Science-informed Policy Making for Protecting People and the Environment from Radiation.

ABSTRACT: The process to arrive at the radiation protection practices of today to protect workers, patients, and the public, including sensitive populations, has been a long and deliberative one. This paper presents an overview of the US Environmental Protection Agency's (US EPA) responsibility in protecting human health and the environment from unnecessary exposure to radiation. The origins of this responsibility can be traced back to early efforts, a century ago, to protect workers from x rays and radium. The system of radiation protection we employ today is robust and informed by the latest scientific consensus. It has helped reduce or eliminate unnecessary exposures to workers, patients, and the public while enabling the safe and beneficial uses of radiation and radioactive material in diverse areas such as energy, medicine, research, and space exploration. Periodic reviews and analyses of research on health effects of radiation by scientific bodies such as the National Academy of Sciences, National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, and the International Commission on Radiological Protection continue to inform radiation protection practices while new scientific information is gathered. As a public health agency, US EPA is keenly interested in research findings that can better elucidate the effects of exposure to low doses and low dose rates of radiation as applicable to protection of diverse populations from various sources of exposure. Professional organizations such as the Health Physics Society can provide radiation protection practitioners with continuing education programs on the state of the science and describe the key underpinnings of the system of radiological protection. Such efforts will help equip and prepare radiation protection professionals to more effectively communicate radiation health information with their stakeholders.

Personal Strategies to Reduce the Cardiovascular Impacts of Environmental Exposures.

Ubiquitous environmental exposures increase cardiovascular disease risk via diverse mechanisms. This review examines personal strategies to minimize this risk. With regard to fine particulate air pollution exposure, evidence exists to recommend the use of portable air cleaners and avoidance of outdoor activity during periods of poor air quality. Other evidence may support physical activity, dietary modification, omega-3 fatty acid supplementation, and indoor and in-vehicle air conditioning as viable strategies to minimize adverse health effects. There is currently insufficient data to recommend specific personal approaches to reduce the adverse cardiovascular effects of noise pollution. Public health advisories for periods of extreme heat or cold should be observed, with limited evidence supporting a warm ambient home temperature and physical activity as strategies to limit the cardiovascular harms of temperature extremes. Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substance exposure can be reduced by avoiding contact with perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substance-containing materials; blood or plasma donation and cholestyramine may reduce total body stores of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances. However, the cardiovascular impact of these interventions has not been examined. Limited utilization of pesticides and safe handling during use should be encouraged. Finally, vasculotoxic metal exposure can be decreased by using portable air cleaners, home water filtration, and awareness of potential contaminants in ground spices. Chelation therapy reduces physiological stores of vasculotoxic metals and may be effective for the secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease.

Decrease in household secondhand smoking among Korean adolescents associated with smoke-free policies: grade-period-cohort and interrupted time series analyses.

OBJECTIVES: Smoke-free areas have expanded and related campaigns have been implemented since 1995 in Korea. As a result, household secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure has decreased over the past 15 years. We assessed the cohort effect, the effect of a 2008 campaign on household SHS exposure, and the impact of a complete smoking ban in public places along with increased penalties, as implemented in December 2011. METHODS: Nationally representative cross-sectional 15-wave survey data of Korean adolescents were used. The 810,516 participants were classified into 6 grade groups, 15 period groups, and 20 middle school admission cohorts. An age-period-cohort analysis, conducted with the intrinsic estimator method, was used to assess the cohort effect of household SHS exposure, and interrupted-time series analyses were conducted to evaluate the effects of the smoke-free policy and the campaign. RESULTS: For cohorts who entered middle school from 2002 to 2008, the risk of household SHS exposure decreased among both boys and girls. Immediately after implementation of the smoke-free policy, the prevalence of household SHS exposure by period decreased significantly for boys (coefficient, -8.96; p<0.05) and non-significantly for girls (coefficient, -6.99; p=0.07). After the campaign, there was a significant decrease in household SHS exposure by cohort among boys, both immediately and post-intervention (coefficient, -4.84; p=0.03; coefficient, -1.22; p=0.02, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: A school-admission-cohort effect was found on household SHS exposure among adolescents, which was associated with the smoke-free policy and the campaign. Anti-smoking interventions should be implemented consistently and simultaneously.

