Population Cohort-Validated PM-Induced Gene Signatures: A Machine Learning Approach to Individual Exposure Prediction.

Transcriptomic profiling has shown that exposure to PM, a common air pollutant, can modulate gene expression, which has been linked to negative health effects and diseases. However, there are few population-based cohort studies on the association between PM exposure and specific gene set expression. In this study, we used an unbiased transcriptomic profiling approach to examine gene expression in a mouse model exposed to PM and to identify PM-responsive genes.

BTEX exposure and metabolite levels in Taiwan schoolchildren near petrochemical areas.

Introduction: Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX) in ambient air pose significant health risks for residents near petrochemical facilities. However, limited research has investigated the correlation between BTEX exposure and urinary metabolites in children. This is the first study to determine this association among primary school children near petrochemical industrial parks (PIPs) in Taiwan.

Proximity to petrochemical industry and risk of childhood asthma occurrence.

Adverse effects on the respiratory system were associated with intensive petroleum-related industrial activities. The study aimed to assess the impact of petrochemical exposure on childhood asthma using various surrogate indices. A singleton birth cohort from 2004 to 2017 was conducted, leveraging two linked nationwide databases in Taiwan.

Involvement of autophagy and gut dysbiosis in ambient particulate matter-induced colonic inflammation.

Ambient fine particulate matter (PM), a vital environmental toxicant, not only adversely affects the cardiovascular and respiratory systems but also potentially exhibits an association with intestinal inflammation and colorectal cancer (CRC). The underlying molecular mechanisms of PM2.5 impacts on CRC are still unclear.

Evaluating the embryotoxicity of benzophenone-based photoinitiators in stem cells and zebrafish embryos.

Benzophenones (BPs) are widely used as photoinitiators (PIs) or printing inks in food packaging, which may migrate into foods. However, the toxicity information of some BP analogues, such as 4,4'-bis(diethylamino)-benzophenone (DEAB), 4-phenylbenzophenone (4-PBP), 4 (hydroxymethyl)benzophenone (4-HMBP), those are used as PIs is lacking. Developmental toxicity is a health concern associated with PIs exposure.

A novel multitask learning algorithm for tasks with distinct chemical space: zebrafish toxicity prediction as an example.

Data scarcity is one of the most critical issues impeding the development of prediction models for chemical effects. Multitask learning algorithms leveraging knowledge from relevant tasks showed potential for dealing with tasks with limited data. However, current multitask methods mainly focus on learning from datasets whose task labels are available for most of the training samples.

Worldwide serum concentration-based probabilistic mixture risk assessment of perfluoroalkyl substances among pregnant women, infants, and children.

Pregnant women, infants, and children are particularly vulnerable to perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), yet little is known about related health risks. Here, we aimed to study the four main PFASs: perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), and perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS), and assess the mixture risks of co-exposure to PFASs for pregnant women and children as well as for infants associated with maternal PFAS exposure at national and global scales, based on biomonitoring data on serum. We conducted a literature search and aggregated 69 data sources across 22 countries/regions from 2010 to 2020 to profile the serum concentrations of these four PFASs in pregnant women and children.

International regulatory uses of acute systemic toxicity data and integration of new approach methodologies.

Chemical regulatory authorities around the world require systemic toxicity data from acute exposures via the oral, dermal, and inhalation routes for human health risk assessment. To identify opportunities for regulatory uses of non-animal replacements for these tests, we reviewed acute systemic toxicity testing requirements for jurisdictions that participate in the International Cooperation on Alternative Test Methods (ICATM): Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and the USA. The chemical sectors included in our review of each jurisdiction were cosmetics, consumer products, industrial chemicals, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and pesticides.

Machine learning for predicting chemical migration from food packaging materials to foods.

Food contact chemicals (FCCs) can migrate from packaging materials to food posing an issue of exposure to FCCs of toxicity concern. Compared to costly experiments, computational methods can be utilized to assess the migration potentials for various migration scenarios for further experimental investigation that can potentially accelerate the migration assessment. This study developed a nonlinear machine learning method utilizing chemical properties, material type, food type and temperature to predict chemical migration from package to food.

