Human exposure to lead and new evidence of adverse health effects: Implications for analytical measurements

2010 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick J. Parsons ◽  
Kathryn G. McIntosh
Keyword(s):  
Health Effects ◽  
Lead Poisoning ◽  
Analytical Techniques ◽  
Blood Lead ◽  
Biological Tissues ◽  
Consumer Products ◽  
Adverse Health Effects ◽  
Adverse Health ◽  
History Of

Lead poisoning is a preventable condition caused by exposure to environmental sources such as lead-containing dust or lead-painted consumer products. The history of lead poisoning prevention has been defined to some extent by the quality of the analytical methods available for lead measurements whether in environmental samples or biological tissues and fluids. The quality of blood lead methods has improved so greatly over the last three decades that we now know far more about the adverse health effects from low-level exposures. Recent evidence suggests that effects such as deficit in IQ occur below the current (periodically revised) U.S. CDC threshold of 10μg/dL, such that no safe threshold appears to exist for children. Improvements in analytical techniques have also had an impact on the environmental measurement quality, yet many environmental thresholds have remained unchanged for decades. In light of our current understanding of the adverse health effects at low levels of exposure, new thresholds for lead in children’s products have been introduced by the U.S. CPSC. The adequacy of current analytical techniques to detect lead accurately at the new, lower thresholds is questionable. XRF offers the advantage of being rapid and nondestructive compared to techniques such as AAS that require extensive sample preparation. However, the accuracy of handheld XRF determinations of lead in painted toys is generally limited. A brief comparative study on the performance of several analytical techniques for the determination of lead in toys is presented at the end of this paper.

scholarly journals Hygienic assessment of health risks of the population living in the areas of intensive oil extraction

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (26) ◽  
pp. 97-104
Author(s):  
Rafail Anvarovich Suleimanov ◽  
Akhat Barievich Bakirov ◽  
Galina Ganinovna Gimranova ◽  
Timur Kamilevich Valeev
Keyword(s):  
Human Health ◽  
Health Effects ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Health Risks ◽  
Oil Extraction ◽  
Adverse Health Effects ◽  
Adverse Health ◽  
Occupational Risks ◽  
Oil Workers

The purpose of the study was to establish hygienic procedures for reducing health risks of the population living and working near oil extraction sites. Based on the results obtained, we evaluated the quality of environmental settings in the oil extraction areas, studied working conditions of oil workers, and assessed public human health and occupational risks of the oil extraction industry. Oil extraction enterprises have been shown to be major sources of environmental and workplace pollution and to create a negative background causing adverse health effects.

scholarly journals The Health Threat Posed by the Hidden Epidemic of Anabolic Steroid Use and Body Image Disorders Among Young Men

2018 ◽  
Vol 104 (4) ◽  
pp. 1069-1074 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna L Goldman ◽  
Harrison G Pope ◽  
Shalender Bhasin
Keyword(s):  
Body Image ◽  
Health Effects ◽  
Liver Toxicity ◽  
Evidence Synthesis ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Young Men ◽  
Adverse Health Effects ◽  
Adverse Health ◽  
Body Image Disorders

Abstract Context The prevalence of body image disorders and anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) use is increasing, despite the evidence of their serious adverse health effects and despite the passage of laws regulating their sales. Here we review the evolution of the dual emerging epidemics of body image disorders and AAS use, adverse health effects of AASs, and the need for an integrated health policy and regulatory response. Evidence Acquisition We searched for studies published prior to June 2018. Quality of evidence was low to moderate because of its observational nature; heterogeneity of eligibility criteria; variable doses; reliance on retrospective self-reported data in many studies; and variable quality of outcome ascertainment. Evidence Synthesis Most AAS users are nonathlete young men, who use these substances to look lean and more muscular. Some of these men suffer from “muscle dysmorphia,” a form of body dysmorphic disorder. AASs has been associated with cardiovascular disorders, psychiatric disorders, AAS-withdrawal hypogonadism, infertility, neurotoxic effects, musculoskeletal injuries, liver toxicity, and needle-borne infections. Potential adverse effects may be compounded by the use of other substances (e.g., opioids) and high-risk behaviors. Unregulated Internet sales of AASs and selective androgen receptor modulators, which are easily purchased without a prescription, are of concern because of their potential to fuel the epidemic among adolescents and the military. Conclusions Integrated nationwide efforts are necessary to raise public awareness of this epidemic, to study long-term health effects of AASs and treatment strategies, and to reform regulations to stem the epidemics of AAS use and body image disorders.

scholarly journals Study protocol for a randomised controlled trial examining the effect of blood and plasma donation on serum perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) levels in firefighters

