The effect of exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields on cognitive performance in human experimental studies: A protocol for a systematic review.

Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) is currently assessing the potential health effects of exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMFs) in the general and working population. Related to one such health effect, there is a concern that RF-EMFs may affect cognitive performance in humans. The systematic review (SR) aims to identify, summarize and synthesize the evidence base related to this question.

Air pollution is associated with depressive symptoms in elderly women with cognitive impairment.

Background: Studies on air pollution and depression in the elderly are limited and the results are heterogeneous.

Objectives: We examined the association of ambient air pollution exposure and diagnosis and symptoms of depression in the elderly; and whether any associations were confounded or modified by cognitive decline.

Methods: We enrolled 821 elderly women from the German SALIA cohort (follow-up examination, 2007-2010).

Road Traffic Noise at the Residence, Annoyance, and Cognitive Function in Elderly Women.

The detrimental effects of traffic noise on cognition in children are well documented. Not much is known about the health effects in adults. We investigated the association of residential exposure to road traffic noise and annoyance due to road traffic noise with cognitive function in a cohort of 288 elderly women from the longitudinal Study on the influence of Air pollution on Lung function, Inflammation and Aging (SALIA) in Germany.

Tropospheric ozone and skin aging: Results from two German cohort studies.

During the last two decades, it has been well established that a short-term exposure to ozone (O) elicits an oxidative stress response in human and mouse skin, which leads to aberrant transcriptional expression of genes consistent with increased skin aging. Whether a long-term exposure to ambient O is associated with any skin aging traits, has remained unclear. We addressed this question in two elderly German cohorts: the SALIA study (806 women aged 66-79 years), and the BASE-II study (1207 men and women aged 60-84 years).

Nonatopic eczema in elderly women: Effect of air pollution and genes.

Background: Although many risk factors have been described for atopic eczema in children, little is known about the eczema phenotype in middle-aged or elderly adults.

Objective: We sought to examine the association between air pollution, atopy, and eczema in adulthood.

Methods: This analysis was based on 834 women from the Study on the influence of Air pollution on Lung Function, Inflammation and Ageing cohort in Germany.

Long-term exposure to ambient air pollution and traffic noise and incident hypertension in seven cohorts of the European study of cohorts for air pollution effects (ESCAPE).

Aims: We investigated whether traffic-related air pollution and noise are associated with incident hypertension in European cohorts.

Methods And Results: We included seven cohorts of the European study of cohorts for air pollution effects (ESCAPE). We modelled concentrations of particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤2.

Long-term air pollution and traffic noise exposures and cognitive function:A cross-sectional analysis of the Heinz Nixdorf Recall study.

Investigations of adverse effects of air pollution (AP) and ambient noise on cognitive functions are apparently scarce, and findings seem to be inconsistent. The aim of this study was to examine the associations of long-term exposure to AP and traffic noise with cognitive performance. At the second examination of the population-based Heinz Nixdorf Recall study (2006-2008), cognitive performance was evaluated in 4086 participants.

Association of long-term exposure to local industry- and traffic-specific particulate matter with arterial blood pressure and incident hypertension.

Background: Long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) may lead to increased blood pressure (BP). The role of industry- and traffic-specific PM2.

Neighbourhood and physical activity in German adolescents: GINIplus and LISAplus.

Introduction: Impact of neighbourhood on physical activity (PA) is under-investigated in European adolescents, and few studies have used objective data on both exposures and outcomes. Therefore we investigated the association between objectively measured neighbourhood characteristics and PA in 15-year-old German adolescents.

Methods: Study populations comprised of 688 adolescents residing in the urban Munich area and 504 from the rural Wesel area from the GINIplus and LISAplus birth cohorts.

Long-Term Air Pollution and Traffic Noise Exposures and Mild Cognitive Impairment in Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the Heinz Nixdorf Recall Study.

Background: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) describes the intermediate state between normal cognitive aging and dementia. Adverse effects of air pollution (AP) on cognitive functions have been proposed, but investigations of simultaneous exposure to noise are scarce.

Objectives: We analyzed the cross-sectional associations of long-term exposure to AP and traffic noise with overall MCI and amnestic (aMCI) and nonamnestic (naMCI) MCI.

Residential Road Traffic Noise and High Depressive Symptoms after Five Years of Follow-up: Results from the Heinz Nixdorf Recall Study.

Background: Traffic noise affects a large number of people, particularly in urbanized areas. Noise causes stress and annoyance, but less is known about the relationship between noise and depression.

Objective: We investigated the association of residential road traffic noise with depressive symptoms using 5-year follow-up data from a German population-based study.

Long-term residential exposure to urban air pollution, and repeated measures of systemic blood markers of inflammation and coagulation.

Background: In several studies, exposure to fine particulate matter (PM) has been associated with inflammation, with inconsistent results. We used repeated measurements to examine the association of long-term fine and ultrafine particle exposure with several blood markers of inflammation and coagulation.

