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Environmental Exposure and Cancer Risk in Healthy Populations

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A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 May 2021) | Viewed by 31288

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Prof. Dr. Emanuela Taioli

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Institute for Translational Epidemiology and Department of Population Health Science and Policy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
Interests: biostatistics; cancer; epidemiology; healthcare; lung; obesity; personalized medicine; public health; thyroid; translational research
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Environmental exposure to carcinogens and the risk they pose to healthy populations is of great concern, especially in low- and middle- income countries (LMIC) worldwide, where regulations and allowed limits of exposure are less stringent than in the US and Europe. New emerging chemicals, such as pesticides and weed killers, are now used on a massive scale and are diffuse in the environment. They pose potential risks for residents and could be more toxic for vulnerable populations, such as children and the elderly.

Although numerous articles have been published on environmental carcinogens, there are still substantial knowledge gaps, particularly with respect to recently introduced chemicals and carcinogens ingested with food crops and water. A robust literature on disparities in exposure and cancer risk is also lacking. Studies are also required to determine the association between low-dose exposures and cancer risk, as well as on the simultaneous effect of environmental exposure to multiple carcinogens.

The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health devotes this Special Issue to recent findings on “Environmental Exposure and Cancer Risk in Healthy Populations”. A wide range of topics will be included in this Special Issue, such as the following:

Current research on carcinogens in irrigation water and the impact on food crops;
Dose–response relationship;
Risk assessment and advanced analytical methods;
Biomarkers of exposure, effect, and susceptibility;
Gene–environment interaction and cancer risk;
Health disparities in cancer risk.

You are invited to submit manuscripts for consideration in this Special Issue, which covers the aforementioned topics (but papers on other related topics are also welcome).

Prof. Dr. Emanuela Taioli
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

chemical exposure
drinking and groundwater
cancer risk
human health
risk assessment, new methods
vulnerable populations
health disparities
gene–environmental interaction
effect of exposure on imprinting

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Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

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11 pages, 330 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Breast Cancer Characteristics in the Population of Survivors Participating in the World Trade Center Environmental Health Center Program 2002–2019

by Alan A. Arslan, Yian Zhang, Nedim Durmus, Sultan Pehlivan, Adrienne Addessi, Freya Schnabel, Yongzhao Shao and Joan Reibman

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(14), 7555; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18147555 - 15 Jul 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2124

Abstract

The destruction of World Trade Center on 11 September 2001 exposed local community members to a complex mixture of known carcinogens and potentially carcinogenic substances. To date, breast cancer has not been characterized in detail in the WTC-exposed civilian populations. The cancer characteristics of breast cancer patients were derived from the newly developed Pan-Cancer Database at the WTC Environmental Health Center (WTC EHC). We used the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program breast cancer data as a reference source. Between May 2002 and 31 December 2019, 2840 persons were diagnosed with any type of cancer at the WTC EHC, including 601 patients with a primary breast cancer diagnosis (592 women and 9 men). There was a higher proportion of grade 3 (poorly differentiated) tumors (34%) among the WTC EHC female breast cancers compared to that of the SEER-18 data (25%). Compared to that of the SEER data, female breast cancers in the WTC EHC had a lower proportion of luminal A (88% and 65%, respectively), higher proportion of luminal B (13% and 15%, respectively), and HER-2-enriched (5.5% and 7%, respectively) subtypes. These findings suggest considerable differences in the breast cancer characteristics and distribution of breast cancer intrinsic subtypes in the WTC-exposed civilian population compared to that of the general population. This is important because of the known effect of molecular subtypes on breast cancer prognosis. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Exposure and Cancer Risk in Healthy Populations)

13 pages, 684 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Retrospective Chart Review Evaluating the Relationship between Cancer Diagnosis and Residential Water Source on the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland, USA

by Angela DeRidder, Sowjanya Kalluri and Veera Holdai

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(1), 145; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18010145 - 28 Dec 2020

