Exposure to Lead, Cadmium, Mercury and Arsenic Among Asian and Non-Asian Children and Adolescents in the United States: NHANES 2015-2018.

Higher concentrations of heavy metals were reported mainly among adult Asian persons compared to other racial/ethnic groups in earlier NHANES cycles' studies. We aimed to examine concentrations of metals among Asian children/adolescents compared to children/adolescents identifying with other racial/ethnic groups, considering socio-demographic factors and potential mediation by fish/shellfish consumption. Using NHANES data (2015-2018), 5293 participants (1-19 years) with blood/urinary measurements of lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic were included.

Association of chronic arsenic exposure with cellular immune profile in MINIMat adolescents: A birth cohort in Bangladesh.

Chronic arsenic exposure is known to affect the immune system. We aimed to evaluate the association between arsenic exposure and immune cell profile in 15 years old adolescents (n=389) in rural Bangladesh, with chronic exposure to groundwater arsenic. Single blood and urine were collected.

Fetal femur length and risk of diabetes in adolescence: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Diabetes is more apparent in adulthood but may be dormant in childhood and originates during early fetal development. In fetal biometry, femur length (FL) is crucial for assessing fetal growth and development. This study aimed to assess potential associations between fetal femur growth and prediabetic biomarkers in Bangladeshi children.

Systems for rating bodies of evidence used in systematic reviews of air pollution exposure and reproductive and children's health: a methodological survey.

Background: Translating findings from systematic reviews assessing associations between environmental exposures and reproductive and children's health into policy recommendations requires valid and transparent evidence grading.

Methods: We aimed to evaluate systems for grading bodies of evidence used in systematic reviews of environmental exposures and reproductive/ children's health outcomes, by conducting a methodological survey of air pollution research, comprising a comprehensive search for and assessment of all relevant systematic reviews. To evaluate the frameworks used for rating the internal validity of primary studies and for grading bodies of evidence (multiple studies), we considered whether and how specific criteria or domains were operationalized to address reproductive/children's environmental health, e.

Climate change and infectious disease surveillance in Nepal: qualitative study exploring social, cultural, political and institutional factors influencing disease surveillance.

Background: To explore the impacts of contextual issues encompassing social, cultural, political and institutional elements, on the operation of public health surveillance systems in Nepal concerning the monitoring of infectious diseases in the face of a changing climate.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews (n = 16) were conducted amongst key informants from the Department of Health Services, Health Information Management System, Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, World Health Organization, and experts working on infectious disease and climate change in Nepal, and data were analysed using thematic analysis technique.

Results: Analysis explicates how climate change is constructed as a contingent risk for infectious diseases transmission and public health systems, and treated less seriously than other 'salient' public health risks, having implications for how resources are allocated.

Prenatal exposure to ambient air pollutants and congenital heart defects: An umbrella review.

Background: Prenatal exposure to ambient air pollutants has been linked to congenital heart defects (CHD), but findings of existing systematic reviews have been mixed.

Objective: To assess the epidemiological evidence on associations between prenatal exposure to ambient air pollutants and CHD subtypes, based on a systematic overview of reviews ("umbrella review").

Methods: We conducted a systematic search for reviews assessing associations between prenatal exposure to criteria air pollutants and CHD.

Association between Childhood Maltreatment and Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Los Angeles.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been associated with poor mental health outcomes in adulthood. Childhood maltreatment is related to both depressive and anxiety symptoms. Our objective was to investigate these associations among low-income, mostly Black and Latino men who have sex with men (MSM), as these may be a particularly vulnerable population group.

Parental Age and Childhood Risk for Cerebral Palsy in California.

Objective: To investigate the associations between maternal or paternal age at the time of delivery and offspring's risk for cerebral palsy (CP) in California.

Study Design: We conducted a population-based, case-control study that included 8736 singleton CP cases and 90 250 singleton controls, matched by sex and birth year, selected from California birth certificate records from 1994 to 2010. We estimated OR and 95% CIs for CP diagnosis according to maternal and paternal age recorded on the birth certificates.

Perceived social support moderates the association between household dysfunction adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and self-reported drug use among men who have sex with men in Los Angeles, California.

Background: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been shown to be associated with drug use in adulthood. The single ACE of household substance use history (part of the household dysfunction category) has frequently been associated with drug use. Resilience factors such as perceived social support appear to buffer the association between ACEs and drug use and may be particularly relevant for urban men who have sex with men (MSM).

Improved Water, Sanitation and Utilization of Maternal and Child Health Services in South Asia-An Analysis of Demographic Health Surveys.

Globally, many millions of people still lack access to safe drinking water and sanitation facilities. Here, we examined associations between household availability of improved drinking water and sanitation, respectively, and use of maternal and child health (MCH) services in South Asian countries. Demographic and Health Survey population-based data from Bangladesh, Nepal, India, and Pakistan were used, restricted to women with a child aged 0-36 months ( = 145,262).

Parental occupation and childhood germ cell tumors: a case-control study in Denmark, 1968-2016.

Purpose: To examine associations between parental occupation and childhood germ cell tumors (GCTs) in offspring while distinguishing by common histologic subtype (i.e., yolk sac tumor and teratoma).

Neighborhood Contexts and Breast Cancer Among Asian American Women.

Background: This study examines how neighborhood socioeconomic status (nSES) and ethnic composition are associated with breast cancer risk for Asian American women.