A scoping review of wildfire smoke risk communications: issues, gaps, and recommendations.

BACKGROUND: Wildfire smoke exposure has become a growing public health concern, as megafires and fires at the wildland urban interface increase in incidence and severity. Smoke contains many pollutants that negatively impact health and is linked to a number of health complications and chronic diseases. Communicating effectively with the public, especially at-risk populations, to reduce their exposure to this environmental pollutant has become a public health priority. Although wildfire smoke risk communication research has also increased in the past decade, best practice guidance is limited, and most health communications do not adhere to health literacy principles: readability, accessibility, and actionability. This scoping review identifies peer-reviewed studies about wildfire smoke risk communications to identify gaps in research and evaluation of communications and programs that seek to educate the public. METHODS: Four hundred fifty-one articles were identified from Web of Science and PubMed databases. After screening, 21 articles were included in the final sample for the abstraction process and qualitative thematic analysis. Ten articles were based in the US, with the other half in Australia, Canada, Italy, and other countries. Fifteen articles examined communication materials and messaging recommendations. Eight papers described communication delivery strategies. Eleven articles discussed behavior change. Six articles touched on risk communications for vulnerable populations; findings were limited and called for increasing awareness and prioritizing risk communications for at-risk populations. RESULTS: This scoping review found limited studies describing behavior change to reduce wildfire smoke exposure, characteristics of effective communication materials and messaging, and communication delivery strategies. Literature on risk communications, dissemination, and behavior change for vulnerable populations was even more limited. CONCLUSIONS: Recommendations include providing risk communications that are easy-to-understand and adapted to specific needs of at-risk groups. Communications should provide a limited number of messages that include specific actions for avoiding smoke exposure. Effective communications should use mixed media formats and a wide variety of dissemination strategies. There is a pressing need for more intervention research and effectiveness evaluation of risk communications about wildfire smoke exposure, and more development and dissemination of risk communications for both the general public and vulnerable populations.

Investigating the impact of London's ultra low emission zone on children's health: children's health in London and Luton (CHILL) protocol for a prospective parallel cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Air pollution harms health across the life course. Children are at particular risk of adverse effects during development, which may impact on health in later life. Interventions that improve air quality are urgently needed both to improve public health now, and prevent longer-term increased vulnerability to chronic disease. Low Emission Zones are a public health policy intervention aimed at reducing traffic-derived contributions to urban air pollution, but evidence that they deliver health benefits is lacking. We describe a natural experiment study (CHILL: Children's Health in London and Luton) to evaluate the impacts of the introduction of London's Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) on children's health. METHODS: CHILL is a prospective two-arm parallel longitudinal cohort study recruiting children at age 6-9 years from primary schools in Central London (the focus of the first phase of the ULEZ) and Luton (a comparator site), with the primary outcome being the impact of changes in annual air pollutant exposures (nitrogen oxides [NOx], nitrogen dioxide [NO2], particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5micrograms [PM2.5], and less than 10 micrograms [PM10]) across the two sites on lung function growth, measured as post-bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) over five years. Secondary outcomes include physical activity, cognitive development, mental health, quality of life, health inequalities, and a range of respiratory and health economic data. DISCUSSION: CHILL's prospective parallel cohort design will enable robust conclusions to be drawn on the effectiveness of the ULEZ at improving air quality and delivering improvements in children's respiratory health. With increasing proportions of the world's population now living in large urban areas exceeding World Health Organisation air pollution limit guidelines, our study findings will have important implications for the design and implementation of Low Emission and Clean Air Zones in the UK, and worldwide. CLINICALTRIALS: GOV: NCT04695093 (05/01/2021).

Military Environmental Exposures.