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2726

Abstract

Well water contamination in heavily agricultural regions has previously been linked with increased cancer incidence and mortality. The lower Eastern shore of Maryland is a rural, agricultural region with some of the highest rates of cancer in Maryland and the United States. Our study sought to characterize residential private well water use among cancer patients on the lower Eastern shore of Maryland, and to compare private well water utilization between cancer patients and the general regional population. Retrospective chart review was conducted to identify patients diagnosed with colon, lung, melanoma or breast cancer at a regional hospital from 1 January 2017 through 31 December 2018. Residential water source was determined using residential address and municipal water records. Fisher’s exact test was used to compare residential private well water utilization between our study population and the baseline regional population. The majority of cancer patients (57%) lived in homes supplied by private well water (428/746). Cancer patients were more likely to live in homes supplied by private well water compared to individuals in the general regional population (57% vs. 32%, p < 0.001). In conclusion, cancer patients on the lower Eastern shore of Maryland were more likely to live in homes supplied by residential private well water than the regional population. Additional studies are needed to evaluate well water use and cancer risk in this vulnerable region. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Exposure and Cancer Risk in Healthy Populations)

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15 pages, 1185 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Cancer Incidence Trends in the Oil Shale Industrial Region in Estonia

by Jane Idavain, Katrin Lang, Jelena Tomasova, Aavo Lang and Hans Orru

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(11), 3833; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17113833 - 28 May 2020

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3223

Abstract

Large oil shale resources are found in Eastern Estonia, where the mineral resource is mined, excavated, and used for electricity generation and shale oil extraction. During industrial activities in the last 100 years, pollutants have been emitted in large amounts, some of which are toxic and carcinogenic. The current study aims to analyse time trends in cancer incidence in the oil shale industry-affected areas and compare them with overall cancer incidence rates and trends in Estonia. We analysed Estonian Cancer Registry data on selected cancer sites that have been previously indicated to have relationships with industrial activities like oil shale extraction. We included lung cancer, kidney cancer, urinary bladder cancer, leukaemia, breast cancer, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. A statistically significantly higher lung cancer age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR) was found during the study period (1992—2015) only in males in the oil shale areas as compared to males in Estonia overall: 133.6 and 95.5 per 100,000, respectively. However, there appeared to be a statistically significant (p < 0.05) decrease in the lung cancer ASIR in males in the oil shale areas (overall decrease 28.9%), whereas at the same time, there was a significant increase (p < 0.05) in non-oil shale areas (13.3%) and in Estonia overall (1.5%). Other cancer sites did not show higher ASIRs in the oil shale industrial areas compared to other areas in Estonia. Possible explanations could be improved environmental quality, socio-economic factors, and other morbidities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Exposure and Cancer Risk in Healthy Populations)

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10 pages, 2419 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Bivariate Spatial Pattern between Smoking Prevalence and Lung Cancer Screening in US Counties

by Bian Liu, Jeremy Sze, Lihua Li, Katherine A. Ornstein and Emanuela Taioli

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(10), 3383; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17103383 - 13 May 2020

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3462

Abstract

Objectives: Lung cancer screening (LCS) with low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) has been a reimbursable preventive service covered by Medicare since 2015. Geographic disparities in the access to LDCT providers may contribute to the low uptake of LCS. We evaluated LDCT service availability for older adults in the United States (US) based on Medicare claims data and explored its ecological correlation with smoking prevalence. Materials and Methods: We identified providers who provided at least 11 LDCT services in 2016 using the Medicare Provider Utilization and Payment Data: Physician and Other Supplier Public Use File. We constructed a 30-mile Euclidian distance buffer around each provider’s location to estimate individual LDCT coverage areas. We then mapped the county-level density of LDCT providers and the county-level prevalence of current daily cigarette smoking in a bivariate choropleth map. Results: Approximately 1/5 of census tracts had no LDCT providers within 30 miles and 46% of counties had no LDCT services. At the county level, the median LDCT density was 0.5 (interquartile range (IQR): 0–5.3) providers per 1000 Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries, and cigarette smoking prevalence was 17.5% (IQR: 15.2–19.8%). High LDCT service availability was most concentrated in the northeast US, revealing a misalignment with areas of high current smoking prevalence, which tended to be in the central and southern US. Conclusions: Our maps highlight areas in need for enhanced workforce and capacity building aimed at reducing disparities in the access and utilization of LDCT services among older adults in the US. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Exposure and Cancer Risk in Healthy Populations)

