Analyses of radiation and mesothelioma in the US Transuranium and Uranium Registries.

Objectives: We examined the relationship between radiation and excess deaths from mesothelioma among deceased nuclear workers who were part of the US Transuranium and Uranium Registries.

Methods: We performed univariate analysis with SAS Version 9.1 software.

Biomarkers of mercury exposure in two eastern Ukraine cities.

This study evaluates biomarkers of mercury exposure among residents of Horlivka, a city in eastern Ukraine located in an area with geologic and industrial sources of environmental mercury, and residents of Artemivsk, a nearby comparison city outside the mercury-enriched area. Samples of urine, blood, hair, and nails were collected from study participants, and a questionnaire was administered to obtain data on age, gender, occupational history, smoking, alcohol consumption, fish consumption, tattoos, dental amalgams, home heating system, education, source of drinking water, and family employment in mines. Median biomarker mercury concentrations in Artemivsk were 0.

Utility of recent studies to assess the National Research Council 2001 estimates of cancer risk from ingested arsenic.

Objective: The purpose of this review is to evaluate the impact of recent epidemiologic literature on the National Research Council (NRC) assessment of the lung and bladder cancer risks from ingesting low concentrations (< 100 µg/L) of arsenic-contaminated water.

Data Sources, Extraction, And Synthesis: PubMed was searched for epidemiologic studies pertinent to the lung and bladder cancer risk estimates from low-dose arsenic exposure. Articles published from 2001, the date of the NRC assessment, through September 2010 were included.