Assessing external exposome by implementing an Environmental Data Management System using Open Data.

Due to the increasing importance of exposome in environmental epidemiology, feasibility and usefulness of an Environmental Data Management System (EDMS) using Open Data was evaluated. The EDMS includes data from 10 European cities (Celje (Slovenia), Lódz (Poland), Manchester (UK), Palermo (Italy), Paris (France), Porto (Portugal), Regensburg (Germany), Reus (Spain), Rijeka (Croatia), Thessaloniki (Greece)) about external non-specific and specific exposome factors at the city or country level (2017-2020). Findings showed that the highest values of life expectancy were in Reus females (86 years) and Palermo males (81 years). UK had the highest obesity rate (28%), Croatia the highest prescribed drug consumption (62%), Greece and Portugal the highest smoking rates (37%, 42%) and daily alcohol consumption (21%), respectively. The most polluted cities were Thessaloniki for PM10 (38 µg/m3), Lódz for PM2.5 (25 µg/m3), Porto for NO2 (62 µg/m3) and Rijeka for O3 (92 µg/m3). Thessaloniki had the highest grey space (98%) and Lódz the highest cumulative amount of pollen (39,041 p/m3). The highest daily noise levels ≥ 55 dB was in Reus (81% to traffic) and Regensburg (21% to railway). In drinking water, arsenic had the highest value in Thessaloniki (6.4 µg/L), boron in Celje (24 mg/L) and lead in Paris (46.7 µg/L). Portugal and Greece showed the highest pesticide residues in food (7%). In conclusion, utilizing open-access databases enables the translation of research findings into actionable strategies for public health interventions.

Unraveling the blood transcriptome after real-life exposure of Wistar-rats to PM2.5, PM1 and water-soluble metals in the ambient air.

Exposure to particulate matter (PM) is one of the most important environmental issues in Europe with major health impact. Various sizes of PM are suspended in the atmosphere and contributes to ambient air pollution. The current study aimed to explore the differential gene expression in blood, and the effect on the respective biological signaling pathways in Wistar rats, after exposure to PM2.5 and PM1 ambient air particles for an eight-week period. A control group was included with animals breathing non-filtered atmospheric air. In parallel, filtered PM2.5 and PM1 was collected in separate samplers. The results after whole genome microarray analysis showed 23 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between control and PM2.5 group. In addition, pairwise comparison between control and PM1 group displayed 5635 DEGs linked to 69 biological pathways involved in inflammatory response, cell cycle and carcinogenicity. The smaller the size of the inhaled particles, the more gene alterations are triggered compared to non-filtered air group. More specifically, in inflammation signaling procedures differentially regulated gene expression was shown for interleukin-4 (IL-4), IL-7, IL-1, IL-5, IL-9, IL-6 and IL-2. We have identified that RASGFR1, TRIM65, TRIM33, PLEKHB1, CAR4, S100A8, S100A9, ALPL, NP4 and the PROK2 genes are potential targets for the development of adverse outcome pathways (AOPs) due to "real-life" exposure of Wistar rats. Particle measurements during the exposure period showed elevated concentrations of Fe, Mn and Zn in both PM1 and PM2.5 filter fractions, and of Cu in PM2.5. In addition, water-soluble concentration of metals showed significant differences between PM1 and PM2.5 fractions for V, Zn, As, Pb and Mn. In summary, in this study specific gene biomarkers of exposure to ambient air have been identified and heavy metals that are possibly linked to their altered regulation have been found. The results of this research will pave the way for the development of novel AOPs concerning the health effects of the environmental pollution.

Development of an assay to assess genotoxicity by particulate matter extract.

