Systematic evidence map (SEM) template: Report format and methods used for the US EPA Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) program, Provisional Peer Reviewed Toxicity Value (PPRTV) program, and other "fit for purpose" literature-based human health analyses.

Background: Systematic evidence maps (SEMs) are gaining visibility in environmental health for their utility to serve as problem formulation tools and assist in decision-making, especially for priority setting. SEMs are now routinely prepared as part of the assessment development process for the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) and Provisional Peer Reviewed Toxicity Value (PPRTV) assessments. SEMs can also be prepared to explore the available literature for an individual chemical or groups of chemicals of emerging interest.

Use of systematic evidence maps within the US environmental protection agency (EPA) integrated risk information system (IRIS) program: Advancements to date and looking ahead.

Systematic evidence maps (SEMs) are increasingly used to inform decision-making and risk management priority-setting and to serve as problem formulation tools to refine the focus of questions that get addressed in full systematic reviews. Within the U.S.

Residential greenness, asthma, and lung function among children at high risk of allergic sensitization: a prospective cohort study.

Background: While benefits of greenness to health have been reported, findings specific to child respiratory health are inconsistent.

Methods: We utilized a prospective birth cohort followed from birth to age 7 years (n = 617). Residential surrounding greenness was quantified via Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) within 200, 400, and 800 m distances from geocoded home addresses at birth, age 7 years, and across childhood.

Using the Key Characteristics of Carcinogens to Develop Research on Chemical Mixtures and Cancer.

Background: People are exposed to numerous chemicals throughout their lifetimes. Many of these chemicals display one or more of the key characteristics of carcinogens or interact with processes described in the hallmarks of cancer. Therefore, evaluating the effects of chemical mixtures on cancer development is an important pursuit.

ExpoKids: An R-based tool for characterizing aggregate chemical exposure during childhood.

Background: Aggregate exposure, the combined exposures to a single chemical from all pathways, is a critical children's health issue.

Objective: The primary objective is to develop a tool to illustrate potential differences in aggregate exposure at various childhood lifestages and the adult lifestage.

Methods: We developed ExpoKids (an R-based tool) using oral exposure estimates across lifestages generated by US EPA's Exposure Factors Interactive Resource for Scenarios Tool (ExpoFIRST).

A Cumulative Risk Perspective for Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Professionals.

Cumulative risk assessment (CRA) addresses the combined risk associated with chemical and non-chemical exposures. Although CRA approaches are utilized in environmental and ecological contexts, they are rarely applied in workplaces. In this perspectives article, we strive to raise awareness among occupational health and safety (OHS) professionals and foster the greater adoption of a CRA perspective in practice.

Using high-resolution residential greenspace measures in an urban environment to assess risks of allergy outcomes in children.

Despite reported health benefits of urban greenspace (gs), the epidemiological evidence is less clear for allergic disease. To address a limitation of previous research, we examined the associations of medium- and high-resolution residential gs measures and tree and/or grass canopies with allergic outcomes for children enrolled in the longitudinal cincinnati childhood allergy and air pollution study (ccaaps). We estimated residential gs based on 400 m radial buffers around participant addresses (n = 478) using the normalized differential vegetation index (ndvi) and land cover-derived urban greenspace (ugs) (tree and grass coverage, combined and separate) at 30 m and 1.

Ambient ozone and fine particulate matter exposures and autism spectrum disorder in metropolitan Cincinnati, Ohio.

Background: Epidemiological studies report fairly consistent associations between various air pollution metrics and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), with some elevated risks reported for different prenatal and postnatal periods.

Objectives: To examine associations between ASD and ambient fine particulate matter (PM) and ozone concentrations during the prenatal period through the second year of life in a case-control study.

Methods: ASD cases (n = 428) diagnosed at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center were frequency matched (15:1) to 6420 controls from Ohio birth records.

How similar is similar enough? A sufficient similarity case study with Ginkgo biloba extract.

