| 1. |
- Bornehag, Carl-Gustaf, 1957-, et al.
(författare)
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The SELMA study : a birth cohort study in Sweden following more than 2000 mother-child pairs
- 2012
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Ingår i: Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology. - Hoboken, USA : Wiley-Blackwell. - 0269-5022 .- 1365-3016. ; 26:5, s. 456-467
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: This paper describes the background, aim and study design for the Swedish SELMA study that aimed to investigate the importance of early life exposure during pregnancy and infancy to environmental factors with a major focus on endocrine disrupting chemicals for multiple chronic diseases/disorders in offspring.Methods: The cohort was established by recruiting women in the 10th week of pregnancy. Blood and urine from the pregnant women and the child and air and dust from home environment from pregnancy and infancy period have been collected. Questionnaires were used to collect information on life styles, socio-economic status, living conditions, diet and medical history.Results: Of the 8394 reported pregnant women, 6658 were invited to participate in the study. Among the invited women, 2582 (39%) agreed to participate. Of the 4076 (61%) non-participants, 2091 women were invited to a non-respondent questionnaire in order to examine possible selection bias. We found a self-selection bias in the established cohort when compared with the non-participant group, e.g. participating families did smoke less (14% vs. 19%), had more frequent asthma and allergy symptoms in the family (58% vs. 38%), as well as higher education among the mothers (51% vs. 36%) and more often lived in single-family houses (67% vs. 60%).Conclusions: These findings indicate that the participating families do not fully represent the study population and thus, the exposure in this population. However, there is no obvious reason that this selection bias will have an impact on identification of environmental risk factors.
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| 2. |
- Bölling, Anette, et al.
(författare)
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Pulmonary phthalate exposure and asthma - is PPAR a plausible mechanistic link?
- 2013
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Ingår i: EXCLI Journal. - : Universität Mainz. - 1611-2156. ; 12, s. 733-759
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Due to their extensive use as plasticisers in numerous consumer products, phthalates have become ubiquitous environmental contaminants. An increasing number of epidemiological studies suggest that exposure to phthalates may be associated with worsening or development of airway diseases. Peroxisome Proliferation Activated Receptors (PPAR)s, identified as important targets for phthalates in early studies in rodent liver, have been suggested as a possible mechanistic link. In this review we discuss the likelihood of an involvement of PPARs in asthma development and exacerbation due to pulmonary phthalate exposure. First, we go through the literature on indoor air levels of phthalates and pulmonary phthalate kinetics. These data are then used to estimate the pulmonary phthalate levels due to inhalation exposure. Secondly, the literature on phthalate-induced activation or modulation of PPARs is summarized. Based on these data, we discuss whether pulmonary phthalate exposure is likely to cause PPAR activation, and if this is a plausible mechanism for adverse effects of phthalates in the lung. It is concluded that the pulmonary concentrations of some phthalates may be sufficient to cause a direct activation of PPARs. Since PPARs mainly mediate antiinflammatory effects in the lungs, a direct activation is not a likely molecular mechanism for adverse effects of phthalates. However, possible modulatory effects of phthalates on PPARs deserve further investigation, including partial antagonist effects and/or cross talk with other signalling pathways. Moreover other mechanisms, including interactions between phthalates and other receptors, could also contribute to possible adverse pulmonary effects of phthalates.
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| 3. |
- Guo, Jing, et al.