The current study describes a method for assessing the oxidative potential of common environmental stressors (ambient air particulate matter), using a plasmid relaxation assay where the extract caused single-strand breaks, easily visualised through electrophoresis. This assay utilises a miniscule amount (11 µg) of particulate matter (PM) extract compared to other, cell­based methods (~3,000 µg). The negative impact of air pollution on human health has been extensively recognised. Among the air pollutants, PM plays an eminent role, as reflected in the broad scientific interest. PM toxicity highly depends on its composition (metals and organic compounds), which in turn has been linked to multiple health effects (such as cardiorespiratory diseases and cancer) through multiple toxicity mechanisms; the induction of oxidative stress is considered a major mechanism among these. In this study, the PM levels, oxidative potential, cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of PM in the region of Larissa, Greece were examined using the plasmid relaxation assay. Finally, coffee extracts from different varieties, derived from both green and roasted seeds, were examined for their ability to inhibit PM-induced DNA damage. These extracts also exerted an inhibitory effect on xanthine oxidase and catalase, but had no effect against superoxide dismutase. Overall, this study highlights the importance of assays for assessing the oxidative potential of widespread environmental stressors (PM), as well as the antioxidant capacity of beverages and food items, with the highlight being the development of a plasmid relaxation assay to assess the genotoxicity caused by PM using only a miniscule amount.

Health impact and monetary cost of exposure to particulate matter emitted from biomass burning in large cities.

The study deals with the assessment of health impact and the respective economic cost attributed to particulate matter (PM) emitted into the atmosphere from biomass burning for space heating, focusing on the differences between the warm and cold seasons in 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 in Thessaloniki (Greece). Health impact was assessed based on estimated exposure levels and the use of established WHO concentration-response functions (CRFs) for all-cause mortality, infant mortality, new chronic bronchitis cases, respiratory and cardiac hospital admissions. Monetary cost was based on the valuation of the willingness-to-pay/accept (WTP/WTA), to avoid or compensate for the loss of welfare associated with illness. Results showed that long term mortality during the 2012-2013 winter increased by 200 excess deaths in a city of almost 900,000 inhabitants or 3540 years of life lost, corresponding to an economic cost of almost 200-250m€. New chronic bronchitis cases dominate morbidity estimates (490 additional new cases corresponding to a monetary cost of 30m€). Estimated health and monetary impacts are more severe during the cold season, despite its smaller duration (4 months). Considering that the increased ambient air concentrations (and the integral of outdoor/indoor exposure) are explained by shifting from oil to biomass for domestic heating purposes, several alternative scenarios were evaluated. Policy scenario analysis revealed that significant public health and monetary benefits (up to 2b€ in avoided mortality and 130m€ in avoided illness) might be obtained by limiting the biomass share in the domestic heat energy mix. Fiscal policy affecting fuels/technologies used for domestic heating needs to be reconsidered urgently, since the net tax loss from avoided oil taxation due to reduced consumption was further compounded by the public health cost of increased mid-term morbidity and mortality.

Lung cancer risk from PAHs emitted from biomass combustion.

This study deals with the assessment of the cancer risk attributable to PAH exposure, attributable to the increased use of biomass for space heating in Greece in the winter of 2012-2013. Three fractions of particulates (PM1, PM2.5 and PM10) were measured in two sampling sites (urban/residential and traffic-influenced) followed by chemical analysis of 19 PAHs and levoglucosan (used as a biomarker tracer). PAH-induced lung cancer risk was estimated by a comprehensive methodology that incorporated human respiratory tract deposition modelling in order to estimate the toxic equivalent concentration (TEQ) at each target tissue. This allowed us to further differentiate internal exposure and risk by age groups. Results showed that all PM fractions are higher in Greece during the cold months of the year, mainly due to biomass use for space heating. PAH and levoglucosan levels were highly correlated, indicating that particles emitted from biomass combustion are more toxic than PM emitted from other sources. The estimated lung cancer risk was non-negligible for residents close to the urban background monitoring site. Higher risk was estimated for infants and children, due to the higher bodyweight normalized dose and the human respiratory tract (HRT) physiology. HRT structure and physiology in youngsters favor deposition of particles that are smaller and more toxic per unit mass. In all cases, the estimated risk (5.7E-07 and 1.4E-06 for the urban background site and 1.4E-07 to 5.0E-07 for the traffic site) was lower to the one estimated by the conventional methodology (2.8E-06 and 9.7E-07 for the urban background and the traffic site respectively) that is based on Inhalation Unit Risk; the latter assumes that all PAHs adsorbed on particles are taken up by humans. With the methodology proposed herein, the estimated risk presents a 5-7 times difference between the two sampling sites (depending on the age group). These differences could not have been identified had we relied only on conventional risk assessment method. Consequently, the actual cancer risk attributable to PAHs on PM emitted from biomass burning would have been significantly underestimated.

