Environmental Epidemiology最新文献

{"title":"The APHEA project as a turning point in modern environmental epidemiology: Current and future relevance.","authors":"Klea Katsouyanni, Joel Schwartz, Sylvia Medina, Francesco Forastiere, Aurelio Tobías","doi":"10.1097/EE9.0000000000000529","DOIUrl":"10.1097/EE9.0000000000000529","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In the late 80s and early 90s, it was unclear whether the observed levels of air pollution were related to health effects, with fragmented evidence based on a few single-city studies. The Air Pollution and Health: a European Approach (APHEA)-funded projects started in 1993 and continued until 2009 and, later, within the context of the APHENA collaboration with researchers from the United States and Canada. APHEA was among the first to introduce the multicity/multicountry approach, using standardized methods and specifically developed protocols, including examining exposure-response functions and investigating nonlinearity, as well as a two-stage analytical approach, with city-specific analysis followed by a meta-analysis and meta-regression to identify effect modifiers. This approach consolidated the time-series regression as a central design for studying health effects of short-term air pollution exposures, enabled extensions to other environmental exposures, specifically climate-related, and contributed to further methodological advances. Health-effects associations, thus, became more robust and easier to compare across locations, facilitating the consensus later reached on the importance of air pollution exposure for health, as well as the funding of multicenter cohort studies. The APHEA projects produced concentration-response functions that were used in health impact assessment and policies, e.g., setting the World Health Organization guidelines and legal standards for short period exposures. This can be particularly relevant, as the health burden of chronic exposures may be enhanced by short-term peaks that trigger health events that would not have otherwise happened for a long time. Although APHEA methods were developed for air pollution health effects, they are also particularly relevant for climate-change-related studies, where short-term exposures (such as temperature or other daily indices combining meteorological variables) are extremely important. Further advantages of time-series studies, making the design important for current and future research, include their relevance for episode-based risk communication and emergency response planning; their smaller susceptibility, compared with cohort studies, to the impact of measurement error leading to underestimating health effects; and their easier implementation, making them indispensable for an initial exploration of a hypothesis.</p>","PeriodicalId":11713,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Epidemiology","volume":"10 5","pages":"e529"},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13645471/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149134599","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Biological aging acceleration associated with electronic cigarette use in the United States.","authors":"Yingyue Ni, Maria Argos, Ana M Rule","doi":"10.1097/EE9.0000000000000536","DOIUrl":"10.1097/EE9.0000000000000536","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Smoking combustible cigarettes accelerates biological aging and contributes to subsequent aging-related cardiovascular decline. However, the aging-related health consequences of electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use (vaping) remain largely unknown. This study aims to investigate whether e-cigarette use is associated with biological aging acceleration using a nationally representative sample.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This cross-sectional study included 8,595 participants aged 20-79 from two cycles (2015-2016 and 2017-2018) of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Biological aging was measured using PhenoAge, a validated epigenetic biomarker of aging. Its acceleration (PhenoAgeAccel) was quantified by the residual of PhenoAge regressed on chronological age. E-cigarette use was categorized as current (N = 417), former (N = 1,253), or nonuse (N = 6,925). Linear regression models were used to assess the association between e-cigarette use and PhenoAgeAccel, adjusting for combustible cigarette use, sex, race/ethnicity, education, body mass index, alcohol use, other tobacco product use, and secondhand smoke exposure.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In the fully adjusted model, current e-cigarette use was associated with 1.20 (95% confidence interval: 0.41, 2.10) years higher PhenoAgeAccel than never use. Similarly, individuals with current cigarette use exhibited 1.50 (95% confidence interval: 1.00, 2.00) years higher PhenoAgeAccel than those who had never smoked at least 100 cigarettes in their lifetime.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This work provides the first epidemiologic evidence revealing the association between e-cigarette use and accelerated biological aging, after adjusting for smoking status. The findings underscore the potential value of public health interventions targeting reduced tobacco product use. Future longitudinal studies are needed to elucidate the underlying mechanisms.