Search

Supplemental Material for Keywords are missing: Insights from the publication keywords, abstracts and titles of an environment and human health research group by DW Derbyshire, O Barnett-Naghshineh, B Roberts, L Fleming, R Ghemmour, MM Reza and M Roger

This publication was commissioned by the Blue Climate Initiative (BCI), which accelerates ocean-related strategies, collaborating across a multidisciplinary global community towards a restored and healthy climate; an understood and protected ocean; and resilient, thriving, and equitable communities. In 2020, the BCI initiated a holistic process to identify transformational opportunities at the intersection of people, ocean, and planet, engaging over sixty world-class scientists and academics. These contributors compiled recommendations across six thematic areas: Health & Well-Being, Food & Nutrition, Marine Energy & Transportation, Mineral & Genetic Resources, Biodiversity & Nature-Based Solutions, and Sustainable Tourism. This publication is part of that series., A compendium synthesizing messages across the six Transformational Opportunities papers is available: Fries, L., Everett, J., and Davies, N. (eds.) 2021. Transformational Opportunities for People, Ocean, and Planet. French Polynesia: Blue Climate Initiative, Tetiaroa Society. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4540323.

El coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 y la enfermedad COVID-19 son una experiencia dolorosa, pero también nos proporciona excelentes lecciones de ciencia. Entre ellas destacaríamos tres: La salud del planeta es también nuestra salud [...]

La pandemia del COVID-19 evidencia la necesidad improrrogable de conservar el medio ambiente para poder preservar la salud de la humanidad. En este sentido, el estudio y la gestión más natural y sostenible de los ecosistemas marinos es una pieza clave para garantizar que las generaciones presentes y futuras puedan continuar disfrutando de los beneficios para la salud y el bienestar que siempre nos han brindado los mares y océanos desde la cuna de la humanidad

The 18th International Conference on Harmful Algae (ICHA), From ecosystems to socio-ecosystems, 21-26 October 2018, Nantes, France.-- 1 page, Human respiratory irritation associated with HABs was first documented by Taylor (1917) during his observations of Karenia brevis (formerly Gymnodinium breve) blooms in the west coast of Florida, also causing massive fish mortalities. Later, Woodcock (1948) provided the first evidences of the link between respiratory symptoms and aerosolized compounds produced by the dinoflagellate. In the last 30 years, concerted well-funded interdisciplinary and multi-agency research has been intensively conducted to understand K. brevis blooms (also know as Florida red tides) dynamics, and the exposure and health effects of aerosolized toxins (brevetoxins). Advances include early warning systems monitoring the presence of Karenia brevis and its bloom dynamics (combining in situ sampling, autonomous vehicles, remote sensing), a detailed knowledge on the involved toxins (mainly brevetoxins PbTx-2 and PbTx-3 in both water and aerosols) and their mode of action, the relevance of meteorology factors in the transport of aerosolized toxins, and a better understanding of the human exposures and health effects. At the same time, substantial work has gone into prevention of this exposure and health effects including community and expert education, beach warnings and involving Poison Control Centers. In the last 20 years, a new environmental and human health threat seems to be emerging in temperate latitudes, and specially in Mediterranean coasts. Blooms of the marine benthic dinoflagellate genus Ostreopsis are linked to cutaneous and/or respiratory problems on beach goers and people that work or inhabit in areas where this species thrives, and were in contact with benthic or planktonic toxic cells and/or exposed for certain hours to aerosols. Although the impacts are mild by now, alarm has been raised because this species produces palytoxins (PLTX) and analogues, being PLTX potent biotoxins associated to fatal seafood borne intoxications in the tropics. Whether those toxins are at the origin of cutaneous and respiratory health problems is still unknown. Before Ostreopsis could constitute a bigger problem, multidisciplinary investigation has been and it is conducted nowadays by different research teams and a communication network has been implemented with environmental and public health authorities in the affected countries. In this presentation we will compare the available information about the harmful benthic (Ostreopsis spp.) and planktonic (Karenia brevis) blooms, with the aim of identifying gaps in knowledge and further steps to progress and design appropriate human health prevention plans. Analogous comparison will also be done concerning freshwater toxic cyanobacteria blooms causing cutaneous and respiratory irritative symptoms