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11 pages, 449 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Comet Test in Saliva Leukocytes of Pre-School Children Exposed to Air Pollution in North Italy: The Respira Study

by Claudia Zani, Elisabetta Ceretti, Ilaria Zerbini, Gaia Claudia Viviana Viola, Francesco Donato, Umberto Gelatti and Donatella Feretti

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(9), 3276; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17093276 - 8 May 2020

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2540

Abstract

Air pollution is a well-known problem for human health, especially for children living in highly polluted urban areas. This study aimed to assess the relationship between airborne pollutants concentration and biomarkers of DNA damage in the buccal mucosa cells of pre-school children. DNA damage was investigated with comet test in saliva leukocytes taken from sputum of 3- to 6-year-old children living in Brescia, Northern Italy, collected during two consecutive winter seasons (2012–2013). The daily levels of PM10, PM2.5, NO₂, CO, SO₂, benzene and O₃ in urban air were collected for the whole period. A questionnaire filled in by the children’s parents was used to evaluate indoor and outdoor exposure. DNA damage in saliva leukocytes was evaluated in 152 children and the means of tail intensity and visual score as DNA damage were 6.2 ± 4.3 and 182.1 ± 30.9, respectively. No demographic and indoor or outdoor exposure variable was associated with the two measures of DNA damage. No significant association between air pollution and DNA damage in children’s buccal leukocytes was found. In this study, the comet assay does not appear to be a valuable biomarker to detect DNA damage in children exposed to high levels of air pollutants, such as PM10, PM2.5 and NO₂. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Exposure and Cancer Risk in Healthy Populations)

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12 pages, 2721 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Association between Uranium Exposure and Thyroid Health: A National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Analysis and Ecological Study

by Maaike van Gerwen, Naomi Alpert, Wil Lieberman-Cribbin, Peter Cooke, Kimia Ziadkhanpour, Bian Liu and Eric Genden

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(3), 712; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17030712 - 22 Jan 2020

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 3978

Abstract

Besides specific, incidental radiation exposure, which has been associated with increased thyroid cancer risk, the effects of exposure to background radiation from uranium, a naturally occurring, radioactive, and ubiquitous element, on the thyroid gland has not been widely studied. We therefore investigated the association between uranium exposure and thyroid health in the US. Using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), we assessed the association between urinary uranium levels and thyroid-related antibodies, including thyroglobulin antibodies (TgAb) and anti-thyroid peroxidase (anti-TPO), in the general population. Secondly, we performed an ecological study of age-adjusted thyroid cancer incidence rates per state and sources of uranium exposure. We included 3125 eligible participants from the NHANES and found a significant association between increased TgAb and increased urinary uranium levels when analyzed as quartiles (p = 0.0105), while no association was found with anti-TPO. In addition, although no significant correlation was found in the ecological study, certain states had high age-adjusted thyroid cancer incidence rates and a high number of uranium activity locations and high uranium concentrations in water. The present study suggests that uranium exposure may affect thyroid health, which warrants increased sampling of soil and water in high-risk states. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Exposure and Cancer Risk in Healthy Populations)

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11 pages, 1460 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Predictions of Mortality from Pleural Mesothelioma in Italy After the Ban of Asbestos Use

by Enrico Oddone, Jordy Bollon, Consuelo Rubina Nava, Marcella Bugani, Dario Consonni, Alessandro Marinaccio, Corrado Magnani and Francesco Barone-Adesi

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(2), 607; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17020607 - 17 Jan 2020