</p>","PeriodicalId":11713,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Epidemiology","volume":"10 5","pages":"e536"},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13645468/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149134461","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ambient temperature variability and newly diagnosed tuberculosis: Evidence from a time-stratified case-crossover study.","authors":"Jingjing Zhang, Kun Xiang, Yongzhong Zhang, Qinghua Xu, Xiaohong Kan","doi":"10.1097/EE9.0000000000000531","DOIUrl":"10.1097/EE9.0000000000000531","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Environmental factors, particularly temperature-related exposures, are increasingly recognized as important determinants of tuberculosis (TB) disease progression and symptom manifestation. However, the evidence regarding the associations of heat exposure, cold exposure, and diurnal temperature range (DTR) with newly diagnosed TB remains limited and inconsistent.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Data from Anhui Province between 1 January 2015 and 31 December 2024 were analyzed using a two-stage analytical framework based on a time-stratified case-crossover study design. City-specific associations between temperature and TB were pooled using a random-effects meta-analysis. Effect estimates were presented as relative risks (RRs) with corresponding confidence intervals (CIs).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 243,577 newly diagnosed TB cases were reported during the study period. Compared with the median daily mean temperature, extreme heat exposure (95th percentile of daily mean temperature) was positively associated with newly diagnosed TB (RR = 1.218, 95% CI = 1.171, 1.267). In contrast, extreme cold exposure (fifth percentile of daily mean temperature) was negatively associated with newly diagnosed TB (RR = 0.837, 95% CI = 0.784, 0.893). Additionally, a greater DTR (95th percentile) was positively associated with newly diagnosed TB compared with the median DTR (RR = 1.320, 95% CI = 1.153, 1.512). These associations remained robust across multiple sensitivity analyses.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Environmental temperature conditions are significantly associated with TB diagnosis. These findings suggest that temperature variability may influence the timing of TB diagnosis and highlight the importance of incorporating meteorological information into climate-sensitive TB surveillance and public health preparedness.</p>","PeriodicalId":11713,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Epidemiology","volume":"10 5","pages":"e531"},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13645473/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149135471","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Long-term ambient air pollution is not associated with circulating soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor.","authors":"Bahjat Z Ghazzal, Anis Ismail, Yiyuan Huang, Amanda Gassett, Theresa Farhat, Ramya Elangovan, Pennelope Blakely, Susan R Heckbert, Joel D Kaufman, Salim S Hayek","doi":"10.1097/EE9.0000000000000532","DOIUrl":"10.1097/EE9.0000000000000532","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) is a stable chronic-inflammation biomarker causally implicated in atherosclerosis, yet its modifiable determinants remain largely uncharacterized. Long-term ambient air pollution is an established cardiovascular risk factor and a biologically plausible determinant of suPAR.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In this cross-sectional analysis, we tested associations of long-term residential air pollution with circulating suPAR in 5,072 participants of the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, drawn from six US metropolitan regions and enrolled during 2000-2002. Residential exposures were estimated with the validated Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis Air spatiotemporal model, and serum suPAR was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In multivariable linear regression adjusted for demographic, socioeconomic, and cardiovascular risk factors, neither fine particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, nitrogen oxides, ozone, nor light-absorbing carbon was associated with suPAR; the fine particulate matter confidence interval excluded effect sizes of two percent or greater per 5 µg/m³.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Together with two prior cohorts spanning two continents and three age ranges, these findings indicate that long-term ambient air pollution is unlikely to be a meaningful determinant of circulating suPAR or a major mediator of the air-pollution-cardiovascular-disease association, and suggest that the search for modifiable determinants of this clinically actionable biomarker should focus elsewhere.</p>","PeriodicalId":11713,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Epidemiology","volume":"10 5","pages":"e532"},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2026-10-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13645470/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149134613","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Long-term cumulative associations of annual air pollution exposure and hospitalization with Parkinson's Disease.","authors":"Scott W Delaney, Lauren Mock, Veronica A Wang, Brad A Racette, Gary W Miller, Marianthi-Anna Kioumourtzoglou, Antonella Zanobetti, Danielle Braun, Daniel Mork","doi":"10.1097/EE9.0000000000000519","DOIUrl":"10.1097/EE9.0000000000000519","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Parkinson's Disease (PD) prevention and treatment are complicated because biological processes underlying PD may begin several years before diagnosis. Previous studies suggest that increased exposure to fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) air pollution increases PD morbidity.