Additive cardiotoxicity of a bisphenol mixture in zebrafish embryos: The involvement of calcium channel and pump.

Bisphenol A (BPA) and its analogs, such as bisphenol F (BPF), bisphenol AF (BPAF), and bisphenol B (BPB), are often simultaneously detected in environmental and human specimens. Thus, assessing the toxicity of bisphenol (BP) mixtures is more relevant than assessing that of each BP type. Here, we found that BPs, individually or in a mixture, concentration-dependently and additively increased the mortality of zebrafish embryos (ZFEs) at 96 h post fertilization (hpf) and induced bradycardia (i.

Probabilistic benefit-risk analysis of fish: Nutritional benefit versus methylmercury-contaminated risk.

This paper carries out probabilistic approach to quantify the benefit-risk analysis for foods (BRAFO) of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid and methylmercury (MeHg) for the people who eat the mercury-contaminated fish in Taiwan. We applied the hazard quotient (HQ) model to assess the risk of developmental neuropsychological impairment effect and the desirable dose index (DI) model to quantify the health benefits. Besides, we also applied the disability adjusted life years (DALY) model to assess the number of years lost by incidence of affected infants' intelligence quotient (IQ) and coronary heart disease (CHD) or Stroke for adult.

Analysis of Furan and Its Derivatives in Food Matrices Using Solid Phase Extraction Coupled with Gas Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry.

The objective of this study was to develop a simultaneous analysis method of furan and its 10 derivatives in different food commodities. The results indicated that furan and its 10 derivatives could be separated within 9.5 min by using a HP-5MS column and gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) with multiple reaction monitoring mode for detection.

Ensemble learning for predicting ex vivo human placental barrier permeability.

Background: The placental barrier protects the fetus from exposure to some toxicants and is vital for drug development and risk assessment of environmental chemicals. However, in vivo experiments for assessing the placental barrier permeability of chemicals is not ethically acceptable. Although ex vivo placental perfusion methods provide good alternatives for the assessment of placental barrier permeability, the application to a large number of test chemicals could be time- and resource-consuming.

Aryl hydrocarbon receptor activation-mediated vascular toxicity of ambient fine particulate matter: contribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and osteopontin as a biomarker.

Background: Exposure to ambient fine particulate matter (PM) is associated with vascular diseases. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in PM are highly hazardous; however, the contribution of PM-bound PAHs to PM-associated vascular diseases remains unclear. The ToxCast high-throughput in vitro screening database indicates that some PM-bound PAHs activate the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR).

Living proximity to petrochemical industries and the risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in children.

Evidence regarding the negative neurodevelopmental effects of compound exposure to petrochemicals remains limited. We aimed to evaluate the association between exposure to petrochemical facilities and generated emissions during early life and the risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) development in children. We conducted a population-based birth cohort study using the 2004 to 2014 Taiwanese Birth Certificate Database and verified diagnoses of ADHD using the National Health Insurance Database.

Assessment of potential human health risks in aquatic products based on the heavy metal hazard decision tree.

Background: Naturally existing and human-produced heavy metals are released into the environment and cannot be completely decomposed by microorganisms, but they continue to accumulate in water and sediments, causing organisms to be exposed to heavy metals.

Results: This study designs and proposes heavy metal hazard decision trees for aquatic products, which are divided into seven categories including pelagic fishes, inshore fishes, other fishes, crustaceans, shellfish, cephalopods, and algae. Based on these classifications, representative fresh and processed seafood products are at the root of the heavy metal hazard decision trees.

An integrated strategy by using long-term monitoring data to identify volatile organic compounds of high concern near petrochemical industrial parks.

