Increasing the utility of epidemiologic studies as key evidence in chemical risk assessment.

The Society of Toxicology 2024 meeting assembled risk assessors, epidemiologists, and toxicologists to discuss the utility of integrating epidemiologic data into the derivation of reference values. Advantages of the use of epidemiologic evidence include (i) human relevance; (ii) increased likelihood that exposure levels are relevant to risk assessment; and (iii) incorporation of uncertainties attributed to co-exposures or other population-based considerations. The workshop panelists discussed the challenges of incorporating epidemiologic evidence due to uncertain exposure measurements, confounding, heterogeneity, and inherent study design limitations.

Biomonitoring of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) herbicide: A global view.

We conducted a literature review of urinary 2,4-D in populations not associated with a herbicide application. Of the 33 studies identified, the median/mean concentrations were similar for children, adults, and pregnant women regardless of geography. Individuals with highest concentrations may have had opportunities to directly contact 2,4-D outside of an application.

Literature landscape of neurodevelopment and pesticides: A scoping review of methodologies.

Pesticides are highly tested and regulated chemicals. There is currently great interest in the role that pesticides may play in childhood neurodevelopment. The objective was to identify and describe the body of evidence and to assess the ability to synthesize effect estimates.

Improving Medication Safety in an ICU.

Reported medication errors in an ICU at an academic teaching hospital raised concerns about adherence to safety protocols, including barcode scanning before medication administration. A group of nurse leaders, bedside nurses, and pharmacists formed a medication safety task force to increase compliance with barcode scanning and reduce reported medication errors in which failure to scan was a contributing factor.Three task force members observed nurses' workflow in ICU medication administration.

Research on COVID-19 and air pollution: A path towards advancing exposure science.

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an extraordinary incidence of morbidity and mortality, with almost 6 million deaths worldwide at the time of this writing (https://covid19.who.int/).

Elements to increase translation in pyrethroid epidemiology research: A review.

Pyrethroid insecticides have been the subject of numerous epidemiology studies in the past two decades. We examined the pyrethroids epidemiology literature published between 2016 and 2021. Our objective with this exercise was to inform interested readers regarding information on methodological elements that strengthen a study's use for translation (i.

Using the Matrix to bridge the epidemiology/risk assessment gap: a case study of 2,4-D.

Background: The Matrix is designed to facilitate discussions between practitioners of risk assessment and epidemiology and, in so doing, to enhance the utility of epidemiology research for public health decision-making. The Matrix is comprised of nine fundamental "asks" of epidemiology studies, focusing on the types of information valuable to the risk assessment process.

Objective: A 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) case study highlights the extent to which existing epidemiology literature includes information generally needed for risk assessments and proffers suggestions that would assist in bridging the epidemiology/risk assessment gap.

Does ozone inhalation cause adverse metabolic effects in humans? A systematic review.

We utilized a practical, transparent approach for systematically reviewing a chemical-specific evidence base. This approach was used for a case study of ozone inhalation exposure and adverse metabolic effects (overweight/obesity, Type 1 diabetes [T1D], Type 2 diabetes [T2D], and metabolic syndrome). We followed the basic principles of systematic review.

Cancer and occupational exposure to pesticides: an umbrella review.

Purpose: The aim was to identify the scope of the epidemiology literature reviewed regarding the risk of cancer as related to occupational exposure to pesticides and to compare regulatory toxicity results where feasible.

Methods: Review studies of breast, lung, prostate, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and colorectal cancer were identified from the published literature from 2010 to 2020 using a priori inclusion and exclusion criteria. Epidemiology observations were first assessed and then compared against carcinogenicity profiles derived from regulatory toxicology studies.

Translation of Exposure and Epidemiology for Risk Assessment: A Shifting Paradigm.

Risk assessment is a well-established process used for various types of public health decision-making, such as setting chemical site clean-up levels, developing limits on exposures to chemicals in soil, water, air and food, and determining occupational exposure limits[...

Autologous nonmyeloablative hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for neuromyelitis optica.

Objective: To determine if autologous nonmyeloablative hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) could be a salvage therapy for neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD).

Methods: Thirteen patients were enrolled in a prospective open-label cohort study (11 NMOSD aquaporin-4-immunoglobulin G [AQP4-IgG]-positive, 1 NMOSD without AQP4, and 1 NMOSD AQP4-IgG-positive with neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus [SLE]). Following stem cell mobilization with cyclophosphamide (2 g/m) and filgrastim, patients were treated with cyclophosphamide (200 mg/kg) divided as 50 mg/kg IV on day -5 to day -2, rATG (thymoglobulin) given IV at 0.

The Mediating Role of Distress Tolerance in the Relationship Between Childhood Maltreatment and Mental Health Outcomes Among University Students.

A wealth of empirical literature has documented that the experience of childhood maltreatment is related to an increased risk for the development of psychopathologies in adulthood. Empirical studies examining the factors that could possibly explain this relationship, however, remain sparse. The emerging literature on distress tolerance (DT) suggests that it could possibly act as an explanatory or mediating factor within this relationship.

A sulphur and uranium fiesta! Synthesis, structure, and characterization of neutral terminal uranium(vi) monosulphide, uranium(vi) η-disulphide, and uranium(iv) phosphine sulphide complexes.