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We analyzed data from 10,366,083 Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries (age 65+) in the contiguous United States from 2000 to 2016. We defined \"hospitalization with PD\" as a beneficiary's first hospitalization claim with diagnosis codes indicating PD. We linked 10-year exposure histories for PM_2.5, NO₂, and summer ozone (O₃). In a discrete-time survival analysis, we fitted distributed lag models and estimated the lagged associations between air pollution and the odds of first hospitalization with PD.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Increased PM_2.5 and NO₂ exposure at least 4 years before hospitalization was associated with increased odds of hospitalization with PD. Accounting for nonlinearities in exposure-response and 10 years of continuous exposure to PM_2.5 at the 90th versus the 0.5th percentile (i.e., 11.8 μg/m³ vs. 3.0 μg/m³), the odds ratio for hospitalization with PD was 1.634 (95% CI: 1.489, 1.792). Similarly, for 10 years of continuous exposure to NO₂ at the 90th versus the 0.5th percentile (i.e., 31.7 ppb vs. 3.7 ppb), the odds ratio for hospitalization with PD was 1.474 (95% CI: 1.379, 1.575). Evidence of a relationship between O₃ exposure and odds for hospitalization with PD was more limited.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Air pollution at least 4 years before hospitalization may increase the odds of hospitalization with PD. Reducing air pollution exposure may have long-term effects on PD prevention.</p>","PeriodicalId":11713,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Epidemiology","volume":"10 4","pages":"e519"},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2026-08-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13461014/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148711614","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Association between residential greenness and preeclampsia in Japan.","authors":"Hisashi Ohseto, Ami Uematsu, Mami Ishikuro, Zheng Xian, Yuta Takahashi, Masatsugu Orui, Keiko Murakami, Aoi Noda, Genki Shinoda, Geng Chen, Noriyuki Iwama, Masahiro Kikuya, Hirohito Metoki, Atsushi Hozawa, Taku Obara, Tomoki Nakaya, Shinichi Kuriyama","doi":"10.1097/EE9.0000000000000513","DOIUrl":"10.1097/EE9.0000000000000513","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Preeclampsia (PE), characterized by hypertension and organ dysfunction during pregnancy, is a leading cause of maternal and fetal mortality. Residential greenness has been reported to be inversely associated with a broad range of health outcomes. However, evidence on the association between residential greenness and PE remains limited, particularly among East Asian populations.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This study included 20,140 pregnancies among Japanese women from the Tohoku Medical Megabank Project Birth and Three-Generation Cohort Study. Residential greenness was assessed using the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) values calculated around the population-weighted centroid of each participant's postal code area. PE was identified using a rule-based phenotyping algorithm applied to medical records. Poisson regression with robust variance was used to estimate risk ratios (RRs) and confidence intervals, adjusting for maternal age, educational attainment, household income, urbanization status, and areal deprivation index.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Moderate NDVI levels were associated with a lower risk of PE than low NDVI levels (RR = 0.81 [95% confidence interval = 0.66, 1.00]). For high NDVI levels, the point estimate was below 1.00, but the association was not statistically significant (RR = 0.88 [0.69, 1.11]). No clear dose-response pattern emerged across tertiles (<i>P</i> for trend = 0.228). This inverse association was primarily observed in more-deprived areas. In subtype analysis, the associations were more evident in gestational hypertension and late-onset PE.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Moderate residential greenness was associated with a lower risk of PE compared with low residential greenness.</p>","PeriodicalId":11713,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Epidemiology","volume":"10 4","pages":"e513"},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2026-08-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13461103/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148711603","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Residential aircraft and road noise exposure, cognition, and Alzheimer's dementia in a US cohort of older adults.","authors":"Stephanie T Grady, Ryan M Andrews, Junenette L Peters, Sara D Adar, Jonathan I Levy, Todd Beck, Klodian Dhana, Pankaja Desai, Bernd J Haupt, Joel D Kaufman, Adam A Szpiro, Robert S Wilson, Kumar B Rajan, Jennifer Weuve","doi":"10.1097/EE9.0000000000000518","DOIUrl":"10.1097/EE9.0000000000000518","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>There is limited evidence of the associations between transportation noise and dementia risk. We examined associations of road and aircraft noise with cognitive function, cognitive decline, and Alzheimer's dementia (AD) in a cohort of older adults.