Identifying high occurrence areas of hospitalization and mortality from respiratory diseases in the Brazilian Legal Amazon: a space-time analysis.

Respiratory diseases pose a significant threat to the health of the Brazilian population, ranking among the leading causes of hospitalizations and deaths in the country. The most impacted demographics are children, adolescents, and older adults, who respectively have the highest rates of hospitalizations and deaths. An exploratory ecological study was conducted to assess the spatio-temporal distribution of hospitalizations and deaths due to respiratory diseases among children, adolescents, and older adults residing in municipalities in the Brazilian Legal Amazon.

Health Impact Assessment in protected areas: a proposal for urban contexts in Brazil.

The use of Health Impact Assessment (HIA) in the establishment of an urban protected area can enhance the positive impacts and mitigate the negative impacts resulting from its implementation. Brazil hosts some of the most important biodiversity hotspots in the world and the HIA may benefit biodiversity and human health. These areas are commonly created without any preceding survey to assess their impacts on health.

The potential impact of PM2.5 on the covid-19 crisis in the Brazilian Amazon region.

Objective: This study aims to assess covid-19 morbidity, mortality, and severity from 2020 to 2021 in five Brazilian Amazon states with the highest records of wildfires.

Methods: A distributed lag non-linear model was applied to estimate the potential exposure risk association with particulate matter smaller than 2.5-µm in diameter (PM2.

Cerebrovascular mortality: trend and seasonality in Brazilian capitals, 2000-2019.

Objective: To evaluate the trend and seasonality of cerebrovascular mortality rates in the adult population of Brazilian capitals from 2000 to 2019.

Methods: This is an ecological and descriptive study of a time series of mortality due to cerebrovascular causes in adults (≥ 18 years) living in Brazilian capitals from 2000 to 2019, based on the Brazilian Mortality Information System. Descriptive statistical techniques were applied in the exploratory analysis of data and in the summary of specific, standardized rates and ratios by sociodemographic characteristics.

[Heat and burden of diseases: impacts and future projections in capitals of the Legal Amazon.].

Objective: Under the influence of climate change, environmental exposure to heat and pollution grows, exacerbated by extreme events, increasing the risk of mortality in vulnerable areas. We aimed to evaluate the present (2000-2019) and future effects of heat on the burden of cardiovascular (in people aged 45 years or older), respiratory (in people aged 60 years or older) and all-cause (in people aged 1 year or more) diseases in capitals of the Legal Amazon (Brazil).

Methods: An ecological study was conducted to initially estimate, for the period 2000-2019, the relative risk (RR) of exposure-response related to the effects of temperature on years of life potentially lost (YLL) using the generalized linear regression model (GLM), combined with the distributed non-linear lag model (DLNM); and the fractions of YLL attributable to heat from the prospective perspective (forward).

Mercury Contamination: A Growing Threat to Riverine and Urban Communities in the Brazilian Amazon.

In recent decades, widespread and uncontrolled use of mercury (Hg) in artisanal small-scale gold mining has released thousands of tons of mercury-contaminated waste in the Amazon biome, endangering the largest tropical rainforest worldwide. In this study, we assessed and compared blood Hg levels in individuals living in urban and riverine areas in the lower Tapajós basin and examined the association between Hg exposure and specific biochemical parameters. In total, 462 adults from eight riverine communities and one urban area were assessed.

An Assessment of Health Outcomes and Methylmercury Exposure in Munduruku Indigenous Women of Childbearing Age and Their Children under 2 Years Old.

In line with the 1000-day initiative and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2 and 3, we present a cross-sectional analysis of maternal health, infant nutrition, and methylmercury exposure within hard-to-reach indigenous communities in the state of Pará, Brazilian Amazon. We collected data from all women of childbearing age (i.e.

Mercury Exposure in Munduruku Indigenous Communities from Brazilian Amazon: Methodological Background and an Overview of the Principal Results.

