Government laboratory worker with lung cancer: comparing risks from beryllium, asbestos, and tobacco smoke.

Occupational medicine physicians are frequently asked to establish cancer causation in patients with both workplace and non-workplace exposures. This is especially difficult in cases involving beryllium for which the data on human carcinogenicity are limited and controversial. In this report we present the case of a 73-year-old former technician at a government research facility who was recently diagnosed with lung cancer. The patient is a former smoker who has worked with both beryllium and asbestos. He was referred to the University of California, San Francisco, Occupational and Environmental Medicine Clinic at San Francisco General Hospital for an evaluation of whether past workplace exposures may have contributed to his current disease. The goal of this paper is to provide an example of the use of data-based risk estimates to determine causation in patients with multiple exposures. To do this, we review the current knowledge of lung cancer risks in former smokers and asbestos workers, and evaluate the controversies surrounding the epidemiologic data linking beryllium and cancer. Based on this information, we estimated that the patient's risk of lung cancer from asbestos was less than his risk from tobacco smoke, whereas his risk from beryllium was approximately equal to his risk from smoking. Based on these estimates, the patient's workplace was considered a probable contributing factor to his development of lung cancer

Mortality in young adults following in utero and childhood exposure to arsenic in drinking water.

BackgroundBeginning in 1958, the city of Antofagasta in northern Chile was exposed to high arsenic concentrations (870 µg/L) when it switched water sources. The exposure abruptly stopped in 1970 when an arsenic-removal plant commenced operations. A unique exposure scenario like this--with an abrupt start, clear end, and large population (125,000 in 1970), all with essentially the same exposure--is rare in environmental epidemiology. Evidence of increased mortality from lung cancer, bronchiectasis, myocardial infarction, and kidney cancer has been reported among young adults who were in utero or children during the high-exposure period.ObjectiveWe investigated other causes of mortality in Antofagasta among 30- to 49-year-old adults who were in utero or ≤ 18 years of age during the high-exposure period.MethodsWe compared mortality data between Antofagasta and the rest of Chile for people 30-49 years of age during 1989-2000. We estimated expected deaths from mortality rates in all of Chile, excluding Region II where Antofagasta is located, and calculated standardized mortality ratios (SMRs).ResultsWe found evidence of increased mortality from bladder cancer [SMR = 18.1; 95% confidence interval (CI): 11.3, 27.4], laryngeal cancer (SMR = 8.1; 95% CI: 3.5, 16.0), liver cancer (SMR = 2.5; 95% CI: 1.6, 3.7), and chronic renal disease (SMR = 2.0; 95% CI: 1.5, 2.8).ConclusionsTaking together our findings in the present study and previous evidence of increased mortality from other causes of death, we conclude that arsenic in Antofagasta drinking water has resulted in the greatest increases in mortality in adults < 50 years of age ever associated with early-life environmental exposure

Case-control study of arsenic in drinking water and lung cancer in California and Nevada.

Millions of people are exposed to arsenic in drinking water, which at high concentrations is known to cause lung cancer in humans. At lower concentrations, the risks are unknown. We enrolled 196 lung cancer cases and 359 controls matched on age and gender from western Nevada and Kings County, California in 2002-2005. After adjusting for age, sex, education, smoking and occupational exposures, odds ratios for arsenic concentrations ≥85 µg/L (median = 110 µg/L, mean = 173 µg/L, maximum = 1,460 µg/L) more than 40 years before enrollment were 1.39 (95% CI = 0.55-3.53) in all subjects and 1.61 (95% CI = 0.59-4.38) in smokers. Although odds ratios were greater than 1.0, these increases may have been due to chance given the small number of subjects exposed more than 40 years before enrollment. This study, designed before research in Chile suggested arsenic-related cancer latencies of 40 years or more, illustrates the enormous sample sizes needed to identify arsenic-related health effects in low-exposure countries with mobile populations like the U.S. Nonetheless, our findings suggest that concentrations near 100 µg/L are not associated with markedly high relative risks

A State-of-the-Science Review of Arsenic's Effects on Glucose Homeostasis in Experimental Models.

BackgroundThe prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) has more than doubled since 1980. Poor nutrition, sedentary lifestyle, and obesity are among the primary risk factors. While an estimated 70% of cases are attributed to excess adiposity, there is an increased interest in understanding the contribution of environmental agents to diabetes causation and severity. Arsenic is one of these environmental chemicals, with multiple epidemiology studies supporting its association with T2D. Despite extensive research, the molecular mechanism by which arsenic exerts its diabetogenic effects remains unclear.ObjectivesWe conducted a literature search focused on arsenite exposure in vivo and in vitro, using relevant end points to elucidate potential mechanisms of oral arsenic exposure and diabetes development.MethodsWe explored experimental results for potential mechanisms and elucidated the distinct effects that occur at high vs. low exposure. We also performed network analyses relying on publicly available data, which supported our key findings.ResultsWhile several mechanisms may be involved, our findings support that arsenite has effects on whole-body glucose homeostasis, insulin-stimulated glucose uptake, glucose-stimulated insulin secretion, hepatic glucose metabolism, and both adipose and pancreatic β-cell dysfunction.DiscussionThis review applies state-of-the-science approaches to identify the current knowledge gaps in our understanding of arsenite on diabetes development. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP4517

Geology and Exploration Geochemistry of the Glacial Deposits of Northeastern Itasca County, Minnesota

