Agricultural copper pesticide exposure and DNA methylation in Central Valley of California residents with and without Parkinson's disease.

Background: Copper-induced oxidative damage and mitochondrial dysfunction may exacerbate Parkinson's disease (PD) pathology. DNA methylation (DNAm) can serve as a biological mediator of environmental exposures.

Objective: To investigate the impact of chronic, long-term copper exposure on genome-wide DNA methylation patterns in the blood of PD cases and community controls.

Secondary Lung Cancer among Survivors of Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer: A Population-Based Study.

Background: Survivors of adolescent and young adult (AYA, ages 15-39 years at diagnosis) cancer are at increased risk for subsequent malignant neoplasms (SMN), of which lung cancer is the most lethal. Factors contributing to lung SMN development and outcomes are not well characterized.

Methods: Survivors of AYA cancer diagnosed between 1998 and 2020 were identified in the California Cancer Registry (n = 251,632).

Prenatal exposure to criteria air pollution and traffic-related air toxics and risk of autism spectrum disorder: A population-based cohort study of California births (1990-2018).

Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) prevalence has risen steadily in California (CA) over several decades, with environmental factors like air pollution (AP) increasingly implicated. This study investigates associations between prenatal exposure to both criteria AP and traffic-related air toxics and ASD risk for 1990-2018 births.

Methods: Utilizing CA Department of Public Health birth registry data from 1990 to 2018, linked with ASD diagnoses from the CA Department of Developmental Services (n = 13,591,003 children; ASD cases = 138,460, identified from birth year through 2022, allowing for a follow-up ranging from a minimum of 4 to a maximum of 32 years) we assessed prenatal exposure to PM, NO, O, and six traffic-related air toxics (benzene, 1,3-butadiene, chromium, lead, nickel, zinc) using machine learning-enhanced land-use regression models.

Exploring the link between grandmaternal air pollution exposure and Grandchild's ASD risk: A multigenerational population-based study in California.

Background: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with increasing prevalence. While genetics play a strong causal role, among environmental factors, air pollution (AP) exposure in pregnancy and infancy has been strongly endorsed as a risk factor. However, potential multigenerational impacts through the exposure of the grandmother during her pregnancy remain unexplored.

Air Pollution and Autism Spectrum Disorder: Unveiling Multipollutant Risks and Sociodemographic Influences in California.

Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition with increasing prevalence worldwide. Air pollution may be a major contributor to the rise in ASD cases. This study investigated how the risk of ASD associated with prenatal and early postnatal exposure to specific air pollutants is modified by key sociodemographic factors, exploring vulnerable exposure periods.

Childhood Cancer Risk in Hispanic Enclaves in California.

Residence in Hispanic enclaves may be a proxy measure of acculturation. Since acculturation among Hispanic women has been associated with unhealthy behaviors in pregnancy and adverse birth and child health outcomes, we assessed whether living in Hispanic enclaves during pregnancy affects childhood cancer risk among Hispanics. Cancer cases (n = 6,111) were identified from the California Cancer Registry between 1988 and 2013.

Associations of Historic Residential Pesticide Proximity With Proinflammatory Cytokine Levels in a Patient Population With and Without Chronic Rhinosinusitis (CRS).

Background: Residential proximity to commercial pesticide application has been associated with increased odds of developing chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) with in vitro studies demonstrating cytotoxic dose-dependent effects on sinonasal epithelia. This study's aim is to determine potential associations between residential proximity to commercial pesticide application sites and cytokine profiles in patients with and without CRS.

Methods: A total of 55 patients were included (35 CRS and 20 control) with an average age of 55 ± 15 years.

Exposures from Oil and Gas Development and Childhood Leukemia Risk in Colorado: A Population-Based Case-Control Study.

Background: Children living in upstream oil and natural gas (O&G) areas may be exposed to leukemogens and at increased risk for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

Methods: We conducted a case-control study of children born in Colorado between 1992 and 2019. We matched 451 children diagnosed with ALL at ages 2 to 9 years starting in 2002 to 2,706 controls based on birth month/year and Hispanic ethnicity.

