scholarly journals Long Term Risks to Neonatal Health from Exposure to War—9 Years Long Survey of Reproductive Health and Contamination by Weapon-Delivered Heavy Metals in Gaza, Palestine

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (7) ◽  
pp. 2538 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paola Manduca ◽  
Nabil Al Baraquni ◽  
Stefano Parodi
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Metals ◽  
Reproductive Health ◽  
Birth Defects ◽  
Progressive Increase ◽  
Communicable Diseases ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Non Communicable Diseases

Introduction: High levels of environmental contaminants with long term effects and teratogenic and carcinogenic potential, such as heavy metals, were introduced by weaponry in war areas in the last decades. Poorer reproductive health and increases in non-communicable diseases were reported after wars and are the suspected long term effects of contamination by stable war remnants. Although potentially affecting millions of people, this is still an understudied issue of public health. Background: Gaza, Palestine since 2006 has been an object of repeated severe military attacks that left heavy metals remnants in the environment, in wound tissues and that were assumed by the population. Retrospective studies showed a progressive increase in birth defects since the 2006 attacks. In 2011 we started surveillance at birth alongside analysis of the heavy metals load carried by pregnant women and their babies. Methods: We used protocols for birth registration which also document the extent of exposures to attacks, war remnants and to other environmental risks that allow comparison of 3 data sets—2011, 2016 and 2018–2019 (4000–6000 women in each set). By ICP/MS analysis we determined the content of 23 metals in mothers’ hair. Appropriate statistical analysis was performed. Results: Comparison of data in birth registers showed a major increase in the prevalence in birth defects and preterm babies between 2011 and 2016, respectively from 1.1 to 1.8% and from 1.1 to 7.9%, values remaining stable in 2019. Negative outcomes at birth in 2016 up to 2019 were associated with exposure of the mothers to the attacks in 2014 and/or to hot spots of heavy metals contamination. Metal loads since the attacks in 2014 were consistently high until 2018–2019 for barium, arsenic, cobalt, cadmium, chrome, vanadium and uranium, pointing to these metals as potential inducers for the increased prevalence of negative health outcomes at birth since 2016. Conclusions: Bodily accumulation of metals following exposure whilst residing in attacked buildings predispose women to negative birth outcomes. We do not know if the metals act in synergy. Trial for mitigation of the documented negative effects of high metal load on reproductive health, and ensuing perinatal deaths, could now be done in Gaza, based on this documentary record. High load of heavy metals may explain recent increases in non-communicable diseases and cancers at all ages in Gaza. Modern war’s legacy of diseases and deaths extends in time to populations and demands monitoring.

Do researchers impact their study populations? Assessing the effect of field procedures in a long term population monitoring of sea kraits

2012 ◽  
Vol 33 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 365-372 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Fauvel ◽  
François Brischoux ◽  
Marine Jeanne Briand ◽  
Xavier Bonnet
Keyword(s):  
Body Condition ◽  
New Caledonia ◽  
Stress Hormones ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Population Monitoring ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Head Morphology

Long term population monitoring is essential to ecological studies; however, field procedures may disturb individuals. Assessing this topic is important in worldwide declining taxa such as reptiles. Previous studies focussed on animal welfare issues and examined short-term effects (e.g. increase of stress hormones due to handling). Long-term effects with possible consequences at the population level remain poorly investigated. In the present study, we evaluated the effects of widely used field procedures (e.g. handling, marking, forced regurgitation) both on short-term (hormonal stress response) and on long-term (changes in body condition, survival) scales in two intensively monitored populations of sea kraits (Laticauda spp.) in New Caledonia. Focusing on the most intensively monitored sites, from 2002 to 2012, we gathered approximately 11 200 captures/recaptures on 4500 individuals. Each snake was individually marked (scale clipping + branding) and subjected to various measurements (e.g. body size, head morphology, palpation). In addition, a subsample of more than 500 snakes was forced to regurgitate their prey for dietary analyses. Handling caused a significant stress hormonal response, however we found no detrimental long-term effect on body condition. Forced regurgitation did not cause any significant effect on both body condition one year later and survival. These results suggest that the strong short-term stress provoked by field procedures did not translate into negative effects on the population. Although similar analyses are required to test the validity of our conclusions in other species, our results suggest distinguishing welfare and population issues to evaluate the potential impact of population surveys.

scholarly journals Human Body Burden of Heavy Metals and Health Consequences of Pb Exposure in Guiyu, an E-Waste Recycling Town in China

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (23) ◽  
pp. 12428
Author(s):  
Wenlong Huang ◽  
Xiaoling Shi ◽  
Kusheng Wu
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Metals ◽  
Body Burden ◽  
Local Environment ◽  
Waste Recycling ◽  
The Body ◽  
Health Consequences ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Adaptive Immune ◽  
Pb Exposure

