Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Julie Lopes, Clemence Baudin, Juliette Feuardent, Herve Roy, Sylvaine Caer-Lorho, Klervi Leuraud, Marie-Odile Bernier
Summary: Medical personnel in France are occupationally exposed to ionizing radiation, but no study has been conducted to investigate the health risks associated with this exposure. The ORICAMs cohort is a nationwide French longitudinal study that aims to assess the risk of radiation-associated cancer and non-cancer mortality in medical workers. The cohort includes workers monitored for ionizing radiation exposure from 2002 to 2012. Initial analysis shows that the mortality rate among these workers is significantly lower than the national reference rates, but further research is needed to establish a potential relationship between occupational exposure and mortality risk.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ezazul Haque, Margaret E. Moran, Peter S. Thorne
Summary: This study introduces a method using clotted erythrocyte fraction samples to predict whole blood lead levels, allowing for retrospective assessments of environmental lead exposure. Analysis of samples from 91 participants showed a strong linear relationship between lead in whole blood and clotted erythrocyte fraction, suggesting the viability of the alternative biological sample for public health surveillance of lead exposure.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Su Zhen Wu, Huan Ying Xu, Ying Chen, Yu Chen, Qiao Ling Zhu, Min Hua Tan, Miao Miao Zhang
Summary: This study revealed a dose-effect relationship between low blood lead levels and preeclampsia, with a cut-off point at 4.2 μg/dl. There is a nonlinear association between blood lead levels and preeclampsia, with a significant increase in the risk of preeclampsia when blood lead levels exceed 4.2 μg/dl.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Jonathan Koltai, Martin McKee, David Stuckler
Summary: The study found that deeper cuts to local government spending in Great Britain in the 2010s were associated with larger increases in drug-related deaths. The association between budget reductions and drug-related death rates remained statistically significant even after adjusting for regional, demographic, and economic factors, suggesting a clear link between austerity measures and public health outcomes.
SOCIAL SCIENCE & MEDICINE
(2021)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Cecilia Potente, Patrick Prag, Christiaan W. S. Monden
Summary: The education level of children has a positive correlation with the health and longevity of their parents, but it is unclear whether there is a causal effect.
JOURNAL OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL BEHAVIOR
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Ping He, Chengxin Yang, Dongkui He, Shiyu Zhao, Yujia Xie, Haijiao Wang, Jixuan Ma
Summary: The study found that an increase in blood lead levels was significantly positively associated with systolic blood pressure, white blood cell count, and blood platelet count. Levels of white blood cell count were positively correlated with diastolic and systolic blood pressure in a dose-response manner. White blood cell count played a significant role in the association between blood lead concentration and systolic blood pressure.
BIOLOGICAL TRACE ELEMENT RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Haena Lee, Mark W. Lee, John Robert Warren, Joseph Ferrie
Summary: A study found that older adults who lived in cities with lead pipes and acidic or alkaline water during their childhood had worse cognitive functioning. However, the decline in cognitive ability did not accelerate. The study also showed that educational attainment accounted for a quarter of the association between lead and late-life cognition. This research highlights the need to identify interventions to mitigate long-term damage among people at high risk, especially as American children exposed to high levels of lead in the 1970s enter older ages.
Article
Environmental Sciences
L. de Graaf, M. Talibov, M. Boulanger, M. Bureau, E. Robelot, P. Lebailly, I. Baldi
Summary: This study analyzed causes of death, prevalence of non-cancer diseases, and incidence of major cancers among greenspace workers. The study found that male greenspace workers were more likely to have a history of allergic diseases and depression compared to farmers and non-agricultural workers. Male greenspace workers also had a slightly higher risk of mortality from ischemic cardiological diseases. Additionally, male greenspace workers had higher incidence rates of overall cancer, prostate cancer, thyroid cancer, testicular cancer, and skin melanoma. Female greenspace workers had a higher risk of breast cancer compared to farmers.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Samuel Homan, Solomon Brown
Summary: Electricity grids worldwide are adapting to higher levels of renewable generation, with grid operators proposing new frequency response services to ensure grid stability. Analyzing the efficacy of these new services in a future energy scenario with reduced inertia, researchers find that additional capacity in dynamic regulation can successfully mitigate against inertia reduction.
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Xiangwei Li, Ben Scho, Bernd Holleczek, Hermann Brenner
Summary: A large population-based cohort study in Germany found a strong association between longitudinal repeated measurements of frailty index (FI) and mortality, particularly cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality. These findings are important for understanding the relationship between mortality risk and frailty in older adults.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Ahti Anttila, Sanni Uuksulainen, Matti Rantanen, Markku Sallmen
Summary: This study aimed to assess the association between blood lead level in occupational exposure and the risk of lung cancer. The results showed that there was a positive trend between elevated blood lead levels and lung cancer risk, even at relatively low levels. The increased risk for lead exposure was not explained by other occupational carcinogens.
SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL OF WORK ENVIRONMENT & HEALTH
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
David R. Chettle, Kim N. Dietrich, Amit Bhattacharya, Heidi J. Kalkwarf, Lorenna Altmann, Chi Wei, Cyndy Cox, Jun Ying
Summary: In a study of a birth cohort exposed to relatively high levels of lead, researchers found a significant association between adult female bone lead concentrations and average childhood blood lead levels. However, in children, bone lead concentrations are relatively low and may not reflect their early lead exposure levels.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Vassilis M. Charitopoulos, Mathilde Fajardy, Chi Kong Chyong, David M. Reiner
Summary: Britain has made progress in reducing emissions, but has lagged behind in decarbonizing the heat sector. With domestic heat accounting for a significant portion of emissions, achieving net-zero by 2050 requires urgent action. Electrification has been identified as one of the main pathways, and an optimization model shows that a 100% electrification pathway can be achieved with minimal increase in generation capacity by utilizing thermal energy storage technologies.
Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Mu-Cyun Wang, Chia-Ing Li, Chiu-Shong Liu, Chih-Hsueh Lin, Shing-Yu Yang, Tsai-Chung Li, Cheng-Chieh Lin
Summary: The study revealed that variability in blood lipids is associated with increased risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes, with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol variability particularly linked to non-cardiovascular mortality risk.
CARDIOVASCULAR DIABETOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Charles A. Cunningham, Chris D. Thomas, Mike D. Morecroft, Humphrey Q. P. Crick, Colin M. Beale
Summary: Protected Areas (PAs) are important for biodiversity conservation, but the study found that landscapes with low PA coverage were more representative, yet less resilient to landscape-scale pressures. Many species distributions have declined since 1974, with declining and priority species showing similar trends in landscapes containing PAs. Despite the positive impact of PAs on some declining and priority species, landscapes with high PA coverage were more likely to retain priority species and resist colonization by expanding species.
BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION
(2021)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Sophie van der Feltz, Susan Peters, Anjoeka Pronk, Vivi Schlunssen, Zara A. Stokholm, Henrik A. Kolstad, Karin van Veldhoven, Ioannis Basinas, Martie van Tongeren, Alex Burdorf, Karen M. Oude Hengel
Summary: This study validates the COVID-19 Job Exposure Matrix (COVID-19-JEM) by comparing risk scores assigned by the COVID-19-JEM with self-reported data, and estimating the associations between the COVID-19-JEM risk scores and self-reported COVID-19. The results show a good agreement between the COVID-19-JEM and self-reported infection risks and infection rates at work.
ANNALS OF WORK EXPOSURES AND HEALTH
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Nicola Gartland, Anna Coleman, David Fishwick, Sheena Johnson, Christopher J. Armitage, Martie van Tongeren
Summary: This study aimed to understand the experiences and risk perceptions of organizational leaders and workers in the UK public transport sector during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings showed that most public transport employees felt safe, but the current mitigation measures may have negative effects on worker morale and wellbeing. Issues related to non-compliance with guidance and 'in-group' behavior were also identified. Recommendations were made to prioritize employee engagement, strong leadership, and clear messaging to promote adherence to behavioral mitigations.
ANNALS OF WORK EXPOSURES AND HEALTH
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
William Mueller, Miranda Loh, Tony Fletcher, Sarah Rhodes, Lucy Pembrey, Neil Pearce, Martie van Tongeren
Summary: This study investigated the burden of COVID-19 in the UK food and drink processing industry. The results showed that infection rates were associated with deprivation, proportions of remote workers and workers in close proximity, and the number of workers.
ANNALS OF WORK EXPOSURES AND HEALTH
(2023)
Editorial Material
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Vivi Schlunssen, Jean Baptist du Prel, Martie van Tongeren, Lode Godderis, Michelle C. Turner, Damien McElvenny
Summary: Harmonized tools and approaches for data collection can help detect similarities and differences in COVID-19 across countries and support the development of effective preventive strategies. The open source occupational questionnaires on COVID-19 provide comprehensive coverage of key aspects related to the pandemic. However, the general questionnaire has a limited number of questions for each domain.
ANNALS OF WORK EXPOSURES AND HEALTH
(2023)
Article
Psychology, Clinical
Christopher J. Armitage, Chris Keyworth, Nicola Gartland, Anna Coleman, David Fishwick, Sheena Johnson, Martie van Tongeren
Summary: The study aimed to assess public adherence to wearing face coverings and to understand the reasons for wearing or not wearing masks in work, public transport, and leisure settings. The results showed that participants were more likely to wear face coverings in public transport settings, but less likely to wear them in work and leisure contexts. Perceptions of capabilities, opportunities, and motivations were consistently associated with wearing face coverings, but there were deficits in automatic motivation and social opportunity. Men, people living in England, and those describing themselves as White were least likely to wear face coverings.