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We set our study in the Chicago Health and Aging Project, a longitudinal cohort of community-dwelling older adults from four Chicago, Illinois, neighborhoods, followed from 1993 to 2012. Every 3 years, participants underwent in-home cognitive assessments (episodic memory, perceptual speed, global cognition). A stratified random sample underwent clinical evaluation for AD diagnosis. We estimated 5-year time-weighted day-night average sound levels before baseline for road and, in analyses, we considered exploratory because of a limited exposure range, aircraft noise. We fit covariate-adjusted linear mixed models to estimate associations with cognitive performance and decline, and a multiple logistic regression model weighted by the sampling design to estimate incident AD odds ratios.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Of the 10,681 participants, an interquartile range increment in road noise (8.5 dBA) corresponded to a 0.06-SD unit lower baseline global cognitive score (95% confidence interval: -0.08, -0.03); there were no differences in cognitive decline. In exploratory analyses limited by power, higher aircraft noise was associated with a higher baseline score yet a faster rate of cognitive decline. Among 2147 participants evaluated for dementia (460 cases), road noise was not noticeably associated with greater AD risk, as there was substantial uncertainty (odds ratio per interquartile range = 1.17 [95% confidence interval: 0.86, 1.59]).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>We observed mixed associations of transportation noise with cognitive functioning and dementia across noise sources. These findings underscore the need to better characterize noise sources relevant to the cognitive health of older adults.</p>","PeriodicalId":11713,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Epidemiology","volume":"10 4","pages":"e518"},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2026-08-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13461035/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148711660","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Robust environmental exposure pattern recognition and outlier detection with the open-source R package pcpr.","authors":"Lawrence G Chillrud, Jaime Benavides, Elizabeth A Gibson, Junhui Zhang, Jingkai Yan, John N Wright, Jeff Goldsmith, Marianthi-Anna Kioumourtzoglou","doi":"10.1097/EE9.0000000000000515","DOIUrl":"10.1097/EE9.0000000000000515","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Pattern recognition in high-dimensional mixture data is of increasing interest in environmental health (EH), as researchers often aim to identify sources or behaviors leading to potentially harmful exposures. Principal component pursuit (PCP)-a robust dimensionality reduction technique-has been successfully utilized for pattern recognition in a number of EH studies. PCP decomposes an exposure matrix into a low-rank matrix encoding consistent exposure patterns and a sparse matrix isolating outlying exposure events. However, PCP's application has been hindered by a lack of available software tailored specifically to EH research.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We introduce an open-source R package, pcpr, enabling easy PCP deployment in EH research. The package provides functions to fit and fine-tune PCP models with three EH-specific extensions: (1) a non-negativity constraint on the low-rank matrix, enhancing interpretability; (2) procedures to accommodate missingness; and (3) a specialized penalty for observations below the analytic limit of detection. We illustrate core functionality by conducting a fully reproducible source-apportionment analysis of an air pollution mixture of 26 PM_2.5 constituents measured every few days in Queens, New York City (2015-2021).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The functions in pcpr autonomously extracted four consistent exposure patterns (secondary signal and tailpipe emissions, traffic, crustal dust, and salt) and 211 outlying exposure events (including July Fourth firework-related spikes) from the Queens PM_2.5 mixture. If found to be associated with adverse health outcomes in downstream health models, these exposure patterns and extreme events can support targeted regulatory action.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The pcpr package facilitates robust, reproducible, and accessible exposure pattern recognition tailored to environmental epidemiology.</p>","PeriodicalId":11713,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Epidemiology","volume":"10 4","pages":"e515"},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2026-08-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13461087/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148711590","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Annual noise exposure among Malaysian young adults.","authors":"Kun Ling Liew, Nashrah Maamor, Wan Syafira Ishak, Shin Ying Chu, Onn Wah Lee","doi":"10.1097/EE9.0000000000000511","DOIUrl":"10.1097/EE9.0000000000000511","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Prolonged exposure to both occupational and recreational noise can lead to noise-induced hearing loss. This study aimed to determine annual noise exposure (ANE) levels among Malaysian young adults using the Noise Exposure Questionnaire and to examine differences in ANE by gender, race, and medical background.