Methods: We linked individual level data from a population-based case-control study of breast cancer among Asian American women with neighborhood level data in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area (cases: n = 118, controls: n = 390). Multivariable logistic regression models examined the association between nSES, ethnic composition, and odds of having breast cancer.

Metabolomics analysis of maternal serum exposed to high air pollution during pregnancy and risk of autism spectrum disorder in offspring.

Background: Previously, numerous epidemiologic studies reported an association between autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and exposure to air pollution during pregnancy. However, there have been no metabolomics studies investigating the impact of pregnancy pollution exposure to ASD risk in offspring.

Objectives: To identify differences in maternal metabolism that may reflect a biological response to exposure to high air pollution in pregnancies of offspring who later did or did not develop ASD.

A longitudinal study of rural Bangladeshi children with long-term arsenic and cadmium exposures and biomarkers of cardiometabolic diseases.

There is growing interest in understanding the contribution of environmental toxicant exposure in early life to development of cardiometabolic diseases (CMD) in adulthood. We aimed to assess associations of early life exposure to arsenic and cadmium with biomarkers of CMD in children in rural Bangladesh. From a longitudinal mother-child cohort in Matlab, Bangladesh, we followed up 540 pairs.

Maternal Prenatal Smoking and Autism Spectrum Disorder in Offspring: A California Statewide Cohort and Sibling Study.

We examined associations between maternal smoking and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children in a statewide population-based cohort and sibling-comparison design using California birth records (n = 2,015,104) with information on maternal smoking, demographic factors, and pregnancy (2007-2010). ASD cases (n = 11,722) were identified through California Department of Developmental Services records with diagnoses based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV-TR. We estimated odds ratios for ASD with and without intellectual disability in the full cohort using logistic regression and in a sibling comparison using conditional logistic regression.

Ambient Exposure to Agricultural Pesticides during Pregnancy and Risk of Cerebral Palsy: A Population-Based Study in California.

Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common neuro-motor disability in young children. Disruptions of maternal hormone function during pregnancy have been linked to CP risk. We investigated whether prenatal exposure to pesticide compounds with endocrine-disrupting action affect CP risk.

Occupational livestock or animal dust exposure and offspring cancer risk in Denmark, 1968-2016.

Objective: To examine associations with occupational livestock or other animal dust exposure and offspring cancer risk.

Methods: In this population-based case-control study of Danish children aged < 17 years old, 5078 childhood cancer cases diagnosed 1968-2016 were matched to cancer-free controls by birth year and sex (n = 123,228). Occupational livestock or animal dust exposure was identified using a job-exposure matrix.

Intimate partner violence and childhood illnesses in Cambodia: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Around a quarter of Cambodian women reported being victim to intimate partner violence (IPV) from their current partner. Children's exposure to familial IPV impacts psychosocial well-being and emerging research indicates associations with physical health.

Objective: Investigate associations between maternal experience of IPV and common childhood illnesses in Cambodia.

Maternal serum metabolome and traffic-related air pollution exposure in pregnancy.

Background: Maternal exposure to traffic-related air pollution during pregnancy has been shown to increase the risk of adverse birth outcomes and neurodevelopmental disorders. By utilizing high-resolution metabolomics (HRM), we investigated perturbations of the maternal serum metabolome in response to traffic-related air pollution to identify biological mechanisms.

Methods: We retrieved stored mid-pregnancy serum samples from 160 mothers who lived in the Central Valley of California known for high air particulate levels.

Prenatal Exposure to Air Toxics and Malignant Germ Cell Tumors in Young Children.

Objective: To assess prenatal air toxics exposure and risk for childhood germ cell tumors (GCTs) by histological subtype (yolk sac tumor and teratoma).

Methods: In this case-control study, GCT cases less than 6 years (n = 243) identified from California Cancer Registry records were matched by birth year to cancer-free population controls (n = 147,100), 1984 to 2013. Routinely monitored air toxic exposures were linked to subjects' birth address.

Prenatal and infant exposure to ambient pesticides and autism spectrum disorder in children: population based case-control study.

Objective: To examine associations between early developmental exposure to ambient pesticides and autism spectrum disorder.

Design: Population based case-control study.

Setting: California's main agricultural region, Central Valley, using 1998-2010 birth data from the Office of Vital Statistics.

Higher Breast Cancer Risk Among Immigrant Asian American Women Than Among US-Born Asian American Women.

Introduction: Given rising rates of breast cancer in parts of Asia, immigrant Asian American women in the United States may have higher rates of breast cancer than previously anticipated. This study examined breast cancer risk among Asian American women by nativity and percentage of life lived in the United States, accounting for established breast cancer risk factors.

Methods: We analyzed a breast cancer case-control data set of Asian American women living in the San Francisco Bay Area; this data set included 132 cases of women with breast cancer selected from a Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results cancer registry and 438 Asian American women without diagnosed breast cancer matched to cases by age and country of origin.

Prenatal Exposure to Ambient Pesticides and Preterm Birth and Term Low Birthweight in Agricultural Regions of California.

Findings from studies of prenatal exposure to pesticides and adverse birth outcomes have been equivocal so far. We examined prenatal exposure to agricultural pesticides in relation to preterm birth and term low birthweight, respectively, in children born between 1998 and 2010, randomly selected from California birth records. We estimated residential exposure to agriculturally applied pesticides within 2 km of residential addresses at birth by pregnancy trimester for 17 individual pesticides and three chemical classes (organophosphates, pyrethroids, and carbamates).