Cited by 21 | Viewed by 6889

Abstract

Even if the epidemic of malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is still far from being over worldwide, the health effects of regulations banning asbestos can be evaluated in the countries that implemented them early. Estimates of MPM future burden can be useful to inform and support the implementation of anti-asbestos health policies all around the world. With this aim we described the trends of MPM deaths in Italy (1970–2014) and predicted the future number of cases in both sexes (2015–2039), with consideration of the national asbestos ban that was issued in 1992. The Italian National Statistical Institute (ISTAT) provided MPM mortality figures. Cases ranging from 25 to 89 years of age were included in the analysis. For each five-year period from 1970 to 2014, mortality rates were calculated and age–period–cohort Poisson models were used to predict future burden of MPM cases until 2039. During the period 1970–2014 a total number of 28,907 MPM deaths were observed. MPM deaths increased constantly over the study period, ranging from 1356 cases in 1970–1974 to 5844 cases in 2010–2014. The peak of MPM cases is expected to be reached in the period 2020–2024 (about 7000 cases). The decrease will be slow: about 26,000 MPM cases are expected to occur in Italy during the next 20 years (2020–2039). The MPM epidemic in Italy is far from being concluded despite the national ban implemented in 1992, and the peak is expected in 2020–2024, in both sexes. Our results are consistent with international literature. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Exposure and Cancer Risk in Healthy Populations)

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10 pages, 601 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Urinary Dialkylphosphate Metabolite Levels in US Adults—National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999–2008

by Christina Gillezeau, Naomi Alpert, Priyanka Joshi and Emanuela Taioli

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16(23), 4605; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16234605 - 20 Nov 2019

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 2425

Abstract

Background: Urinary dialkylphosphate metabolites are considered to be a proxy of the cumulative exposure to organophosphorus pesticides. We analyzed the urinary levels of six dialkylphosphate (DAP) metabolites in US adults, to assess the factors associated with levels of urinary metabolites, and observe the time trends. Methods: We analyzed the combined urinary levels of Dimethylphosphate (DMP), Diethylphosphate (DEP), Dimethylthiophosphate (DMTP), Diethylthiophosphate (DETP), Dimethyldithiophosphate (DMDTP), and Diethyldithiophosphate (DEDTP) in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 1999 and 2008. Results: Increased age and female gender were positively associated with combined levels of urinary DAP metabolites; BMI < 18.5 kg/m², BMI > 25 kg/m², current smoking, and later survey year were inversely associated with combined levels of DAP metabolites. Among those with at least one detectable DAP in their urine, the mean levels decreased starting in 2001, but stayed relatively stable through 2008. Although the maximum combined urinary DAP level was highest in 1999–2000, throughout all years, we observed extremely high levels of exposure for subgroups of individuals. Conclusion: Despite the fact that organophosphorus pesticides were banned for residential use in the US in 2006, there are still opportunities for exposure in the general population. The average urinary DAP levels have decreased over time; however, the decline appears to have plateaued in recent years, and there remains highly exposed individuals. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Exposure and Cancer Risk in Healthy Populations)

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11 pages, 1001 KiB

Open AccessReview

Arsenic Exposure and Risk of Urothelial Cancer: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

by Pamela Di Giovanni, Giuseppe Di Martino, Piera Scampoli, Fabrizio Cedrone, Francesca Meo, Giuseppe Lucisano, Ferdinando Romano and Tommaso Staniscia

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(9), 3105; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17093105 - 29 Apr 2020

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 3386

Abstract

Background: Arsenic is a toxic metalloid element widely distributed throughout the environment. Arsenic contaminated water has become an ongoing public health issue affecting hundred million people worldwide. The aim of this paper was to summarize the evidence in the association between arsenic metabolites and urinary tract cancer risk. Methods: A systematic review was conducted searching for observational studies that evaluated the association of arsenic metabolites and urinary tract cancer. Risk estimates from individual studies were pooled by using random effects models. Results: All the metabolites considered in this study resulted to be significantly associated to urothelial cancer, respectively: IA% 3.51 (1.21–5.82) (p = 0.003), MMA with WMD = 2.77 (1.67–3.87) (p < 0.001) and DMA with WMD = −4.56 (−7.91–1.22) (p = 0.008). Conclusions: Arsenic metabolites are significantly associated to urothelial cancer. Future studies will help to verify the independent association(s) between arsenic metabolites and urothelial cancer. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Exposure and Cancer Risk in Healthy Populations)

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