Investigation of physicochemical, nutritional, and sensory qualities of muffins incorporated with dried brewer's spent grain flours as a source of dietary fiber and protein.

Brewers' spent grain (BSG) is the major byproduct of brewing beer, rich in protein and dietary fiber. This study investigated the effect of two drying methods (impingement and hot-air drying) on chemical composition, physicochemical properties, and bioactive compounds of BSGs from three different brewers (BSG1, BSG2, and BSG3), and then evaluated the quality and consumer acceptance of BSG flour fortified muffins. Results showed that impingement drying led to significantly lower moisture content (MC, 1.33-1.87 g/100g) and water activity (aw , 0.04-0.07) of BSGs than hot-air drying (5.44 to 5.57 g/100 g and 0.19 to 0.20, respectively). Among different dried BSGs, impingement dried BSG3 achieved the highest protein (18.03 g/100 g dry matter [DM]), total phenolic content (TPC, 2.21 mg GAE/g DM), radical scavenging activity (RSA, 1.58 mg AAE/g DM), and total flavonoid content (TFC, 0.68 mg QE/g DM), and retained lighter color (L*, 54.68) and higher total dietary fiber (TDF, 42.40 g/100 g DM), which was selected for making BSG-fortified muffins. BSG3 was substituted 1:1 as white: whole wheat flour at three concentrations (10, 15, and 20 g/100 g flour mix) for muffins (BSG10, BSG15, and BSG20, respectively). BSG15 provided higher protein (13.11 g/100 g DM), TDF (16.88 g/100 g DM), and higher bioactive compounds compared to control and retained brighter color of muffin compared to BSG20, showing no difference in firmness and overall liking compared to the control muffin. This study demonstrated that impingement dried BSG could be utilized as a functional ingredient in muffins to add value to the food chain providing nutritional and environmental benefits. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: This study reported the benefit of impingement drying method for the retention of physicochemical quality and bioactive compounds of brewer's spent grains (BSG) produced from three different brewers in comparison with hot-air drying. The study also reported that muffins fortified with BSG flours (15% replacement of wheat flour) yielded a 23% increase in total dietary fiber and 13% increase in protein without affecting consumer acceptance of the products. This information is essential for developing value-added applications of BSG, a byproduct from brewing industry, as a functional ingredient to make nutritive baking goods, such as muffins, for promoting human health.

Selenium: Mercury Molar Ratios in Freshwater Fish in the Columbia River Basin: Potential Applications for Specific Fish Consumption Advisories.

Fish provide a valuable source of beneficial nutrients and are an excellent source of low fat protein. However, fish are also the primary source of methylmercury exposure in humans. Selenium often co-occurs with mercury and there is some evidence that selenium can protect against mercury toxicity yet States issue fish consumption advisories based solely on the risks that methylmercury pose to human health. Recently, it has been suggested the selenium: mercury molar ratio be considered in risk management. In order for agencies to utilize the ratio to set consumption guidelines, it is important to evaluate the variability in selenium and mercury in different fish species. We examined 10 different freshwater fish species found within the Columbia River Basin in order to determine the inter- and intra-specific variability in the selenium: mercury molar ratios and the selenium health benefit values. We found significant variation in selenium: mercury molar ratios. The mean molar ratios for each species were all above 1:1, ranging from 3.42:1 in Walleye to 27.2:1 in Chinook salmon. There was a positive correlation between both mercury and selenium with length for each fish species apart from yellow perch and rainbow trout. All species had health benefit values greater than 2. We observed considerable variability in selenium: mercury molar ratios within fish species collected in the Columbia River Basin. Although incorporating selenium: mercury molar ratios into fish consumption holds the potential for refining advisories and assessing the risk of methylmercury exposure, the current understanding of how these ratios apply is insufficient, and further understanding of drivers of variability in the ratios is needed.

Cannabis, pesticides and conflicting laws: the dilemma for legalized States and implications for public health.