Longer travel and traffic are associated with adult liver transplant waitlist mortality in the United States.

Transportation to transplant centers is a barrier to liver transplantation (LT). We analyzed the impact of travel metrics on LT waitlist outcomes in the United States. A total of 83 640 adult LT candidates in the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients database (2013-2021) were included.

Prospective association of tobacco retailer density and neighbourhood walkability with youth vaping initiation in California, USA.

Background: Tobacco retailer density might influence youth e-cigarette use due to increased access and exposure to point-of-sale marketing. There is a need for longitudinal investigations on the association of tobacco retailer density with youth e-cigarette use, with consideration of contextual factors such as neighbourhood walkability that could enhance retailer exposure.

Methods: Five semi-annual waves (Fall 2021-Fall 2023) of a Southern California school-based cohort of youth who never vaped at baseline (n=3401; mean baseline age=15 years [range=12-17]) were merged with spatial data on tobacco retailers corresponding to each school year.

Prospective pooled analyses of ambient ultraviolet radiation levels and risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma and multiple myeloma.

Case-control studies of sun exposure and ultraviolet radiation (UVR) have consistently reported inverse associations with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) risk, but prospective studies have yielded mixed results. Few studies have explored these exposures in relation to multiple myeloma (MM) risk. To further evaluate these associations with NHL and MM risk and identify etiologically relevant exposure timing, we pooled data on 566,693 individuals from 6 United States (U.

Association of Perceived Neighborhood Disorder with Substance Use Behaviors and Retail Access Among Southern California Adolescents.

Background: Neighborhood disadvantage is associated with a higher concentration of tobacco, cannabis and alcohol retailers and greater risk of certain substance use behaviors among youth. Less is known about the impact of subjective neighborhood disorder, which captures distinct exposures that may be relevant to substance use outcomes, including neighborhood social processes, safety, physical characteristics, and neighborhood drug use.

Methods: Data are from two waves (Feb-Dec 2022) of a prospective cohort of Southern California high school students ( = 2,139; mean[SD] age = 15.

Preconception and first trimester exposure to pesticides and associations with stillbirth.

Associations of pesticide exposures during preconception with stillbirth have not been well explored. We linked Arizona pesticide use records with birth certificates from 2006 to 2020 and estimated associations of living within 500 m of any pyrethroid, organophosphate (OP), or carbamate pesticide applications during a 90-day preconception window or the first trimester, with stillbirth. We considered a binary measure of exposure (any exposure), as well as log-pounds and log-acres applied within 500 m, in a negative control exposure framework with log-binomial regression.

Maternal Exposure to Heavy Metals From Industrial Sources During Pregnancy and Childhood Cancer Risk in California.

Objective: The study investigated maternal exposure to heavy metals from industrial sources during pregnancy as potential risk factors for childhood cancer.

Methods: Cases ages 0-19 were identified from California Cancer Registry. Controls (20:1 ratio) were randomly selected from California Birth Registry, frequency-matched by birth year (1998-2016).

Maternal residential exposure to solvents from industrial sources during pregnancy and childhood cancer risk in California.

Background: Maternal solvent exposure has been suspected to increase offspring cancer risk. The study aimed to evaluate the associations between maternal residential exposure to solvents from industrial pollution during pregnancy and childhood cancer.

Methods: The present study included 15,744 cancer cases (aged 0-19 years at diagnosis) identified from California Cancer Registry and 283,141 controls randomly selected from California Birth Registry (20:1 frequency-matched by birth year: 1998-2016).

Ambient long-term exposure to organophosphorus pesticides and the human gut microbiome: an observational study.

Background: Organophosphorus pesticides (OP) have been associated with various human health conditions. Animal experiments and in-vitro models suggested that OP may also affect the gut microbiota. We examined associations between ambient chronic exposure to OP and gut microbial changes in humans.