Botanical dietary supplements are complex mixtures that can be highly variable in composition and quality, making safety evaluation difficult. A key challenge is determining how diverse products in the marketplace relate to chemically and toxicologically characterized reference samples (i.e.

Characterizing Risk for Cumulative Risk Assessments.

In assessing environmental health risks, the risk characterization step synthesizes information gathered in evaluating exposures to stressors together with dose-response relationships, characteristics of the exposed population, and external environmental conditions. This article summarizes key steps of a cumulative risk assessment (CRA) followed by a discussion of considerations for characterizing cumulative risks. Cumulative risk characterizations differ considerably from single chemical- or single source-based risk characterization.

Swine exposure and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection among hospitalized patients with skin and soft tissue infections in Illinois: A ZIP code-level analysis.

Background: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a bacterial pathogen, is a predominant cause of skin and soft tissue infections (SSTI) in the United States. Swine-production facilities have been recognized as potential environmental reservoirs of MRSA. To better understand how swine production may contribute to MRSA infection, we evaluated the association between MRSA infection among SSTI inpatients and exposure measures derived from national swine inventory data.

Estimating Inorganic Arsenic Exposure from U.S. Rice and Total Water Intakes.

Background: Among nonoccupationally exposed U.S. residents, drinking water and diet are considered primary exposure pathways for inorganic arsenic (iAs).

Causal inference in cumulative risk assessment: The roles of directed acyclic graphs.

Cumulative risk assessments (CRAs) address exposures to multiple chemical and nonchemical stressors and often focus on characterization of health risks in vulnerable populations. Evaluating complex exposure-response relationships in CRAs requires the use of formal and rigorous methods for causal inference. Directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) are graphical causal models used to organize and communicate knowledge about the underlying causal structure that generates observable data.

Cumulative risk assessment lessons learned: a review of case studies and issue papers.

Cumulative risk assessments (CRAs) examine potential risks posed by exposure to multiple and sometimes disparate environmental stressors. CRAs are more resource intensive than single chemical assessments, and pose additional challenges and sources of uncertainty. CRAs may examine the impact of several factors on risk, including exposure magnitude and timing, chemical mixture composition, as well as physical, biological, or psychosocial stressors.

Joint exposure to chemical and nonchemical neurodevelopmental stressors in U.S. women of reproductive age in NHANES.

Lead (Pb) and methyl mercury (MeHg) are well established neurodevelopmental toxicants (NDTs), but joint exposure to chemical and nonchemical (e.g., maternal stress) stressors has rarely been considered.

A sensitivity analysis using alternative toxic equivalency factors to estimate U.S. dietary exposures to dioxin-like compounds.

EPA recommends sensitivity analyses when applying the toxic equivalency factor (TEF) method to evaluate exposures to dioxin-like compounds (DLCs). Applying the World Health Organization's (WHO) 2005 TEF values and estimating average U.S.

Comprehensive assessment of a chlorinated drinking water concentrate in a rat multigenerational reproductive toxicity study.

Some epidemiological studies report associations between drinking water disinfection byproducts (DBPs) and adverse reproductive/developmental effects, e.g., low birth weight, spontaneous abortion, stillbirth, and birth defects.

Cumulative risk assessment toolbox: methods and approaches for the practitioner.

The historical approach to assessing health risks of environmental chemicals has been to evaluate them one at a time. In fact, we are exposed every day to a wide variety of chemicals and are increasingly aware of potential health implications. Although considerable progress has been made in the science underlying risk assessments for real-world exposures, implementation has lagged because many practitioners are unaware of methods and tools available to support these analyses.

An empirical approach to sufficient similarity: combining exposure data and mixtures toxicology data.

When assessing risks posed by environmental chemical mixtures, whole mixture approaches are preferred to component approaches. When toxicological data on whole mixtures as they occur in the environment are not available, Environmental Protection Agency guidance states that toxicity data from a mixture considered "sufficiently similar" to the environmental mixture can serve as a surrogate. We propose a novel method to examine whether mixtures are sufficiently similar, when exposure data and mixture toxicity study data from at least one representative mixture are available.