The immunomodulatory effects of diesel exhaust particles in asthma.

Ammonium persulfate (AP) causes occupational asthma (OA) and diesel exhaust particles (DEP) exacerbate asthma; however, the role of DEP in asthma due to chemical agents has not been assessed to date. Therefore, the present work aims to study the immunomodulatory effects of DEP in a mouse model of chemical asthma. BALB/c ByJ mice were randomly divided into four experimental groups.

Characterization of nano-to-micron sized respirable coal dust: Particle surface alteration and the health impact.

Chemical and physical properties of coal dust particles significantly influence the inhalation of respirable coal dust by miners, causing several lung diseases such as coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP) and silicosis. Multiple experimental techniques, including proximate/ultimate analyses, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), laser diffraction, and low-pressure CO and N adsorption, were used to investigate the chemical and physical properties of micron-/nano-coal particles comprehensively. Compared to the micron-scale coal dust, the nano-coal dust (prepared by cryogenic ballmill) shows the increase of carbon content and aromaticity and a decrease of oxygen content along with the reduction of oxygen-containing functional groups.

Epidemiology of lung cancer among acrylonitrile-exposed study populations: A meta-analysis.

Purpose: To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of lung cancer among acrylonitrile-exposed workers.

Methods: A literature search through April 2020 was performed to identify relevant cohort and case-control studies. Data from these studies were meta-analyzed to generate summary relative risk estimates (SRREs).

An integrated and multi-technique approach to characterize airborne graphene flakes in the workplace during production phases.

Graphene is a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb pattern and its unique and amazing properties make it suitable for a wide range of applications ranging from electronic devices to food packaging. However, the biocompatibility of graphene is dependent on the complex interplay of its several physical and chemical properties. The main aim of the present study is to highlight the importance of integrating different characterization techniques to describe the potential release of airborne graphene flakes in a graphene processing and production research laboratory.

Scoping Review-The Association between Asthma and Environmental Chemicals.

Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases worldwide affecting all age groups from children to the elderly. In addition to other factors such as smoking, air pollution and atopy, some environmental chemicals are shown or suspected to increase the risk of asthma, exacerbate asthma symptoms and cause other respiratory symptoms. In this scoping review, we report environmental chemicals, prioritized for investigation in the European Human Biomonitoring Initiative (HBM4EU), which are associated or possibly associated with asthma.

Cancer and occupational exposure to pesticides: an umbrella review.

Purpose: The aim was to identify the scope of the epidemiology literature reviewed regarding the risk of cancer as related to occupational exposure to pesticides and to compare regulatory toxicity results where feasible.

Methods: Review studies of breast, lung, prostate, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and colorectal cancer were identified from the published literature from 2010 to 2020 using a priori inclusion and exclusion criteria. Epidemiology observations were first assessed and then compared against carcinogenicity profiles derived from regulatory toxicology studies.

Dietary phenotype and advanced glycation end-products predict WTC-obstructive airways disease: a longitudinal observational study.

Background: Diet is a modifier of metabolic syndrome which in turn is associated with World Trade Center obstructive airways disease (WTC-OAD). We have designed this study to (1) assess the dietary phenotype (food types, physical activity, and dietary habits) of the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) WTC-Health Program (WTC-HP) cohort and (2) quantify the association of dietary quality and its advanced glycation end product (AGE) content with the development of WTC-OAD.

Methods: WTC-OAD, defined as developing WTC-Lung Injury (WTC-LI; FEV < LLN) and/or airway hyperreactivity (AHR; positive methacholine and/or positive bronchodilator response).

Occupational respiratory and skin diseases among workers exposed to metalworking fluids.

Purpose Of Review: To examine respiratory and skin diseases that occur among workers exposed to metalworking fluids (MWFs) used during machining processes.

Recent Findings: Five cases of a severe and previously unrecognized lung disease characterized by B-cell bronchiolitis and alveolar ductitis with emphysema (BADE) were identified among workers at a machining facility that used MWFs, although MWF exposure could not be confirmed as the etiology. In the United Kingdom, MWF is now the predominant cause of occupational hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP).

Identification of four methylation-driven genes as candidate biomarkers for monitoring single-walled carbon nanotube-induced malignant transformation of the lung.

Long-term exposure to carbon nanotubes (CNTs) has been reported to induce malignant transformation. This study aimed to screen candidate biomarkers for monitoring occupational workers to prevent the development of lung cancer. mRNA (GSE56104) and methylation (GSE153246) profiles of lung epithelial BEAS-2B cells exposed to malignant transformation dose of single-walled CNTs or control medium were downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus database.

Topical exposure to triclosan inhibits Th1 immune responses and reduces T cells responding to influenza infection in mice.

Healthcare workers concurrently may be at a higher risk of developing respiratory infections and allergic disease, such as asthma, than the general public. Increased incidence of allergic diseases is thought to be caused, in part, due to occupational exposure to chemicals that induce or augment Th2 immune responses. However, whether exposure to these chemical antimicrobials can influence immune responses to respiratory pathogens is unknown.

Inhalation bioaccessibility and health risk assessment of flame retardants in indoor dust from Vietnamese e-waste-dismantling workshops.

