Is gastroschisis associated with county-level socio-environmental quality during pregnancy?

Background: Gastroschisis prevalence more than doubled between 1995 and 2012. While there are individual-level risk factors (e.g.

Are the adverse health effects of air pollution modified among active children and adolescents? A review of the literature.

Air pollution exposure is associated with negative health consequences among children and adolescents. Physical activity is recommended for all children/adolescents due to benefits to health and development. However, it is unclear if physically active children have additional protective benefits when exposed to higher levels of air pollution, compared to less active children.

Development of the United States Environmental Protection Agency's Facilities Status Dashboard for the COVID-19 Pandemic: Approach and Challenges.

Develop a tool for applying various COVID-19 re-opening guidelines to the more than 120 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) facilities.

Diabetes control is associated with environmental quality in the USA.

Environmental parameters, including built and sociodemographic environments, can impact diabetes control (DC). Epidemiological studies have associated specific environmental factors with DC; however, the impact of multidimensional environmental status has not been assessed. The Environmental Quality Index (EQI), a comprehensive quantitative metric capturing five environmental domains, was considered as an exposure.

Aggregated cumulative county arsenic in drinking water and associations with bladder, colorectal, and kidney cancers, accounting for population served.

Background: Many studies neglect to account for variation in population served by community water systems (CWSs) when aggregating CWS-level contaminant concentrations to county level.

Objective: In an ecological epidemiologic analysis, we explored two methods-unweighted and weighted (proportion of CWS population served by county population)-to account for population served by CWS in association between arsenic and three cancers to determine the impact of population served on aggregated measures of exposure.

Methods: CWS arsenic concentration data for 19 states were obtained from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network for 2000-10, aggregated to county level, and linked to county-level cancer data for 2011-5 from National Cancer Institute and CDC State Cancer Profiles.

Associations between cumulative environmental quality and ten selected birth defects in Texas.

Background: Causes of most birth defects are largely unknown. Genetics, maternal factors (e.g.

Acute effects of short-term exposure to air pollution while being physically active, the potential for modification: A review of the literature.

The science behind the combined effect of (and possible interaction between) physical activity and air pollution exposure on health endpoints is not well established, despite the fact that independent effects of physical activity and air pollution on health are well known. The objective of this review is to systematically assess the available literature pertaining to exposure to air pollution while being physically active, in order to assess statistical interaction. Articles published during 2000-2020 were identified by searching PubMed, Science Direct, and ProQuest Agricultural & Environmental Science Database for terms encompassing air pollution and exercise/physical activity.

Watershed integrity and associations with gastrointestinal illness in the United States.

Gastrointestinal (GI) illnesses are associated with various environmental factors, such as water quality, stormwater runoff, agricultural runoff, sewer overflows, and wastewater treatment plant effluents. However, rather than assessing an individual factor alone, two indices incorporating a combination of ecological and environmental stressors were created to represent (1) overall watershed integrity, Index of Watershed Integrity (IWI) and (2) catchment integrity, Index of Catchment Integrity (ICI). These indices could provide a more comprehensive understanding of how watershed/catchment integrity potentially impact the rates of GI illness, compared to assessing an individual stressor alone.

Association between environmental quality and diabetes in the USA.

Aims/introduction: Caloric excess and physical inactivity fail to fully account for the rise of diabetes prevalence. Individual environmental pollutants can disrupt glucose homeostasis and promote metabolic dysfunction. However, the impact of cumulative exposures on diabetes risk is unknown.

Divergent trends in life expectancy across the rural-urban gradient and association with specific racial proportions in the contiguous USA 2000-2005.

Objectives: To estimate county-level adult life expectancy for Whites, Black/African Americans (Black), American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) and Asian/Pacific Islander (Asian) populations and assess the difference across racial groups in the relationship among life expectancy, rurality and specific race proportion.

Methods: We used individual-level death data to estimate county-level life expectancy at age 25 (e25) for Whites, Black, AIAN and Asian in the contiguous USA for 2000-2005. Race-sex-stratified models were used to examine the associations among e25, rurality and specific race proportion, adjusted for socioeconomic variables.

Associations between access to healthcare, environmental quality, and end-stage renal disease survival time: Proportional-hazards models of over 1,000,000 people over 14 years.

Prevalence of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in the US increased by 74% from 2000 to 2013. To investigate the role of the broader environment on ESRD survival time, we evaluated average distance to the nearest hospital by county (as a surrogate for access to healthcare) and the Environmental Quality Index (EQI), an aggregate measure of ambient environmental quality composed of five domains (air, water, land, built, and sociodemographic), at the county level across the US. Associations between average hospital distance, EQI, and survival time for 1,092,281 people diagnosed with ESRD between 2000 and 2013 (age 18+, without changes in county residence) from the US Renal Data System were evaluated using proportional-hazards models adjusting for gender, race, age at first ESRD service date, BMI, alcohol and tobacco use, and rurality.

Associations between environmental quality and infant mortality in the United States, 2000-2005.

Background: The United States (U.S.) suffers from high infant mortality (IM) rates and there are significant racial/ethnic differences in these rates.

