Multiple maternal occupational exposures during pregnancy and intrauterine growth: analysis of the French Longitudinal Study of Children - ELFE cohort, using data-driven approaches.

Objective: To use data-driven approaches to investigate maternal multi-occupational exposures during pregnancy and their effects on intrauterine growth.

Methods: Maternal occupational exposure to 47 factors during pregnancy was evaluated with job-exposure matrices in the French ELFE cohort. The outcomes of interest were birthweight (BW), small for gestational age (SGA) and head circumference (HC).

Exposure to heat at work: development of a quantitative European job exposure matrix (heat JEM).

Objective: With climate change exacerbating occupational heat stress, objective and systematic exposure assessment is essential for epidemiological studies. We developed a job exposure matrix (JEM) to assign occupational heat stress exposure across Europe.

Methods: Aligned with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO: 7243, 8996 and 9920), the heat JEM provides region- and year-specific estimates of annual heat stress hours by job title, using the International Standard Classification of Occupations 1988 for Europe [ISCO-88(COM)].

Capturing occupational risk of airborne disease: An international job-exposure matrix based on five exposure factors.

Objective: This study aimed to construct a job-exposure matrix (JEM) for the risk of being infected by infectious agents through airborne or droplet transmission in an occupational setting, which might lead to a respiratory disease.

Methods: An established COVID-19-JEM formed the basis for the development of the general airborne infectious agents JEM. Nine researchers in occupational epidemiology from three European countries (Denmark, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom) discussed and agreed on which factors from the COVID-19-JEM were relevant and whether new factors or adjustments of risk levels were needed.

Gestational organophosphate pesticide exposure and childhood cardiovascular outcomes.

Introduction: The general population is chronically exposed to organophosphate pesticides through various routes including ingestion, hand-to-mouth contact, inhalation, and dermal contact. Exposure to organophosphate pesticides during pregnancy impairs fetal development, but the potential long-term effects of gestational organophosphate pesticide exposure are less well understood.

Methods: We investigated associations between gestational organophosphate pesticide exposure and cardiovascular outcomes in 643 children in the Generation R Study, a prospective pregnancy cohort based in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Integrated assessment of simultaneous threshold exceedance of heat, air pollution and airborne allergenic pollen across Europe.

Background: Climate change is expected to elevate exposure to several environmental health risk factors, including extreme environmental temperatures, air pollution and airborne allergenic pollen. Given their interconnected effects on respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, it is crucial to evaluate these exposures simultaneously. Yet, comprehensive efforts to do so remain limited.

Spatiotemporal modeling of occupational particulate matter using personal low-cost sensor and indoor location tracking data.

Occupational exposure to particulate matter (PM) can result in multiple adverse health effects and should be minimized to protect workers' health. PM exposure at the workplace can be complex with many potential sources and fluctuations over time, making it difficult to control. Dynamic maps that visualize how PM is distributed throughout a workplace over time can help in gaining better insights into when and where exposure occurs.

Worker perspectives on improving occupational health and safety using wearable sensors: a cross-sectional survey.

Workplace exposure is an important source of ill health. The use of wearable sensors and sensing technologies may help improve and maintain worker health, safety, and wellbeing. Input from workers should inform the integration of these sensors into workplaces.

Fetal Organophosphate Pesticide Exposure and Child Adiposity Measures at 10 Years of Age in the General Dutch Population.

Background: Fetal exposure to organophosphate (OP) pesticides might lead to fetal metabolic adaptations, predisposing individuals to adverse metabolic profiles in later life.

Objective: We examined the association of maternal urinary OP pesticide metabolite concentrations in pregnancy with offspring body mass index (BMI) and fat measures at 10 years of age.

Methods: Between 2002 and 2006, we included 642 mother-child pairs from the Generation R Study, a population-based prospective cohort study in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Associations between an international COVID-19 job exposure matrix and SARS-CoV-2 infection among 2 million workers in Denmark.

Objectives: This study investigates the associations between the Danish version of a job exposure matrix for COVID-19 (COVID-19-JEM) and Danish register-based SARS-CoV-2 infection information across three waves of the pandemic. The COVID-19-JEM consists of four dimensions on transmission: two on mitigation measures, and two on precarious work characteristics.

Methods: The study comprised 2 021 309 persons from the Danish working population between 26 February 2020 and 15 December 2021.

Exposure Monitoring Strategies for Applying Low-Cost PM Sensors to Assess Flour Dust in Industrial Bakeries.

Low-cost particulate matter (PM) sensors provide new methods for monitoring occupational exposure to hazardous substances, such as flour dust. These devices have many possible benefits, but much remains unknown about their performance for different exposure monitoring strategies in the workplace. We explored the performance of PM sensors for four different monitoring strategies (time-weighted average and high time resolution, each quantitative and semi-quantitative) for assessing occupational exposure using low-cost PM sensors in a field study in the industrial bakery sector.

Exploring the relationship between job characteristics and infection: Application of a COVID-19 job exposure matrix to SARS-CoV-2 infection data in the United Kingdom.

Objective: This study aimed to assess whether workplace exposures as estimated via a COVID-19 job exposure matrix (JEM) are associated with SARS-CoV-2 in the UK.

