Correction to: Estimated postnatal p,p'-DDT and p,p'-DDE levels and body mass index at 42 months of age in a longitudinal study of Japanese children.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

Estimated postnatal p,p'-DDT and p,p'-DDE levels and body mass index at 42 months of age in a longitudinal study of Japanese children.

BACKGROUND: Children are exposed to p,p'-dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (p,p'-DDT) and p,p'-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (p,p'-DDE) through placental and lactational transfer. Some studies have suggested that early-life exposure to these compounds could lead to increased body mass index (BMI) during childhood. Our aim was to assess whether children's exposure during the first 2 years of life is associated with BMI z-score in Japanese children at 42 months of age. METHODS: We used data from a birth cohort (n = 290) of the Tohoku Study of Child Development. p,p'-DDT and p,p'-DDE levels were measured in breast milk samples collected 1 month after birth, and levels in children were estimated using a toxicokinetic model for three exposure periods (0-6 months, 6-12 months, 12-24 months). Associations between exposure estimates and BMI z-score at 42 months of age were assessed using multivariate linear regression models. RESULTS: We found no significant association between levels of p,p'-DDT measured in breast milk or estimated in children and BMI z-score. However, we observed associations between estimated p,p'-DDE levels in girls during all postnatal exposure periods and BMI z-score; for each log increase in the estimated p,p'-DDE levels, BMI z-score increased by 0.23 (C.I. 95%: 0.01, 0.45) for the 0-6 months exposure period, 0.26 (C.I. 95%: 0.06, 0.47) for the 6-12 months exposure period, and 0.24 (C.I. 95%: 0.05, 0.43) for the 12-24 months exposure period. CONCLUSION: In this study of Japanese children, estimated postnatal p,p'-DDE levels were associated with increased BMI z-score at 42 months of age, mostly in girls. These results are in line with previous studies supporting that early-life exposure to p,p'-DDE may be associated with higher BMI during childhood.

Improving the health and safety of 911 emergency call centre agents: an evaluability assessment of a knowledge transfer strategy.

A knowledge transfer (KT) strategy was implemented by the IRSST, an occupational health and safety research institute established in Québec (Canada), to improve the prevention of psychological and musculoskeletal problems among 911 emergency call centre agents. An evaluability assessment was conducted in which each aspect of the KT approach was documented systematically to determine whether the strategy had the potential to be evaluated in terms of its impact on the targeted population. A review of the literature on KT in occupational health and safety and on the evaluation of such KT programmes, along with the development of a logic model based on documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, indicated that the KT strategy was likely to have had a positive impact in the 911 emergency call centre sector. Implications for future research are discussed.

Evaluating the influence of half-life, milk:plasma partition coefficient, and volume of distribution on lactational exposure to chemicals in children.

Women are exposed to multiple environmental chemicals, many of which are known to transfer to breast milk during lactation. However, little is known about the influence of the different chemical-specific pharmacokinetic parameters on children's lactational dose. Our objective was to develop a generic pharmacokinetic model and subsequently quantify the influence of three chemical-specific parameters (biological half-life, milk:plasma partition coefficient, and volume of distribution) on lactational exposure to chemicals and resulting plasma levels in children. We developed a two-compartment pharmacokinetic model to simulate lifetime maternal exposure, placental transfer, and lactational exposure to the child. We performed 10,000 Monte Carlo simulations where half-life, milk:plasma partition coefficient, and volume of distribution were varied. Children's dose and plasma levels were compared to their mother's by calculating child:mother dose ratios and plasma level ratios. We then evaluated the association between the three chemical-specific pharmacokinetic parameters and child:mother dose and level ratios through linear regression and decision trees. Our analyses revealed that half-life was the most influential parameter on children's lactational dose and plasma concentrations, followed by milk:plasma partition coefficient and volume of distribution. In bivariate regression analyses, half-life explained 72% of child:mother dose ratios and 53% of child:mother level ratios. Decision trees aiming to identify chemicals with high potential for lactational exposure (ratio>1) had an accuracy of 89% for child:mother dose ratios and 84% for child:mother level ratios. Our study showed the relative importance of half-life, milk:plasma partition coefficient, and volume of distribution on children's lactational exposure. Developed equations and decision trees will enable the rapid identification of chemicals with a high potential for lactational exposure.