A population-based propensity-score matched cohort study design was used based on the Ontario population from the Canadian Community Health Survey (2001-2010). Participants were adults aged 20 years or older who moved from a low walkability neighborhood (defined as any neighborhood with a Walk Score<90) to either a high (Walk Score≥90) or another low walkability neighborhood. The incidence of hypertension was assessed by linking the cohort to administrative health databases using a validated algorithm. Propensity-score matched Cox proportional hazard models were used.

Diesel exhaust is a known lung carcinogen. Farmers use a variety of dieselized equipment and thus may be at increased risk of lung cancer, but farm exposures such as endotoxins may also be protective for lung cancer. The researchers evaluated the relative risk of incident lung cancer, including histological subtype, from enrollment (1993-1997) to 2010-2011 in relation to farm equipment use in the Agricultural Health Study (AHS), a prospective cohort study of pesticide applicators and spouses in Iowa and North Carolina, USA.

Several studies suggest that exposure to organophosphate insecticides (OP) during pregnancy impairs neurodevelopment in children. The researchers evaluated associations between biomarkers of prenatal and postnatal OP exposure and cognitive function of 6-year-olds in a French longitudinal birth cohort.

Original Source

Arsenic has been linked to disrupted immune function and greater infection susceptibility in highly exposed populations. Well arsenic levels above the EPA limit occur in our U.S. study area and are of particular concern for pregnant women and infants. The researchers investigated whether in utero arsenic exposure affects the risk of infections and respiratory symptoms over the first year of life.

Original Source

The deep ocean was once assumed to be lifeless and barren. Today we know that even the deepest waters teem with living creatures, some of them thought to be little changed from when life itself first appeared on the planet. The deep ocean is also essential to the earth’s biosphere—it regulates global temperatures, stores carbon, provides habitat for countless species, and cycles nutrients for marine food webs. Currently stressed by pollution, industrial fishing, and oil and gas development, these cold, dark waters now face another challenge: mining.

Combined sewer overflows (CSOs) occur in combined sewer systems when sewage and stormwater runoff are released into water bodies, potentially contaminating water sources. CSOs are often caused by heavy precipitation and are expected to increase with increasing extreme precipitation associated with climate change.

Original Source

Hydraulic fracturing technologies, developed over the last 65 years, have only recently been combined with horizontal drilling to unlock oil and gas reserves previously deemed inaccessible. While these technologies have dramatically increased domestic oil and natural gas production, they have also raised concerns for the potential contamination of local water supplies with the approximately 1,000 chemicals used throughout the process, including many known or suspected endocrine-disrupting chemicals.

Mice exposed to high levels of arsenic in utero are more susceptible to tumors such as hepatic and pulmonary carcinoma when they reach adulthood. However, effects of in utero arsenic exposure on general physiological functions such as reproduction and metabolism remain unclear. The researchers evaluated the effect of in utero exposure to inorganic arsenic at the EPA drinking water standard (10 ppb) and tumor-inducing level (42.5 ppm) on reproductive end points and metabolic parameters when the exposed females reach adulthood.

The study investigated exposure to individual environmental chemicals and selected mixtures in relation to the presence of antinuclear antibodies (ANA), a widely used biomarker of autoimmunity, in a representative sample of the U.S. population.

Original Source

Exposure to ambient air pollution is suspected to cause cognitive effects, but a prospective cohort is needed to study exposure to air pollution at the home address and the incidence of dementia. The researchers aimed to assess the association between long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution and dementia incidence in a major city in northern Sweden.

Original Source