ABSTRACT: The passage of the PACT Act of 2022 expanded the services veterans receive through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), ensuring they now qualify for benefits if they've been exposed to certain toxins during their military service. This significant expansion of VA benefits also highlights the need for nurses and other health providers working outside the VA system-who care for millions of veterans-to be well-informed about their patients' military experiences and any potential environmental exposures and health impacts. In this article, the author raises awareness of military environmental exposures and offers guidance about exposure-informed care.

Air quality policy should quantify effects on disparities.

New tools can guide US policies to better target and reduce racial and socioeconomic disparities in air pollution exposure.

A modular systematic review of antenatal interventions targeting modifiable environmental exposures in improving low birth weight.

BACKGROUND: Low birth weight (LBW) increases the risk of short- and long-term morbidity and mortality from early life to adulthood. Despite research effort to improve birth outcomes the progress has been slow. OBJECTIVE: This systematic search and review of English language scientific literature on clinical trials aimed to compare the efficacy antenatal interventions to reduce environmental exposures including a reduction of toxins exposure, and improving sanitation, hygiene, and health-seeking behaviors, which target pregnant women to improve birth outcomes. METHODS: We performed eight systematic searches in MEDLINE (OvidSP), Embase (OvidSP), Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (Wiley Cochrane Library), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (Wiley Cochrane Library), CINAHL Complete (EbscoHOST) between 17 March 2020 and 26 May 2020. RESULTS: Four documents identified describe interventions to reduce indoor air pollution: two randomised controlled trials (RCTs), one systematic review and meta-analysis (SRMA) on preventative antihelminth treatment and one RCT on antenatal counselling against unnecessary caesarean section. Based on the published literature, interventions to reduce indoor air pollution (LBW: RR: 0.90 [0.56, 1.44], PTB: OR: 2.37 [1.11, 5.07]) or preventative antihelminth treatment (LBW: RR: 1.00 [0.79, 1.27], PTB: RR: 0.88 [0.43, 1.78]) are not likely to reduce the risk of LBW or Preterm birth (PTB). Data is insufficient on antenatal counselling against caesarian-sections. For other interventions, there is lack of published research data from RCTs. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that there is a paucity of evidence from RCT on interventions that modify environmental risk factors during pregnancy to potentially improve birth outcomes. Magic bullets approach might not work and that it would be important to study the effect of the broader interventions, particularly in LMIC settings. Global interdisciplinary action to reduce harmful environmental exposures, is likely to help to reach global targets for LBW reduction and sustainably improve long-term population health.

NextGEM: Next-Generation Integrated Sensing and Analytical System for Monitoring and Assessing Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Field Exposure and Health.

The evolution of emerging technologies that use Radio Frequency Electromagnetic Field (RF-EMF) has increased the interest of the scientific community and society regarding the possible adverse effects on human health and the environment. This article provides NextGEM's vision to assure safety for EU citizens when employing existing and future EMF-based telecommunication technologies. This is accomplished by generating relevant knowledge that ascertains appropriate prevention and control/actuation actions regarding RF-EMF exposure in residential, public, and occupational settings. Fulfilling this vision, NextGEM commits to the need for a healthy living and working environment under safe RF-EMF exposure conditions that can be trusted by people and be in line with the regulations and laws developed by public authorities. NextGEM provides a framework for generating health-relevant scientific knowledge and data on new scenarios of exposure to RF-EMF in multiple frequency bands and developing and validating tools for evidence-based risk assessment. Finally, NextGEM's Innovation and Knowledge Hub (NIKH) will offer a standardized way for European regulatory authorities and the scientific community to store and assess project outcomes and provide access to findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR) data.

Using Artificial Intelligence to Identify Sources and Pathways of Lead Exposure in Children.