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A culturally modified Noise Exposure Questionnaire was validated and distributed to 205 healthy young adults (mean age = 22.9, SD = 3.0). ANE values were computed based on participants' reported frequency and duration of exposure, combined with predetermined mid-intensity levels for each activity. Test-retest reliability was assessed in 20 randomly selected participants after a 3-month interval.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The median ANE was 71.4 dBA (95% confidence interval [CI] = 70.5, 72.1). A total of 16.5% (n = 34) of participants exceeded the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health-recommended limit of 79.0 dBA. Subgroup analyses using bootstrap CIs suggested a possible difference in ANE between males (73.8 dBA, 95% CI = 71.7, 76.1) and females (70.5 dBA, 95% CI = 69.2, 71.3), with the wider interval in males reflecting the smaller male sample (n = 49). ANE estimates were comparable between racial groups (Chinese: 70.8 dBA, 95% CI = 69.7, 71.7; Malay: 71.9 dBA, 95% CI = 66.9, 77.5), though the considerably wider CI in the Malay subgroup (n = 25) limits the interpretability of this comparison. ANE was similarly comparable between participants with (70.9 dBA, 95% CI = 69.7, 71.9) and without (71.5 dBA, 95% CI = 69.0, 73.3) a medical background. Approximately 85% of participants reported never using hearing protection during motorized vehicle use, amplified events, and musical instrument playing. Test-retest reliability showed a moderate intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC3 = 0.60, 95% CI = 0.22, 0.82), though the wide CI warrants cautious interpretation.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Recreational and daily lifestyle habits among young adults may contribute to elevated noise exposure, increasing the risk of noise-induced hearing loss. These findings underscore the importance of promoting hearing health awareness and safe listening practices among youth to mitigate preventable hearing loss.</p>","PeriodicalId":11713,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Epidemiology","volume":"10 4","pages":"e511"},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2026-08-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13461042/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148711662","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Associations of cognitive function with recent and cumulative per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances exposure in firefighters.","authors":"Xi Pan, Jessica Ray, Bonny Amin, Sheng Liu, Krystal J Godri Pollitt, Felipe Armstrong, Saksham Adhikari","doi":"10.1097/EE9.0000000000000522","DOIUrl":"10.1097/EE9.0000000000000522","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>This pilot study aimed to examine associations between recent occupational exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and domain-specific cognitive performance and explore whether cumulative perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) modified these associations.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Sixty-five actively serving firefighters in Central Texas (June 2023-March 2025) participated. Recent exposure was assessed using total concentrations (pg/µl) of perfluorobutanoic acid, perfluorobutane sulfonic acid, and PFOS measured in single post-incident wash-water samples from three sites (June-August 2024), with site-specific results extrapolated to all firefighters at each site. Cumulative exposure was measured using PFOS concentrations (pg/µl) in whole blood collected from February to March 2025. Cognitive outcomes included standardized <i>z</i>-scores for processing speed and global cognition derived from the NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery. Linear regression models evaluated PFAS-cognition associations, adjusting for covariates and testing interaction effects.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>After adjustment, each doubling of cumulative PFOS corresponded to an estimated 11.1-point decline in processing speed (β = -1.07, 95% confidence interval = -1.59, -0.55, <i>P</i> < 0.001). Among firefighters with lower cumulative PFOS, higher recent PFAS exposure was associated with a 7.5-point reduction in processing speed. This effect was amplified with increasing cumulative PFOS (interaction β = 0.74, <i>P</i> = 0.01). No significant associations were observed for global cognition.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>PFAS exposure may differentially relate to cognitive domains in firefighters. Cumulative PFOS was associated with reduced processing speed and modified the impact of recent exposure. These preliminary findings warrant confirmation in larger studies and highlight the need to evaluate exposure mitigation strategies, including decontamination practices.</p>","PeriodicalId":11713,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Epidemiology","volume":"10 4","pages":"e522"},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2026-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13456881/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148705876","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}