The Amazonian indigenous peoples depend on natural resources to live, but human activities' growing impacts threaten their health and livelihoods. Our objectives were to present the principal results of an integrated and multidisciplinary analysis of the health parameters and assess the mercury (Hg) exposure levels in indigenous populations in the Brazilian Amazon. We carried out a cross-sectional study based on a census of three Munduruku indigenous villages ( and ), located in the Indigenous Land, between 29 October and 9 November 2019.

Intergenerational Association of Short Maternal Stature with Stunting in Yanomami Indigenous Children from the Brazilian Amazon.

To describe the factors associated to stunting in <5-year-old Yanomami Brazilian children, and to evaluate the association of short maternal stature to their offspring's stunting. A cross-sectional study carried out in three villages in the Yanomami territory. We performed a census, in which all households with children < 5-years-old were included.

Health Risk Assessment of Mercury Exposure from Fish Consumption in Munduruku Indigenous Communities in the Brazilian Amazon.

Fish serves as the principal source of animal protein for the indigenous people of the Amazon, ensuring their food and nutritional security. However, gold mining causes mercury (Hg) contamination in fish, and consequently increases health risks associated with fish consumption. The aim of this study was to assess the health risk attributed to the consumption of mercury-contaminated fish by Munduruku indigenous communities in the Middle-Tapajós Region.

The effect of ambient temperature on blood pressure of patients undergoing hemodialysis in the Pantanal-Brazil.

The objective was to analyze the association of changes in pre-dialysis systolic and diastolic blood pressure with air temperature in a municipality in the Brazilian Pantanal, a tropical climate area. Longitudinal panel study, with analysis of mixed effects models of 133 hemodialysis patients in the city of Cáceres-Mato Grosso in 2014. Air temperature showed an inverse association with pre-dialysis systolic and diastolic blood pressure.

Port and industrial compound of Pecém: an epidemiological survey.

This research aimed to analyze the dwellers' knowledge of the territories, Pecém Port and Industrial Compound (CIPP), the quality of life of the communities living in the vicinity of the enterprises, and the prevalence of hypertension and overweight. This is a home-based, epidemiological survey of four areas of the Family Health Strategy (ESF) in São Gonçalo do Amarante and one area of the ESF in Caucaia, Ceará, Brazil. The study was carried out between 10/2017 and 03/2018.

Mortality Risk from Respiratory Diseases Due to Non-Optimal Temperature among Brazilian Elderlies.

Over the past decade, Brazil has experienced and continues to be impacted by extreme climate events. This study aims to evaluate the association between daily average temperature and mortality from respiratory disease among Brazilian elderlies. A daily time-series study between 2000 and 2017 in 27 Brazilian cities was conducted.

[Estimate of mean daily concentration of fine particulate matter in the Industrial and Port Complex area of Pecém, Ceará, Brazil].

Exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is associated with numerous negative health outcomes. Thus, monitoring the environmental concentration of PM2.

Mercury Exposure through Fish Consumption in Traditional Communities in the Brazilian Northern Amazon.

Artisanal small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is the main source of anthropogenic mercury emissions and contamination in Latin America. In the Brazilian northern Amazon, ASGM has contaminated the environment and people over the past century. The main contamination route is through fish consumption, which endangers the food security and livelihoods of traditional communities.

Neuropsychological Effects of Mercury Exposure in Children and Adolescents of the Amazon Region, Brazil.

Background: Studies with children exposed to methylmercury (MeHg) through fish consumption in the Brazilian Amazon region report that the high levels of hair Hg are associated with significant decreases in intelligence, memory, attention, and visuospatial processing.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between mercury exposure and neuropsychological functions in riverside communities of the Brazilian Amazon.

Method: 263 participants aged 6 to 14 years old were assessed, from resettlement regions, near the Madeira river, Rondônia, Brazil.

Socioeconomic factors increase the adverse effects of air pollution and temperature on mortality.

Objective: To verify the effects of PM2.5 and temperature on mortality due to cardiovascular diseases according to socioeconomic status and traffic proximity.

Method: Time series were used, using the generalized additive models with the Poisson regression option, at 5% significance level.