CONTEXT: Sources and pathways of lead exposure in young children have not been analyzed using new artificial intelligence methods. OBJECTIVE: To collect environmental, behavioral, and other data on sources and pathways in 17 rural homes to predict at-risk households and to compare urban and rural indicators of exposure. DESIGN: Cross-sectional pilot study. SETTING: Knox County, Illinois, which has a high rate of childhood lead poisoning. PARTICIPANTS: Rural families. METHODS: Neural network and K-means statistical analysis. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Children's blood lead level. RESULTS: Lead paint on doors, lead dust, residential property assessed tax, and median interior paint lead level were the most important predictors of children's blood lead level. CONCLUSIONS: K-means analysis confirmed that settled house dust lead loadings, age of housing, concentration of lead in door paint, and geometric mean of interior lead paint samples were the most important predictors of lead in children's blood. However, assessed property tax also emerged as a new predictor. A sampling strategy that examines these variables can provide lead poisoning prevention professionals with an efficient and cost-effective means of identifying priority homes for lead remediation. The ability to preemptively target remediation efforts can help health, housing, and other agencies to remove lead hazards before children develop irreversible health effects and incur costs associated with lead in their blood.

Obesogens and Obesity: State-of-the-Science and Future Directions Summary from a Healthy Environment and Endocrine Disruptors Strategies Workshop.

On September 7 and 8, 2022, Healthy Environment and Endocrine Disruptors Strategies, an Environmental Health Sciences program, convened a scientific workshop of relevant stakeholders involved in obesity, toxicology, or obesogen research to review the state of the science regarding the role of obesogenic chemicals that might be contributing to the obesity pandemic. The workshop's objectives were to examine the evidence supporting the hypothesis that obesogens contribute to the etiology of human obesity; to discuss opportunities for improved understanding, acceptance, and dissemination of obesogens as contributors to the obesity pandemic; and to consider the need for future research and potential mitigation strategies. This report details the discussions, key areas of agreement, and future opportunities to prevent obesity. The attendees agreed that environmental obesogens are real, significant, and a contributor at some degree to weight gain at the individual level and to the global obesity and metabolic disease pandemic at a societal level; moreover, it is at least, in theory, remediable.

The policy implemented by the government and the protection effect of PM2.5 decreasing on blood pressure in adolescents: From a quasi-experimental study.

Background: High particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 µm or less (PM2.5) exposure levels posed a great risk to human health, but the protection effects of environmental protection on cardiovascular disease have not been systematically evaluated. This study aims to illustrate the effect of the decreased concentration of PM2.5 on blood pressure level in adolescents after enacting the protection measures of environment from a cohort study. Methods: A quasi-experimental study including 2415 children from the Chongqing Children's Health Cohort, aged 7.32 ± 0.60 years with normal blood pressure at baseline, with 53.94% males, were analysed. Both the generalised linear regression model (GLM) and Poisson regression model were used to calculate the impact of the declining exposure level of PM2.5 on blood pressure and the incidence of prehypertension and hypertension. Results: The annual mean PM2.5 concentration in 2014 and in 2019 were 65.01 ± 6.46 µgmes per cubic metre (µg / m3), 42.08 ± 2.04 µg / m3 respectively, and the decreased PM2.5 concentration between 2014 and 2019 was 22.92 ± 4.51 µg / m3. The effect of decreased PM2.5 concentration by 1µg / m3 on systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), mean arterial pressure (MAP) and the difference of blood pressure (BP) indexes between 2014 and 2019 were all significant (P < 0.001). The absolute differences of SBP (-3.598 mmHg; 95% confidence interval (CI) = -4.47,-2.72 mm Hg), DBP (-2.052 mmHg; 95% CI = -2.80,-1.31 mm Hg) and MAP (-2.568 mmHg; 95% CI = -3.27,-1.87 mm Hg) in the group with a decreased level of ≥25.56 µg / m3 were more significant than those in a decreased concentration of PM2.5 for <25.56 µg / m3 (P < 0.001). And the incidence of prehypertension and hypertension for three occasions blood pressure diagnose was 2.21% (95% CI = 1.37%-3.05%, P = 0.001) in children with PM2.5 decreased level ≤25.56 µg / m3 (50%), which was significant higher than its' counterparts 0.89% (95% CI = 0.37%-1.42%, P = 0.001). Conclusions: Our study found the etiological relationship between the declining PM2.5 concentration and the BP values and the incidence of prehypertension and hypertension in children and adolescents, suggesting continuous environmental protection measures in China have achieved remarkable health benefits.

