Environmental Health最新文献

{"title":"Human health risk assessment for microbial pesticides in the EU: challenges and perspectives.","authors":"Jimena Barrero-Canosa, Julia Ebeling, Elaine F Kenny, Philip Marx-Stoelting, Norman Paege, Sabrina Feustel, Daniela Morais Leme","doi":"10.1186/s12940-025-01196-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12940-025-01196-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The risk assessment of microbial pesticides in the European Union (EU) is covered by a regulatory framework based on EU Regulation 1107/2009 and 546/2011 together with the data requirements in EU Regulation 283/2013 and 284/2013, Part B, respectively (all amended in 2022). Furthermore, several guidance documents specify the data requirements for the human health assessment. As in other regulatory contexts, the assessment of hazardous properties of a microbial plant protection product (PPP) can be based on in vivo data. In order to decrease the use of test animals, support high-throughput data generation with larger repetition, and to facilitate faster testing methods, New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) for this field need to be developed. Here we focus on the assessment of the potential pathogenicity/infectivity and the presence of transferable antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes of a microorganism when utilised as the active substance (AS) in a PPP. For the purpose of risk assessment of microbial PPPs, NAMs developed in view of the Next Generation Risk Assessment (NGRA) for chemicals can be applied. However, major drawbacks in the ability to use existing NAMs in the risk assessment of microbial pesticides are the reliability of Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP) generated data for humans and the practicability of in vitro methods to test living microorganisms. It must be emphasised that tests for risk assessment are only useful if the test interpretation is clearly defined. Without prior definition of the possible effects and their interpretation, including the possible outcome for risk assessment, the test has limited value, as the results may raise more questions than answers. Overall, the regulatory assessment of the human health effects of microbial pesticides used in PPP needs reliable and robust data. These data should ideally be presented by an applicant based on animal-free study setups together with thorough literature searches.</p>","PeriodicalId":11686,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Health","volume":"24 1","pages":"43"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144552669","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Drinking water access and quality in the Gaza Strip prior to 7 October 2023 and implications for reconstruction.","authors":"Curdin Brugger, Branwen Nia Owen, Bassam Abu Hamad, Tammo van Gastel, Federico Sittaro, Rodolfo Rossi, Nicole Probst-Hensch, Mirko S Winkler","doi":"10.1186/s12940-025-01191-6","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12940-025-01191-6","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The water supply of the Gaza Strip has been unstable and under great strain for decades, resulting in major problems with the quality, reliability, and acceptability of drinking water. Destruction of water infrastructure and concerns over the quality of piped water have resulted in a complex constellation of drinking water sources. We aim to describe the different types of drinking water sources used by households, compare water quality from drinking water samples, present different water treatments used in households and highlight different insecurities around water access in households.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We conducted a cross-sectional household survey in North Gaza, Gaza and Rafah between January and March 2023. Using an interviewer-administered survey, we collected information on drinking water sources and insecurities and obtained a drinking water sample from the tap in the household. The water samples were analyzed for microbial contamination, nitrate, sodium and mineral content.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We collected data from 905 households. Only 3% had access to a single water source, 87% had access to two sources and 96% had access to piped water from the municipality. Piped municipal water was mainly used for hygiene and bathing, while the three most used sources for drinking were tanker trucks (82%), public taps (10%) and piped water from the municipalities (3.7%). Fecal coliform was present in 20% of water samples, 1% had high nitrate levels and nearly all samples had low mineral content. While around 15-19% of the households were sometimes or often water insecure, over 90% reported never drinking from undesirable sources, drinking unsafe water, or going to sleep thirsty. Households using municipal piped water tended to be most water secure.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The water quality and insecurity about accessibility and quality of water pose a health threat and need to be addressed at system level. Rebuilding the water infrastructure will be a key element during the reconstruction after the current war. It is crucial that the shortcomings of the pre-war water system are not rebuilt, and lessons are learnt from pre-war data to establish a health-promoting water system in the Gaza Strip.</p><p><strong>Clinical trial number: </strong>Not applicable.