Exposure to ambient volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is associated with a risk of cancer in the residents living near petrochemical facilities. However, research on the contribution of different VOCs to the lifetime cancer risk remains inconclusive. The variability in source emissions, geographical locations, seasons, and meteorological conditions can be assessed through long-term measurement of ambient VOCs with a wide spatial distribution, thus reducing the uncertainty of health risk assessment from source emissions.

Proximity to petrochemical industrial parks and risk of chronic glomerulonephritis.

This study determined whether individuals residing near petrochemical industrial parks (PIPs) have a higher risk of chronic glomerulonephritis (CGN). We performed population-based 1:4 case-control study by using Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database from 2000 to 2016. The subjects were aged 20-65 years, residing in western Taiwan, and did not have a history of any renal or urinary system disease in 2000.

A machine learning-driven approach for prioritizing food contact chemicals of carcinogenic concern based on complementary in silico methods.

Carcinogenicity is one of the most critical endpoints for the risk assessment of food contact chemicals (FCCs). However, the carcinogenicity of FCCs remains insufficiently investigated. To fill the data gap, the application of standard experimental methods for identifying chemicals of carcinogenic concerns from a large set of FCCs is impractical due to their resource-intensive nature.

Dietary Exposure of the Taiwan Population to Mercury Content in Various Seafood Assessed by a Total Diet Study.

This paper examines the health risks of exposure to methylmercury (MeHg) through the consumption of mercury-contaminated seafood in Taiwan, based on the total diet study (TDS) method. Samples of seafood ( = 140) were purchased at fishing harbors or supermarkets and classified into seven categories (pelagic fish, inshore fish, farmed fish, shellfish, cephalopods, crustaceans, and algae). For each sample, we analyzed raw and cooked versions and compared the concentration difference.

Conditioned Media of Adipose-Derived Stem Cells Suppresses Sidestream Cigarette Smoke Extract Induced Cell Death and Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Lung Epithelial Cells.

The role of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in lung epithelial cells is increasingly being recognized as a key stage in the development of COPD, fibrosis, and lung cancers, which are all highly associated with cigarette smoking and with exposure to second-hand smoke. Using the exposure of human lung cancer epithelial A549 cells and non-cancerous Beas-2B cells to sidestream cigarette smoke extract (CSE) as a model, we studied the protective effects of adipose-derived stem cell-conditioned medium (ADSC-CM) against CSE-induced cell death and EMT. CSE dose-dependently induced cell death, decreased epithelial markers, and increased the expression of mesenchymal markers.

Ambient Particulate Matter Induces Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Phenotypic Changes via NOX1/ROS/NF-κB Dependent and Independent Pathways: Protective Effects of Polyphenols.

Epidemiological studies have demonstrated an association between ambient particulate matter (PM) exposure and vascular diseases. Here, we observed that treatment with ambient PM increased cell migration ability in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) and pulmonary arterial SMCs (PASMCs). These results suggest that VSMCs and PASMCs transitioned from a differentiated to a synthetic phenotype after PM exposure.

Study Protocol for Radiation Exposure and Cancer Risk Assessment: The Taiwan Nuclear Power Plants and Epidemiology Cohort Study (TNPECS).

Background: This cohort was established to evaluate whether 38-year radiation exposure (since the start of nuclear reactor operations) is related to cancer risk in residents near three nuclear power plants (NPPs).

Methods: This cohort study enrolled all residents who lived within 8 km of any of the three NPPs in Taiwan from 1978 to 2016 (n = 214,502; person-years = 4,660,189). The control population (n = 257,475; person-years = 6,282,390) from three towns comprised all residents having lived more than 15 km from all three NPPs.

Maternal proximity to petrochemical industrial parks and risk of premature rupture of membranes.

Background: Living near petrochemical industries has been reported to increase the risks of adverse birth outcomes, such as low birth weight and preterm delivery. However, evidence regarding the role of petrochemical exposure in pregnancy complications remains limited. This study evaluated the association between maternal proximity to petrochemical industrial parks (PIPs) during pregnancy and the occurrence of premature rupture of membranes (PROM).