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. e044833
Author(s):  
Gabriel Silver ◽  
Yordanka Krastev ◽  
Miriam K Forbes ◽  
Brenton Hamdorf ◽  
Barry Lewis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Randomised Controlled Trial ◽  
Health Effects ◽  
Whole Blood ◽  
Sulfonic Acid ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Adverse Health Effects ◽  
Plasma Donation ◽  
Adverse Health ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Randomised Controlled

IntroductionPerfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a diverse group of compounds that have been used in hundreds of industrial applications and consumer products including aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) for many years. Multiple national and international health and environmental agencies have accepted that PFAS exposures are associated with numerous adverse health effects. Australian firefighters have been shown to have elevated levels of PFAS in their blood, specifically perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), due to the historical use of AFFF. While PFAS concentrations decline over time once the source of exposure has been removed, their potential adverse health effects are such that it would be prudent to develop an intervention to lower levels at a faster rate than occurs via natural elimination rates.Methods and analysisThis is a randomised controlled trial of current and former Australian firefighters in the Metropolitan Fire Brigade/Fire Rescue Victoria, and contractors, with previous occupational exposure to PFAS and baseline elevated PFOS levels. The study is investigating whether whole blood donation every 12 weeks or plasma donation every 6 weeks will significantly reduce PFAS levels, compared with a control group. We have used covariate-adaptive randomisation to balance participants’ sex and blood PFAS levels between the three groups and would consider a 25% reduction in serum PFOS and PFHxS levels to be potentially clinically significant after 12 months of whole blood or plasma donation. A secondary analysis of health biomarkers is being made of changes between screening and week 52 in all three groups.Ethics and disseminationThis trial has been approved by Macquarie University Human Research Ethics Committee (reference number: 3855), final protocol V.2 dated 12 June 2019. Study results will be disseminated via peer-reviewed publications and presentations at conferences.Trial registration numberAustralian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12619000204145).

Disrupting the Flow of Perception-Action through Design

2021 ◽  
pp. 105971232198909
Author(s):  
Harry Heft
Keyword(s):  
Cultural History ◽  
Health Effects ◽  
Sense Of Place ◽  
Attentional Focus ◽  
Good Design ◽  
Adverse Health Effects ◽  
Adverse Health ◽  
Directed Action ◽  
Perception Action

It is usually a mark of good design when technologies and tools that mediate goal-directed action are such that the user’s attentional focus is maintained on the intended ends of action rather than on the technologies and tools themselves. When the mediators become the focus, the continuity of goal-directed action is disrupted, and the flow of action can be re-directed. What then is the purpose of the projects designed by the RAAAF studio, as described by Rietveld, which seem to be intended to do both? Disruption of the continuity of goal-directed perception-action may prompt reflection about the circumstances at work, and in so doing provoke a transformation in habitual patterns of action and of thought. The project “The End of Sitting” is intended to remediate the adverse health effects of standard chair-dominated offices through an unconventional office landscape that prompts intermittent postural readjustments, boosting the levels of activity common in such settings. The project “Bunker 599” demonstrates that seemingly unremarkable features of the landscape can sometimes conceal aspects of culture’s history, and that design can function to draw attention to a hidden and even vanishing history. Design can enrich an individual’s sense of place in a stream of cultural history.

scholarly journals Impact of Carcinogenic Chromium on the Cellular Response to Proteotoxic Stress

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (19) ◽  
pp. 4901 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonardo M. R. Ferreira ◽  
Teresa Cunha-Oliveira ◽  
Margarida C. Sobral ◽  
Patrícia L. Abreu ◽  
Maria Carmen Alpoim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stress Response ◽  
Health Effects ◽  
Cellular Response ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Adverse Health Effects ◽  
Proteotoxic Stress ◽  
Adverse Health ◽  
The Impact

Worldwide, several million workers are employed in the various chromium (Cr) industries. These workers may suffer from a variety of adverse health effects produced by dusts, mists and fumes containing Cr in the hexavalent oxidation state, Cr(VI). Of major importance, occupational exposure to Cr(VI) compounds has been firmly associated with the development of lung cancer. Counterintuitively, Cr(VI) is mostly unreactive towards most biomolecules, including nucleic acids. However, its intracellular reduction produces several species that react extensively with biomolecules. The diversity and chemical versatility of these species add great complexity to the study of the molecular mechanisms underlying Cr(VI) toxicity and carcinogenicity. As a consequence, these mechanisms are still poorly understood, in spite of intensive research efforts. Here, we discuss the impact of Cr(VI) on the stress response—an intricate cellular system against proteotoxic stress which is increasingly viewed as playing a critical role in carcinogenesis. This discussion is preceded by information regarding applications, chemical properties and adverse health effects of Cr(VI). A summary of our current understanding of cancer initiation, promotion and progression is also provided, followed by a brief description of the stress response and its links to cancer and by an overview of potential molecular mechanisms of Cr(VI) carcinogenicity.

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