</p>","PeriodicalId":11686,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Health","volume":"24 1","pages":"41"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144539595","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mortality of individuals in a long-term cohort exposed to polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs).","authors":"Metrecia L Terrell, Amila Adili, Robert B Hood, Matthew P Bursley, Hillary Barton, Melanie Pearson, Michele Marcus","doi":"10.1186/s12940-025-01192-5","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12940-025-01192-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>This study is a long-term follow-up of individuals exposed to polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs). Widespread contamination of PBBs began in 1973 in Michigan when PBBs entered the food chain. PBBs are synthetic chemicals that were once used in industrial products. Their production in the United States ended following this incident. PBBs and other brominated flame retardants belong to a class of persistent organic pollutants that have been shown to affect human health. We conducted this study to investigate whether PBB exposure was associated with all-cause or cause-specific mortality risk.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We included cohort data from 1976 (when the study began) and linked to National Death Index data obtained through the early release of 2021. Serum PBB concentrations were measured at enrollment in the study. We used survival analysis to estimate sex-specific hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI), adjusting for age and other important risk factors. The mortality study included 3,954 individuals.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In age-stratified analyses, higher PBB exposure was not associated with all-cause mortality risk in males or females. In cause-specific analyses conducted in the 16 or older group, we found no association between PBB exposure and circulatory system disease mortality. For all-cancer mortality, we found higher PBB exposure associated with increased risk of mortality in females (HR: 1.50, 95% CI: 1.02-2.22), which was inversed in males (HR: 0.68, 95% CI: 0.46-1.01). BMI appeared to modify the association between PBB exposure and all-cause mortality risk in males and all-cancer mortality risk in males and females.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This comprehensive study found that the association between PBB exposure and cancer mortality risk varied by sex. Further research is needed to understand these sex-specific differences.</p>","PeriodicalId":11686,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Health","volume":"24 1","pages":"42"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144539596","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The impact of burn pit waste segregation practices on respiratory and cardiovascular health risks among US military veterans deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.","authors":"Anila Bello, David A Savitz, Christopher Rennix, Lan Jiang, Amal N Trivedi, Gregory A Wellenius, Susan R Woskie","doi":"10.1186/s12940-025-01195-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12940-025-01195-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Open-air burning was a prevalent waste management method at many U.S. military bases during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Past studies of the health impacts of burn pit exposure have relied on exposure assessments that did not account for waste segregation practices introduced in the later years of the wars, such as removing hazardous and medical waste before open burning and the use of incinerators.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>We developed a refined exposure assessment that accounts for waste management practices on military bases and evaluated the impact of waste segregation and incineration on cardiovascular and respiratory health outcomes among veterans deployed during these conflicts.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The study cohort consisted of 459,381 Army and Air Force veterans who were deployed between 2005 and 2011 and received health care through the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) after deployment. The 109 most populated military bases in Afghanistan and Iraq were classified into four waste disposal categories by year: unsegregated, segregated, incineration, and no burning or incineration. Individual exposure was defined as the total number of days spent at bases based on the Department of Defense deployment histories. Health outcomes were determined through VHA healthcare records, from the end of deployment through the end of follow-up in 2020. Logistic regression was performed to investigate the association between deployment to bases with varying waste management practices and the risk of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Deployment to bases using burn pits with unsegregated waste was associated with elevated risks of hypertension and asthma, whereas deployment to bases that segregated waste or used incinerators was not. Prolonged deployment (highest duration tertile of > 240 days) to bases with unsegregated waste burning was associated with a 16% higher risk of hypertension (aOR 1.16, 95% CI 1.13-1.19) compared to those never stationed at such bases. There was a clear deployment duration-response association for hypertension, but this was not observed for asthma.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The observed increased risk of hypertension and asthma among military veterans deployed to bases that used open burning of unsegregated waste - but not among those deployed to bases that segregated waste or used incinerators - highlights the importance of considering waste management methods in future studies examining the health effects of burn pit exposures among military veterans.