Nonylphenol Exposure-Induced Oocyte Quality Deterioration Could be Reversed by Boric Acid Supplementation in Rats.

In this study, we reported boric acid's protective effects on the quality of nonylphenol (NP)-exposed oocytes. Female rats were classified into 4 groups: control, boric acid, NP, and NP+boric acid. Histopathological studies and immunohistochemical analysis of anti-müllerian hormone (AMH), mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR), Sirtuin1 (SIRT1), stem cell factor (SCF) studies were done. The comet assay technique was utilized for DNA damage. The ELISA method was used to determine the concentrations of oxidative stress indicators (SOD, CAT, and MDA), ovarian hormone (INH-B), and inflammation indicators (IL-6 and TNF-α). Boric acid significantly reduced the histopathological alterations and nearly preserved the ovarian reserve. With the restoration of AMH and SCF, boric acid significantly improved the ovarian injury. It downregulated SIRT1 and upregulated the mTOR signaling pathway. It provided DNA damage protection. Ovarian SOD, CAT levels were decreased by boric acid. Boric acid co-administration significantly reduced NP's MDA, IL-6, and TNF-activities. This results imply that boric acid has a protective role in ovarian tissue against NP-mediated infertility.

A natural experiment to assess how urban interventions in lower socioeconomic areas influence health behaviors: the UrbASanté study.

BACKGROUND: Mechanisms underlying the associations between changes in the urban environment and changes in health-related outcomes are complex and their study requires specific approaches. We describe the protocol of the interdisciplinary UrbASanté study, which aims to explore how urban interventions can modify environmental exposures (built, social, and food environments; air quality; noise), health-related behaviors, and self-reported health using a natural experiment approach. METHODS: The study is based on a natural experiment design using a before/after protocol with a control group to assess changes in environmental exposures, health-risk behaviors, and self-reported health outcomes of a resident adult population before and after the implementation of a time series of urban interventions in four contiguous neighborhoods in Paris (France). The changes in environmental exposures, health-related behaviors, and self-reported health outcomes of a resident adult population will be concurrently monitored in both intervention and control areas. We will develop a mixed-method framework combining substantial fieldwork with quantitative and qualitative analytical approaches. This study will make use of (i) data relating to exposures and health-related outcomes among all participants and in subsamples and (ii) interviews with residents regarding their perceptions of their neighborhoods and with key stakeholders regarding the urban change processing, and (iii) existing geodatabases and field observations to characterize the built, social, and food environments. The data collected will be analyzed with a focus on interrelationships between environmental exposures and health-related outcomes using appropriate approaches (e.g., interrupted time series, difference-in-differences method). DISCUSSION: Relying on a natural experiment approach, the research will provide new insights regarding issues such as close collaboration with urban/local stakeholders, recruitment and follow-up of participants, identification of control and intervention areas, timing of the planned urban interventions, and comparison of subjective and objective measurements. Through the collaborative work of a consortium ensuring complementarity between researchers from different disciplines and stakeholders, the UrbASanté study will provide evidence-based guidance for designing future urban planning and public health policies. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This research was registered at the ClinicalTrial.gov (NCT05743257).

From old pollutants to the regulation of bisphenol A: Lessons learned for health promotion and disease prevention.

Citizens deserve regulatory changes and policies more sensitive to the current needs of humans, the climate, and nature. In this work we draw on prior experiences of preventable human suffering and economic losses caused by delayed regulation of legacy and emerging pollutants. Heightened awareness of environmental health problems is necessary among health professionals, the media, and citizens' organizations. Improved translation from research to the clinical world and to policy is critical to reduce the population burden of diseases caused by exposure to endocrine disruptors and other environmental chemicals. Numerous lessons can be learned from science-to-policy processes built for "old pollutants" (as persistent organic pollutants, heavy metals, tributyltin), as well as from current trends regarding the regulation of non-persistent chemicals, such as the prototypical endocrine disruptor bisphenol A. We end discussing relevant pieces of the puzzle to tackle the environmental and regulatory challenges faced by our societies.