(författare)
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Pulmonary toxicity and adjuvant effect of di-(2-exylhexyl) phthalate in ovalbumin-immunized BALB/c mice
- 2012
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : PLOS. - 1932-6203. ; 7:6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Asthma is a complex pulmonary inflammatory disease, which is characterized by airway hyperresponsiveness, variable airflow obstruction and inflammation in the airways. The majority of asthma is allergic asthma, which is a disease caused by type I hypersensitivity mediated by IgE. Exposures to a number of environmental chemicals are suspected to lead to asthma, one such pollutant is di-(2-ethylheyl) phthalate (DEHP). DEHP is a manufactured chemical that is commonly added in plastic products to make them flexible. Epidemiological studies have revealed a positive association between DEHP exposure and asthma prevalence.METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The present study was aimed to determine the underlying role of DEHP exposure in airway reactivity, especially when combined with allergen exposure. The biomarkers include pulmonary histopathology, airway hyperresponsiveness (lung function), IgE, IL-4, IFN-γ and eosinophils. Healthy balb/c mice were randomly divided into eight exposure groups (n = 8 each): (1) saline control, (2) 30 µg/(kg•d) DEHP, (3) 300 µg/(kg•d) DEHP, (4) 3000 µg/(kg•d) DEHP, and (5) ovalbumin (OVA)-sensitized group, (6) OVA-combined with 30 µg/(kg•d) DEHP, (7) OVA-combined with 300 µg/(kg•d) DEHP, and (8) OVA-combined with 3000 µg/(kg•d) DEHP. Experimental tests were conducted after 52-day DEHP exposure and subsequently one week of challenge with aerosolized OVA. The principal findings include: (1) Strong postive associations exist between OVA-combined DEHP exposure and serum total IgE (T-IgE), as well as histological findings. These positive associations show a dose-dependent low dose sensitive effect of DEHP. (2) IL-4, eosinophil recruitment and lung function are also indicators for adjuvant effect of DEHP.CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results suggest that except the significant changes of immunological and inflammatory biomarkers (T-IgE, IL-4, IFN-γ and eosinophils), the pulmonary histological (histopathological examination) and physiological (lung function) data also support that DEHP may promote and aggravate allergic asthma by adjuvant effect.
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| 4. |
- Shu, Huan, 1980-, et al.
(författare)
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PVC flooring at home and development of asthma among young children in Sweden, a 10-year follow-up
- 2014
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Ingår i: Indoor Air. - : Blackwell Publishing. - 0905-6947 .- 1600-0668. ; 24:3, s. 227-235
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The incidence of asthma and allergy has increased throughout the developed world over the past decades. During the same period of time, the use of industrial chemicals such as phthalates, commonly used as plasticizers in polyvinylchloride (PVC) flooring material, has increased. The aim of this study was to investigate whether PVC flooring in the home of children in the age of 1–5 years is associated with the development of asthma in 5‐ and 10‐year follow‐up investigations (n = 3228). Dampness in Buildings and Health Study (DBH Study) commenced in 2000 in Värmland, Sweden. The current analyses included subjects who answered all baseline and follow‐up questionnaires. Logistic regression analyses were applied to questionnaire results. Children who had PVC floorings in the bedroom at baseline were more likely to develop doctor‐diagnosed asthma during the following 10‐year period when compared with children living without. There were indications that PVC flooring in the parents' bedrooms was strongly associated with the new cases of doctor‐diagnosed asthma when compared with child′s bedroom. Our results suggest that PVC flooring exposure during pregnancy could be a critical period in the development of asthma in children at a later time; prenatal exposure and measurements of phthalate metabolites should be included in the future.
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| 5. |
- Angelova, Radostina A., et al.
(författare)
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The response rate in postal epidemiological studies in the context of national cultural behaviour
- 2012
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Ingår i: 10th International Conference on Healthy Buildings 2012. - 9781627480758 ; , s. 1429-1434
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The purpose of this study was to analyse the effect of national cultural differences on the response rate, obtained in questionnaire based epidemiological studies on allergy and asthma, performed in Sweden (DBH) and Bulgaria (ALLHOME). The two studies used one and the same methodology, but the obtained response rate was different: 78.8% in DBH and 34.5% in ALLHOME. The differences in the obtained response rate and the reasons for these differences were analyzed on the basis of the Hofstede's cultural dimensions' indexes, which clearly show the distinction in the national cultural behaviour of people in Sweden and Bulgaria. It was found that national culture could strongly influence the response behaviour of people in epidemiological studies and Hofstede's indexes can be useful tool when designing and performing epidemiological studies, and in particular - questionnaire surveys.
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| 6. |
- Bergman, Åke, et al.
(författare)
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Science and policy on endocrine disrupters must not be mixed : a reply to a "common sense" intervention by toxicology journal editors
- 2013
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Ingår i: Environmental Health. - : BioMed Central (BMC). - 1476-069X. ; 12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The "common sense" intervention by toxicology journal editors regarding proposed European Union endocrine disrupter regulations ignores scientific evidence and well-established principles of chemical risk assessment. In this commentary, endocrine disrupter experts express their concerns about a recently published, and is in our considered opinion inaccurate and factually incorrect, editorial that has appeared in several journals in toxicology. Some of the shortcomings of the editorial are discussed in detail. We call for a better founded scientific debate which may help to overcome a polarisation of views detrimental to reaching a consensus about scientific foundations for endocrine disrupter regulation in the EU.
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