17th International Conference on Harmful Algae (ICHA), 9-14 October 2016, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil.-- 1 page, Lang and Rayner's concept of "Ecological Public Health" attempts to integrate the material, biological, social, and cultural aspects of public health. Furthermore, this perspective has broadened in scope from the local, regional and national to encompass a more planetary view of the interactions between the health of the environment and humans. These concepts and challenges can be illustrated in the complex interactions between Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs), climate change, and human health. HABs have existed for millennia, impacting on human health usually through exposure to the HAB biotoxins bio-accumulated and transmitted through the food chain. More recently, with increasing direct and indirect anthropogenic pressures and drivers, HAB occurrence could expand temporally and geographically. The future trends of HABs are unclear in a world of climate and other environmental change, yet the potential risk of exposure and health impacts for humans and other organisms makes this an urgent area for research. In particular, given the historically narrow focus of public health with regards to both HABs and climate change, a new approach is needed. Taking an ecological public health approach would mean greater integration and collaboration not only between different scientific disciplines, but also between the different groups and entities involved in all aspects of HABs. Recent examples of these kinds of efforts can be seen with collaborations around Ciguatera, Florida red tide, the One Health Harmful Algal Bloom System (OHHABS), Ostreopsis, and the recently launched GlobalHAB Programme. Ecological public health provides both an opportunity and a challenge for seeking a more truly interdisciplinary collaboration and a wider vision of the interconnections between HABs, climate change, human behavior, and the future health of both humans and the planet

BackgroundRecently, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) Programme for the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans has been criticized for several of its evaluations, and also for the approach used to perform these evaluations. Some critics have claimed that failures of IARC Working Groups to recognize study weaknesses and biases of Working Group members have led to inappropriate classification of a number of agents as carcinogenic to humans.ObjectivesThe authors of this Commentary are scientists from various disciplines relevant to the identification and hazard evaluation of human carcinogens. We examined criticisms of the IARC classification process to determine the validity of these concerns. Here, we present the results of that examination, review the history of IARC evaluations, and describe how the IARC evaluations are performed.DiscussionWe concluded that these recent criticisms are unconvincing. The procedures employed by IARC to assemble Working Groups of scientists from the various disciplines and the techniques followed to review the literature and perform hazard assessment of various agents provide a balanced evaluation and an appropriate indication of the weight of the evidence. Some disagreement by individual scientists to some evaluations is not evidence of process failure. The review process has been modified over time and will undoubtedly be altered in the future to improve the process. Any process can in theory be improved, and we would support continued review and improvement of the IARC processes. This does not mean, however, that the current procedures are flawed.ConclusionsThe IARC Monographs have made, and continue to make, major contributions to the scientific underpinning for societal actions to improve the public's health.

Background: This study compares differences in quality-adjusted life expectancy across the eight original National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) industry sectors. Methods: Data from the 1997 to 2012 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) were used to estimate quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) for all workers and by NORA sector. Differences in QALYs were calculated and translated into economic values using estimates of the societal willingness-to-pay per QALY. Results: Mean QALYs across workers was 29.17 years. Among NORA sectors, wholesale, and retail trade workers had the highest average QALYs remaining (35.88), while mining workers had the lowest QALYs (31.4). The economic value of this difference ranges from $604,843 to $1,155,287 per worker depending on the societal willingness-to-pay per QALY. Conclusion: The value of life lost within some industries is very high relative to others. Additional investments in occupational safety, benefits, and health promotion initiatives may reduce these losses, but experimental research is needed to assess the effectiveness of such programs.

The association between education or income and mortality has been explored in great detail. These measures capture both the effects of material disadvantage on health and the psychosocial impacts of a low socioeconomic position on health. When explored independently of educational attainment and income, occupational prestige – a purely perceptual measure – serves as a measure of the impact of a psychosocial phenomenon on health. For instance, a fire-fighter, academician or schoolteacher may carry the social benefits of a higher social status without actually having the income (in all cases) or the educational credentials (in the case of the fire-fighter) to match. We explored the independent influence of occupational prestige on mortality. We applied Cox proportional hazards models to a nationally representative sample of over 380,000 US workers who had worked at any time between 1986 and 1994 with mortality follow up through 2002. We found that occupational prestige is associated with a decrease in the risk of all-cause, cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory-related mortality after controlling for household income and educational attainment. We further investigated the question of whether the effects of prestige are moderated by sex and broader occupational groupings. Prestige effects operate in white-collar occupations for men only and within service occupations for all workers.