State laws on the legalization of medical and recreational cannabis are rapidly evolving. Similar to other crops, cannabis is susceptible to multiple pests during cultivation. Growers have an economic incentive to produce large yields and high quality plants, and may resort to pesticides to achieve these outcomes. Currently, there are no pesticides registered for cannabis in the United States, given its illegal status by the federal government. This discrepancy creates a regulatory vacuum and dilemma for States with legal medical and recreational cannabis that seek to balance lawful compliance with pesticides and worker or public health. Pesticide use presents occupational safety issues that can be mitigated through established worker protection measures. The absence of approved products for cannabis may result in consumer exposures to otherwise more hazardous pesticides or higher residue levels. While many legal and scientific hurdles exist to register conventional pesticides for use on cannabis, legalized States have explored other opportunities to leverage the present regulatory infrastructure. Stakeholder engagement and outreach to the cannabis industry from credible sources could mitigate pesticide misuse and harm.

Acute illness associated with use of pest strips - seven U.S. States and Canada, 2000-2013.

Dichlorvos-impregnated resin strips (DDVP pest strips) are among the few organophosphate products still available for indoor residential use. The residential uses for most other organophosphate products, including most DDVP products, were canceled because they posed unreasonable risks to children. DDVP pest strips act by inhibiting acetylcholinesterase activity in the brain and nerves of insect pests and are designed to gradually release DDVP vapor for up to 4 months. Acute illnesses in humans associated with nonlethal acute exposures usually resolve completely, but recovery is not always rapid. To assess the frequency of acute illnesses associated with DDVP pest strips, cases from 2000 through June 2013 were sought from the 12 states that participate in the Sentinel Event Notification System for Occupational Risks (SENSOR)-Pesticides Program, the National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC), and Health Canada.* A total of 31 acute DDVP pest strip-related illness cases were identified in seven U.S. states and Canada. The majority of these illnesses resulted from use of the product in commonly occupied living areas (e.g., kitchens and bedrooms), in violation of label directions. Although 26 of the 31 cases involved mild health effects of short duration, five persons had moderate health effects. Illnesses caused by excess exposure to DDVP pest strips can be reduced by educating the public about the proper usage of DDVP pest strips and with improvements in label directions.

Health economic assessment tools (HEAT) for walking and for cycling: methodology and user guide: economic assessment of transport infrastructure and policies

The promotion of cycling and walking for everyday physical activity not only promotes health but can also have positive effects on the environment. This booklet summarizes the tools and guidance developed to facilitate this shift: the methodology for the economic assessment of transport infrastructure and policies in relation to the health effects of walking and cycling; systematic reviews of the economic and health literature; and guidance on applying the health economic assessment tools and the principles underlying it. This methodology and user guide will be of key interest to professionals at both national and local levels: transport planners, traffic engineers, and special interest groups working on transport, walking, cycling or the environment, as well as health economists, physical activity experts and health promotion experts.

Gesundheitsökonomische Bewertungsinstrumente (HEAT) für Gehen und für Radfahren: Methodik und Benutzerhandbuch: ökonomische Bewertung von Verkehrsinfrastruktur und Verkehrspolitik

Die Förderung von Radfahren und Zufußgehen zum Zwecke täglicher körperlicher Betätigung kommt nicht nur der Gesundheit zugute, sondern kann sich auch positiv auf die Umwelt auswirken. In dieser Broschüre werden die für die Erleichterung einer solchen Umstellung entwickelten Instrumente und Empfehlungen zusammengefasst: die Methodik für die ökonomische Bewertung der Verkehrsinfrastruktur und der Verkehrspolitik in Bezug auf die gesundheitlichen Effekte von Zufußgehen und Radfahren; systematische Sichtungen der ökonomischen und gesundheitsbezogenen Fachliteratur; und Empfehlungen für die Anwendung der gesundheitsökonomischen Bewertungsinstrumente und der ihnen zugrunde liegenden Prinzipien. Die Methodik und das Benutzerhandbuch sind von wesentlichem Interesse für Fachkräfte auf nationaler wie kommunaler Ebene, d. h. Verkehrsplaner und Verkehrsingenieure sowie Interessengruppen in den Bereichen Verkehr, Zufußgehen, Radfahren oder Umwelt, aber auch Gesundheitsökonomen und Experten für Bewegung und Gesundheitsförderung.

