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 ...

BackgroundEvidence suggests maternal exposure to ambient air pollution increases the risk of stillbirth, but few studies conducted in the United States have evaluated temporally varying exposures or susceptibility across gestational windows. Moreover, the generalizability of existing findings is often limited by restricted geographic coverage or reliance on selected study populations. MethodsUsing Georgia vital records from 2005 to 2014, we conducted a matched case-control study including 8,384...

We utilized traditional aerosol sampling to collect PM1 samples, and further apply redundancy analysis (RDA) to investigate the association of environmental factors (including PM1 chemical composition, oxidative potential, meteorological factors and gaseous pollutants) and airborne bacterial community. Our findings revealed that Bacteroidota positively correlated with Sn and Mn, Firmicutes with local primary pollutants, and Proteobacteria with transportation-related pollutants. Variance partitio...

BackgroundPreeclampsia is a leading cause of maternal morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Lead exposure remains widespread across the region, yet its contribution to preeclampsia risk has not been quantified at the population level. The World Health Organization (WHO, 2025) estimated that in 2023, there were approximately 182,000 maternal deaths in SSA (70 % of global deaths), and that approximately 16% of these deaths were due to hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) (Say ...

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...

BackgroundOutdoor workers are particularly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of heat, but many studies focus on heat exposure in residential settings only. This leads to a limited understanding of the full mortality burden due to occupational heat exposures. Here, we aimed to improve estimates of the total, short-term mortality burden attributable to outdoor occupational heat exposure in the United States (US). MethodsWe developed a panel data set for 3,108 US counties during 2010-2019 by linki...

Millions of outdoor workers cannot avoid wildfire smoke, likely leading to inequalities in exposure and health risk. We characterized work-related exposure to wildfire PM2.5 for 3,108 contiguous US counties during 2006-2019. Despite experiencing less ambient exposure to wildfire PM2.5, counties with higher portions of non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic Americans experienced higher work-related exposure. We also find suggestive evidence that the effect of ambient smoke fine particulate matter (PM2.5...

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...

AbstractO_ST_ABSImportanceC_ST_ABSGeneral responders of the World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program (WTCHP), who were uniquely exposed to chemical toxicants and extreme psychological stress during the 2001 terrorist attack, now experience a wide range of unusually prevalent health outcomes for a mid-aged population, including frailty, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and depression. ObjectiveWe investigated whether these outcomes are associated with urban environmental exposures experienc...

BackgroundAir pollution caused by fine particles has been recognized as a significant environmental risk factor. Over the past two decades, there has been a substantial increase in evidence on the impact of air pollutants on mortality and morbidity in vulnerable groups, such as children under 5 years of age, people over 60 years of age, and people with comorbidities, primarily in low- and middle-income countries. However, most studies have focused on nosologically identified respiratory and card...

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 ...

Structural barriers including limited healthcare access and disability-related health conditions make disabled people differentially susceptible to air pollution-related adverse health outcomes compared to nondisabled people. We used 2020 census-tract level counts of individuals with limitations in activities of daily living (ADLs) to identify a subset of disabled people. We described geographic areas where this population was highly exposed to air pollution in the contiguous U.S., indicating he...

ObjectiveTo evaluate whether the well-established age-related reduction in antral follicle counts (AFC) is greater among women with higher concentrations of endocrine-disrupting chemicals. DesignProspective cohort study using the doubly robust (DR) learner, a flexible machine learning method that models the relationship between an exposure and outcome of interest and identifies potential modifiers of this relation. SubjectsSeven hundred seventy-five women aged 21-46 years enrolled in The Envir...

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...

Indigenous, mountain communities residing upstream of Bhumibol Dam, Thailand, rely on vulnerable natural water sources for their water supply, yet remain unaware of the associated health risks. This study assessed the water quality, usage patterns and contamination pathways across six villages upstream of Bhumibol Dam to shed light on the obstacles to sustainable water security . Samples from 38 water sources of drinking and/or non-drinking water, soil, and the edible parts of crops were subject...

Hospital-acquired infections are a known and growing problem worldwide. Far-UVC is a novel disinfection method that inactivates bacteria with limited penetration into human skin or eyes. A clustered, unmatched, randomized control trial (RCT) will be implemented in two Bolivian hospitals. The intervention arm will receive functioning Far-UVC lamps, whereas the control arm will receive identical lamps that do not emit UV light (shams). Based on baseline data, 40 lamp fixtures will be installed abo...

IntroductionGrowing evidence suggests pesticide exposure can affect emotional well-being; limited research exists across adolescence and young adulthood. We examined cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of pesticide biomarkers with anxiety and depression scores. MethodsWe analyzed 646 participants from Ecuadorian agricultural communities: 510 in 2016 (ages 11-17y) and 485 in 2022 (17-24y). Twelve urinary insecticide metabolites were measured. Validated questionnaires assessed depressio...

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...

BackgroundSea fish traditionally serves as a protein source and plays a crucial and indispensable role in providing nutrition for the people of Bangladesh. However, frequent consumption may potentially indicate health risks through contamination with toxic heavy metals. The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the levels of heavy metal concentrations (Cr, Fe, Ni, Mn, Cu, and Pb) in selected sea fish from Chattogram and Coxs Bazar districts in Bangladesh. MethodsA wet digestion technique wa...

BackgroundWhile coal mine fire smoke has been linked to short-term increases in cardiovascular events, there is little evidence on long-term risks. We investigated longer-term risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) following the 2014 Hazelwood coal mine fire in regional Victoria, Australia. MethodsIn this cohort study, combined administrative data on ambulance attendances, emergency department presentations, hospital admissions, and mortality from March 2014 to June 2022, with surve...