Environmental Research

The co-occurrence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in industrial environments poses complex toxicological risks that standard additive models fail to capture. This study elucidates a novel "metabolic blockade" mechanism wherein PFAS competitively inhibits the renal excretion of VOC metabolites, thereby amplifying neurotoxic burdens. Utilizing a Double Machine Learning (DML) framework on data from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey ...

BackgroundEnvironment-wide association studies (ExWAS) offer a systematic approach to identifying chemical biomarker-health outcome associations, yet few have applied rigorous multi-stage validation. MethodsWe screened 92 chemical biomarkers against 48 health outcomes in NHANES 2017-2018 (2,796 tests across four screening rounds; not all chemicals were crossed with all outcomes). Associations passing an initial FDR screen were subjected to cross-cycle validation in NHANES 2015-2016--the primary...

BackgroundLung cancer compensation systems for occupational exposure to asbestos commonly apply Helsinki criteria, which assume 4% excess lung cancer risk per fibre-year of asbestos exposure. The Probability of Causation (PoC) is [≥]50% at 25 fibre-years (risk doubling threshold). Large case-control studies have suggested steeper exposure-response relations at lower exposures. We aimed to estimate PoC of asbestos-related lung cancer to evaluate exposure thresholds for compensation of lung ca...

Maternal smoking during pregnancy is associated with adverse effects on offspring health through impaired placental structure and function. Nicotine and other tobacco-related compounds readily cross the placental barrier, disrupt metabolic pathways, and increase the risk of long-term developmental disorders in newborn. Here, placental metabolic alterations associated with maternal smoking exposure were examined with metabolomics. We used placental samples from the Kuopio Birth Cohort study from ...

IntroductionAtmospheric conditions under climate change increase pressure on healthcare systems. Especially, the intensive care units (ICU) are vulnerable due to low buffer capacity and high utilization rates. MethodsDaily ICU cases from 2009 to 2023 were derived from the German statutory health insurance data of eleven regional AOK insurances. Cases were stratified by age and sex. Generalized additive models were used to investigate the associations between daily ICU cases and lagged atmospher...

Accurate quantification of individual exposure to air pollutants remains a major challenge in environmental health, as fixed-site monitoring fails to account for mobility, indoor environments, and physiological variability. We deployed TracMyAir, a smartphone-based digital health platform designed to generate time-resolved, personalized exposure and inhaled dose estimates for PM2.5 and ozone under real-world conditions. In an exploratory study of 18 adults contributing more than 1,500 participan...

BackgroundAir pollution is a potentially modifiable risk factor for dementia with a population attributable risk fraction of 3%. Little is known about the causal mechanisms behind the association, so we aimed to investigate this. MethodsData from the UK Biobank were used to investigate the association between six measures of air pollution (NO2, NOx, PM2{middle dot}5-10, PM2{middle dot}5, PM2{middle dot}5 absorbance and PM10) and dementia incidence. Indirect pathways through four mediators (card...

BackgroundFood systems--particularly livestock production--account for substantial greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, while unhealthy diets, characterized by excessive animal-based and insufficient plant-based food consumption, are a major risk factor for all-cause mortality in Europe. Implementing climate mitigation policies related to the GHG emissions of the food system could therefore bring important health co-benefits. MethodsWe developed a health impact assessment model based on a life table...

Ambient air pollution has been associated with increased incidence of chronic disease and is estimated to contribute towards 4.2 million early deaths annually. Whilst the health impacts are well described, less is understood about the underlying biological mechanisms, particularly when considering the co-occurrence of multiple pollutants. Using an atmospheric chemistry transportation model (EMEP4UK), we generate pre-baseline sampling pollution exposure estimates for eight pollutants in Generatio...

Food costs are more significantly impacted by climate change as countries grow. It is well known that climate change has an impact on the productivity of most agricultural goods, but it is unclear how specifically it will affect food costs. The present research explores how the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index, a widely used climate indicator, affects food prices around the world. This is achieved by applying a robust bivariate Hurst exponent (robust bHe). The research creates a color map ...