Outil d’évaluation économique des effets sanitaires (HEAT) liés à la pratique du vélo et à la marche : méthodologie et guide de l’utilisateur : évaluation économique des infrastructures et politiques de transport

La promotion de la pratique du vélo et de la marche dans le cadre de l’activité physique quotidienne n’est pas seulement favorable à la santé, mais peut aussi s’avérer bénéfique pour l’environnement. Cette publication résume les outils élaborés afin de faciliter l’adoption de ces pratiques ainsi que les orientations dans ce domaine : méthodologie d’évaluation économique des infrastructures et politiques de transport en termes d’effets sanitaires de la bicyclette et de la marche ; revues systématiques de la littérature économique et sanitaire ; et conseils pour l’application des outils d’évaluation économique des effets sanitaires et principes à l’appui. Cette méthodologie et ce guide de l’utilisateur intéresseront principalement les professionnels aux niveaux national et local : les planificateurs des transports, les ingénieurs de la circulation, et les groupes d’intérêt spéciaux œuvrant dans le domaine du transport, de la marche, de la pratique du vélo ou de l’environnement, ainsi que les économistes de la santé et les experts en activité physique et en promotion de la santé.

Effect of Native American fish smoking methods on dietary exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and possible risks to human health.

Although it is known that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) can be found in smoked meats, little is known about their prevalence in Native American smoked fish. In this work, the effect of traditional Native American fish smoking methods on dietary exposure to PAHs and possible risks to human health has been assessed. Smoking methods considered smoking structure (tipi or shed) and wood type (apple or alder). Neither smoking structure nor wood type accounted for differences in smoked salmon content of 33 PAHs. Carcinogenic and noncarcinogenic PAH loads in traditionally smoked salmon were 40-430 times higher than those measured in commercial products. Dietary exposure to PAHs could result in excess lifetime cancer risks between 1 × 10(-5) and 1 × 10(-4) at a daily consumption rate of 5 g d(-1) and could approach 1 × 10(-2) at 300 g d(-1). Hazard indexes approached 0.005 at 5 g d(-1), or approximately 0.3 at 300 g d(-1). Levels of PAHs present in smoked salmon prepared using traditional Native American methods may pose elevated cancer risks if consumed at high consumption rates over many years.

Conducting research with tribal communities: sovereignty, ethics, and data-sharing issues.

BACKGROUND: When conducting research with American Indian tribes, informed consent beyond conventional institutional review board (IRB) review is needed because of the potential for adverse consequences at a community or governmental level that are unrecognized by academic researchers. OBJECTIVES: In this article, we review sovereignty, research ethics, and data-sharing considerations when doing community-based participatory health-related or natural-resource-related research with American Indian nations and present a model material and data-sharing agreement that meets tribal and university requirements. DISCUSSION: Only tribal nations themselves can identify potential adverse outcomes, and they can do this only if they understand the assumptions and methods of the proposed research. Tribes must be truly equal partners in study design, data collection, interpretation, and publication. Advances in protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) are also applicable to IRB reviews, as are principles of sovereignty and indigenous rights, all of which affect data ownership and control. CONCLUSIONS: Academic researchers engaged in tribal projects should become familiar with all three areas: sovereignty, ethics and informed consent, and IPR. We recommend developing an agreement with tribal partners that reflects both health-related IRB and natural-resource-related IPR considerations.

Estimated reduction in cancer risk due to PAH exposures if source control measures during the 2008 Beijing Olympics were sustained.

