Environmental factors associated with blood lead among newcomer women from South and East Asia in the Greater Toronto Area.

Background: Newcomers bring with them histories of environmental exposure in their home countries and may have different sources of lead (Pb) exposure compared to other residents of their adopted country.

Aims: To describe past and current factors associated with Pb exposure and blood Pb among South and East Asian newcomer women of reproductive age in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Ontario, Canada.

Methods: In collaboration with public health units and community organizations a community-based research model was utilized by recruiting peer researchers to assist in all aspects of the study.

Development of a guide to applying precaution in local public health.

Purpose: The precautionary principle (PP) urges actions to prevent harm even in the face of scientific uncertainty. Members of Toronto Public Health (TPH) sought guidance on applying precaution.

Methods: We searched five bibliographic databases (yield 60 articles from 1996 to 2009 and 8 from 2009 to 2011) and Google (yield 11 gray literature sources) for material relevant to local public health.

Healthy fish consumption and reduced mercury exposure: counseling women in their reproductive years.

Objective: To provide family physicians with a practical, evidence-based approach to counseling women about healthy fish eating.

Sources Of Information: MEDLINE was searched for articles published between 1999 and 2008. Most studies described in this article provide level II or III evidence.

Risks and benefits of fish consumption for childbearing women.

Pregnant women's fish consumption provides both benefits and risks to the developing fetus. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) from fish may enhance fetal neurodevelopment, while methylmercury (MeHg) can have detrimental effects. Dietitians would benefit from information on the frequency with which fish species may be consumed to increase DHA intake among Canadian women of childbearing age, and on minimizing the risks from MeHg, especially for those who consume fish frequently.

Is house dust the missing exposure pathway for PBDEs? An analysis of the urban fate and human exposure to PBDEs.

Polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) body burdens in North America are 20 times that of Europeans and some "high accumulation" individuals have burdens up to 1-2 orders of magnitude higher than median values, the reasons for which are not known. We estimated emissions and fate of sigma PBDEs (minus BDE-209) in a 470 km2 area of Toronto, Canada, using the Multi-media Urban Model (MUM-Fate). Using a combination of measured and modeled concentrations for indoor and outdoor air, soil, and dust plus measured concentrations in food, we estimated exposure to sigma PBDEs via soil, dust, and dietary ingestion and indoor and outdoor inhalation pathways.