A Thesis submitted to the faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Minnesota by Karen Steinmaus in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, September 1983. Figure 7 referenced in the thesis is also attached to this record.Late Wisconsinan glaciation produced two lobes of the Laurentide ice sheet in northeastern Minnesota: the Rainy Lobe and St. Louis Sublobe of the Des Moines Lobe. In Itasca County, deposits of the St. Louis Sublobe of the Des Moines Lobe have come in contact with, and have overridden deposits of the Rainy Lobe. The Rainy Lobe ice advanced from the northeast across the Precambrian Shield, depositing a brown sandy non-calcareous till. Deposits of the Rainy Lobe in the area are referred to as Nashwauk Drift. As the ice moved in a southwesterly direction over the crest of the Giants Range, it incorporated a large percentage of granite cobbles and boulders into its drift. Other rock fragments include metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks of local origin, with minor basalt, gabbro and granophyre. The St. Louis Sublobe entered Minnesota from the northwest, overriding the deposits of the Rainy Lobe. St.Louis Sublobe drift, referred to as Caribou Drift, consists of a thick supraglacial accumulation of calcareous sand and gravel. The till facies is a silty, calcareous flow till containing abundant granitic and metamorphic clasts, with Paleozoic carbonate and Cretaceous shale. Groundwater, lake water and lake sediment were sampled and analyzed for Co, Cu, Ni, Zn, Fe, Mn, Ca, Mg, K, and Na, to chemically characterize the surf icial deposits. Specific conductivity, pH, and depth were also measured at each site. Multivariate statistical procedures were used to differentiate the samples, then characterize each group. Cluster analysis successfully separated the samples into two groups, which correspond to the two drift types. The dominant influence on the chemistry of the samples is the drift lithology, not climate, bedrock lithology or vegetation. Results of discriminant analysis and t-tests show that pH, Ca, Mg, Na, Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn, are the variables that best distinguish the drift types. Ca, Mg, Mn, and pH are enriched in the St. Louis Sublobe samples, with Fe, Cu, Zn, and Na enriched in Rainy Lobe samples. The composition of the drift is a result of processes operating in the surficial environment, e.g., oxidation-reduction, organic complexing, and bedrock interactions. The chemical differences detected in the analysis suggest not only that both drift types are favorable for the migration of metal ions, but that the dominant influence on the chemistry of the two systems is the drift lithology. The inhibiting factor in the success of their use as geochemical sampling media is thought to involve their physical rather than chemical nature. Rainy Lobe deposits, thin occurrences of locally derived basal till appear to be chemicalaly and physically amenable to exploration geochemistry. The great thickness of the supraglacial sediments making up the Caribou Drift is thought to act as an effective barrier to circulating and oxidizing groundwaters

Creatinine, diet, micronutrients, and arsenic methylation in West Bengal, India.

BackgroundIngested inorganic arsenic (InAs) is methylated to monomethylated (MMA) and dimethylated metabolites (DMA). Methylation may have an important role in arsenic toxicity, because the monomethylated trivalent metabolite [MMA(III)] is highly toxic.ObjectivesWe assessed the relationship of creatinine and nutrition--using dietary intake and blood concentrations of micronutrients--with arsenic metabolism, as reflected in the proportions of InAS, MMA, and DMA in urine, in the first study that incorporated both dietary and micronutrient data.MethodsWe studied methylation patterns and nutritional factors in 405 persons who were selected from a cross-sectional survey of 7,638 people in an arsenic-exposed population in West Bengal, India. We assessed associations of urine creatinine and nutritional factors (19 dietary intake variables and 16 blood micronutrients) with arsenic metabolites in urine.ResultsUrinary creatinine had the strongest relationship with overall arsenic methylation to DMA. Those with the highest urinary creatinine concentrations had 7.2% more arsenic as DMA compared with those with low creatinine (p < 0.001). Animal fat intake had the strongest relationship with MMA% (highest tertile animal fat intake had 2.3% more arsenic as MMA, p < 0.001). Low serum selenium and low folate were also associated with increased MMA%.ConclusionsUrine creatinine concentration was the strongest biological marker of arsenic methylation efficiency, and therefore should not be used to adjust for urine concentration in arsenic studies. The new finding that animal fat intake has a positive relationship with MMA% warrants further assessment in other studies. Increased MMA% was also associated, to a lesser extent, with low serum selenium and folate

Synthese und Untersuchung substituierter lodthyronine mit dem Ziel der Herstellung radiochemisch stabiler 125I-Tracer hoher spezifischer Aktivität

Peer Reviewe

Temperatures experienced by fresh-cut leafy greens during retail storage and display

There has been limited published work in the United States on temperature profiling of fresh-cut, bagged leafy greens during their transport, retail storage, and retail display. This study utilized temperature monitors placed in backrooms and display cases at nine supermarkets located in southern California: the Central Coast (Santa Barbara to Los Osos), Greater Los Angeles (Burbank area), and Greater Palm Desert. Sensors were installed midway along each 8-foot display case section containing fresh-cut leafy greens. Monitors were placed at the front and back of shelves and in the lower bin. In storage rooms, sensors were placed 4 feet from the floor in each corner. High and low temperature abuse occurred in retail display cases, with slightly more than 40% of the sensors indicating temperatures \u3e7.22°C, and 17% of the sensors indicating temperatures \u3c-0.17°C, for at least 5% of the time. Temperatures in storage rooms were rarely too low, but were often too high: slightly more than 58% of the sensors indicated temperatures \u3e7.22°C more than 5% of the time, and five sensors measured continuous temperatures \u3e7.22°C for nearly a year. Overall, most temperature abuse of pre-cut leafy greens at the retail level occurred during backroom storage. This study should be expanded to include major grocery chains in cities across the United States in order to verify these results