Methods: We used baseline (2000-2003) and follow-up (2006-2008) data from the Heinz Nixdorf Recall Study, a German population-based prospective cohort of 4814 participants.

Long-term exposure to fine particulate matter and incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus in a cohort study: effects of total and traffic-specific air pollution.

Background: Studies investigating the link between long-term exposure to air pollution and incidence of diabetes are still scarce and results are inconsistent, possibly due to different compositions of the particle mixture. We investigate the long-term effect of traffic-specific and total particulate matter (PM) and road proximity on cumulative incidence of diabetes mellitus (mainly type 2) in a large German cohort.

Methods: We followed prospectively 3607 individuals without diabetes at baseline (2000-2003) from the Heinz Nixdorf Recall Study in Germany (mean follow-up time 5.

Long-term effects of elemental composition of particulate matter on inflammatory blood markers in European cohorts.

Background: Epidemiological studies have associated long-term exposure to ambient particulate matter with increased mortality from cardiovascular and respiratory disorders. Systemic inflammation is a plausible biological mechanism behind this association. However, it is unclear how the chemical composition of PM affects inflammatory responses.

Air quality, stroke, and coronary events: results of the Heinz Nixdorf Recall Study from the Ruhr Region.

Background: Studies have shown that air pollution is associated with cardiopulmonary mortality, but there has been less research of the possible effect of air pollution on stroke and non-fatal coronary events. The Heinz Nixdorf Recall (HNR) study addressed the question of the effect of long-term air pollution on stroke and coronary events. Ambient acoustic noise was also considered as a risk factor.

Air Pollution from Road Traffic and Systemic Inflammation in Adults: A Cross-Sectional Analysis in the European ESCAPE Project.

Background: Exposure to particulate matter air pollution (PM) has been associated with cardiovascular diseases.

Objectives: In this study we evaluated whether annual exposure to ambient air pollution is associated with systemic inflammation, which is hypothesized to be an intermediate step to cardiovascular disease.

Methods: Six cohorts of adults from Central and Northern Europe were used in this cross-sectional study as part of the larger ESCAPE project (European Study of Cohorts for Air Pollution Effects).

Air pollution and atherosclerosis: a cross-sectional analysis of four European cohort studies in the ESCAPE study.

Background: In four European cohorts, we investigated the cross-sectional association between long-term exposure to air pollution and intima-media thickness of the common carotid artery (CIMT), a preclinical marker of atherosclerosis.

Methods: Individually assigned levels of nitrogen dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter ≤ 2.5 μm (PM2.

Effect of long-term outdoor air pollution and noise on cognitive and psychological functions in adults.

It has been hypothesized that air pollution and ambient noise might impact neurocognitive function. Early studies mostly investigated the associations of air pollution and ambient noise exposure with cognitive development in children. More recently, several studies investigating associations with neurocognitive function, mood disorders, and neurodegenerative disease in adult populations were published, yielding inconsistent results.

Comparing land use regression and dispersion modelling to assess residential exposure to ambient air pollution for epidemiological studies.

Background: Land-use regression (LUR) and dispersion models (DM) are commonly used for estimating individual air pollution exposure in population studies. Few comparisons have however been made of the performance of these methods.

Objectives: Within the European Study of Cohorts for Air Pollution Effects (ESCAPE) we explored the differences between LUR and DM estimates for NO2, PM10 and PM2.

Arterial blood pressure and long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution: an analysis in the European Study of Cohorts for Air Pollution Effects (ESCAPE).

Background: Long-term exposure to air pollution has been hypothesized to elevate arterial blood pressure (BP). The existing evidence is scarce and country specific.

Objectives: We investigated the cross-sectional association of long-term traffic-related air pollution with BP and prevalent hypertension in European populations.

Association between source-specific particulate matter air pollution and hs-CRP: local traffic and industrial emissions.

Background: Long-term exposures to particulate matter air pollution (PM2.5 and PM10) and high traffic load have been associated with markers of systemic inflammation. Epidemiological investigations have focused primarily on total PM, which represents a mixture of pollutants originating from different sources.

Insomnia and urban neighbourhood contexts--are associations modified by individual social characteristics and change of residence? Results from a population-based study using residential histories.

Background: Until now, insomnia has not been much of interest in epidemiological neighbourhood studies, although literature provides evidence enough for insomnia-related mechanisms being potentially dependent on neighbourhood contexts. Besides, studies have shown differences in sleep along individual social characteristics that might render residents more vulnerable to neighbourhood contextual exposures. Given the role of exposure duration and changes in the relationship between neighbourhoods and health, we studied associations of neighbourhood unemployment and months under residential turnover with insomnia by covering ten years of residential history of nearly 3,000 urban residents in the Ruhr Area, Germany.