Association between leukocyte telomere shortening and exposure to traffic pollution: a cross-sectional study on traffic officers and indoor office workers

BACKGROUND: Telomere shortening in blood leukocytes has been associated with increased morbidity and death from cardiovascular disease and cancer, but determinants of shortened telomeres, a molecular feature of biological aging, are still largely unidentified. Traffic pollution has been linked with both cardiovascular and cancer risks, particularly in older subjects. Whether exposure to traffic pollution is associated with telomere shortening has never been evaluated. METHODS: We measured leukocyte telomere length (LTL) by real-time PCR in blood DNA from 77 traffic officers exposed to high levels of traffic pollutants and 57 office workers (referents). Airborne benzene and toluene, as tracers for traffic exposure, were measured using personal passive samplers and gas-chromatography/flame-ionization detector analysis. We used covariate-adjusted multivariable models to test the effects of the exposure on LTL and obtain adjusted LTL means and 95\% Confidence Intervals (CIs). RESULTS: Adjusted mean LTL was 1.10 (95\%CI 1.04-1.16) in traffic officers and 1.27 in referents (95\%CI 1.20-1.35) [p < 0.001]. LTL decreased in association with age in both traffic officers (p = 0.01) and referents (p = 0.001), but traffic officers had shorter LTL within each age category. Among traffic officers, adjusted mean relative LTL was shorter in individuals working in high (n = 45, LTL = 1.02, 95\%CI 0.96-1.09) compared to low traffic intensity (n = 32, LTL = 1.22, 95\%CI 1.13-1.31) [p < 0.001]. In the entire study population, LTL decreased with increasing levels of personal exposure to benzene (p = 0.004) and toluene (p = 0.008). CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that leukocyte telomere length is shortened in subjects exposed to traffic pollution, suggesting evidence of early biological aging and disease risk

Outdoor particulate matter (PM10) exposure and lung cancer risk in the EAGLE study

Objective Cohort studies in Europe, but not in North-America, showed an association between exposure to outdoor particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤10 μm (PM10) and lung cancer risk. Only a case-control study on lung cancer and PM10 in South Korea has so far been performed. For the first time in Europe we analyzed quantitatively this association using a case-control study design in highly polluted areas in Italy. Methods The Environment And Genetics in Lung cancer Etiology (EAGLE) study, a population-based case-control study performed in the period 2002-2005 in the Lombardy Region, north-west Italy, enrolled 2099 cases and 2120 controls frequency-matched for area of residence, gender, and age. For this study we selected subjects with complete active and passive smoking history living in the same municipality since 1980 until study enrollment. Fine resolution annual PM10 estimates obtained by applying land use regression modeling to satellite data calibrated with fixed site monitor measurements were used. We assigned each subject the PM10 average estimates for year 2000 based on enrollment address. We used logistic regression models to calculate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) adjusted for matching variables, education, smoking, and dietary and occupational variables. Results We included 3473 subjects, 1665 cases (1318 men, 347 women) and 1808 controls (1368 men, 440 women), with PM10 individual levels ranging from 2.3 to 53.8 μg/m3 (mean: 46.3). We found increasing lung cancer risk with increasing PM10 category (P-value for trend: 0.04). The OR per 10 μg/m3 was 1.28 (95% CI: 0.95-1.72). The association appeared stronger for squamous cell carcinoma (OR 1.44, 95% CI: 0.90-2.29). Conclusion In a population living in highly polluted areas in Italy, our study added suggestive evidence of a positive association between PM10 exposure and lung cancer risk. This study emphasizes the need to strengthen policies to reduce airborne pollution

Cancer incidence in the population exposed to dioxin after the "Seveso accident": twenty years of follow-up

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Seveso, Italy accident in 1976 caused the contamination of a large population by 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). Possible long-term effects have been examined through mortality and cancer incidence studies. We have updated the cancer incidence study which now covers the period 1977-96.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study population includes subjects resident at the time of the accident in three contaminated zones with decreasing TCDD soil levels (zone A, very high; zone B, high; zone R, low) and in a surrounding non-contaminated reference territory. Gender-, age-, and period-adjusted rate ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated by using Poisson regression for subjects aged 0-74 years.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>All cancer incidence did not differ from expectations in any of the contaminated zones. An excess of lymphatic and hematopoietic tissue neoplasms was observed in zones A (four cases; RR, 1.39; 95% CI, 0.52-3.71) and B (29 cases; RR, 1.56; 95% CI, 1.07-2.27) consistent with the findings of the concurrent mortality study. An increased risk of breast cancer was detected in zone A females after 15 years since the accident (five cases, RR, 2.57; 95% CI, 1.07-6.20). No cases of soft tissue sarcomas occurred in the most exposed zones (A and B, 1.17 expected). No cancer cases were observed among subjects diagnosed with chloracne early after the accident.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The extension of the Seveso cancer incidence study confirmed an excess risk of lymphatic and hematopoietic tissue neoplasms in the most exposed zones. No clear pattern by time since the accident and zones was evident partly because of the low number of cases. The elevated risk of breast cancer in zone A females after 15 years since the accident deserves further and thorough investigation. The follow-up is continuing in order to cover the long time period (even decades) usually elapsing from exposure to carcinogenic chemicals and disease occurrence.</p

On the Automatic Guidance System with Crab-Steering

Among the steering modes of farm tractor, the crab-steering has hardly been taken up in production and also in research. That mode of steering may be unapplicable to manual operating that has made familiar with normal mode of steering for long time, but because the vehicle with that mode can always hold its body in a certine direction, that type has a profitable property for the automatic guidance in field operation, and positional relation of sensor and implement is one-dimensional problem and attaching point of sensor to body is unrestricted. This type vehicle can not turn, but travelling of field operation necessitates no turning in many kinds of operations except at head land. At head land, it may be solved to change steering mode. The authors aspect to the property of crab-steering and aimed to develop the automatic guidance system with this steering mode. In this paper, the stability of relay-control system of automatic guidance was considered with describing-function method, and the results of tracking tests with trial vehicle were discussed and considered by means of time varying Fourier coefficients of tracking pass

Geographical patterns of mesothelioma incidence and asbestos exposure in Lombardy, Italy.

BACKGROUND: Measuring malignant mesothelioma (MM) occurrence is a useful means to monitor the impact of past asbestos exposure and possibly identify new sources of asbestos exposure. OBJECTIVES: Aim of this study is to describe the results of the MM registry of the Lombardy Region, North-West Italy, the most populated (currently, 10 million inhabitants) and industrialised Italian region. METHODS: We extracted from the Lombardy Region Mesothelioma Registry (Registro Mesoteliomi Lombardia, RML) database all incident cases of MM (pleura, peritoneum, pericardium, and tunica vaginalis testis) with first diagnosis in 2000 through 2012. For each Province, we calculated crude and standardised incidence rates using Italy 2001, European, and world (Segi's) standard populations. To examine spatial patterns of MM occurrence across municipalities we drew maps of crude rates smoothed according to the Besag, York and Mollié (BYM) method. RESULTS: We recorded 4442 MM cases (2850 in men and 1592 in women), representing about one fourth of MM cases occurring in Italy. Occupational exposure was more frequent in men (73.6%) than in women (38.2%). The crude regional rates were 4.7 per 100,000 person-years in men and 2.5 per 100,000 person-years in women. The highest rates were observed in the Pavia Province (crude rates: 8.7 per 100,000 in men and 5.3 and per 100,000 person-years in women). CONCLUSIONS: This study documented high MM occurrence in both genders, attributable to extensive asbestos exposure in the past