Although bioaccessibility testing is applied worldwide for appropriate chemical risk assessment, few studies have focused on the bioaccessibility of flame retardants (FRs), especially inhalation exposure. This study assessed inhalation exposure to FRs in indoor dust by workers at e-waste-dismantling workshops in northern Vietnam, by using modified simulated epithelial lung fluid (SELF) and artificial lysosomal fluid (ALF). The average mass concentrations of FRs were 130,000 ng/g for workplace dust (n = 3), 140,000 ng/g for floor dust (n = 3), and 74,000 ng/g for settled dust (n = 2), whereas the average bioaccessible concentrations of FRs were 1900, 1400, and 270 ng/g in the SELF condition and 2600, 770, and 490 ng/g in the ALF condition, respectively.

A Unified Probabilistic Framework for Cancer Risk Management.

Cancer risk assessments in the regulatory realm are often deterministic. Probabilistic approaches that allow characterizing and propagating uncertainty and variability are better suited to predict the socioeconomic impacts of regulating carcinogens. In this article, I present a unified framework for cancer risk management consisting of (i) a probabilistic exposure model that takes into account variability in individual exposure to the substance of concern; (ii) a probabilistic dose-response model that accounts for differences in individual cancer susceptibility; (iii) an impact assessment model that quantifies individuals' excess lifetime cancer risk; and (iv) a welfare model that values changes in disability-adjusted life expectancy based on workers' willingness-to-pay and aggregates individual valuations across the population at risk.

Inhaled multi-walled carbon nanotubes differently modulate global gene and protein expression in rat lungs.

Inhalation of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) induces lung inflammation. Depending on industrial applications, CNTs with different physicochemical characteristics are produced and workers can potentially be exposed. This raises concerns about the long-term health effects of these nanomaterials.

Lung tissue inflammatory response and pneumonocyte apoptosis of Sprague-Dawley rats after a 30-day exposure in methyl mercaptan vapor.

The objective of the research was to reveal the potential toxicity effects of methyl mercaptan on rat lung tissue. A dynamic exposure device and Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were adopted. The exposure concentration of methyl mercaptan was 0.

[Mechanism of nano-indium-tin oxide inducing pulmonary alveolar proteinosis in Sprague-Dawley rats].

To investigate the pathogenesis of pulmonary alveolar proteinosis in rats induced by nano-indium-tin oxide exposure, and to provide a basis for further determining the limit of occupational exposure to indium and developing related protection measures. In August 2018, a total of 40 specific pathogen-free Sprague-Dawley rats, with an age of 6-8 weeks and a body weight of (200±10) g, were randomly divided into control group, low-dose group (1.2 mg/kg) , middle-dose group (3 mg/kg) , and high-dose group (6 mg/kg) , with 10 rats in each group.

Cleaners and airway diseases.

Purpose Of Review: Evidence for adverse respiratory effects of occupational exposure to disinfectants and cleaning products (DCPs) has grown in the last two decades. The relationship between DCPs and asthma is well documented but questions remain regarding specific causal agents. Beyond asthma, associations between DCPs and COPD or chronic rhinitis are plausible and have been examined recently.

Single intratracheal administration of cross-linked water-soluble acrylic acid polymer causes acute alveolo-interstitial inflammation and the subsequent fibrotic formation possibly via the TGF-β1 pathway in the lung of rats.

In a Japanese chemical factory, a lung disease like pneumoconiosis appeared at a high rate among workers handling cross-linked water-soluble acrylic acid polymer (CWAAP). To our knowledge, no such case was known in the world until very recently. The present study was designed to elucidate the effect of single intratracheal CWAAP instillation on the lung of rats.

Prenatal developmental toxicity studies on fumes from bitumen in the rat.

The prenatal developmental toxicity of bitumen fume was tested by nose-only inhalation in the rat. The fumes for exposure were collected from the headspace of a storage tank filled with a bitumen corresponding in composition to an anticipated worst-case occupational exposure. The composition of these fumes was compared to actual paving site fumes to ensure its representativeness for workplace exposures.

The pulmonary toxicity of carboxylated or aminated multi-walled carbon nanotubes in mice is determined by the prior purification method.

Background: Inhalation of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) poses a potential risk to human health. In order to safeguard workers and consumers, the toxic properties of MWCNTs need to be identified. Functionalization has been shown to either decrease or increase MWCNT-related pulmonary injury, depending on the type of modification.

Mortality Patterns Among Industrial Workers Exposed to Chloroprene and Other Substances: Extended Follow-Up.

Objectives: To update the U.S. portion of an historical cohort mortality study of workers with potential exposure to chloroprene (CD) and vinyl chloride (VC) with focus on lung and liver cancer.

Fluorine detection in the lung tissue of a worker with interstitial pulmonary fibrosis and long-term occupational exposure to polytetrafluoroethylene and perfluorooctanoic acid.

Exposure to polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), a compound used in nonstick cookware coating and a variety of other applications, is known to cause acute lung injury and granulomatous pneumonitis. It is uncertain whether PTFE and compounds used in its manufacture, such as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), cause chronic lung disease. Here we report a case of interstitial pulmonary fibrosis in a 71-year-old man who died following a brief illness clinically suspected to be acute respiratory distress syndrome.