Feasibility and limitations of using commercial databases to evaluate residential mobility in registry-based research on childhood cancer.

Background: Researchers have used commercial databases containing residential addresses to reduce exposure misclassification in case-control studies. Our objective is to evaluate the potential systematic bias regarding case status when reconstructing residential locations from commercial databases.

Methods: Our study population of 3640 Colorado-born children includes 520 children diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia between 2002 and 2019.

Associations between brake and tire wear-related PM metal components, particulate oxidative stress potential, and autism spectrum disorder in Southern California.

Background: Air pollution is a global health concern, with fine particulate matter (PM) constituents posing potential risks to human health, including children's neurodevelopment. Here we investigated associations between exposure during pregnancy and infancy to specific traffic-related PM components with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis.

Methods: For exposure assessment, we estimated PM components related to traffic exposure (Barium [Ba] as a marker of brake dust and Zinc [Zn] as a tire wear marker, Black Carbon [BC]) and oxidative stress potential (OSP) markers (Hydroxyl Radical [OP] formation, Dithiothreitol activity [OP], reactive oxygen species [ROS]) modeled with land use regression with co-kriging based on an intensive air monitoring campaign.

The PhenX Toolkit: Recommended Measurement Protocols for Social Determinants of Health Research.

Health disparities are driven by unequal conditions in the environments in which people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age, commonly termed the Social Determinants of Health (SDoH). The availability of recommended measurement protocols for SDoH will enable investigators to consistently collect data for SDoH constructs. The PhenX (consensus measures for Phenotypes and eXposures) Toolkit is a web-based catalog of recommended measurement protocols for use in research studies with human participants.

Solar ultraviolet radiation exposure, and incidence of childhood acute lymphocytic leukaemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma in a US population-based dataset.

Background: Acute lymphocytic leukaemia (ALL) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) are among the commonest types of childhood cancer. Some previous studies suggested that elevated ultraviolet radiation (UVR) exposures increase ALL risk; many more indicate NHL risk is reduced.

Methods: We assessed age<20 ALL/NHL incidence in Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results data using AVGLO-derived UVR irradiance/cumulative radiant exposure measures, using quasi-likelihood models accounting for underdispersion, adjusted for age, sex, racial/ethnic group and other county-level socioeconomic variables.

Agricultural paraquat dichloride use and Parkinson's disease in California's Central Valley.

Background: Paraquat dichloride is currently among the most widely used commercial herbicides in the USA. In the present study, we provide epidemiological assessment of ambient paraquat exposure and Parkinson's disease (PD) risk in a population-based study of PD in agricultural regions of Central California.

Methods: Based on 829 PD patients and 824 community controls, we assessed associations between ambient paraquat dichloride exposure and PD.

Neighborhood-level Social Determinants of Health and Waitlist Mortality for Liver Transplantation: The Liver Outcomes and Equity Index.

Background And Aims: To examine neighborhood-level disparities in waitlist mortality for adult liver transplantation (LT), we developed novel area-based social determinants of health (SDOH) index using a national transplant database.

Methods: ZIP Codes of individuals listed for or received LT in the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients database between June 18, 2013, and May 18, 2019, were linked to 36 American Community Survey (ACS) variables across 5 SDOH domains for index development. A step-wise principal component analysis was used to construct the Liver Outcomes and Equity (LOEq) index.

A Comparison of Measured Airborne and Self-Reported Secondhand Smoke Exposure in the MADRES Pregnancy Cohort Study.

Introduction: Secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure during pregnancy is linked to adverse birth outcomes, such as low birth weight and preterm birth. While questionnaires are commonly used to assess SHS exposure, their ability to capture true exposure can vary, making it difficult for researchers to harmonize SHS measures. This study aimed to compare self-reported SHS exposure with measurements of airborne SHS in personal samples of pregnant women.