The association between physical inactivity and obesity is modified by five domains of environmental quality in U.S. adults: A cross-sectional study.

Physical inactivity is a primary contributor to the obesity epidemic, but may be promoted or hindered by environmental factors. To examine how cumulative environmental quality may modify the inactivity-obesity relationship, we conducted a cross-sectional study by linking county-level Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data with the Environmental Quality Index (EQI), a composite measure of five environmental domains (air, water, land, built, sociodemographic) across all U.S.

Associations between environmental quality and adult asthma prevalence in medical claims data.

As of 2014, approximately 7.4% of U.S.

County-level cumulative environmental quality associated with cancer incidence.

Background: Individual environmental exposures are associated with cancer development; however, environmental exposures occur simultaneously. The Environmental Quality Index (EQI) is a county-level measure of cumulative environmental exposures that occur in 5 domains.

Methods: The EQI was linked to county-level annual age-adjusted cancer incidence rates from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program state cancer profiles.

Validity of self-reported concentration and memory problems: Relationship with neuropsychological assessment and depression.

Background: This study investigated the validity of self-reported concentration and memory problems (CMP) in residents environmentally exposed to manganese (Mn).

Method: Self-report of CMP from a health questionnaire (HQ) and the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) was compared to neuropsychological assessment (Trails A&B; Digit Span; Digit Symbol; Similarities; Auditory Consonant Trigrams, ACT; NAB Memory; Rey-Osterrieth, Rey-O, Delayed). Participants included 146 residents from Ohio exposed to air-Mn, with a modeled average concentration of 0.

Is human fecundity changing? A discussion of research and data gaps precluding us from having an answer.

Fecundity, the biologic capacity to reproduce, is essential for the health of individuals and is, therefore, fundamental for understanding human health at the population level. Given the absence of a population (bio)marker, fecundity is assessed indirectly by various individual-based (e.g.

Comparison of gestational dating methods and implications for exposure-outcome associations: an example with PM2.5 and preterm birth.

Objectives: Estimating gestational age is usually based on date of last menstrual period (LMP) or clinical estimation (CE); both approaches introduce potential bias. Differences in methods of estimation may lead to misclassification and inconsistencies in risk estimates, particularly if exposure assignment is also gestation-dependent. This paper examines a 'what-if' scenario in which alternative methods are used and attempts to elucidate how method choice affects observed results.

Additive Interaction between Heterogeneous Environmental Quality Domains (Air, Water, Land, Sociodemographic, and Built Environment) on Preterm Birth.

Background: Environmental exposures often occur in tandem; however, epidemiological research often focuses on singular exposures. Statistical interactions among broad, well-characterized environmental domains have not yet been evaluated in association with health. We address this gap by conducting a county-level cross-sectional analysis of interactions between Environmental Quality Index (EQI) domain indices on preterm birth in the Unites States from 2000 to 2005.

Associations between Environmental Quality and Mortality in the Contiguous United States, 2000-2005.

Background: Assessing cumulative effects of the multiple environmental factors influencing mortality remains a challenging task.

Objectives: This study aimed to examine the associations between cumulative environmental quality and all-cause and leading cause-specific (heart disease, cancer, and stroke) mortality rates.

Methods: We used the overall Environmental Quality Index (EQI) and its five domain indices (air, water, land, built, and sociodemographic) to represent environmental exposure.

Medication use associated with exposure to manganese in two Ohio towns.

This report describes the use of medications as a proxy when medical record reviews are unavailable, to study the health effects of residents environmentally exposed to air-manganese (n = 185) compared to unexposed residents (n = 90). Participants' current medication lists and medication questionnaire responses were collected in clinical interviews and categorized into 13 domains. Exposed participants reported fewer hours of sleep than controls (6.

Environmental exposure to manganese in air: Associations with tremor and motor function.

Background: Manganese (Mn) inhalation has been associated with neuropsychological and neurological sequelae in exposed workers. Few environmental epidemiologic studies have examined the potentially neurotoxic effects of Mn exposure in ambient air on motor function and hand tremor in adult community residents. Mn exposed residents were recruited in two Ohio towns: Marietta, a town near a ferro-manganese smelter, and East Liverpool, a town adjacent to a facility processing, crushing, screening, and packaging Mn products.

Characterization of air manganese exposure estimates for residents in two Ohio towns.

This study was conducted to derive receptor-specific outdoor exposure concentrations of total suspended particulate (TSP) and respirable (dae ≤ 10 µm) air manganese (air-Mn) for East Liverpool and Marietta (Ohio) in the absence of facility emissions data, but where long-term air measurements were available. Our "site-surface area emissions method" used U.S.

Environmental exposure to manganese in air: Associations with cognitive functions.

Manganese (Mn), an essential element, can be neurotoxic in high doses. This cross-sectional study explored the cognitive function of adults residing in two towns (Marietta and East Liverpool, Ohio, USA) identified as having high levels of environmental airborne Mn from industrial sources. Air-Mn site surface emissions method modeling for total suspended particulate (TSP) ranged from 0.