Alarcon et al., 2005
Alarcon, W. A., Calvert, G. M., Blondell, J. M., Mehler, L. N., Sievert, J., Propeck, M., Tibbetts, D. S., Becker, A., Lackovic, M., Soileau, S. B., Das, R., Beckman, J., Male, D. P., Thomsen, C. L., & Stanbury, M.; “Acute illnesses associated with pesticide exposure at schools;” JAMA, 2005, 294(4), 455-465; DOI: 10.1001/jama.294.4.455.
ABSTRACT:
CONTEXT: Pesticides continue to be used on school property, and some schools are at risk of pesticide drift exposure from neighboring farms, which leads to pesticide exposure among students and school employees. However, information on the magnitude of illnesses and risk factors associated with these pesticide exposures is not available.
OBJECTIVE: To estimate the magnitude of and associated risk factors for pesticide related illnesses at schools.
DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Analysis of surveillance data from 1998 to 2002 of 2593 persons with acute pesticide-related illnesses associated with exposure at schools. Nationwide information on pesticide-related illnesses is routinely collected by 3 national pesticide surveillance systems: the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s Sentinel Event Notification System for Occupational Risks pesticides program, the California Department of Pesticide Regulation, and the Toxic Exposure Surveillance System.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Incidence rates and severity of acute pesticide-related illnesses.
RESULTS: Incidence rates for 1998-2002 were 7.4 cases per million children and 27.3 cases per million school employee full-time equivalents. The incidence rates among children increased significantly from 1998 to 2002. Illness of high severity was found in 3 cases (0.1%), moderate severity in 275 cases (11%), and low severity in 2315 cases (89%). Most illnesses were associated with insecticides (n=895, 35%), disinfectants (n=830, 32%), repellents (n=335, 13%), or herbicides (n=279, 11%). Among 406 cases with detailed information on the source of pesticide exposure, 281 (69%) were associated with pesticides used at schools and 125 (31%) were associated with pesticide drift exposure from farmland.
CONCLUSIONS: Pesticide exposure at schools produces acute illnesses among school employees and students. To prevent pesticide-related illnesses at schools, implementation of integrated pest management programs in schools, practices to reduce pesticide drift, and adoption of pesticide spray buffer zones around schools are recommended.
Reynolds et al., 1994
Reynolds, P. M., Reif, J. S., Ramsdell, H. S., & Tessari, J. D.; “Canine exposure to herbicide-treated lawns and urinary excretion of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid;” Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers, & Prevention, 1994, 3(3), 233-237.
ABSTRACT:
A recent study by Hayes et al. (J. Natl. Cancer. Inst., 83: 1226-1231, 1991) found an increased risk of malignant lymphoma associated with exposure to 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) in pet dogs. We conducted a study to determine the extent to which dogs absorb and excrete 2,4-D in urine after contact with treated lawns under natural conditions. Among 44 dogs potentially exposed to 2,4-D-treated lawns an average of 10.9 days after application, 2,4-D concentrations greater than or equal to 10.0 micrograms/l were found in 33 dogs (75%) and concentrations of > or = 50 micrograms/l were found in 17 (39%). Among 15 dogs with no known exposure to a 2,4-D-treated lawn in the previous 42 days, 4 (27%) had evidence of 2,4-D in urine, 1 at a concentration of > or = 50 micrograms/l. The odds ratio for the association between exposure to a 2,4-D-treated lawn and the detection of > or = 50 micrograms/l 2,4-D in urine was 8.8 (95% confidence interval, 1.4-56.2). Dogs exposed to lawns treated within 7 days before urine collection were more than 50 times as likely to have 2,4-D at concentrations > or = 50 micrograms/l than dogs with exposure to a lawn treated more than 1 week previously (odds ratio = 56.0; 95% confidence interval, 10.0-312.2). The highest mean concentration of 2,4-D in urine (21.3 mg/l) was found in dogs sampled within 2 days after application of the herbicide.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS) FULL TEXT
Glickman et al., 2004
Glickman, L. T., Raghavan, M., Knapp, D. W., Bonney, P. L., & Dawson, M. H.; “Herbicide exposure and the risk of transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder in Scottish Terriers;” Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 2004, 224(8), 1290-1297; DOI: 10.2460/javma.2004.224.1290.
ABSTRACT:
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether exposure to lawn or garden chemicals was associated with an increased risk of transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the urinary bladder in Scottish Terriers. DESIGN: Case-control study.
ANIMALS: 83 Scottish Terriers with TCC (cases) and 83 Scottish Terriers with other health-related conditions (controls).
