Environmental Health最新文献

{"title":"Association of mold exposure and solid household fuel use with depression and anxiety among older adults in China.","authors":"Xinyan Ma, Hanqing Zhao, Yan Wang, Mengdi Hou, Wei Liu, Minghui Sun","doi":"10.1186/s12940-025-01193-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12940-025-01193-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Exposure to mold and solid cooking fuels represents a significant environmental health concern, contributing substantially to indoor air pollution among elderly populations. However, the association between mold exposure, household fuel use, and mental health remains poorly understood. Here we examine individual and joint associations of these exposures on depression, anxiety, and their co-occurrence in older adults.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We evaluated 9,243 elderly participants from the eighth survey wave of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) to explore the associations between mold exposure, solid fuel use, and depression, anxiety, and their co-occurrence. Multivariable logistic regression models were employed to quantify these relationships, with adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) reported.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The study identified a depression prevalence of 13.61% and an anxiety prevalence of 11.79%. Participants exposed to mold demonstrated significantly higher odds of depression (OR = 2.26, 95% CI = 1.93-2.63), anxiety (OR = 2.11, 95% CI = 1.80-2.48), and their co-occurrence (OR = 2.58, 95% CI = 2.10-3.16), compared to participants without mold exposure. Moreover, the use of solid fuels for cooking, as opposed to clean fuels, was correlated with higher occurrence of depression (OR = 1.27, 95% CI = 1.10-1.47), anxiety (OR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.12-1.52), and their co-occurrence (OR = 1.36, 95% CI = 1.10-1.67). Notably, solid fuel use appeared to attenuate the association between mold exposure and anxiety (Relative excess risk due to interaction [RERI] = -0.22, 95% CI = -0.44, -0.01).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The study found that exposure to mold and use of solid fuels may be associated with higher prevalence of depression, anxiety, and their co-occurrence. Further prospective studies are warranted to validate our findings.</p>","PeriodicalId":11686,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Health","volume":"24 1","pages":"50"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144689640","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":"Association between high polygenic risk scores and long-term exposure to air pollution in asthma development: a hospital-based case-control study.","authors":"I-Chieh Chen, Yi-Ming Chen, Yun-Wen Chen, Tzu-Hung Hsiao, Hui-Wen Yang, Kuo-Tung Tang, Ching-Heng Lin, Yu-Wen Chu","doi":"10.1186/s12940-025-01206-2","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12940-025-01206-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Air pollution is widely associated with allergic diseases, including asthma. Although previous studies have suggested an epidemiological link between air pollution and asthma, the combined effects of air pollutants and polygenic risk scores (PRSs) on asthma risk remain incompletely understood. This study aimed to examine the impact of air pollutants and PRS on asthma risk among patients in a Taiwan medical institution.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This retrospective matched case-control study utilized data from the Taiwan Precision Medicine Initiative (TPMI) project to compare asthma patients with a non-asthmatic control group. Participants were stratified into quartiles based on their asthma PRS, while air pollutant exposure was assessed by both duration and concentration. Conducted at Taichung Veterans General Hospital, the study followed participants from January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2021. Logistic regression was used to analyze the relationships between air pollution exposure, genetic risk, and asthma incidence.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 9,756 participants were included (3,252 asthma patients and 6,504 controls). Individuals in the highest PRS quartile demonstrated a significantly increased asthma risk (odds ratio = 1.532, 95% CI = 1.333-1.762, p < 0.0001). Long-term exposure to low levels of PM_2.5, PM₁₀, NO₂, Mn, and O₃ further elevated asthma risk, with the association becoming more pronounced under conditions of high air pollution.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Long-term exposure to low concentrations of air pollutants significantly increases asthma risk, especially among individuals with high genetic susceptibility. These findings emphasize the importance of personalized health management for individuals with elevated PRS.</p><p><strong>Trial registration: </strong>Not applicable.</p>","PeriodicalId":11686,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Health","volume":"24 1","pages":"49"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12273307/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144667422","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":"Paternal and maternal exposures to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and birth outcomes: a multi-country cohort study.","authors":"Pengfei Guo, Jiajun Luo, Jie Zhang, Jens Peter Bonde, Paweł Struciński, Viktor Ohniev, Onyebuchi A Arah, Nicole C Deziel, Joshua L Warren, Gunnar Toft, Zeyan Liew","doi":"10.1186/s12940-025-01199-y","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12940-025-01199-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Maternal prenatal exposures to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been linked to adverse birth outcomes. However, few investigations have considered paternal PFAS exposure. We estimated the parent-specific associations of prenatal PFAS exposures with adverse birth outcomes.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This study included 498 couples from the INUENDO cohort recruited at antenatal care visits in Greenland, Poland, and Ukraine during 2002-2004. We measured five major types of PFAS in parental serum during pregnancy. We analyzed three birth outcomes ascertained from medical records, including gestational age, birth weight, and birth length. We used weighted least squares linear regression to evaluate parent-specific associations of serum PFAS with the birth outcomes, adjusting for parental co-exposures and covariates. We also used quantile g-computation for mixture modeling of the birth outcomes of paternal and/or maternal exposures to multiple PFAS.