Bystander dermal exposure to drift during pesticide application in vineyards: An experimental factorial study.

Although public concerns about their exposure to agricultural pesticides and the potential impacts on their health began to gain momentum around the early 2000s, there is limited data on the direct exposure of bystanders to spray drift through the deposition of drift droplets on the skin. To address these knowledge gaps in vineyards, trials were conducted on a test bench using artificial vegetation and wind. Different spraying technologies and drift mitigation measures, such as air-induction nozzles or hedgerows along the vineyard margin, were compared.

Impact of Pesticide Training on Safety Climate Perception Among French Cereal Farmers.

The training of farmers in pesticide safety is of prime importance for reducing pesticide use and exposure through the implementation of sustainable management practices. This study aimed to assess the impact of compulsory training on the knowledge and perceptions of cereal farmers, with the help of a safety climate scale. : We approached cereal farmers throughout France during compulsory training and certification procedures for pesticide-related activities.

Safety climate scale for vineyards: an external validity study.

Objectives: Agriculture entered the discussions about safety climates late, despite being one of the most hazardous industries. We recently developed a safety climate scale in Bordeaux vineyards, for which we provided good evidence of reliability and construct validity (Grimbuhler and Viel 2019). In this study, we aimed to establish the external validity of this safety climate scale with the help of an independent national sample of vineyard professionals.

Long-term outcomes and predictors of disabling disease in a population-based cohort of patients with incident Crohn's disease diagnosed between 1994 and 1997.

Background: The identification of early prognostic factors during Crohn's disease (CD) remains needed for physician decision-making to minimize structural bowel damage, which this study aimed to assess in a population-based setting.

Methods: All incident cases of CD were prospectively registered from 1994 to 1997 in Brittany, a limited area of France. All charts of patients were reviewed from the diagnosis to the last clinic visit in 2015.

Inverse probability weighting to handle attrition in cohort studies: some guidance and a call for caution.

Background: Attrition in cohort studies challenges causal inference. Although inverse probability weighting (IPW) has been proposed to handle attrition in association analyses, its relevance has been little studied in this context. We aimed to investigate its ability to correct for selection bias in exposure-outcome estimation by addressing an important methodological issue: the specification of the response model.

Retrospective assessment of pregnancy exposure to particulate matter from desert dust on a Caribbean island: could satellite-based aerosol optical thickness be used as an alternative to ground PM concentration?

Desert dust transported from the Saharan-Sahel region to the Caribbean Sea is responsible for peak exposures of particulate matter (PM). This study explored the potential added value of satellite aerosol optical thickness (AOT) measurements, compared to the PM concentration at ground level, to retrospectively assess exposure during pregnancy. MAIAC MODIS AOT retrievals in blue band (AOT) were extracted for the French Guadeloupe archipelago.

Heat Stress and Cardiac Strain in French Vineyard Workers.

Agricultural workers often produce considerable excess heat due to the physically demanding nature of their activities, increasing their risk of thermal stress in even moderately warm conditions. Few studies have examined the physiological responses to heat load in agriculture. We aimed to assess the heat strain experienced by vineyard workers during canopy management in dry field conditions, and to disentangle the effects of the heat produced by the body and the thermal environment.

Use of the COPD Assessment Test (CAT) to screen for COPD in dairy farmers: AIRBAg study.

Objectives: People at risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can benefit from appropriate medical management before severe symptoms appear. This study assesses the value of the COPD Assessment Test (CAT) questionnaire for screening dairy farmers, who tend to be slow or reluctant to seek health care.

Methods: During the time period 2012-2017, 2089 randomly selected dairy farmers in Brittany (France) were invited to complete self-administered questionnaires (including the CAT) and to undergo an occupational health check-up using an electronic mini-spirometer and conventional spirometry.

Impact of Saharan Dust on Severe Small for Gestational Births in the Caribbean.

Desert dust transported from the Sahara to the Caribbean generates peak exposures to particulate matter ≤ 10 μm (PM). We investigated the impact of dust episodes on severe small for gestational-age births in Guadeloupe. The study sample consisted of 911 pregnant women enrolled in the Timoun mother-child cohort.

Shoulder pain among male industrial workers: Validation of a conceptual model in two independent French working populations.