BACKGROUND: The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games provided a unique case study to investigate the effect of source control measures on the reduction in air pollution, and associated inhalation cancer risk, in a Chinese megacity. OBJECTIVES: We measured 17 carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and estimated the lifetime excess inhalation cancer risk during different periods of the Beijing Olympic Games, to assess the effectiveness of source control measures in reducing PAH-induced inhalation cancer risks. METHODS: PAH concentrations were measured in samples of particulate matter ≤ 2.5 µm in aerodynamic diameter (PM2.5) collected during the Beijing Olympic Games, and the associated inhalation cancer risks were estimated using a point-estimate approach based on relative potency factors. RESULTS: We estimated the number of lifetime excess cancer cases due to exposure to the 17 carcinogenic PAHs [12 priority pollutant PAHs and five high-molecular-weight (302 Da) PAHs (MW 302 PAHs)] to range from 6.5 to 518 per million people for the source control period concentrations and from 12.2 to 964 per million people for the nonsource control period concentrations.This would correspond to a 46% reduction in estimated inhalation cancer risk due to source control measures, if these measures were sustained over time. Benzo[b]fluoranthene, dibenz[a,h]anthracene, benzo[a]pyrene, and dibenzo[a,l]pyrene were the most carcinogenic PAH species evaluated. Total excess inhalation cancer risk would be underestimated by 23% if we did not include the five MW 302 PAHs in the risk calculation. CONCLUSIONS: Source control measures, such as those imposed during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, can significantly reduce the inhalation cancer risk associated with PAH exposure in Chinese megacities similar to Beijing. MW 302 PAHs are a significant contributor to the estimated overall inhalation cancer risk.

Health economic assessment tools (HEAT) for walking and for cycling: methodology and user guide: economic assessment of transport infrastructure and policies

The promotion of cycling and walking for everyday physical activity not only promotes health but can also have positive effects on the environment. This booklet summarizes the tools and guidance developed to facilitate this shift: the methodology for the economic assessment of transport infrastructure and policies in relation to the health effects of walking and cycling; systematic reviews of the economic and health literature; and guidance on applying the health economic assessment tools and the principles underlying it. This methodology and user guide will be of key interest to professionals at both national and local levels: transport planners, traffic engineers, and special interest groups working on transport, walking, cycling or the environment, as well as health economists, physical activity experts and health promotion experts.

Harmful microinjecting practices among a cohort of injection drug users in vancouver Canada.

OBJECTIVES: We sought to identify factors associated with harmful microinjecting practices in a longitudinal cohort of IDU. METHODS: Using data from the Vancouver Injection Drug Users Study (VIDUS) between January 2004 and December 2005, generalized estimating equations (GEE) logistic regression was performed to examine sociodemographic and behavioral factors associated with four harmful microinjecting practices (frequent rushed injecting, frequent syringe borrowing, frequently injecting with a used water capsule, frequently injecting alone). RESULTS: In total, 620 participants were included in the present analysis. Our study included 251 (40.5%) women and 203 (32.7%) self-identified Aboriginal participants. The median age was 31.9 (interquartile range: 23.4-39.3). GEE analyses found that each harmful microinjecting practice was associated with a unique profile of sociodemographic and behavioral factors. DISCUSSION: We observed high rates of harmful microinjecting practices among IDU. The present study describes the epidemiology of harmful microinjecting practices and points to the need for strategies that target higher risk individuals including the use of peer-driven programs and drug-specific approaches in an effort to promote safer injecting practices.

Assisted injection in outdoor venues: an observational study of risks and implications for service delivery and harm reduction programming.

