Exposure to volatile organic compounds and mortality in US adults: A population-based prospective cohort study.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are ubiquitous in both indoor and outdoor environments. Evidence on the associations of individual and joint VOC exposure with all-cause and cause-specific mortality is limited. Measurements of 15 urinary VOC metabolites were available to estimate exposure to 12 VOCs in the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES) 2005-2006 and 2011-2018. The environment risk score (ERS) was calculated using LASSO regression to reflect joint exposure to VOCs. Follow-up data on death were obtained from the NHANES Public-Use Linked Mortality File through December 31, 2019. Cox proportional hazard models and restricted cubic spline models were applied to evaluate the associations of individual and joint VOC exposures with all-cause and cause-specific mortality. Population attributable fractions were calculated to assess the death burden attributable to VOC exposure. During a median follow-up of 6.17 years, 734 (8.34 %) deaths occurred among 8799 adults. Urinary metabolites of acrolein, acrylonitrile, 1,3-butadiene, and ethylbenzene/styrene were significantly associated with all-cause, cardiovascular disease (CVD), respiratory disease (RD), and cancer mortality in a linear dose-response manner. Linear and robust dose-response relationships were also observed between ERS and all-cause and cause-specific mortality. Each 1-unit increase in ERS was associated with a 33.6 %, 39.1 %, 109.8 %, and 67.8 % increase for all-cause, CVD, RD, and cancer mortality risk, respectively. Moreover, joint exposure to VOCs contributed to 17.95 % of all-cause deaths, 13.49 % of CVD deaths, 35.65 % of RD deaths, and 33.85 % of cancer deaths. Individual and joint exposure to VOCs may enhance the risk of all-cause and cause-specific mortality. Reducing exposure to VOCs may alleviate the all-cause and cause-specific death burden.

Microbiota dysbiosis in honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) larvae infected with brood diseases and foraging bees exposed to agrochemicals.

American foulbrood (AFB) disease and chalkbrood disease (CBD) are important bacterial and fungal diseases, respectively, that affect honeybee broods. Exposure to agrochemicals is an abiotic stressor that potentially weakens honeybee colonies. Gut microflora alterations in adult honeybees associated with these biotic and abiotic factors have been investigated. However, microbial compositions in AFB- and CBD-infected larvae and the profile of whole-body microbiota in foraging bees exposed to agrochemicals have not been fully studied. In this study, bacterial and fungal communities in healthy and diseased (AFB/CBD) honeybee larvae were characterized by amplicon sequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA gene and fungal internal transcribed spacer1 region, respectively. The bacterial and fungal communities in disordered foraging bees poisoned by agrochemicals were analysed. Our results revealed that healthy larvae were significantly enriched in bacterial genera Lactobacillus and Stenotrophomonas and the fungal genera Alternaria and Aspergillus. The enrichment of these microorganisms, which had antagonistic activities against the etiologic agents for AFB and CBD, respectively, may protect larvae from potential infection. In disordered foraging bees, the relative abundance of bacterial genus Gilliamella and fungal species Cystofilobasidium macerans were significantly reduced, which may compromise hosts' capacities in nutrient absorption and immune defence against pathogens. Significantly higher frequency of environmentally derived fungi was observed in disordered foraging bees, which reflected the perturbed microbiota communities of hosts. Results from PICRUSt and FUNGuild analyses revealed significant differences in gene clusters of bacterial communities and fungal function profiles. Overall, results of this study provide references for the composition and function of microbial communities in AFB- and CBD-infected honeybee larvae and foraging bees exposed to agrochemicals.

Short term effects of air pollutants on hospital admissions for respiratory diseases among children: A multi-city time-series study in China.

Evidence concerning short-term acute association between air pollutants and hospital admissions for respiratory diseases among children in a multi-city setting was quite limited. We conducted a time-series analysis to evaluate the association of six common air pollutants with hospital admissions for respiratory diseases among children aged 0-14 years in 4 cities (Guangzhou, Shanghai, Wuhan and Xining), China during 2013-2018. We used generalized additive models incorporating penalized smoothing splines and random-effect meta-analysis to calculate city-specific and pooled estimates, respectively. The exposure-response relationship curves were fitted using the cubic spline regression. Subgroup analyses by gender, age, season and disease subtype were also performed. A total of 183,036 respiratory diseases hospitalizations were recorded during the study period, and 94.1% of the cases were acute respiratory infections. Overall, we observed that increased levels of air pollutants except O3, were significantly associated with increased hospital admissions for respiratory disease. Each 10 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5, SO2 and NO2 at lag 07, PM10 at lag 03 and per 1 mg/m3 increase in CO at lag 01 corresponded to increments of 1.19%, 3.58%, 2.23%, 0.51% and 6.10% in total hospitalizations, respectively. Generally, exposure-response relationships of PM2.5 and SO2 in Guangzhou, SO2, NO2 and CO in Wuhan, as well as SO2 and NO2 in Xining with respiratory disease hospitalizations were also found. Moreover, the adverse effects of these pollutants apart from PM2.5 in certain cities remained significant even at exposure levels below the current Chinese Ambient Air Quality Standards (CAAQS) Grade II. Children aged 4-14 years appeared to be more vulnerable to the adverse effects of PM2.5, SO2 and NO2. Furthermore, with the exception of O3, the associations were stronger in cold season than in warm season. Short-term exposure to PM2.5, SO2, NO2 and CO were associated, in dose-responsive manners, with increased risks of hospitalizations for childhood respiratory diseases, and adverse effects of air pollutants except PM2.5 held even at exposure levels below the current CAAQS Grade II in certain cities.

Childhood injuries from motor vehicle-pedestrian collisions in Wuhan, The People's Republic of China.

OBJECTIVES: To examine motor vehicle-pedestrian collision injuries resulting in hospitalisation among children admitted into Wuhan Children's Hospital, The People's Republic of China. METHODS: From the 1993 to 2004 inpatient data of Wuhan Children's Hospital, we identified injury cases from motor vehicle traffic crashes among children aged 18 years or less using the discharge diagnosis defined by the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM). We examined characteristics of injuries from motor vehicle traffic crashes (ICD-9-CM = E810-E819) and then calculated the proportion of injuries from motor vehicle-pedestrian collisions (ICD-9-CM = E814) among all hospitalisations for childhood injuries (ICD-9-CM = 800-959). The trend of injuries from motor vehicle-pedestrian collisions from 1993 to 2004 was described. RESULTS: Of the 12,939 injuries resulting in hospitalisation among children admitted into Wuhan Children's Hospital during 1993-2004, a total of 528 injuries were caused by motor vehicle traffic crashes. The majority of the injured children in motor vehicle traffic crashes were males (59.3%). In comparison with other traffic injuries, a higher proportion of motor vehicle-pedestrian collisions occurred among children aged 12-15 years. Motor vehicle-pedestrian collision injuries resulted in significantly longer lengths of stay in the hospital than other motor vehicle traffic injuries (19.4 days versus 14.3 days, respectively; t-test = 2.59, p-value < 0.05). The percentage of motor vehicle-pedestrian collision injuries among all hospitalisations for childhood injuries increased significantly from 1.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.2-2.1) in 1993 to 3.1% (95% CI = 2.7-3.6) in 2004 (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Hospitalisations for injuries from motor vehicle-pedestrian collisions at this large children's hospital increased significantly in the past decade. These data underscore the need for additional research and a major concerted effort to prevent motor vehicle-pedestrian collisions among children in China.