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>No associations were found between maternal and paternal PFAS exposures and gestational age. However, after adjusting for paternal PFOA, a higher level of maternal serum perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) was linked to a tendency towards lower birth weight and shorter birth length. Paternal exposure to several PFAS was also associated with a tendency for shorter birth length, but the estimated effect sizes were small. We found no joint exposure effects in the mixture analyses.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>While the evidence was inconclusive, maternal PFOA and paternal PFAS exposures seemed to be associated with lower offspring birth weight and shorter birth length, respectively. Parent-specific effects of PFAS exposures on offspring growth and development warrant further research.</p>","PeriodicalId":11686,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Health","volume":"24 1","pages":"48"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-07-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12255010/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144616873","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":"Association of multiple environmental toxicants with markers of early kidney injury in pregnant women: an exposome approach.","authors":"Jia-Jen Chen, Chia-Fang Wu, Sih-Syuan Li, Chu-Chih Chen, Yin-Han Wang, Chia-Jung Hsieh, Shu-Li Wang, Mei-Lien Chen, Ming-Tsang Wu","doi":"10.1186/s12940-025-01201-7","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12940-025-01201-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Pregnant women are regularly exposed to a variety of environmental toxicants in daily life, posing a potential threat of kidney injury before presence of clinical manifestations. As there is a paucity of studies employing an exposome-based approach of kidney health in pregnant women, this study utilizes the above-mentioned strategy to identify the most significant environmental toxicants associated with early kidney injury in pregnant women in the cohort of TMICS (Taiwan Maternal and Infant Cohort Study). A total of 1,139 third-trimester pregnant women (weeks 29-40) were recruited between 2012 and 2015, and one-spot urine samples were successfully collected for study. Sixteen biomonitoring chemicals were measured in urine, including exposure measurements of melamine, 9 phthalate metabolites, nonylphenol (NP), bisphenol A (BPA), methylparaben (MP), ethylparaben (EP), propylparaben (PP), and butylparaben (BP), and outcome measurements of NAG (N-acetyl-β-d-glucosaminidase) and albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR). A two-tier strategy of statistical analyses was employed and data was randomly and evenly split to both training (n = 569) and validation (n = 570) sets. Using a weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression in the training set and subsequently a multivariate regression in the validation set, we found that NP was the most important chemical to link with early markers of kidney injury, both ACR and NAG. Our findings indicate that short-term exposure to NP is associated with markers of subclinical kidney injury in pregnant women in Taiwan. Further research is warranted to determine whether NP exposure is linked to clinically relevant kidney outcomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":11686,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Health","volume":"24 1","pages":"47"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-07-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12243187/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144599747","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":"Socioeconomic and racial-ethnic disparities in flame retardant exposure and executive function skills in preschool children.","authors":"Alexis Merculief, Megan McClelland, Stephanie Foster, John Geldhof, Shannon Lipscomb, Kim Anderson, Molly L Kile","doi":"10.1186/s12940-025-01200-8","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12940-025-01200-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and organophosphate esters (OPEs) are commonly used as flame retardants. Limited research exists on socioeconomic and racial/ethnic disparities in exposure to these compounds and their impact on executive functioning (EF) in early childhood. The present study examined independent and joint effects of income and race/ethnicity on flame retardant exposure in early childhood and investigated associations between flame retardant exposure and children's EF.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This cross-sectional study used data from 349 preschool children recruited in Oregon. Children wore silicone wristband samplers for seven days, with exposures to 41 flame retardant compounds analyzed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry. We focused on exposure to 6 compounds (BDE 47, BDE 99, BDE100, TCPP, TDCPP, TPP) and two composite indices (ΣPBDE, ΣOPE). Wilcoxon rank-sum tests examined exposure differences by race/ethnicity and income (low income = below federal poverty level). Multiple linear regression models, nested within classrooms, assessed the association between PBDE and OPE exposure and EF, measured by the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders-Revised (HTKS-R) and Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS) tasks.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Children were 5.1 years old (SD = 0.3), 29.9% were from underserved racial/ethnic backgrounds, and 27.8% of families were low income. Compared with higher income families, children from low income families were exposed to 83.4% greater ΣPBDE exposures and 36% greater TDCPP exposures. There was no evidence of racial/ethnic disparities in PBDE or OPE exposures. Controlling for age, sex, income, race/ethnicity, and disability or cognitive delay, neither PBDE nor OPE exposures were consistently related to EF, but children from lower income families scored 28.6% lower on the HTKS-R, and children from underserved races/ethnicities scored 25.9% lower on the HTKS-R.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our findings highlight persistent income disparities in PBDE exposures at a pivotal point in children's development, and reveal similar disparities in TDCPP exposures. Furthermore, socioeconomic disadvantage was more strongly associated with reduced EF than either PBDE or OPFR exposures. These findings underscore the need to address structural social inequities, and also highlight the need for greater representation of children from underserved backgrounds in research that seeks to characterize chemical and social exposures within neighborhood and preschool environments.