Attributable deaths in Austria due to ozone under different climate scenarios.

Tropospheric ozone is an air pollutant that poses a public health problem in Europe. Climate change could increase the formation of ozone. Applying past and predicted annual total (all-cause) mortality data and modeled daily ozone concentrations, we performed a nationwide health impact assessment estimating annual ozone-related (attributable) deaths in Austria.

Childhood asthma and mould in homes-A meta-analysis.

Asthma is a multifaceted and multicausal disease. Childhood asthma is strongly influenced by genetic traits and is characterized by hyperreactivity of the airways so that also unspecific triggers including moulds can trigger an asthma attack. Therefore, it is undisputed that moulds in the home can cause asthma attacks in asthmatic children.

Determinants of Knowledge, Attitudes, Perceptions and Behaviors Regarding Air Pollution in Schoolchildren in Pristina, Kosovo.

Air pollution poses a significant public health challenge, and Kosovo, a low-middle-income country in the Balkan peninsula, suffers from particularly poor air quality, especially around the area of the capital Pristina. The availability of accurate and timely information is crucial in mitigating the adverse effects of air pollution. This study aimed at evaluating the knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and perceptions (KAPB) related to poor air quality in Pristina's low-middle schools.

Determinants of exposure to acrylamide in European children and adults based on urinary biomarkers: results from the "European Human Biomonitoring Initiative" HBM4EU participating studies.

Little is known about exposure determinants of acrylamide (AA), a genotoxic food-processing contaminant, in Europe. We assessed determinants of AA exposure, measured by urinary mercapturic acids of AA (AAMA) and glycidamide (GAMA), its main metabolite, in 3157 children/adolescents and 1297 adults in the European Human Biomonitoring Initiative. Harmonized individual-level questionnaires data and quality assured measurements of AAMA and GAMA (urine collection: 2014-2021), the short-term validated biomarkers of AA exposure, were obtained from four studies (Italy, France, Germany, and Norway) in children/adolescents (age range: 3-18 years) and six studies (Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, Luxembourg, and Iceland) in adults (age range: 20-45 years).

Time series analysis in environmental epidemiology: challenges and considerations.

In environmental epidemiology, time series analyses represent a widely used statistical tool. However, though being commonly used, there is soften confusion regarding the specific requirements, such as which link function might be most appropriate, when or how to control for seasonality or how to account for lags. The present overview draws from experiences in other disciplines and discusses the proper execution of time series analyses based on considerations that are relevant in environmental epidemiology.

Prenatal exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and pregnancy outcome in Austria.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a large group of persistent industrial chemicals that can harm reproductive health. PFAS levels were analysed to determine the current sources of exposure and possible associations between prenatal PFAS exposure and adverse pregnancy outcome. Samples from 136 mother-newborn pairs recruited between 2017 and 2019 were analysed for the presence of 31 target PFAS in maternal serum, umbilical cord serum, and placental tissue by high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to a tandem mass spectrometer.

Determinants of COVID-19 Knowledge, Perception and Attitudes in Indonesia: A Cross-Sectional Survey.

Many countries, including Indonesia, were gravely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. While younger people were rarely severely affected by an infection, they still served as important spreaders of the disease. Therefore, the knowledge, perception and attitudes regarding COVID-19 of a mostly younger population was assessed in this study using a quantitative survey and semi-structured questionnaire.

Particulate Air Pollution and Primary Care Visits in Kosovo: A Time-Series Approach.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of particulate air pollution (PM2.5) on cardiovascular and respiratory diseases in Pristina, Kosovo, in a time-series analysis using daily primary healthcare visits to primary care institutions from 2019 to 2022. For the observation period, 6440 cardiovascular and 15,141 respiratory visits were reported, whereas the daily mean concentrations of PM2.

Environmental health, COVID-19, and the syndemic: internal medicine facing the challenge.

Internists are experts in complexity, and the COVID-19 pandemic is disclosing complex and unexpected interactions between communicable and non-communicable diseases, environmental factors, and socio-economic disparities. The medicine of complexity cannot be limited to facing comorbidities and to the clinical management of multifaceted diseases. Evidence indicates how climate change, pollution, demographic unbalance, and inequalities can affect the spreading and outcomes of COVID-19 in vulnerable communities.

Air Pollution in Kosovo: Short Term Effects on Hospital Visits of Children Due to Respiratory Health Diagnoses.

The Republic of Kosovo is a small country in the Balkans. The capital city of Pristina hosts most of its population and is situated in a mountain basin with poor air exchange, especially during winter. Domestic heating, road transport, industry and coal-fired power plants contribute to high levels of air pollution.

Time Trends of Acrylamide Exposure in Europe: Combined Analysis of Published Reports and Current HBM4EU Studies.

More than 20 years ago, acrylamide was added to the list of potential carcinogens found in many common dietary products and tobacco smoke. Consequently, human biomonitoring studies investigating exposure to acrylamide in the form of adducts in blood and metabolites in urine have been performed to obtain data on the actual burden in different populations of the world and in Europe. Recognizing the related health risk, the European Commission responded with measures to curb the acrylamide content in food products.

