Caroline Eva Wella Herr

Background: Toxic exposures have been shown to influence maturation of the immune system during gestation. This study investigates the association between cord blood lymphocyte proportions and maternal exposure to air pollution during each gestational month. Methods: Cord blood was analyzed using a FACSort flow cytometer to determine proportions of T lymphocytes (CD3⁺ cells and their subsets, CD4⁺ and CD8⁺), B lymphocytes (CD19⁺) and natural killer (NK) cells. Ambient air concentrations of 12 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and particulate matter < 2.5 micrometer in diameter (PM_2.5) were measured using fixed site monitors. Arithmetic means of these pollutants, calculated for each gestational month, were used as exposure metrics. Data on covariates were obtained from medical records and questionnaires. Multivariable linear regression models were fitted to estimate associations between monthly PAH or PM_2.5 and cord blood lymphocytes, adjusting for year of birth and district of residence and, in further models, gestational season and number of prior live births. Results: The adjusted models show significant associations between PAHs or PM_2.5 during early gestation and increases in CD3⁺ and CD4⁺ lymphocytes percentages and decreases in CD19⁺ and NK cell percentages in cord blood. In contrast, exposures during late gestation were associated with decreases in CD3⁺ and CD4⁺ fractions and increases in CD19⁺ and NK cell fractions. There was no significant association between alterations in lymphocyte distribution and air pollution exposure during the mid gestation. Conclusions: PAHs and PM_2.5 in ambient air may influence fetal immune development via shifts in cord blood lymphocytes distributions. Associations appear to differ by exposure in early versus late gestation.

Environmental factors are increasingly being viewed as (contributory) causes of a great variety of health problems, e.g., diseases of the nervous system, airways, or skin, allergies, malignancies, other functional disturbances, non-specific malaise,...

Background: This study aimed at relating self‐reported health complaints to bioaerosol pollution in the residential outdoor air and to duration of storing organic waste indoors.Methods: In a cross‐sectional study, double blinded to ongoing environmental microbial measurements, physicians collected questionnaires in a neighborhood with a composting site and in unexposed controls. Self‐reported prevalence of health complaints, physician diagnoses as well as residential odor annoyance and home hygiene were assessed.Results: An elevation of reports of irritative airway complaints was associated with residency in an area with highest bioaerosol exposure but not with odor annoyance. Longer indoor storage of organic waste was associated with skin related symptoms. Atopic subjects were at higher risk. Airway‐related health problems were not associated with longer storage of organic wastes in homes.Conclusions: Exposure to organic dust in residential air affects airways of residents while exposure in homes due to organic wastes affects the skin. Am. J. Ind. Med. 46:381–385, 2004.

The storing of organic waste indoors for several days can be considered a risk factor for microbial contamination of homes. This has become relevant in the scope of modern waste management programmes. This study specifically addresses possible health aspects in this context. In a cross-sectional study, doctors collected 384 questionnaires in three neighbourhoods without industrial sources for microbial contamination in 1997 in Hesse, Germany. Self-reported prevalence of airway, skin and general health complaints during the past year, lifetime diagnoses by a doctor, and home hygiene (storage of garbage, private composting, pet contact, indoor mould growth), were assessed. With logistic regression analysis, odds ratios (ORs) adjusted for age, gender, level of school education, and frequent contact with dog or cat were determined for indoor storage of waste for more than 2 days for the whole study group and also for a subgroup reporting atopic disposition. Longer indoor storage of organic waste was associated with “skin rash” (OR=2.05 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.09, 3.83]), “itching skin rash (>2 months) in the past 12 months” (OR=3.58 [95% CI 1.61, 7.96]) and “itching skin rash (>2 months) ever” (OR=2.77 [95% CI 1.33, 5.75]), as well as lifetime diagnoses of skin disease by a doctor (OR=3.16 [95% CI 1.40, 7.10]) and allergy other than hay fever (OR=2.74 [95% CI 1.28, 5.85]). Associations remained when adjustment was made for atopic disposition. Atopic subjects were at higher risk for these skin-related complaints and diseases. These results point to a possible health relevance of the storing of organic waste in the home for several days, especially as far as skin irritation is concerned. These associations possibly result from indoor microbial contamination, e.g., endotoxins due to waste. Atopic disposition is a possible risk factor for this health impairment. Personal waste management should also be considered in studies on health and indoor environments.

Background:Bioaerosol pollution of workplace and home environments mainly affects airways and mucous membranes. The effect of environmental outdoor residential bioaerosol pollution, for example, livestock holdings, farming, and waste disposal plants, is unclear.Aims:To investigate the perceived health of residents living in areas with measurable outdoor bioaerosol pollution (for example, spores ofAspergillus fumigatusand actinomycetes), and effects of accompanying odours.Methods:In a cross sectional study, double blinded to ongoing microbial measurements, doctors collected 356 questionnaires from residents near a large scale composting site, and from unexposed controls in 1997. Self reported prevalence of health complaints during the past year, doctors’ diagnoses, as well as residential odour annoyance were assessed. Microbiological pollution was measured simultaneously in residential outdoor air.Results:Concentrations of >10⁵colony forming units of thermophilic actinomycetes, moulds, and total bacteria/m³air were measured 200 m from the site, dropping to near background concentrations within 300 m. Positive adjusted associations were observed for residency within 150–200 m from the site versus unexposed controls for self reported health complaints: “waking up due to coughing”, odds ratio (OR) 6.59 (95% confidence interval (CI) 2.57 to 17.73); “coughing on rising or during the day”, OR 3.18 (95% CI 1.24 to 8.36); “bronchitis”, OR 3.59 (95% CI 1.40 to 9.4); and “excessive tiredness”, OR 4.27 (95% CI 1.56 to 12.15). Reports of irritative airway complaints were associated with residency in the highest bioaerosol exposure, 150–200 m (versus residency >400–500 m) from the site, and period of residency more than five years, but not residential odour annoyance. Lifetime prevalence of self reported diseases did not differ with exposure.Conclusions:Bioaerosol pollution of residential outdoor air can occur in concentrations found in occupational environments. For the first time residents exposed to bioaerosol pollution were shown to report irritative respiratory complaints similar to mucous membrane irritation independently of perceived odours.

Different influences on internal exposure to platinum are investigated and for the first time weighted in environmentally exposed subjects as far as individual internal platinum concentrations are concerned. Detailed medical and environmental histories as well as oral cavity status were assessed in 84 dermatological patients, and internal platinum exposure was determined by analyzing platinum in urine using adsorptive voltammetry (AV). Platinum concentrations ranged from PP=0.0017) to independently influence internal platinum exposure. Even though spread of environmental platinum has increased, internal platinum exposure is low in subjects without assessable medical or dental devices (usually <4.5 ng/l urine) and not related to adverse health effects. For the first time, detailed individual information on possible exposure pathways to platinum were considered in an analysis of relevant influential factors: Car traffic exposure and dermatological condition showed no association with internal platinum exposure. Uptake from platinum containing noble metal dental alloy restorations (NMDAR) is of greatest relevance, surmounting the influence of each year of lifetime on platinum body load by more than 10-fold.