</p>","PeriodicalId":11686,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Health","volume":"24 1","pages":"40"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144539597","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Childhood mercury exposure and early death in Grassy Narrows First Nation, Canada: a retrospective study.","authors":"Donna Mergler, Aline Philibert, Myriam Fillion, Judy Da Silva","doi":"10.1186/s12940-025-01190-7","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12940-025-01190-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>In 1962, a chloralkali plant began discharging mercury (Hg) into the Wabigoon-English River system, contaminating the territorial waters of Grassy Narrows First Nation, whose traditions, livelihood and diet centered on fish. Data from 1970 to 1997 government Hg biomonitoring programs were repatriated by Grassy Narrows. Our researcher-community partnership carried out secondary analyses to examine the association between childhood Hg exposure (between 5 and 15y) and survival to July 1, 2024.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Information from the governmental biomonitoring programs and from Grassy Narrows Registry of Band members were used to create a retrospective year-based equivalent hair Hg (HHg) database, with dates of birth, sampling and death (N = 317). Apparent cause of death was reported by community members. Different approaches were used to minimize potential unmeasured confounders in examining the relation between Hg exposure and early death: (i) matched pairs (deceased/alive; same sex, year of birth (± 1) (n = 81) pairs for dissymmetry analysis, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox proportional hazards regression models (ii) Longitudinal Mixed Effects Models (LMEM) with individuals who had at least 7 year-based HHg measurements (n = 35), and (iii) trajectory techniques modelling exposure.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>HHg measurements (n = 1031) were available for 167 boys and 150 girls. Mean age at sampling was 10.5 y (SD: 2.9); 44.2% had HHg ≥ 4 µg/g at least once. By July 1, 2024, 97 individuals (30.6%) had died (median age: 39 years (IQR: 24-49)). The Cox Hazard Ratio for HHg ≥ 4 µg/g at least once was 1.96 [1.18-3.28]. LMEM showed that HHg was 1.46 µg/g higher over the sampling period for the deceased compared to the living. Significant associations (p ≤ 0.001) were also observed for early death with respect to HHg trajectory summary scores (OR: 1.14 to 1.24; SE ≤ 0.78). Reported suicide, liver disease and cardiovascular/metabolic conditions made up 60% of all deaths.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Early mortality in Grassy Narrows First Nation is higher than other First Nations and the non-Indigenous populations in Canada. Convergent findings from different approaches and statistical techniques support an association between childhood Hg exposure and early death. Morbidity and mortality in this community require follow-up.</p>","PeriodicalId":11686,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Health","volume":"24 1","pages":"39"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12183875/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144368712","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Environmental exposure to mixtures of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in Northeast China: exploring links to nodular goiter and papillary thyroid carcinoma.","authors":"Ziqing Sun, Boying Liu, Rui Ding, Xin Wang, Yanyan Chen, Yi Wang","doi":"10.1186/s12940-025-01194-3","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12940-025-01194-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Environmental exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) has been related to some adverse health effects. An increasing number of people are suffering from nodular goiter (NG) and papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), the specific types of thyroid tumors with the highest prevalence. In vivo and in vitro studies have indicated that exposure to PFAS can disrupt thyroid homeostasis and exhibit apparent endocrine-disrupting toxicity, including the decreased thyroid hormone levels and abnormal expression of thyroid-related genes. However, epidemiological evidence supporting the cause-effect relationship between PFAS exposure and the risk of NG and PTC is still lacking.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We enrolled 290 participants to explore the relationship between PFAS exposure and NG/PTC risk. 21 urinary PFAS were detected by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). Logistic regression, restricted cubic spline (RCS), Bayesian Kernel Machine Regression (BKMR) and quantile g-computation (qgcomp) models were adopted to examine effects of single and mixed PFAS exposure on NG/PTC risk.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Our data showed that perfluoroheptane sulfonate (PFHpS) (P = 0.033) and perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS) (P = 0.003) levels in NG cases and perfluoroheptanoic acid (PFHpA) (P = 0.008) levels in PTC cases were significantly higher than those in the controls. After adjustment for confounders, PFHxS was significantly related to higher NG/PTC risk (all P for trend < 0.05). A remarkable non-linear association was found between PFHpA exposure and PTC risk (P-overall < 0.001, P-non-linear = 0.001). The BKMR model indicated that PFAS mixtures significantly increased NG risk, with PFHxS contributing the most (groupPIP: 0.886, condPIP: 0.658). In stratified analyses, PFAS mixtures were positively associated with NG/PTC risk in females and normal-weight subjects.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Our results suggest that environmental exposure to PFAS mixtures may be associated with increased NG/PTC risk, and each PFAS may contribute to NG/PTC risk in very different ways. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first epidemiological study to examine effects of PFAS exposure on NG/PTC risk.</p>","PeriodicalId":11686,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Health","volume":"24 1","pages":"38"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12168296/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144309724","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Changes in the short-term relationship between air pollution and mortality in New York City, 1990-2019.","authors":"Rebecca Goldberg, Ariel Spira-Cohen, Masha Pitiranggon, Sarah Johnson, Kazuhiko Ito","doi":"10.1186/s12940-025-01171-w","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12940-025-01171-w","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":11686,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Health","volume":"24 1","pages":"37"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12166610/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144293550","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Carcinogenic effects of long-term exposure from prenatal life to glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides in Sprague-Dawley rats.","authors":"Simona Panzacchi, Eva Tibaldi, Luana De Angelis, Laura Falcioni, Rita Giovannini, Federica Gnudi, Martina Iuliani, Marco Manservigi, Fabiana Manservisi, Isabella Manzoli, Ilaria Menghetti, Rita Montella, Roberta Noferini, Daria Sgargi, Valentina Strollo, Francesca Truzzi, Michael N Antoniou, Jia Chen, Giovanni Dinelli, Stefano Lorenzetti, Alberto Mantovani, Robin Mesnage, Melissa J Perry, Andrea Vornoli, Philip J Landrigan, Fiorella Belpoggi, Daniele Mandrioli","doi":"10.1186/s12940-025-01187-2","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12940-025-01187-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Glyphosate-based herbicides (GBHs) are the world's most widely used weed control agents. Public health concerns have increased since the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified glyphosate as a probable human carcinogen in 2015. To further investigate the health effects of glyphosate and GBHs, the Ramazzini Institute launched the Global Glyphosate Study (GGS), which is designed to test a wide range of toxicological outcomes. Reported here are the results of the carcinogenicity arm of the GGS.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Glyphosate and two GBHs, Roundup Bioflow used in the European Union (EU) and RangerPro used in the U.S., were administered to male and female Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats, beginning at gestational day 6 (via maternal exposure) through 104 weeks of age. Glyphosate was administered through drinking water at three doses: the EU acceptable daily intake (ADI) of 0.5 mg/kg body weight/day, 5 mg/kg body weight/day and the EU no-observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) of 50 mg/kg body weight/day. The two GBH formulations were administered at the same glyphosate-equivalent doses.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In all 3 treatment groups, statistically significant dose-related increased trends or increased incidences of benign and malignant tumors at multiple anatomic sites were observed compared to historical and concurrent controls. These tumors arose in haemolymphoreticular tissues (leukemia), skin, liver, thyroid, nervous system, ovary, mammary gland, adrenal glands, kidney, urinary bladder, bone, endocrine pancreas, uterus and spleen (hemangiosarcoma). Increased incidences occurred in both sexes. Most of these involved tumors that are rare in SD rats (background incidence < 1%) with 40% of leukemias deaths in the treated groups occurring before 52 weeks of age and increased early deaths were also observed for other solid tumors.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Glyphosate and GBHs at exposure levels corresponding to the EU ADI and the EU NOAEL caused dose-related increases in incidence of multiple benign and malignant tumors in SD rats of both sexes. Early-life onset and mortality were observed for multiple tumors. These results provide robust evidence supporting IARC's conclusion that there is \"sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity [of glyphosate] in experimental animals\". Furthermore, our data are consistent with epidemiological evidence on the carcinogenicity of glyphosate and GBHs.</p>","PeriodicalId":11686,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Health","volume":"24 1","pages":"36"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12150505/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144257601","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), thyroid hormones, sexual hormones and pubertal development in adolescents residing in the neighborhood of a 3M factory.","authors":"Nicolas van Larebeke, Bianca Cox, Sylvie Remy, Stefan Voorspoels, Elly Den Hond, Ann Colles, Martine Leermakers, Greet Schoeters, Veerle Verheyen","doi":"10.1186/s12940-025-01188-1","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12940-025-01188-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Near Antwerp a 3M factory has been active since 1971 emitting PFAS, mainly PFOS, in the local environment. Production of C8 compounds was stopped in 2002, production of other PFAS continued until 2024. This study aimed to examine the association between internal PFAS concentrations and thyroid hormones, sexual hormones, and pubertal development in adolescents living in the neighborhood of the factory.