The potential scalability of salt substitutes as an intervention to lower population sodium levels.

Reducing salt intake is one of the most cost-effective interventions to improve population health due to the subsequent reductions in blood pressure. Countries are introducing programs to lower salt consumption. Such programs usually focus on reducing salt in packaged foods and meals alongside campaigns to change consumer behavior. Thus, this paper provides an overview of the rationale for and evidence supporting the use of salt substitutes. Cur-rent approaches to salt reduction are insufficient, and more innovative solutions need to be identified. There is good evidence that salt substitutes, where some of the sodium is replaced with potassium, are effective to lower sodium total intake. The main challenge is to understand the pathways to market for salt substitutes. How do we implement programs to promote salt substitutes in different countries? What levels of government intervention are required? With more research and government investment, salt substitutes could be a game changer for increasing the impact of strategies to reduce population salt intake.

Association between pyrethroid exposure and cardiovascular disease: A national population-based cross-sectional study in the US.

OBJECTIVE: Pyrethroids-containing products are widely used as commercial and household insecticides. While animal studies and clinical case reports have shown acute cardiovascular outcomes of pyrethroids exposure, little has been known on the effect of chronic pyrethroid exposure on cardiovascular disease (CVD). We aimed to examine the associations between chronic pyrethroid exposure and CVD in the US adults. METHODS: Cross-sectional data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2002 and 2007-2012 were analyzed. The exposure to pyrethroids was determined as the urinary level of 3-phenoxybenzoic acid (3-PBA), and CVD was ascertained based on self-reported physician diagnoses. Multivariable logistic regression models were fitted to evaluate associations of pyrethroid exposure with CVD, coronary heart disease (CHD), and stroke. RESULTS: Included were 6,471 participants with a mean age of 44.77 years (standard error, 0.39) for final analyses. The weighted prevalence of CVD, CHD, and stroke was 6.85%, 4.57% and 2.27%, respectively. With adjustments for major confounders, participants in the highest tertile of urinary 3-PBA had higher odds of CVD (odds ratio, 1.58; 95% confidence interval: 1.12, 2.23) and CHD (OR, 1.75; 95% CI: 1.17, 2.61) compared to those in the lowest tertile. There were linear associations for CVD (P for trend = 0.04) and CHD (P for trend = 0.02). However, no significant association was noted for stroke (1.29; 0.78, 2.16) in the main analyses. CONCLUSIONS: 3-PBA was adversely associated with CVD and CHD in the US adults. Our findings highlight potential cardiovascular risk of chronic exposure to pyrethroids, and should be validated in large prospective studies in different populations in future.