PROCEDURE: Owners of study dogs completed a written questionnaire pertaining to exposure to lawn or garden chemicals during the year prior to diagnosis of TCC for case dogs and during a comparable period for control dogs.
RESULTS: The risk of TCC was significantly increased among dogs exposed to lawns or gardens treated with both herbicides and insecticides (odds ratio [OR], 7.19) or with herbicides alone (OR, 3.62), but not among dogs exposed to lawns or gardens treated with insecticides alone (OR, 1.62), compared with dogs exposed to untreated lawns. Exposure to lawns or gardens treated with phenoxy herbicides (OR, 4.42) was associated with an increased risk of TCC, compared with exposure to untreated lawns or gardens, but exposure to lawns or gardens treated with nonphenoxy herbicides (OR, 3.49) was not significantly associated with risk of TCC.
CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Results suggest that exposure to lawns or gardens treated with herbicides was associated with an increased risk of TCC in Scottish Terriers. Until additional studies are performed to prove or disprove a cause-and-effect relationship, owners of Scottish Terriers should minimize their dogs’ access to lawns or gardens treated with phenoxy herbicides.
Hayes et al., 1991
Hayes, H. M., Tarone, R. E., Cantor, K. P., Jessen, C. R., McCurnin, D. M., & Richardson, R. C.; “Case-control study of canine malignant lymphoma: positive association with dog owner’s use of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid herbicides;” Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 1991, 83(17), 1226-1231; DOI: 10.1093/jnci/83.17.1226.
ABSTRACT:
A hospital-based case-control study of companion dogs examined the risk of developing canine malignant lymphoma associated with the use of chemicals in and about the home. Information from a self-administered owner questionnaire and/or a telephone interview of about 491 cases, 466 nontumor controls, and 479 tumor controls indicated that owners in households with dogs that developed malignant lymphoma applied 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) herbicides to their lawn and/or employed commercial lawn care companies to treat their yard significantly more frequently than control owners (odds ratio = 1.3). In addition, the risk of canine malignant lymphoma rose to a twofold excess with four or more yearly owner applications of 2,4-D. The findings in this study are consistent with occupational studies in humans, which have reported modest associations between agricultural exposure to 2,4-D and increased risk of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, the histology and epidemiology of which are similar to those of canine malignant lymphoma. The present study suggests that human health implications of 2,4-D exposure in the home environment should receive further investigation. FULL TEXT
Karthikraj and Kannan, 2019
Karthikraj, R., & Kannan, K.; “Widespread occurrence of glyphosate in urine from pet dogs and cats in New York State, USA;” Science of the Total Environment, 2019, 659, 790-795; DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.12.454.
ABSTRACT:
Glyphosate is one of the most widely used herbicides in the United States, which has led to its ubiquitous occurrence in food and water and regular detection in human urine at concentrations of 1-10mug/L. Data pertaining to health risks arising from the ingestion of glyphosate are limited and are the subject of much debate, which demands the need for more exposure information for this herbicide. Very little is known about glyphosate exposure in pets. In this study, we determined concentrations of glyphosate (Glyp) and its derivatives, methyl glyphosate (Me-Glyp) and aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA), in urine collected from 30 dogs and 30 cats from New York State, USA. Glyp was the most predominant compound found in pet urine followed by AMPA and Me-Glyp. The mean urinary concentration of summation operatorGlyp (sum of Glyp+Me-Glyp+AMPA) in cats (mean: 33.8+/-46.7ng/mL) was 2-fold higher than that in dogs (mean: 16.8+/-24.4ng/mL). Cumulative daily intakes (CDI) of Glyp in dogs and cats estimated from the urinary concentrations were, on average, 0.57 and 1.37mug/kgbw/d, respectively. The exposure doses were two to four orders of magnitude below the current acceptable daily intake (ADI) suggested by several international health organizations for humans. FULL TEXT
Vermeulen et al., 2020
Vermeulen, R., Schymanski, E. L., Barabasi, A. L., & Miller, G. W.; “The exposome and health: Where chemistry meets biology;” Science, 2020, 367(6476), 392-396; DOI: 10.1126/science.aay3164.
ABSTRACT:
Despite extensive evidence showing that exposure to specific chemicals can lead to disease, current research approaches and regulatory policies fail to address the chemical complexity of our world. To safeguard current and future generations from the increasing number of chemicals polluting our environment, a systematic and agnostic approach is needed. The “exposome” concept strives to capture the diversity and range of exposures to synthetic chemicals, dietary constituents, psychosocial stressors, and physical factors, as well as their corresponding biological responses. Technological advances such as high-resolution mass spectrometry and network science have allowed us to take the first steps toward a comprehensive assessment of the exposome. Given the increased recognition of the dominant role that nongenetic factors play in disease, an effort to characterize the exposome at a scale comparable to that of the human genome is warranted. FULL TEXT
Topping et al., 2020
Topping, C. J., Aldrich, A., & Berny, P.; “Overhaul environmental risk assessment for pesticides;” Science, 2020, 367(6476), 360-363; DOI: 10.1126/science.aay1144.