Guiyu accommodates millions of tons of e-waste from overseas and domestic sources each year and is notorious for its e-waste dismantling industry. As a consequence, Guiyu has been described as “the world’s most toxic place” and “junk town”. Informal e-waste recycling activities have caused severe pollution to the local environment and are associated with extensive health problems to the residents. This review provides updated insights on the body burden of heavy metals derived from e-waste and health outcomes resulted from lead (Pb) exposure. The review identified that Guiyu has been highly contaminated by heavy metals, especially Pb. Excessive exposure to Pb has been associated with multi-system and long-term effects in neonates and children, covering nervous, cardiovascular, adaptive immune, and hematologic systems as well as chromosome and DNA damage. Our review indicates strong associations that emphasize the need to develop strong regulations for prevention of exposure and health consequences in Guiyu and similar sites around the world.

Health Literacy in Non-Communicable Diseases

2021 ◽  
pp. 257-297
Author(s):  
Christina Zarcadoolas ◽  
Barbara K. Kondilis
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Health Literacy ◽  
Communicable Diseases ◽  
Behavior Changes ◽  
Non Communicable Diseases ◽  
Case Examples ◽  
Education Material ◽  
Short And Long Term ◽  
Patient Outreach

The chapter highlights some of the methods used to embed health literacy principles into patient outreach and education materials about non-communicable diseases: chronic conditions including mental health conditions. A person's or population's understanding and engagement with health represents its health literacy. Health literacy is a form social capital. The authors use an ecological, socially contextualized model of health literacy and demonstrate how it guides the structure and content of health education material in case examples from New York City, United States, and Greece in Europe. While the specific methods used in these cases vary, the essential principal is that it is critical to identify and build on information about an individual's health literacy contextualized in the individual's or group's socio-cultural and lived experiences. Only this way can an individual's or group's health literacy be advanced so that they can engage in behavior changes for both short- and long-term health outcomes.

Long-term effects of fertilization and diffuse deposition of heavy metals on soil and crop quality

1990 ◽  
pp. 323-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. E. A. T. M. van der Zee ◽  
H. N. M. Ferdinandus ◽  
A. E. Boekhold ◽  
F. A. M. de Haan
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Metals ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Crop Quality

Low Mortality of Larval Lampreys from Electrofishing, Suction-pumping, Anesthesia, and Handling

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 640-647 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey C. Jolley ◽  
Christina T. Uh ◽  
Gregory S. Silver ◽  
Timothy A. Whitesel
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Important Species ◽  
Pacific Lamprey ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Delayed Mortality

Abstract Native lamprey populations are declining worldwide. In the Pacific Northwest focus on conservation and management of these ecologically and culturally important species has increased. Concern has emerged regarding the effects of sampling and handling of lamprey, with little to no attention given to the larval lifestage. We monitored the survival of larval Pacific Lamprey Entosphenus tridentatus and Lampetra spp. after backpack electrofishing, deepwater electrofishing and suction-pumping, anesthesia, and handling. We performed survival trials on wild-caught lamprey (n = 15 larvae in each trial) collected from the Clackamas River drainage in Oregon, USA, coupled with control group trials from lamprey sourced from a hatchery (n = 10 larvae). Short-term (96 h) survival was >98% with only one observed mortality. Delayed mortality (1 wk) was observed for four individuals that had fungus; two of those were positive for the bacteria Aeromonas hyrdrophila. We recorded blood hematocrit as a secondary measure of stress. The baseline, nonstressed larvae hematocrit levels did not differ from those of fish that had undergone stress through electrofishing, suction-pumping, and handling without anesthesia. Electrofishing, suction-pumping, and anesthesia showed no short-term negative effects on larval lamprey although potential long-term effects remain unstudied. These techniques appear to provide efficient and relatively safe methods for collecting and surveying larval lamprey.

scholarly journals The need for an integrated approach for chronic disease research and care in Africa

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. L. Barr ◽  
E. H. Young ◽  
L. Smeeth ◽  
R. Newton ◽  
J. Seeley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Communicable Diseases ◽  
Design Strategies ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Effective Prevention ◽  
Non Communicable Diseases ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Epidemiological Transitions

With the changing distribution of infectious diseases, and an increase in the burden of non-communicable diseases, low- and middle-income countries, including those in Africa, will need to expand their health care capacities to effectively respond to these epidemiological transitions. The interrelated risk factors for chronic infectious and non-communicable diseases and the need for long-term disease management, argue for combined strategies to understand their underlying causes and to design strategies for effective prevention and long-term care. Through multidisciplinary research and implementation partnerships, we advocate an integrated approach for research and healthcare for chronic diseases in Africa.

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