Three new uranium species (C5Me5)2U([double bond, length as m-dash]N-2,6-iPr2-C6H3)([double bond, length as m-dash]S), (C5Me5)2U([double bond, length as m-dash]N-2,6-iPr2-C6H3)(η2-S2), and (C5Me5)2U([double bond, length as m-dash]N-2,6-iPr2-C6H3)(S[double bond, length as m-dash]PMe3) were synthesized and fully characterized by a combination of NMR, IR, and UV/vis-NIR spectroscopies, elemental analysis, and cyclic voltammetry. The solid state structures of (C5Me5)2U([double bond, length as m-dash]N-2,6-iPr2-C6H3)([double bond, length as m-dash]S) and (C5Me5)2U([double bond, length as m-dash]N-2,6-iPr2-C6H3)(η2-S2) were also determined. The compound (C5Me5)2U([double bond, length as m-dash]N-2,6-iPr2-C6H3)([double bond, length as m-dash]S) is the first neutral uranium complex with a terminal sulphido ligand, and (C5Me5)2U([double bond, length as m-dash]N-2,6-iPr2-C6H3)(S[double bond, length as m-dash]PMe3) is the first uranium compound with a coordinated phosphine sulphide ligand.

Pyrethroid epidemiology: a quality-based review.

Pyrethroids are commonly used around the home and in agricultural production to control insects. Human contact to one or more pyrethroid insecticides is likely. Numerous epidemiology studies have evaluated the association between health outcomes in humans and pyrethroid exposure.

Critical and systematic evaluation of data for estimating human exposures to 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) - quality and generalizability.

The herbicide 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) has been commercially available since the 1940's. Despite decades of data on 2,4-D in food, air, soil, and water, as well as in humans, the quality the quality of these data has not been comprehensively evaluated. Using selected elements of the Biomonitoring, Environmental Epidemiology, and Short-lived Chemicals (BEES-C) instrument (temporal variability, avoidance of sample contamination, analyte stability, and urinary methods of matrix adjustment), the quality of 156 publications of environmental- and biomonitoring-based 2,4-D data was examined.

Editor's Highlight: Pulmonary Vascular Thrombosis in Rats Exposed to Inhaled Sulfur Mustard.

Sulfur mustard (SM) is a chemical warfare agent. When inhaled, SM causes significant injury to the respiratory tract. Although the mechanism involved in acute airway injury after SM inhalation has been well described previously, the mechanism of SM's contribution to distal lung vascular injury is not well understood.

Expanded Safety and Efficacy Data for a New Method of Performing Electroconvulsive Therapy: Focal Electrically Administered Seizure Therapy.

Objective: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is the most rapid and effective antidepressant treatment but with concerns about cognitive adverse effects. A new form of ECT, focal electrically administered seizure therapy (FEAST), was designed to increase the focality of stimulation and better match stimulus parameters with neurophysiology. We recently reported on the safety and feasibility of FEAST in a cohort (n = 17) of depressed patients.

Interpersonal polyvictimization and mental health in males.

A consistent conclusion within the extant literature is that victimization and in particular polyvictimization leads to adverse mental health outcomes. A large body of literature exists as it pertains to the association between victimisation and mental health in studies utilising samples of childhood victims, female only victims, and samples of male and female victims; less research exists as it relates to males victims of interpersonal violence. The aim of the current study was therefore to identify profiles of interpersonal victimizations in an exclusively male sample and to assess their differential impact on a number of adverse mental health outcomes.

Derivation of human Biomonitoring Guidance Values for chlorpyrifos using a physiologically based pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic model of cholinesterase inhibition.

A number of biomonitoring surveys have been performed for chlorpyrifos (CPF) and its metabolite (3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol, TCPy); however, there is no available guidance on how to interpret these data in a health risk assessment context. To address this gap, Biomonitoring Guidance Values (BGVs) are developed using a physiologically based pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic (PBPK/PD) model. The PBPK/PD model is used to predict the impact of age and human variability on the relationship between an early marker of cholinesterase (ChE) inhibition in the peripheral and central nervous systems [10% red blood cell (RBC) ChE inhibition] and levels of systemic biomarkers.

Can a pentamethylcyclopentadienyl ligand act as a proton-relay in f-element chemistry? Insights from a joint experimental/theoretical study.

Isomerisation of buta-1,2-diene to but-2-yne by (Me(5)C(5))(2)Yb is a thermodynamically favourable reaction, with the Δ(r)G° estimated from experimental data at 298 K to be -3.0 kcal mol(-1). It proceeds in hydrocarbon solvents with a pseudo first-order rate constant of 6.

Evaluating uncertainty to strengthen epidemiologic data for use in human health risk assessments.

Background: There is a recognized need to improve the application of epidemiologic data in human health risk assessment especially for understanding and characterizing risks from environmental and occupational exposures. Although there is uncertainty associated with the results of most epidemiologic studies, techniques exist to characterize uncertainty that can be applied to improve weight-of-evidence evaluations and risk characterization efforts.

Methods: This report derives from a Health and Environmental Sciences Institute (HESI) workshop held in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, to discuss the utility of using epidemiologic data in risk assessments, including the use of advanced analytic methods to address sources of uncertainty.