SUMMARY:
Environmental risk assessment (ERA) of pesticides does not account for many stressors that have intensified in recent years, such as climate change, habitat destruction, and increasing landscape homogeneity, the combination of which can aggravate effects of pesticides in nature. We describe how several assumptions underlying ERA may not hold in modern intensive agricultural landscapes, and the interaction among assumption violations may account for observed declines in biodiversity. Using European contexts to exemplify these global concerns, we review how regulatory ERA for pesticides has fallen out of step with scientific knowledge and societal demands for sustainable food production and suggest systematic and recently feasible changes for regulation. FULL TEXT
Escher et al., 2020
Escher, B. I., Stapleton, H. M., & Schymanski, E. L.; “Tracking complex mixtures of chemicals in our changing environment;” Science, 2020, 367(6476), 388-392; DOI: 10.1126/science.aay6636.
ABSTRACT:
Chemicals have improved our quality of life, but the resulting environmental pollution has the potential to cause detrimental effects on humans and the environment. People and biota are chronically exposed to thousands of chemicals from various environmental sources through multiple pathways. Environmental chemists and toxicologists have moved beyond detecting and quantifying single chemicals to characterizing complex mixtures of chemicals in indoor and outdoeor environments and biological matrices. We highlight analytical and bioanalytical approaches to isolating, characterizing, and tracking groups of chemicals of concern in complex matrices. Techniques that combine chemical analysis and bioassays have the potential to facilitate the identification of mixtures of chemicals that pose a combined risk. FULL TEXT
Chung and Herceg, 2020
Chung, F. F., & Herceg, Z.; “The Promises and Challenges of Toxico-Epigenomics: Environmental Chemicals and Their Impacts on the Epigenome;” Environmental Health Perspectives, 2020, 128(1), 15001; DOI: 10.1289/EHP6104.
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND: It has been estimated that a substantial portion of chronic and noncommunicable diseases can be caused or exacerbated by exposure to environmental chemicals. Multiple lines of evidence indicate that early life exposure to environmental chemicals at relatively low concentrations could have lasting effects on individual and population health. Although the potential adverse effects of environmental chemicals are known to the scientific community, regulatory agencies, and the public, little is known about the mechanistic basis by which these chemicals can induce long-term or transgenerational effects. To address this question, epigenetic mechanisms have emerged as the potential link between genetic and environmental factors of health and disease.
OBJECTIVES: We present an overview of epigenetic regulation and a summary of reported evidence of environmental toxicants as epigenetic disruptors. We also discuss the advantages and challenges of using epigenetic biomarkers as an indicator of toxicant exposure, using measures that can be taken to improve risk assessment, and our perspectives on the future role of epigenetics in toxicology.
DISCUSSION: Until recently, efforts to apply epigenomic data in toxicology and risk assessment were restricted by an incomplete understanding of epigenomic variability across tissue types and populations. This is poised to change with the development of new tools and concerted efforts by researchers across disciplines that have led to a better understanding of epigenetic mechanisms and comprehensive maps of epigenomic variation. With the foundations now in place, we foresee that unprecedented advancements will take place in the field in the coming years.
Eng et al., 2019
Eng, M. L., Stutchbury, B. J. M., & Morrissey, C. A.; “A neonicotinoid insecticide reduces fueling and delays migration in songbirds;” Science, 2019, 365(6458), 1177-1180; DOI: 10.1126/science.aaw9419.
ABSTRACT:
Neonicotinoids are neurotoxic insecticides widely used as seed treatments, but little is known of their effects on migrating birds that forage in agricultural areas. We tracked the migratory movements of imidacloprid-exposed songbirds at a landscape scale using a combination of experimental dosing and automated radio telemetry. Ingestion of field-realistic quantities of imidacloprid (1.2 or 3.9 milligrams per kilogram body mass) by white-crowned sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys) during migratory stopover caused a rapid reduction in food consumption, mass, and fat and significantly affected their probability of departure. Birds in the high-dose treatment stayed a median of 3.5 days longer at the site of capture after exposure as compared with controls, likely to regain fuel stores or recover from intoxication. Migration delays can carry over to affect survival and reproduction; thus, these results confirm a link between sublethal pesticide exposure and adverse outcomes for migratory bird populations. FULL TEXT