between dietary fat composition and risk of clinical type 2 diabetes in the European Prospective Investigation of Cancer-Norfolk study and identified food consumption patterns associated with dietary fat composition. Diet was assessed at baseline (1993-1997) using a semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: Sedentary lifestyles are increasingly common and result in low cardiorespiratory fitness ([OV0312]O2max), a well-established predictor of early mortality and coronary heart disease (CHD). Adaptation in [OV0312]O2max after exercise training varies considerably between people. Because there are hereditary components to fitness, it is likely that genetic factors explain some of this variability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF