Ambient air exposures to arsenic and cadmium and overall and prostate cancer-specific survival among prostate cancer cases in Pennsylvania, 2004 to 2014.

BACKGROUND: Exposures to arsenic (As) and cadmium (Cd) have been associated with higher prostate cancer (PC) mortality; however, these associations have been inconsistent. The authors investigated whether higher ambient air concentrations of As and Cd are associated with lower overall and PC-specific survival among PC cases in Pennsylvania. METHODS: Incident PC cases of patients, aged 40 years or older, with a clinical diagnosis and nonmetastatic disease were identified in the 2004 to 2014 Pennsylvania Cancer Registry. Demographic, clinical, and pathologic information were extracted from the Pennsylvania Cancer Registry. The 3- and 5-year average and cumulative air concentrations of As and Cd were extracted from the Environmental Protection Agency's Toxics Release Inventory database. Spatial-temporal hierarchical accelerated failure time models were used to examine the associations between air concentrations of As and Cd and overall and PC-specific survival for the total population and stratified by geographical region defined by rurality and Appalachia status, after adjusting for confounders. RESULTS: There were 78,914 PC cases included. Increasing 3- and 5-year average and cumulative air concentrations of As and Cd were significantly associated with lower overall and PC-specific survival among cases, after adjusting for confounders, for the total population, and stratified by geographical region for most of the estimates. CONCLUSIONS: Data suggest that increasing ambient air exposures to As and Cd may play a role in overall and PC-specific mortality risk among PC cases. Exposures to As and Cd are modifiable and may provide insight into potential strategies to improve PC health outcomes. LAY SUMMARY: Arsenic and cadmium exposures linked to increased prostate cancer deaths remain unclear. We investigated whether air levels of arsenic and cadmium reported to be released from industries decrease overall and prostate cancer-specific survival among prostate cancer cases identified in the 2004 to 2014 Pennsylvania Cancer Registry. Among the 78,914 prostate cancer cases, increasing air levels of arsenic and cadmium are found to be associated with lower overall and prostate cancer-specific survival for the total population and within rural and urban Appalachia and urban non-Appalachia counties in Pennsylvania. Reducing exposures to arsenic and cadmium have the potential to decrease prostate cancer deaths.

Quantifying the Economic Impact of Hydraulic Fracturing Proppant Selection in Light of Occupational Exposure Risk and Functional Requirements.

Selection of an effective and economic proppant material for hydraulic fracturing is an important design choice to optimize the production of oil and natural gas. Proppants are made of silica (quartz sand), alumina, resin-coated silica, ceramics, and others. These materials can be toxic to varying degrees and lead to health problems in the employees handling them primarily due to inhalation exposure. Proppants are selected based on grain size, shape, strength, and cost. Current use is dominated by crystalline silica-the proppant that also has the greatest hazard as an inhalation toxin. Existing research describes the effect of silica on human health, but little research has been done to determine the risk-reduction and social-cost-effectiveness associated with using alternative proppants in light of the health risks. This study quantifies the relative risks or benefits to human health by the use of these proppants through an economic analysis considering the health-related economic impact and its technical attributes. Results show that the use of each ton of silica proppant results in $123 of external costs from fatalities and nonfatal illness arising due to exposure to silica for a crew handing 60,000 tons of proppants. If these health-related externalities were incorporated into the cost, silica proppant could be economically replaced by less harmful, more expensive alternatives for hydraulic fracturing crews handling less than 60,000 tons of proppant each year.

N2-BET is a Proxy for Primary Particle Size and May Not Be Representative of Available Specific Surface Area for Aggregated Nanoparticle Aerosols.

The knowledge of the specific surface area of aerosolized engineered nanoparticles could be important for mechanistically understanding their toxic potential or functional characteristics. The most widely method to perform this measurement, N2-BET, however, may not accurately represent the available surface area for hetero-aggregated nanoparticles in the context of large biological molecules. This study conducted an analysis of published characterization measurements including primary particle size, aggregation state, and specific surface area made for dry aerosolized nanoparticles. Results indicate that primary particle size explains 65% of the variance in specific surface area, while aggregation (as measured by mass median aerodynamic diameter) only explains 20% of the variance. Curiously, increasing aggregation (larger MMAD) is associated with increasing SSA as measured by N2-BET, likely an artifact of the measurement method, which suggests that this technique may not be appropriate for studies investigating biological interactions with nanoparticles.

Approaches to Develop Alternative Testing Strategies to Inform Human Health Risk Assessment of Nanomaterials.

The development of alternative testing strategies (ATS) for hazard assessment of new and emerging materials is high on the agenda of scientists, funders, and regulators. The relatively large number of nanomaterials on the market and under development means that an increasing emphasis will be placed on the use of reliable, predictive ATS when assessing their safety. We have provided recommendations as to how ATS development for assessment of nanomaterial hazard may be accelerated. Predefined search terms were used to identify the quantity and distribution of peer-reviewed publications for nanomaterial hazard assessment following inhalation, ingestion, or dermal absorption. A summary of knowledge gaps relating to nanomaterial hazard is provided to identify future research priorities and areas in which a rich data set might exist to allow ATS identification. Consultation with stakeholders (e.g., academia, industry, regulators) was critical to ensure that current expert opinion was reflected. The gap analysis revealed an abundance of studies that assessed the local and systemic impacts of inhaled particles, and so ATS are available for immediate use. Development of ATS for assessment of the dermal toxicity of chemicals is already relatively advanced, and these models should be applied to nanomaterials as relatively few studies have assessed the dermal toxicity of nanomaterials to date. Limited studies have investigated the local and systemic impacts of ingested nanomaterials. If the recommendations for research prioritization proposed are adopted, it is envisioned that a comprehensive battery of ATS can be developed to support the risk assessment process for nanomaterials. Some alternative models are available for immediate implementation, while others require more developmental work to become widely adopted. Case studies are included that can be used to inform the selection of alternative models and end points when assessing the pathogenicity of fibers and mode of action of nanomaterial toxicity.

A meta-analysis of carbon nanotube pulmonary toxicity studies--how physical dimensions and impurities affect the toxicity of carbon nanotubes.

This article presents a regression-tree-based meta-analysis of rodent pulmonary toxicity studies of uncoated, nonfunctionalized carbon nanotube (CNT) exposure. The resulting analysis provides quantitative estimates of the contribution of CNT attributes (impurities, physical dimensions, and aggregation) to pulmonary toxicity indicators in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid: neutrophil and macrophage count, and lactate dehydrogenase and total protein concentrations. The method employs classification and regression tree (CART) models, techniques that are relatively insensitive to data defects that impair other types of regression analysis: high dimensionality, nonlinearity, correlated variables, and significant quantities of missing values. Three types of analysis are presented: the RT, the random forest (RF), and a random-forest-based dose-response model. The RT shows the best single model supported by all the data and typically contains a small number of variables. The RF shows how much variance reduction is associated with every variable in the data set. The dose-response model is used to isolate the effects of CNT attributes from the CNT dose, showing the shift in the dose-response caused by the attribute across the measured range of CNT doses. It was found that the CNT attributes that contribute the most to pulmonary toxicity were metallic impurities (cobalt significantly increased observed toxicity, while other impurities had mixed effects), CNT length (negatively correlated with most toxicity indicators), CNT diameter (significantly positively associated with toxicity), and aggregate size (negatively correlated with cell damage indicators and positively correlated with immune response indicators). Increasing CNT N2 -BET-specific surface area decreased toxicity indicators.

The occupational safety implications of the California residential rooftop solar photovoltaic systems mandate.

INTRODUCTION: A 2018 change to the California building code mandates that new residential construction in the state include rooftop solar photovoltaic power systems beginning in 2020. As residential construction (especially work on rooftops) is among the more dangerous occupations in the United States, this paper seeks to quantify the increased risks to workers as a result of this mandate. METHOD: An analysis of the trends by occupation of nonfatal safety incident rates in the United States combined with a Monte Carlo simulation provide an estimate of the uncertain impact of this new mandate. RESULTS: Recordable safety incidents are anticipated to increase by a total of 16.6 incidents (standard deviation = 1.0 incidents) over the 2020-2029 time period as a result of this policy change. However, lessons from Germany and other industries offer potential avenues to reduce the negative social impact of this mandate. CONCLUSIONS: While it is not possible to increase employment in any sector without increasing the expected number of occupational injuries to some degree, these results indicate that risks could be considerably reduced by making solar PV system design decisions that increase worker productivity and reduce roof exposure time. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Changes such as eliminating work on roofs could decrease the expected number of recordable injuries over the 10-year period by 0.30 incidents per year (a reduction of 18%).

Particulate matter emissions associated with marcellus shale drilling waste disposal and transport.