Burden of Mild Mental Retardation attributed to prenatal methylmercury exposure in Amazon: local and regional estimates.

The gold rush in the Amazon Region caused an increase of mercury (Hg) levels in the environment, and, consequently, raised human exposure. Once released into aquatic systems, Hg could generate methylmercury (MeHg), an extremely toxic compound, which is accumulated through trophic chains. Several studies have provided evidences of the brain sensitivity to MeHg, as well as, of the fetus vulnerability during pregnancy.

Challenges and Prospects for Integrating the Assessment of Health Impacts in the Licensing Process of Large Capital Project in Brazil.

Brazil was one of the first countries in Latin America to institutionalize a National Environmental Policy in 1981, including the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process of economic activities with anticipated impacts on the environment. Today, EIA practice in Brazil comes with a number of limitations: it is constrained by its environmental advocacy role; application is strongly oriented towards large capital projects; and social responsibility considerations are only partially included. Consequently, EIA studies mainly address issues connected to localised and direct environmental impacts, largely ignoring any socio-economic and health impacts.

Participatory environmental diagnosis and of health risks from the surrounding communities the Petrochemical Complex of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The aim of this study was to diagnose the priority socio environmental problems and the health risks from the surrounding communities the Petrochemical Complex of Rio de Janeiro. Characterized by a participatory approach, the action research has led to the application of interviews, focal groups, meetings and workshop with social actors of Porto das Caixas and Sambaetiba districts, located in Itaboraí city/RJ from November 2013 to December 2014. A structural analysis of the problems prioritized by the communities (water supply, sewage treatment and risk of transmissible diseases; risk of air pollution and respiratory diseases; absence of public security and risk of violence) sketched out the cause-effect-intervention relationship, on the basis of the Protocol for Assessing Community Excellence in Environmental Health.

Risk factors in cardiovascular disease mortality associated with high exposure to vehicular traffic.

Objective: To identify areas and risk factors in cardiovascular disease (CD) mortality associated with air pollution from high exposure to vehicular traffic.

Methods: Cross-sectional study of CD mortality in 2,617 individuals aged 45-85 years living in the urban area of Cuiabá and Várzea Grande, Mato Grosso State, Brazil, between 2009 and 2011. We used the residential proximity of up to 150 meters to a roadway of great vehicle flow as a proxy of high exposure to air pollution from vehicular traffic.

Biomass burning particles in the Brazilian Amazon region: Mutagenic effects of nitro and oxy-PAHs and assessment of health risks.

Emissions from burning of biomass in the Amazon region have adverse effects on the environment and human health. Herein, particulate matter (PM) emitted from biomass burning in the Amazon region during two different periods, namely intense and moderate, was investigated. This study focused on: i) organic characterization of nitro- and oxy-polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs); ii) assessment of the excess lifetime cancer risk (LCR); and iii) assessment of the in vitro mutagenic effects of extractable organic matter (EOM).

Climatic variability and morbidity and mortality associated with particulate matter.

Objective: The objective of this study has been to analyze whether fine particulate matter (PM2.5), as well as its synergistic effect with maximum temperature, humidity, and seasons, is associated with morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular diseases.

Methods: This is an ecological study of time series.

Biomass burning in the Amazon region causes DNA damage and cell death in human lung cells.

Most of the studies on air pollution focus on emissions from fossil fuel burning in urban centers. However, approximately half of the world's population is exposed to air pollution caused by biomass burning emissions. In the Brazilian Amazon population, over 10 million people are directly exposed to high levels of pollutants resulting from deforestation and agricultural fires.

[Spatial distribution of biomass burning and mortality among the elderly in a Brazilian Amazon region, 2001 - 2012].

The burning of biomass has a significant impact on the Amazon ecosystem in the dry season due to the emissions of air pollutants. The effects on the health of the population, especially in the region of the arc of deforestation, has been the subject of recent studies. The scope of this study was to evaluate the spatial distribution of biomass burning and mortality from respiratory and cardiovascular diseases among the elderly in the state of Rondônia in the period from 2001 to 2012.