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We measured PFAS in serum of 146 female and 139 male adolescents. For males sex hormones (LH, testosterone, estradiol, progesterone, inhibin B, FSH) and SHBG were measured in serum. For males and females we assessed serum thyroid hormone levels (TSH, T3, T4 and T3/T4) and pubertal development parameters self-assessed through a standardized questionnaire. Associations between PFAS concentrations and effect biomarkers/health effects were assessed through Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE), using linear models for continuous outcomes, logistic models for binary outcomes, and proportional odds models for ordinal outcomes.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>For males LH, total and bioavailable testosterone showed significant negative associations with PFHxS and PFOA. LH and bioavailable testosterone also showed significant negative associations with other PFAS compounds. SHBG showed significant positive associations with PFDA, PFNA, PFHxS, PFOS and the sum of the linear forms of PFOS, PFOA, PFNA and PFHxS. Males' length and growth spurt showed significant negative associations with PFOS, PFOA and PFAS sum parameters and length and growth spurt separately also with other PFAS compounds. For females growth spurt showed significant negative association with PFOA and a significant positive association with PFOS(branched). For both males and females body hair development showed significant negative associations with PFHxS, and, for males and females separately also with other PFAS compounds. For females, breast development showed significant negative associations with PFOA, pubertal development scale showed significant negative associations with PFOA, PFHxS, PFOS(linear) and the sum of 4 PFAS. For males, TSH showed a significant negative association with PFDA and FT3 showed significant positive associations with PFOA, PFOA and PFNA. For females, FT3 showed a significant negative association with PFOS(branched).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>We observed significant, consistent and biologically relevant associations of PFAS serum concentrations with sex hormone and SHBG levels in male adolescents. Moreover, a significant delay in physiological processes occurring in puberty was observed in females and males. Associations with thyroid hormones differed significantly by sex.</p>","PeriodicalId":11686,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Health","volume":"24 1","pages":"34"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12144784/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144247037","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Extreme heat and pediatric health in a warming world: a space-time stratified case-crossover investigation in Ontario, Canada.","authors":"Hallah Kassem, Eric Lavigne, Kate Weinberger, Michael Brauer","doi":"10.1186/s12940-025-01153-y","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12940-025-01153-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Globally, climate change is causing frequent and severe extreme heat events (EHEs). A large body of literature links EHEs to multiple health endpoints. While children's physiology and activity patterns differ from those of adults in ways that are hypothesized to increase susceptibility to such endpoints, research gaps remain regarding the specific impacts of EHEs on child health. This study evaluated pediatric emergency healthcare utilizations associated with EHEs in Ontario.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Applying a space-time stratified case-crossover design, associations between EHEs (same-day or lagged exposure to 2 consecutive days of daily maximum temperatures above percentile thresholds) and 15 causes of pediatric emergency healthcare use in Ontario, Canada from 2005 to 2015 were analysed using conditional quasi-Poisson regression. In primary analyses, EHEs were defined as two or more consecutive days with temperatures above the 99th percentile of temperature within each respective forward sortation area (FSA). Emergency healthcare use was measured using hospital admissions as an indicator of severe outcomes, and emergency department (ED) visits as a sensitive measure of outcomes.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Relative to non-EHE days, EHEs increased the rates of pediatric hospital admissions for respiratory illnesses by 26% (95% CI: 14-40%), asthma by 29% (16-44%); infectious and parasitic diseases by 36% (24-50%), lower respiratory infections by 50% (36-67%), and enteritis by 19% (7-32%). EHEs also increased the rates of ED visits for lower respiratory infections by 10% (0-21%), asthma by 18% (7-29%), heat-related illnesses by 211% (193-230%), heatstroke by 590% (550-622%), and dehydration by 35% (25-46%), but not for other causes. Admissions and ED visits due to injuries and transportation related injuries were negatively associated with EHEs. Neither all-cause hospital admissions nor ED visits were associated with EHEs.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>In Ontario, EHEs decreased the rates of pediatric emergency healthcare utilization for injuries and increased the rates of respiratory illnesses, asthma, heat-related illnesses, heatstroke, dehydration, infectious and parasitic diseases, lower respiratory infections, and enteritis. Tailored policies and programs that reflect the specific heat-related vulnerabilities of children to respiratory and infectious illnesses are warranted in the face of a rapidly warming climate.</p>","PeriodicalId":11686,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Health","volume":"24 1","pages":"35"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-06-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12145649/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144247025","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}