</p>","PeriodicalId":11686,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Health","volume":"24 1","pages":"46"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-07-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12239329/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144590731","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":"Higher plasma AFB1 concentration is associated with increased risk of HPV 16 and HPV 18 detection and persistence among Ugandan women.","authors":"Yan Tong, Miriam Nakalembe, Collins Mpamani, Carolyn Nakisige, Jane Namugga, Grace Banturaki, Philiph Tonui, Omenge Orang'o, Kapten Muthoka, Anthony Ngeresa, John Groopman, Sean Burke, Aaron Ermel, Beverly Musick, Patrick Loehrer, Darron R Brown","doi":"10.1186/s12940-025-01197-0","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12940-025-01197-0","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Aflatoxins are environmental hazards; potent carcinogenic and immunosuppressive agents that contaminates corn and other crops. A high proportion of hepatocellular carcinoma cases are caused by exposure to dietary aflatoxins. Cervical cancer is common among Ugandan women; this malignancy is caused by persistent infection with oncogenic HPV types. An analysis was performed to examine associations between plasma aflatoxin B₁ (AFB₁) detection and oncogenic HPV detection (HPV types 16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59, 66, and 68) and persistence among Ugandan women.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Ugandan women were enrolled in a prospective cohort study. Annual cervical swabs (Enrollment, Month 12 and Month 24) were tested for oncogenic HPV. Plasma AFB₁ concentration was measured (as AFB₁-lysine conjugate, or AFB₁-lys) at Enrollment and Month 12. Multivariable regression models were fitted to examine associations of plasma AFB₁-lys concentrations and oncogenic HPV controlling for demographic and behavioral characteristics.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The analytical sample consisted of 114 women with a mean age of 33.2 years; 60 women were living with HIV; 59 were receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) at enrollment. AFB₁-lysine adducts (AFB₁-lys) was detected in plasma from all 114 women. Multivariable regression models showed that plasma AFB₁-lys concentration was associated with a higher risk of detection of HPV 16 (OR = 2.64, 95% CI = 1.42-4.90, p = 0.002) and HPV 18 (OR = 2.24, 95% CI = 1.27-3.96, p = 0.005), and persistence of HPV 16 (OR = 3.16, 95% CI = 1.59-6.26, p = 0.001) and HPV 18 (OR = 2.06, 95% CI = 1.09-3.90, p = 0.025), controlling for age, marital status, years of education, home ownership, distance to health care, number of lifetime sex partners, age of first sex, and HIV status.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>AFB₁ is an environmental hazard that is prevalent among Ugandan women. Higher plasma AFB₁-lys concentration was associated with detection and persistence of HPV 16 and HPV 18; this association was independent of HIV status. As a result, these women may be at increased risk of cervical cancer. Further studies are needed to determine the mechanisms involved.</p>","PeriodicalId":11686,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Health","volume":"24 1","pages":"45"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12235798/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144583434","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":"Exposure to vehicle traffic in childhood and lung function in young adulthood-a prospective cohort study in an area with low traffic-flows.","authors":"Nicolás Bermúdez Barón, Helena Backman, Linnea Hedman, Eva Rönmark, Martin Andersson","doi":"10.1186/s12940-025-01198-z","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12940-025-01198-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Exposure to high levels of vehicle traffic during childhood seems to have a negative effect on lung function. Less is known about the effects of exposure to relatively low levels during childhood. We aimed to study how exposure to vehicle traffic in childhood is associated with lung function and asthma in young adulthood in a 10-year follow-up of a population-based cohort in a municipality with relatively low levels of vehicle traffic.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The Obstructive Lung Disease in Northern Sweden (OLIN) pediatric cohort II was recruited in 2006 at age 8 years. Exposure to vehicle traffic at baseline was studied in relation to lung function at follow-up at age 19 years (n = 1056 participants). Lung function measures included FEV₁, FVC and FEV₁/FVC. Different exposure thresholds were defined based on proximity (within a 200 m radius from the home address) to a road with a minimum daily count of heavy vehicles (≥ 250 and ≥ 500) or any type of vehicle (≥ 4000 and ≥ 8000). The association between exposure to vehicle traffic at baseline and lung function at follow-up was analyzed by linear regression adjusting for potential confounders.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In general, those above the exposure thresholds had lower lung function than those below, but not significantly so in all comparisons. Those exposed to ≥ 250 heavy vehicles/day had lower mean FEV₁ z-score at follow-up (-0.38) compared with those exposed to < 250 heavy vehicles/day (-0.21), p = 0.033, and this association remained after adjustment for confounders (p = 0.036). Also, those exposed to ≥ 8000 vehicles/day had lower mean FVC z-score (-0.19) than those exposed to < 8000 vehicles/day (-0.02), p = 0.047, with p = 0.032 after adjustment.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Exposure to vehicle traffic in childhood, in a relatively low traffic-flow environment, may be associated with a slightly lower lung function in young adulthood.</p>","PeriodicalId":11686,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Health","volume":"24 1","pages":"44"},"PeriodicalIF":5.3,"publicationDate":"2025-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12235861/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144583433","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":"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":"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":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12220163/pdf/","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":"OA","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":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12220596/pdf/","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":"OA","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":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12219131/pdf/","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":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}