This study models emissions quantities and neighboring exposure concentrations of six airborne pollutants, including PM10, PM2.5, crystalline silica, arsenic, uranium, and barium, which resulted from the disposal of Marcellus shale drill cuttings waste during the 2011-2017 period. Using these predicted exposures, this study evaluates current setback distances required in Pennsylvania from waste facilities. For potential residents living at the perimeter of the current setback distance, 274 m (900 ft), a waste disposal rate of 612.4 metric tons per day at landfills (the 99th percentile in record) does not result in exceedances of the exposure limits for any of the six investigated pollutants. However, the current setback distance can result in exceedance with respect to the 24-hr daily concentration standards for PM10 and PM2.5 established in the National Air Ambient Quality Standards (NAAQS), if daily waste disposal rate surpasses 900 metric tons per day. Dry depositions of barium-containing and uranium-containing particulate matter should not be a danger to public health based on these results. To investigate the air quality impacts of waste transportation and the potential for reductions, this article describes an optimization of landfill locations in Pennsylvania indicating the potential benefits in reduced environmental health hazard level possible by decreasing the distance traveled by waste disposal trucks. This strategy could reduce annual emissions of PM10 and PM2.5 by a mean of 64% and reduce the expected number of annual fatal accidents by nearly half, and should be considered a potential risk management goal in the long run. Therefore, policy to limit or encourage reduction of distances traveled by waste removal trucks and manage setback distances as a function of delivered waste quantities is merited. Implications This study shows the necessity of reviewing current setback distance required in Pennsylvania, which might not ensure 24-hr mean PM10 and PM2.5 levels below the values stated in National Ambient Air Quality Standards for the residents living at the perimeter. Furthermore, this study also reveals potential tremendous benefits from optimizing location of landfills accepting drill cuttings within Pennsylvania, with PM10 and PM2.5 emission, total distance traveled shrinking, and number of fatal accidents shrinking by nearly half.

Characterization of Bacteria on Aerosols From Dust Events in Dakar, Senegal, West Africa.

We identify bacteria types on collected dust samples in Dakar Senegal, a region that experiences frequent Saharan dust events. We use classical techniques to identify bacteria types from dust samples. Seventy-seven bacteria types are identified from samples collected by spatula and the QuickTake® 30 air sampling pump. The dominant groups in the first batch of 51 bacteria (collected via deposition) are Micrococcus (33.33%), Bacillus (13.73%), Kytococcus (11.76%), Pseudomonas (9.80%), and Burkholderia (7.84%) and dominants in the second batch of 26 bacteria (collected with aerosol sampling vacuum pump): Pseudomonas (38.61%), Burkholderia (26.92%), Micrococcus (11.54%), and Brucella spp (7.69%). These bacteria are found in earlier studies from desert sources and can potentially cause respiratory diseases to exposed populations. Future work will use molecular methods is necessary to search for additional pathogens, including viruses on dust aerosols.

Evaluation of gas well setback policy in the Marcellus Shale region of Pennsylvania in relation to emissions of fine particulate matter.

Shale gas has become an important strategic energy source with considerable potential economic benefits and the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in so far as it displaces coal use. However, there still exist environmental health risks caused by emissions from exploration and production activities. In the United States, states and localities have set different minimum setback policies to reduce the health risks corresponding to the emissions from these locations, but it is unclear whether these policies are sufficient. This study uses a Gaussian plume model to evaluate the probability of exposure exceedance from EPA concentration limits for PM2.5 at various locations around a generic wellsite in the Marcellus shale region. A set of meteorological data monitored at ten different stations across Marcellus shale gas region in Pennsylvania during 2015 serves as an input to this model. Results indicate that even though the current setback distance policy in Pennsylvania (500 ft. or 152.4 m) might be effective in some cases, exposure limit exceedance occurs frequently at this distance with higher than average emission rates and/or greater number of wells per wellpad. Setback distances should be 736 m to ensure compliance with the daily average concentration of PM2.5, and a function of the number of wells to comply with the annual average PM2.5 exposure standard. IMPLICATIONS: The Marcellus Shale gas is known as a significant source of criteria pollutants and studies show that the current setback distance in Pennsylvania is not adequate to protect the residents from exceeding the established limits. Even an effective setback distance to meet the annual exposure limit may not be adequate to meet the daily limit. The probability of exceeding the annual limit increases with number of wells per site. We use a probabilistic dispersion model to introduce a technical basis to select appropriate setback distances.