Total exposure to airborne particulate matter in cities: the effect of biomass combustion.

The study deals with the seasonal variability of PM exposure and the effect that biomass combustion has upon it in the urban environment. The study is based on measurements, chemical analyses and modeling results performed in Thessaloniki (Greece). The measurements campaign included the assessment of outdoor and indoor air quality and the evaluation of biomass use for domestic heating. The outdoor measurements highlighted a significant increase of PM10 (from 30.1 to 73.1 µg/m(3)) and PM2.5 (from 19.4 to 62.7 µg/m(3)) concentrations during the transition from the warm to the cold period of the year 2012 compared to 2011. The increase in ambient air PM during the winter was attributed to the use of biomass burning for space heating. The latter was verified by the presence of levoglucosan in the PM (concentrations up to 8 µg/m(3)), especially for samples taken from the urban background site. Outdoor PM concentrations were also modeled using an artificial neural network model taking into account major meteorological parameters; the latter explained more than 90% of PM10 and PM2.5 day-to-day variability. Indoor concentrations followed a similar pattern, while in the case of fireplace use, average daily concentrations rise to 10 µg/m(3) and 14 µg/m(3) for PM2.5 and PM10 respectively. Indoor air concentrations were affected the most by the ambient air particle infiltration. Indoor air quality went down after 3h of open fire biomass combustion for space heating. Personal exposure was significantly determined by overall indoor air quality. Yet, dynamic exposure analysis revealed that peaks of intake do not correspond to peaks of ambient air PM concentrations altering thus total exposure patterns. Thus, cost-effective public health protection has to aim at reducing the exposure profile of susceptible population sub-groups combining awareness raising, emission reduction measures and financial incentives to influence the choice of space heating systems.

Composition and production rate of pharmaceutical and chemical waste from Xanthi General Hospital in Greece.

The objective of this work was to determine the composition and production rates of pharmaceutical and chemical waste produced by Xanthi General Hospital in Greece (XGH). This information is important to design and cost management systems for pharmaceutical and chemical waste, for safety and health considerations and for assessing environmental impact. A total of 233 kg pharmaceutical and 110 kg chemical waste was collected, manually separated and weighed over a period of five working weeks. The total production of pharmaceutical waste comprised 3.9% w/w of the total hazardous medical waste produced by the hospital. Total pharmaceutical waste was classified in three categories, vial waste comprising 51.1%, syringe waste with 11.4% and intravenous therapy (IV) waste with 37.5% w/w of the total. Vial pharmaceutical waste only was further classified in six major categories: antibiotics, digestive system drugs, analgesics, hormones, circulatory system drugs and "other". Production data below are presented as average (standard deviation in parenthesis). The unit production rates for total pharmaceutical waste for the hospital were 12.4 (3.90) g/patient/d and 24.6 (7.48) g/bed/d. The respective unit production rates were: (1) for vial waste 6.4 (1.6) g/patient/d and 13 (2.6) g/bed/d, (2) for syringe waste 1.4 (0.4) g/patient/d and 2.8 (0.8) g/bed/d and (3) for IV waste 4.6 (3.0) g/patient/d and 9.2 (5.9) g/bed/d. Total chemical waste was classified in four categories, chemical reagents comprising 18.2%, solvents with 52.3%, dyes and tracers with 18.2% and solid waste with 11.4% w/w of the total. The total production of chemical waste comprised 1.8% w/w of the total hazardous medical waste produced by the hospital. Thus, the sum of pharmaceutical and chemical waste was 5.7% w/w of the total hazardous medical waste produced by the hospital. The unit production rates for total chemical waste for the hospital were 5.8 (2.2) g/patient/d and 1.1 (0.4) g/exam/d. The respective unit production rates were: (1) for reagents 1.7 (2.4) g/patient/d and 0.3 (0.4) g/examination/d, (2) for solvents 248 (127) g/patient/d and 192 (101) g/examination/d, (3) for dyes and tracers 4.7 (1.4) g/patient/d and 2.5 (0.9) g/examination/d and (4) for solid waste 54 (28) g/patient/d and 42 (22) g/examination/d.