This study aims to validate a conceptual model for shoulder pain risk factors in two independent samples of male industrial workers: the Cosali cohort (n = 334) and one pharmaceutical company (n = 487). Direct and indirect relationships between work organization factors (automatic speed of a machine or movement of a product and work pace dependent on customers' demand), psychosocial factors (Job strain model), biomechanical factors (working with abducted arms, working with arms at or above shoulder level, and perceived physical exertion), perceived stress, and shoulder pain were explored using structural equation models. Shoulder pain was positively associated with biomechanical exposure in both samples, and with perceived stress only in the pharmaceutical preparation manufacturer, while factors related to work organization and psychosocial factors had indirect impacts on the risk of chronic shoulder pain in both samples.

Prenatal exposure to glycol ethers and response inhibition in 6-year-old children: The PELAGIE cohort study.

Background: Exposure to glycol ethers (GEs) is suspected of impairing neurodevelopment in children, but the specific impact on their inhibitory capacity, a central deficit of ADHD, has never been studied. We aimed to assess the impact of prenatal exposure to GEs on the response inhibition of children aged six years.

Methods: In total, 169 mother-child pairs from the French cohort PELAGIE (2002-2006) were studied.

Chlordecone exposure and risk of congenital anomalies: the Timoun Mother-Child Cohort Study in Guadeloupe (French West Indies).

Chlordecone is an organochlorine pesticide that was extensively used to control the banana root borer population in the French West Indies until 1993. Its persistence in soil has led to widespread pollution of the environment, and human beings, including pregnant women, are still exposed to this chemical. High levels of exposure to chlordecone during gestation have been shown to cause congenital anomalies, including undescended testes in rodents.

Impact of Saharan dust episodes on preterm births in Guadeloupe (French West Indies).

Objectives: Large amounts of mineral dust are transported from their African sources in the Saharan-Sahel region to the Caribbean Sea, generating peak exposures to particulate matter ≤10 µm (PM). This study aimed to investigate the impact of Saharan dust episodes on preterm births in the Guadeloupe archipelago.

Methods: The study population consisted of 909 pregnant women who were enrolled in the TIMOUN mother-child cohort between 2004 and 2007.

Development and psychometric evaluation of a safety climate scale for vineyards.

Background: This study aimed to develop a questionnaire-based tool measuring the safety climate in vineyards and to assess its psychometric properties.

Methods: A literature search was conducted to identify the dimensions and items that constitute the safety culture construct in various occupational sectors and to draft a conceptual framework. Content validity appraisal was performed by 16 farm managers or pesticide operators.

Landfills and preterm birth in the Guadeloupe archipelago (French West Indies): a spatial cluster analysis.

Background: A high rate of preterm birth is observed in the Guadeloupe archipelago (French West Indies), raising the hypothesis of harmful environmental exposures, including landfilling. Our aim was to evaluate whether preterm births cluster around the three main open landfills located in this area.

Methods: The study population consisted of 911 women enrolled in the Timoun mother-child cohort (2004-2007).

Physiological Strain in French Vineyard Workers Wearing Protective Equipment to Conduct Re-Entry Tasks in Humid Conditions.

The proper use of personal protective equipment (PPE) plays an important role in reducing exposure to pesticides in vineyard farming activities, including re-entry tasks. However, discomfort from clothing systems may increase the physiological burden on workers. We compared the physiological burdens of vineyard workers wearing three different types of PPE during canopy management in field humid conditions while accounting for occupational, climatic, and geographical environments.

Small-area distribution of multiple sclerosis incidence in western France: in search of environmental triggers.

Background: Despite intensive research over several decades, the etiology of multiple sclerosis (MS) remains poorly understood, although environmental factors are supposedly implicated. Our goal was to identify spatial clusters of MS incident cases at the small-area level to provide clues to local environmental risk factors that might cause or trigger the disease.

Methods: A population-based and multi-stage study was performed in the French Brittany region to accurately ascertain the clinical onset of disease during the 2000-2004 period.

Risk Factors for Shoulder Pain in a Cohort of French Workers: A Structural Equation Model.

Shoulder pain is common in the working population and causes loss of productivity, high economic costs, and long absences. Simultaneous evaluation of the complex relationships between work organization (e.g.

Behavioural disorders in 6-year-old children and pyrethroid insecticide exposure: the PELAGIE mother-child cohort.

Objective: The potential impact of environmental exposure to pyrethroid insecticides on child neurodevelopment has only just started to receive attention despite their widespread use. We investigated the associations between prenatal and childhood exposure to pyrethroid insecticides and behavioural skills in 6-year-olds.

Methods: The PELAGIE cohort enrolled 3421 pregnant women from Brittany, France between 2002 and 2006.