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in ESKAPE pathogens represents a major global health threat. Although these organisms are well established as causes of healthcare-associated infections, aquatic environments may function as reservoirs and transmission pathways for resistance. This systematic review aimed to estimate the prevalence of AMR in ESKAPE pathogens isolated from water and wastewater and to compare resistance patterns with those observed in human clinical isolates. The review followed PRIS...

Wastewater monitoring enables non-invasive, population-scale tracking of community infections independent of healthcare-seeking behavior and clinical diagnosis. Metagenomic sequencing extends this capability by enabling broad, pathogen-agnostic detection, genomic characterization, and identification of novel or unexpected threats. Here, we present data from CASPER (the Coalition for Agnostic Sequencing of Pathogens from Environmental Reservoirs), a U.S.-based wastewater metagenomic sequencing ne...

Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) circulating among clinically relevant bacteria pose serious challenges to public health. Given the ancient and environmental bacterial origins of ARGs, a better understanding of the carriers of ARGs beyond the clinically most relevant species is urgently needed for more farsighted resistance monitoring and intervention measures. While the risks of emerging ARGs from environmental sources have been recognized, the identification bottlenecks stem from the limitat...

BackgroundGlyphosate-based herbicides are among the most widely used agricultural chemicals globally. Concerns regarding their carcinogenic potential, particularly in relation to non-Hodgkins lymphoma (NHL), persist despite multiple prior systematic reviews and meta-analyses. However, these reviews have demonstrated important methodological limitations and inconsistent analytic decisions, limiting confidence in their conclusions. ObjectiveTo conduct a rigorous, up-to-date systematic review and ...

Childhood adversities are common and linked to increased risk of premature mortality, including deaths from accidents in early adulthood. We examined associations between childhood adversity and specific types of lethal accidents using nationwide register data from 1,282,636 individuals in the DANish LIFE course (DANLIFE) cohort born between Jan 1, 1980, and Dec 31, 2001, who did not die or emigrate before age 16. Individuals were classified into five trajectory groups based on annual exposure t...

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing problem, with annual deaths set to pass 10 million by 2050 if current trends continue. Wastewater surveillance has been proposed as a strategy to understand population-level resistance, and water reclamation facilities (WRFs) have been identified as a control point for environmental dissemination of resistant bacteria. Understanding dynamics of AMR across WRFs requires advanced molecular tools that elucidate host bacteria, especially for mobile resista...

Abstract This protocol is reported in accordance with the SPIRIT 2025 guidelines for clinical trial protocols. Introduction: Young children, from birth to age 5 y are particularly vulnerable to indoor air pollutants and respiratory pathogens. Portable air purifiers (or filtration) and upper-room ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) are two widely used interventions with the potential to improve indoor air quality (IAQ) and reduce sick-related absences. However, a review of the literature re...

Incidence of norovirus has strong seasonality in temperate and continental climates. Many studies have examined its association with climate variables, but evidence remains disparate. We address this gap by performing a systematic review to summarise and interpret the strength and directionality of associations between climate variables and norovirus incidence. Embase, Scopus, Web of Science and PubMed databases were screened for peer-reviewed studies on 2nd of December 2024. Articles were incl...

Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is an effective surveillance approach for monitoring viruses of public health relevance at the community level, complementing clinical surveillance systems. Molecular methods such as PCR/qPCR are widely used for targeted detection, while next-generation sequencing (NGS) with targeted enrichment panels has emerged as a complementary strategy for broader viral detection and genomic characterization. This study comparatively evaluated conventional PCR/qPCR and a ...

We present findings from the first known pilot study of transatlantic airplane wastewater monitoring, conducted over six months at two connected international airports in the United States and the United Kingdom. This study demonstrates the feasibility of implementing bilateral wastewater-based pathogen surveillance at international travel hubs. We outline the operational and analytical methodologies employed, highlight key challenges encountered in transnational coordination, and provide recomm...