Addressing systemic problems with exposure assessments to protect the public's health.

BACKGROUND: Understanding, characterizing, and quantifying human exposures to environmental chemicals is critical to protect public health. Exposure assessments are key to determining risks to the general population and for specific subpopulations given that exposures differ between groups. Exposure data are also important for understanding where interventions, including public policies, should be targeted and the extent to which interventions have been successful. In this review, we aim to show how inadequacies in exposure assessments conducted by polluting industries or regulatory agencies have led to downplaying or disregarding exposure concerns raised by communities; that underestimates of exposure can lead regulatory agencies to conclude that unacceptable risks are, instead, acceptable, allowing pollutants to go unregulated; and that researchers, risk assessors, and policy makers need to better understand the issues that have affected exposure assessments and how appropriate use of exposure data can contribute to health-protective decisions. METHODS: We describe current approaches used by regulatory agencies to estimate human exposures to environmental chemicals, including approaches to address limitations in exposure data. We then illustrate how some exposure assessments have been used to reach flawed conclusions about environmental chemicals and make recommendations for improvements. RESULTS: Exposure data are important for communities, public health advocates, scientists, policy makers, and other groups to understand the extent of environmental exposures in diverse populations. We identify four areas where exposure assessments need to be improved due to systemic sources of error or uncertainty in exposure assessments and illustrate these areas with examples. These include: (1) an inability of regulatory agencies to keep pace with the increasing number of chemicals registered for use or assess their exposures, as well as complications added by use of 'confidential business information' which reduce available exposure data; (2) the failure to keep assessments up-to-date; (3) how inadequate assumptions about human behaviors and co-exposures contribute to underestimates of exposure; and (4) that insufficient models of toxicokinetics similarly affect exposure estimates. CONCLUSION: We identified key issues that impact capacity to conduct scientifically robust exposure assessments. These issues must be addressed with scientific or policy approaches to improve estimates of exposure and protect public health.

A science-based agenda for health-protective chemical assessments and decisions: overview and consensus statement.

The manufacture and production of industrial chemicals continues to increase, with hundreds of thousands of chemicals and chemical mixtures used worldwide, leading to widespread population exposures and resultant health impacts. Low-wealth communities and communities of color often bear disproportionate burdens of exposure and impact; all compounded by regulatory delays to the detriment of public health. Multiple authoritative bodies and scientific consensus groups have called for actions to prevent harmful exposures via improved policy approaches. We worked across multiple disciplines to develop consensus recommendations for health-protective, scientific approaches to reduce harmful chemical exposures, which can be applied to current US policies governing industrial chemicals and environmental pollutants. This consensus identifies five principles and scientific recommendations for improving how agencies like the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approach and conduct hazard and risk assessment and risk management analyses: (1) the financial burden of data generation for any given chemical on (or to be introduced to) the market should be on the chemical producers that benefit from their production and use; (2) lack of data does not equate to lack of hazard, exposure, or risk; (3) populations at greater risk, including those that are more susceptible or more highly exposed, must be better identified and protected to account for their real-world risks; (4) hazard and risk assessments should not assume existence of a "safe" or "no-risk" level of chemical exposure in the diverse general population; and (5) hazard and risk assessments must evaluate and account for financial conflicts of interest in the body of evidence. While many of these recommendations focus specifically on the EPA, they are general principles for environmental health that could be adopted by any agency or entity engaged in exposure, hazard, and risk assessment. We also detail recommendations for four priority areas in companion papers (exposure assessment methods, human variability assessment, methods for quantifying non-cancer health outcomes, and a framework for defining chemical classes). These recommendations constitute key steps for improved evidence-based environmental health decision-making and public health protection.