Background Violence toward children (childhood victimization) is a major public health problem, with long-term consequences on economic well-being. The purpose of this study was to determine whether childhood victimization affects occupational prestige and income in young adulthood. We hypothesized that young adults who experienced more childhood victimizations would have less prestigious jobs and lower incomes relative to those with no victimization history. We also explored the pathways in which childhood victimization mediates the relationships between background variables, such as parent’s educational impact on the socioeconomic transition into adulthood. Methods A nationally representative sample of 8,901 young adults aged 18–28 surveyed between 1999–2009 from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY) were analyzed. Covariate-adjusted multivariate linear regression and path models were used to estimate the effects of victimization and covariates on income and prestige levels and on income and prestige trajectories. After each participant turned 18, their annual 2002 Census job code was assigned a yearly prestige score based on the 1989 General Social Survey, and their annual income was calculated via self-reports. Occupational prestige and annual income are time-varying variables measured from 1999–2009. Victimization effects were tested for moderation by sex, race, and ethnicity in the multivariate models. Results Approximately half of our sample reported at least one instance of childhood victimization before the age of 18. Major findings include 1) childhood victimization resulted in slower income and prestige growth over time, and 2) mediation analyses suggested that this slower prestige and earnings arose because victims did not get the same amount of education as non-victims. Conclusions Results indicated that the consequences of victimization negatively affected economic success throughout young adulthood, primarily by slowing the growth in prosperity due to lower education levels.

Introduction Many US workers are increasingly delaying retirement from work, which may be leading to an increase in chronic disease at the workplace. We examined the association of older adults’ health status with their employment/occupation and other characteristics. Methods National Health Interview Survey data from 1997 through 2011 were pooled for adults aged 65 or older (n = 83,338; mean age, 74.6 y). Multivariable logistic regression modeling was used to estimate the association of socioeconomic factors and health behaviors with 4 health status measures: 1) self-rated health (fair/poor vs good/very good/excellent); 2) multimorbidity (≤1 vs ≥2 chronic conditions); 3) multiple functional limitations (≤1 vs ≥2); and 4) Health and Activities Limitation Index (HALex) (below vs above 20th percentile). Analyses were stratified by sex and age (young–old vs old–old) where interactions with occupation were significant. Results Employed older adults had better health outcomes than unemployed older adults. Physically demanding occupations had the lowest risk of poor health outcomes, suggesting a stronger healthy worker effect: service workers were at lowest risk of multiple functional limitations (odds ratio [OR], 0.82; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.71–0.95); and blue-collar workers were at lowest risk of multimorbidity (OR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.74–0.97) and multiple functional limitation (OR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.72–0.98). Hispanics were more likely than non-Hispanic whites to report fair/poor health (OR, 1.62; 95% CI, 1.52–1.73) and lowest HALex quintile (OR, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.13–1.30); however, they were less likely to report multimorbidity (OR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.73–0.83) or multiple functional limitations (OR, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.77–0.88). Conclusion A strong association exists between employment and health status in older adults beyond what can be explained by socioeconomic factors (eg, education, income) or health behaviors (eg, smoking). Disability accommodations in the workplace could encourage employment among older adults with limitations.

Background Increasing numbers of US workers are diabetic. We assessed the relationship between glycemic control and work hours and type of occupation among employed US adults with type 2 diabetes. Methods Data were obtained from the 1999–2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). A representative sample of employed US adults ≥20 years with self-reported type 2 diabetes (n = 369) was used. Two dichotomous glycemic control indicators, based on various HbA1c level cut-points, were used as dependent variables in weighted logistic regression analyses with adjustment for confounders. Results Adults working over 40 hr/week were more likely to have suboptimal glycemic control (HbA1c ≥ 7%) compared to those working 20 hr or less (odds ratio = 5.09; 95% confidence interval: [1.38–18.76]). Conclusions Work-related factors, such as number of hours worked, may affect the ability of adults with type 2 diabetes to reach and maintain glycemic control goals. These factors should be considered in the development of workplace policies and accommodations for the increasing number of workers with type 2 diabetes. Am. J. Ind. Med. 54:375–383, 2011. © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Objective To assess the relationships between strict HbA1c levels and mortality risk among adults with type 2 diabetes by age, insulin therapy, and hypertension comorbidity. Methods Data of adult participants with type 2 diabetes from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1988–1994) and its linked mortality file (with follow-up death up to 2000) were used. Results Having strict glycemic control (i.e., HbA1c ≤6.5%) was associated with a lower risk of mortality (hazards ratio=0.69; 95% confidence interval=0.48–0.98). However, among those with strict glycemic control levels, statistically significant results were not found. Conclusion Reaching strict glycemic control levels in the general US population with type 2 diabetes appears to be associated with lower mortality. Further research is needed as to how strict glycemic control affects certain diabetic groups.