Analysis of the cancer occurrence related to natural radioactivity in the Rio Grande do Norte State, Brazil.

The state of Rio Grande do Norte, located in the Northeast region of Brazil, has areas of granites and pegmatites with minerals that have varying concentrations of uranium. Consequently, high concentrations of radon gas, a carcinogenic substance for humans, can occur. The present study aimed to assess the occurrence of cancer and its association with exposure to sources of natural radioactivity using geological and geophysical information in the aforementioned state. The spatial dependence of pulmonary, breast, stomach, leukemia, and skin cancer cases with the location of radioisotope sources were analyzed using geoprocessing tools. The geoprocessing analysis showed a differential pattern of uranium emission throughout the state, with the highest emission from areas with pegmatites outcrops. A spatial dependency of cancer cases was shown (Moran index: 0.43; p < 0.01). Moreover, a higher rate of natural radioactivity-cancer cases was associated with the high-intensity natural radioactivity areas: odds ratio:1.21 (95% CI 1.20; 1.23), following the same pattern when separately compared the different related types of cancer. These results highlight the importance of natural radioactivity as a public health problem in the Brazilian environmental scenario, confirming the need for further studies as the first toward understanding and implementing health management strategies mitigating the exposures, especially in areas of environmental risk.

Increase in use of psychiatric sick leave during COVID-19 pandemic by healthcare workers in a municipality in Argentina.

Introduction: The severe respiratory syndrome caused by the novel coronavirus has resulted in worldwide pressure on the healthcare workers attempting to treat millions of individuals ill with COVID-19, in addition to their regular duties. Objectives: To examine use of psychiatric leave by Argentinian healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, including exploring potential differences by sex. Methods: We analyzed psychiatric sick leave taken by municipal level healthcare workers in the Province of Buenos Aires, January - October 2020. We compared historical cases of psychiatric sick leave from 2015-2019 to leave requested in 2020. Results: Healthcare workers utilized 161.9% more psychiatric sick leave in 2020, with significantly more leave taken by women. Conclusions: Healthcare workers in the Argentinian municipality of Vicente Lopez took a significantly greater amount of psychiatric sick leave during the pandemic. The higher rates of psychiatric sick leave taken by women replicates other findings of higher rates of psychological symptoms in female healthcare workers.