Trends of Exposure to Acrylamide as Measured by Urinary Biomarkers Levels within the HBM4EU Biomonitoring Aligned Studies (2000-2021).

Acrylamide, a substance potentially carcinogenic in humans, represents a very prevalent contaminant in food and is also contained in tobacco smoke. Occupational exposure to higher concentrations of acrylamide was shown to induce neurotoxicity in humans. To minimize related risks for public health, it is vital to obtain data on the actual level of exposure in differently affected segments of the population.

Temporal patterns of weekly births and conceptions predicted by meteorology, seasonal variation, and lunar phases.

Background: Data reporting the number of births given by women resident in Vienna for each week between 1999 and 2019, and the duration (in weeks) of their pregnancies, were used to estimate the week of conception. When preliminary examinations detected cyclical patterns for births and conceptions, a series of Poisson regressions for births and conceptions were performed to assess whether these cycles could be associated with lunar or solar phases.

Methods: To that end 2 sine-cosine functions, 1 with a wavelength of 1 year (365.

Enhancing Human Biomonitoring Studies through Linkage to Administrative Registers-Status in Europe.

Record linkage of human biomonitoring (HBM) survey data with administrative register data can be used to enhance available datasets and complement the possible shortcomings of both data sources. Through record linkage, valuable information on medical history (diagnosed diseases, medication use, etc.) and follow-up information on health and vital status for established cohorts can be obtained.

COVID-19: Regional Differences in Austria.

In the turbulent year 2020, overshadowed by the global COVID-19 pandemic, Austria experienced multiple waves of increased case incidence. While governmental measures to curb the numbers were based on current knowledge of infection risk factors, a retrospective analysis of incidence and lethality at the district level revealed correlations of relative infection risk with socioeconomic, geographical, and behavioral population parameters. We identified unexpected correlations between political orientation and smoking behavior and COVID-19 infection risk and/or mortality.

Support of the Implementation of a Whistleblowing System for Smoke-Free Environments: A Mixed Methods Approach.

Enforcement of a smoke-free policy is of vital concern in support of the health of smokers and bystanders. Indonesia has issued a smoke-free law, but implementation and enforcement lie with the regional and municipal governments. In a survey of 225 respondents recruited via schools, knowledge about the health effects of smoking and the smoke-free regulation, as well as attitudes towards and commitment and support of the enforcement of the smoke-free regulation in the Kendari City through an electronic whistleblowing system was examined.

Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) inhibits vessel formation in a human 3D co-culture angiogenesis model (NCFs/HUVECs).

Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) is a ubiquitous environmental pollutant. In humans, PFOS exposure has been associated with a number of adverse health outcomes, including reduced birth weight. Whether PFOS is capable of affecting angiogenesis and thus possibly fetal development is unknown.

The Critical Importance of Molecular Biomarkers and Imaging in the Study of Electrohypersensitivity. A Scientific Consensus International Report.

Clinical research aiming at objectively identifying and characterizing diseases via clinical observations and biological and radiological findings is a critical initial research step when establishing objective diagnostic criteria and treatments. Failure to first define such diagnostic criteria may lead research on pathogenesis and etiology to serious confounding biases and erroneous medical interpretations. This is particularly the case for electrohypersensitivity (EHS) and more particularly for the so-called "provocation tests", which do not investigate the causal origin of EHS but rather the EHS-associated particular environmental intolerance state with hypersensitivity to man-made electromagnetic fields (EMF).

COVID-19 and air pollution in Vienna-a time series approach.

We performed a time series analysis in Vienna, Austria, investigating the temporal association between daily air pollution (nitrogen dioxide, NO and particulate matter smaller than 10 µm, PM10) concentration and risk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection and death. Data covering about 2 months (March-April 2020) were retrieved from public databases. Infection risk was defined as the ratio between infected and infectious.

Health Symptoms Related to Pesticide Use in Farmers and Laborers of Ecological and Conventional Banana Plantations in Ecuador.

Conventional banana farming is pesticide-intensive and leads to high exposure of farmworkers. Ecuador is the world's biggest exporter of bananas. In this field study in 5 communities in Ecuador, we recorded potentially pesticide-associated subjective health symptoms in farmworkers and compared pesticide users to workers in organic farming.

Air Pollution Is Associated with COVID-19 Incidence and Mortality in Vienna, Austria.

We determined the impact of air pollution on COVID-19-related mortality and reported-case incidence, analyzing the correlation of infection case numbers and outcomes with previous-year air pollution data from the populations of 23 Viennese districts. Time at risk started in a district when the first COVID-19 case was diagnosed. High exposure levels were defined as living in a district with an average (year 2019) concentration of nitrogen dioxide (NO) and/or particulate matter (PM10) higher than the upper quartile (30 and 20 µg/m, respectively) of all districts.