Swimming pool water disinfection by-products profiles and association patterns.

The aim of this work was to determine and study the concentration of different groups of disinfection by-products (DBPs): trihalomethanes, haloacetic acids, haloacetonitriles, haloacetones and combined chlorine (as an indicator of chloramine levels), in the water of 175 public swimming pools in Gipuzkoa (Basque Country, Spain). The study included chlorinated and brominated pools, indoor and outdoor, used for recreational and sports purposes, and filled with water from calcareous and siliceous soils. The most abundant were haloacetic acids, followed by trihalomethanes, with chlorinated or brominated forms predominating depending on whether the pools were disinfected by chlorination or bromination, respectively.

Prognostic biomarkers of Parkinson's disease in the Spanish EPIC cohort: a multiplatform metabolomics approach.

The lack of knowledge about the onset and progression of Parkinson's disease (PD) hampers its early diagnosis and treatment. Metabolomics might shed light on the PD imprint seeking a broader view of the biochemical remodeling induced by this disease in an early and pre-symptomatic stage and unveiling potential biomarkers. To achieve this goal, we took advantage of the great potential of the European Prospective Study on Nutrition and Cancer (EPIC) cohort to apply metabolomics searching for early diagnostic PD markers.

Plasma concentrations of persistent organic pollutants and pancreatic cancer risk.

Background: Findings and limitations of previous studies on persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and pancreatic cancer risk support conducting further research in prospective cohorts.

Methods: We conducted a prospective case-control study nested within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort. Participants were 513 pancreatic cancer cases and 1020 matched controls.

Chemical and in vitro bioanalytical assessment of drinking water quality in Manhiça, Mozambique.

Background: The chemical quality of drinking water is widely unknown in low-income countries.

Objective: We conducted an exploratory study in Manhiça district (Mozambique) to evaluate drinking water quality using chemical analyses and cell-based assays.

Methods: We measured nitrate, fluoride, metals, pesticides, disinfection by-products, and industrial organochlorinated chemicals, and conducted the bioassays Ames test for mutagenicity, micronuclei assay (MN-FACS), ER-CALUX, and antiAR-CALUX in 20 water samples from protected and unprotected sources.

Prenatal exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals and risk of being born small for gestational age: Pooled analysis of seven European birth cohorts.

Background And Aims: There is evidence that endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) have developmental effects at environmental concentrations. We investigated whether some EDCs are associated with the adverse birth outcome Small for Gestational Age (SGA).

Methods: We used PCB 153, p,p'-DDE, HCB, PFOS and PFOA measured in maternal, cord blood or breast milk samples of 5446 mother-child pairs (subset of 693 for the perfluorinated compounds) from seven European birth cohorts (1997-2012).

Changes in serum dioxin and PCB levels in residents around a municipal waste incinerator in Bilbao, Spain.

There is a great concern in the Basque Country regarding emissions from waste incineration, in particular that of organochlorines (OCs), including dioxins, furans and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and their potential effect on human health. In 2005, a municipal solid waste plant (MSWP) started to operate in Bilbao, representing an opportunity to assess the exposure to the aforementioned pollutants among people living at various distances from the plant. In 2006 and 2008, we carried out two cross-sectional studies to quantify and assess changes in levels of these pollutants.

Association between exposure to organochlorine compounds and maternal thyroid status: Role of the iodothyronine deiodinase 1 gene.

Introduction: Exposure to organochlorine compounds (OCs) may interfere with thyroid hormone (TH) homeostasis. The disruption of the deiodinase (DIO) enzymes has been proposed as a mechanism of action.

Aim: To evaluate the association between exposure to OCs and TH status in pregnant women, as well as to explore the role of genetic variations in the DIO1 and DIO2 genes.

Chemical quality of tap water in Madrid: multicase control cancer study in Spain (MCC-Spain).

Chronic consumption of water, which contains contaminants, may give rise to adverse health effects. The Madrid region, covered by the population-based multicase-control (MCC-Spain) study, includes two drinking water supply areas. The different sources of the water, coupled together with the possible differences in water management, mean that there may be differences in drinking water quality.

Organochlorine Compounds and Ultrasound Measurements of Fetal Growth in the INMA Cohort (Spain).

Background: Several studies have reported decreases in birth size associated with exposure to organochlorine compounds (OCs), but uncertainties remain regarding the critical windows of prenatal exposure and the effects on fetal body segments.

Objective: We examined the relationship between prenatal OC concentrations and fetal anthropometry.

Methods: We measured 4,4´-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (4,4´-DDE), hexachlorobenzene (HCB), and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners (138, 153, and 180) in 2,369 maternal and 1,140 cord serum samples in four Spanish cohorts (2003-2008).

[Exposure to lindane, other pesticides and organochlorines in the general population Barakaldo, Spain].

Background: A plant of lindane in Barakaldo produced discharges of hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH). Closed in 1987 leaving inside 4500Tm; the problem was not solved until 2002. A judicial process required an epidemiological assessment of the possible contamination The aim of this study is to measure the degree of impregnation of the POPs in the nearby population.