BRITISH JOURNAL OF HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Wenxin Wan, Calvin B. Ge, Melissa C. Friesen, Sarah J. Locke, Daniel E. Russ, Igor Burstyn, Christopher J. O. Baker, Anil Adisesh, Qing Lan, Nathaniel Rothman, Anke Huss, Martie van Tongeren, Roel Vermeulen, Susan Peters
Summary: The objective of this study is to compare the performance of different automatic job coding tools in terms of job coding and Job-Exposure Matrix (JEM)-assigned exposures. The results show that CASCOT performs better in terms of job coding and exposure assignment, but study-specific evaluations and tool improvements are still needed.
ANNALS OF WORK EXPOSURES AND HEALTH
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Melissa Matz, Sarah Rhodes, Martie Van Tongeren, Michel P. Coleman, Claudia Allemani, Vahe Nafilyan, Neil Pearce
Summary: In 2021, excess mortality in England and Wales remained higher for essential workers compared to non-essential workers, with social care workers experiencing the highest excess mortality. This update provides additional data on excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, highlighting the continued risk for essential workers.
JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY AND COMMUNITY HEALTH
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Jessica R. E. Bridgen, Hua Wei, Carl Whitfield, Yang Han, Ian Hall, Chris P. Jewell, Martie J. A. van Tongeren, Jonathan M. Read
Summary: This study investigated the contact patterns and protective measures adopted by UK delivery drivers during the pandemic. The results showed that delivery drivers had an average of 71.6 customer contacts and 15.0 depot contacts per shift. Most drivers were able to maintain physical distancing with customers, but less so at depots. Prolonged contact with customers was reported by 5.4% of drivers on their last shift. The usage of protective items such as face masks and hand sanitiser was widespread among the drivers.
OCCUPATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Matthew Gittins, Melanie Carder, Martin J. Seed, Ireny Iskandar, Sarah Ann Michelle Daniels, Martie van Tongeren
Summary: This study used zero-inflated negative binomial models to analyze three occupational disease surveillance schemes in the UK. By applying weighted negative binomial models, the trends of specific health outcomes were estimated while accounting for excess zeros. The results showed that the weighted models effectively adjusted for the influence of excess zeros on trend estimates.
OCCUPATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Sarah Beale, Alexei Yavlinsky, Susan Hoskins, Vincent Nguyen, Thomas Byrne, Wing Lam Erica Fong, Jana Kovar, Martie Van Tongeren, Robert W. Aldridge, Andrew Hayward
Summary: This study investigated the usage of work-related mitigations and workers' perceptions of these mitigations among different occupations and over time. The results showed variations in the usage of these mitigations among occupations and during different periods, with healthcare workers having the highest probabilities of using these measures. Most participants agreed that most mitigations were reasonable and worthwhile even after the relaxation of national restrictions.
SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL OF WORK ENVIRONMENT & HEALTH
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Ioannis Basinas, Damien M. Mcelvenny, Finley Brooker, Steven Robertson, Yvonne van Hoecke, Simon Kemp, Neil Pearce, Valentina Gallo, John W. Cherrie
Summary: The purpose of this study was to estimate exposure to repetitive sub-concussive head impacts (RSHI) for epidemiological analyses. A questionnaire was used to collect data on lifetime history of heading and other head contacts from 159 former professional English footballers. Linear mixed effect regression models were used to examine the factors influencing the number of headers, blows to the head, and head-to-head impacts. The results showed that playing position, league, context of play, and decade of play were important factors affecting RSHI exposure. The final model explained a significant amount of variance in exposure and demonstrated good precision and predictive performance. These findings suggest that the model is a valid method for estimating RSHI exposure among former footballers, although further validation is still needed.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HYGIENE AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Christopher J. Armitage, Chris Keyworth, Nicola Gartland, Anna Coleman, David Fishwick, Sheena Johnson, Martie van Tongeren
Summary: This study tracks changes in face covering and the impacts on people's perceptions of their capabilities, opportunities, and motivations. The findings show that face covering decreased over time as rules were relaxed, and motivations played a significant role in the decline. Further work is needed to develop interventions to change people's motivations and promote the wearing of face coverings, if required in the future.
JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
David Fishwick, Melanie Carder, Ireny Iskandar, Beth Charlotte Fishwick, Martie van Tongeren
Summary: This study estimated the reported incidence of irritant asthma and examined its changes over time. Although the incidence of irritant asthma may have fallen, cases persistently occur due to factors such as cleaning agents in the workplace.
OCCUPATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Theocharis Kromydas, Evangelia Demou, Rhiannon Edge, Matthew Gittins, Srinivasa Vittal Katikireddi, Neil Pearce, Martie van Tongeren, Jack Wilkinson, Sarah Rhodes
Summary: The risk and prevalence of long-COVID differ across industries and occupations. Generally, the likelihood of developing long-COVID symptoms follows the likelihood of SARS-CoV-2 infection, except for professional occupations.
OCCUPATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Anna Coleman, Rebecca Canham, Katie Clabon, Paniz Hosseini, Sheena Johnson, Martie van Tongeren
Summary: This article examines the challenges, mitigation measures, and factors affecting the control of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in different work sectors in the UK. The findings highlight the changing views and practices of participants during the COVID-19 pandemic.
ANNALS OF WORK EXPOSURES AND HEALTH
(2023)