Methods: Data on 244 470 participants were available from the Office for National Statistics Coronavirus Infection Survey (CIS) and 16 801 participants from the Virus Watch Cohort, restricted to workers aged 20-64 years. Analysis used logistic regression models with SARS-CoV-2 as the dependent variable for eight individual JEM domains (number of workers, nature of contacts, contact via surfaces, indoor or outdoor location, ability to social distance, use of face covering, job insecurity, and migrant workers) with adjustment for age, sex, ethnicity, index of multiple deprivation (IMD), region, household size, urban versus rural area, and health conditions.

Validation of a COVID-19 Job Exposure Matrix (COVID-19-JEM) for Occupational Risk of a SARS-CoV-2 Infection at Work: Using Data of Dutch Workers.

Objectives: A COVID-19 Job Exposure Matrix (COVID-19-JEM) has been developed, consisting of four dimensions on transmission, two on mitigation measures, and two on precarious work. This study aims to validate the COVID-19-JEM by (i) comparing risk scores assigned by the COVID-19-JEM with self-reported data, and (ii) estimating the associations between the COVID-19-JEM risk scores and self-reported COVID-19.

Methods: Data from measurements 2 (July 2020, n = 7690) and 4 (March 2021, n = 6794) of the Netherlands Working Conditions Survey-COVID-19 (NWCS-COVID-19) cohort study were used.

Applying the exposome concept to working life health: The EU EPHOR project.

Exposures at work have a major impact on noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Current risk reduction policies and strategies are informed by existing scientific evidence, which is limited due to the challenges of studying the complex relationship between exposure at work and outside work and health. We define the working life exposome as all occupational and related nonoccupational exposures.

Automated Network Assembly of Mechanistic Literature for Informed Evidence Identification to Support Cancer Risk Assessment.

Background: Mechanistic data is increasingly used in hazard identification of chemicals. However, the volume of data is large, challenging the efficient identification and clustering of relevant data.

Objectives: We investigated whether evidence identification for hazard assessment can become more efficient and informed through an automated approach that combines machine reading of publications with network visualization tools.

Stakeholders' Perceptions of Environmental and Public Health Risks Associated with Hydrocarbon Activities in and around the Vasilikos Energy Center, Cyprus.

The Vasilikos Energy Center (VEC) is a large hydrocarbon industrial hub actively operating in Cyprus. There is strong public interest by the communities surrounding VEC to engage with all stakeholders towards the sustainable development of hydrocarbon in the region. The methodological framework of the exposome concept would allow for the holistic identification of all relevant environmental exposures by engaging the most relevant stakeholders in industrially contaminated sites.

Estimation of the Exposure-Response Relation between Benzene and Acute Myeloid Leukemia by Combining Epidemiologic, Human Biomarker, and Animal Data.

Background: Chemical risk assessment can benefit from integrating data across multiple evidence bases, especially in exposure-response curve (ERC) modeling when data across the exposure range are sparse.

Methods: We estimated the ERC for benzene and acute myeloid leukemia (AML), by fitting linear and spline-based Bayesian meta-regression models that included summary risk estimates from non-AML and nonhuman studies as prior information. Our complete dataset included six human AML studies, three human leukemia studies, 10 human biomarker studies, and four experimental animal studies.

Prenatal Exposure to Nonpersistent Chemical Mixtures and Offspring IQ and Emotional and Behavioral Problems.

Prenatal exposure to nonpersistent chemicals such as phthalates, bisphenols, and organophosphate (OP) pesticides is ubiquitous and occurs in mixtures. So far, epidemiological studies investigating neurodevelopmental consequences of these exposures have mainly been restricted to single-pollutant models. Thus, we studied the association between prenatal exposure to nonpersistent chemical mixtures and child IQ and emotional and behavioral problems.

Prenatal Exposure to Nonpersistent Chemical Mixtures and Fetal Growth: A Population-Based Study.

Background: Prenatal exposure to mixtures of nonpersistent chemicals is universal. Most studies examining these chemicals in association with fetal growth have been restricted to single exposure models, ignoring their potentially cumulative impact.

Objective: We aimed to assess the association between prenatal exposure to a mixture of phthalates, bisphenols, and organophosphate (OP) pesticides and fetal measures of head circumference, femur length, and weight.

Exposure to a SARS-CoV-2 infection at work: development of an international job exposure matrix (COVID-19-JEM).

Objective: This study aimed to construct a job exposure matrix (JEM) for risk of becoming infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus in an occupational setting.

Methods: Experts in occupational epidemiology from three European countries (Denmark, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom) defined the relevant exposure and workplace characteristics with regard to possible exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. In an iterative process, experts rated the different dimensions of the COVID-19-JEM for each job title within the International Standard Classification of Occupations system 2008 (ISCO-08).

Exploring the Effects of Environmental Factors on the Development of 0-4-Year Old Children in The Netherlands.

Air pollution, noise, and green space are important environmental exposures, having been linked to a variety of specific health outcomes. However, there are few studies addressing overall early life development. To assess their effects, associations between developmental milestones for a large population of 0-4-year old children in The Netherlands and environmental exposures were explored.