BACKGROUND: Assisted injection and public injection have both been associated with a variety of individual harms including an increased risk of HIV infection. As a means of informing local IDU-driven interventions that target or seek to address assisted injection, we examined the correlates of receiving assistance with injecting in outdoor settings among a cohort of persons who inject drugs (IDU). METHODS: Using data from the Vancouver Injection Drug Users Study (VIDUS), an observational cohort study of IDU, generalized estimating equations (GEE) were performed to examine socio-demographic and behavioural factors associated with reports of receiving assistance with injecting in outdoor settings. RESULTS: From January 2004 to December 2005, a total of 620 participants were eligible for the present analysis. Our study included 251 (40.5%) women and 203 (32.7%) self-identified Aboriginal participants. The proportion of participants who reported assisted injection outdoors ranged over time between 8% and 15%. Assisted injection outdoors was independently and positively associated with being female (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) = 1.74, 95% Confidence Intervals (CI): 1.21-2.50), daily cocaine injection (AOR = 1.70, 95% CI: 1.29-2.24), and sex trade involvement (AOR = 1.44, 95% CI: 1.00-2.06) and was negatively associated with Aboriginal ethnicity (AOR = 0.58, 95% CI: 0.41-0.82). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that a substantial proportion of local IDU engage in assisted injecting in outdoor settings and that the practice is associated with other markers of drug-related harm, including being female, daily cocaine injecting and sex trade involvement. These findings suggest that novel interventions are needed to address the needs of this subpopulation of IDU.

Risk Assessment Workgroup report.

The Risk Assessment Work Group focused on six charge questions related to CHABS, cyanobacteria and their toxins. The charge questions covered the following topics: Research needed to reduce uncertainty in establishing health based guidelines. Research that minimize the cost and maximize the benefits of various regulatory approaches. Exposure pathways for receptors of concern. Data available to support the derivation of health-based guideline values for harmful cyanobacterial algal blooms. Ecological services that guidelines or regulations should protect? A framework for making risk management determinations that incorporates consideration of the characteristics of CHABs, the risk for human health, ecosystem viability, and the costs and benefits of CHABs detection and management? The Work Group concluded that there is a considerable amount of human case-study data and information from animal studies to demonstrate that cyanobacterial toxins pose a hazard to humans, domestic animals, wildlife, and the ecosystem. However, the data on dose-response are limited and confounded by a lack of sufficient pure toxin to conduct most of the toxicological studies that will be needed in order to answer remaining questions on risk, and to provide the data for quantitative dose-response analysis. The Work Group recommended that research on purification or synthesis of pure toxin must be accomplished before the large scale studies to establish dose-response relationships will be possible. As the necessary-pure toxins become available, the Work Group recommended that studies be prioritized by the impact that they will have on reducing the uncertainty in the risk assessment in order to minimize the research costs and maximize the risk assessment benefits. Use of quantitative structure activity relationships (QSAR) and toxicity equivalency factor studies are also recommended as approaches for filling dose-response data gaps. The Work Group recognized that CHABs rarely introduce single toxins into the water supply. Under CHAB conditions, affected water is likely to contain a variety of toxins in varying concentrations that may change over the duration of the bloom. Accordingly, research on cyanotoxin interactions is needed, along with the development of risk assessment approaches for CHAB mixtures. The development of simple, accurate analytical methods that can be utilized by most analytical laboratories or used in the field was recognized as a major data need for establishing exposure potential and monitoring bloom conditions. Most currently available methods are time-consuming and/or costly. Human exposure to cyanobacterial toxins can occur through ingestion of contaminated drinking water, plus dermal contact and/or inhalation of aerosols while bathing and showering in tap water. Treatment can reduce the concentrations of both the toxins and the bacteria in the treated water but there is still much to be learned about the effectiveness of most treatment technologies on cyanobacteria and toxin removal. Human exposure to cyanobacteria and their toxins also occurs through incidental ingestion, dermal contact, and inhalation of aerosols during recreational use of surface waters, ingestion of contaminated fish and other foods of aquatic origin, and/or BGAS supplements. Establishing intakes and duration parameters for these exposure scenarios will facilitate the application of risk assessment approaches to these situations.