Peters, John M., Murphy, Raymond L. H., and Ferris, Benjamin, G., Jr. (1969).Brit. J. industr. Med.,26, 115-120. Ventilatory function in workers exposed to low levels of toluene diisocyanate: a six-month follow-up. Thirty-four workers exposed to toluene diisocyanate during production of polyurethane foam were examined with a respiratory questionnaire and tests of ventilatory capacity. The tests of pulmonary function were conducted on Monday morning and afternoon and on Tuesday morning and afternoon. Twenty-eight of these 34 workers had been examined with the same tests six months earlier. On Monday a mean change in the one-second forced expiratory volume (F.E.V.1·0) of –0·16 l. occurred that did not return to the baseline value (Monday a.m.) on Tuesday morning. A statistically significant decrease in all the measurements of ventilatory capacity except the forced vital capacity occurred over the six months in the 28 workers. The F.E.V.1·0 fell an average of 0·14 l. and flow rates at 75%, 50%, 25%, and 10% of vital capacity also decreased significantly. There was a highly significant correlation coefficient (r = 0·72) between one-day changes in F.E.V.1·0 (measured six months earlier) and six-month changes in F.E.V.1·0. Workers with respiratory symptoms (cough and/or phlegm) demonstrated greater falls in F.E.V.1·0 than did asymptomatic workers.

All air concentrations of toluene diisocyanate measured during this study were below the threshold limit value (0·02 p.p.m.).

Results of previous studies support the existence of a spatially coherent, secularly varying climate signal, propagating through a network of synchronized climate indices across the Northern Hemisphere during the 20th century. The signal was identified in both instrumental and proxy data sets. In this present study, we seek to detect this same low-frequency signal propagating hemispherically through networks of model-simulated climate indices. These simulated climate indices were reconstructed from a data set generated by models of the third Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP3). Methods used in the earlier studies on climate-signal propagation guide the strategy for this companion study, for which 60 network analyses were performed. Most analyses focused on 20th century behavior, several on pre-industrial conditions. None succeeded in reproducing a hemispherically propagating signal. In light of previous results, we offer possible reasons for this finding. Among them is speculation on whether mechanisms relevant to signal propagation might be missing from this suite of general circulation models.

Background

The interrelationships between air pollution, lung function and the incidence of childhood asthma have yet to be established. A study was undertaken to determine whether lung function is associated with new onset asthma and whether this relationship varies by exposure to ambient air pollutants.

Methods

A cohort of children aged 9–10 years without asthma or wheeze at study entry were identified from the Children's Health Study and followed for 8 years. The participants resided in 12 communities with a wide range of ambient air pollutants that were measured continuously. Spirometric testing was performed and a medical diagnosis of asthma was ascertained annually. Proportional hazard regression models were fitted to investigate the relationship between lung function at study entry and the subsequent development of asthma and to determine whether air pollutants modify these associations.

Results

The level of airway flow was associated with new onset asthma. Over the 10th–90th percentile range of forced expiratory flow over the mid‐range of expiration (FEF25–75, 57.1%), the hazard ratio (HR) of new onset asthma was 0.50 (95% CI 0.35 to 0.71). This protective effect of better lung function was reduced in children exposed to higher levels of particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter <2.5 μm (PM2.5). Over the 10th–90th percentile range of FEF25–75, the HR of new onset asthma was 0.34 (95% CI 0.21 to 0.56) in communities with low PM2.5 (<13.7 μg/m3) and 0.76 (95% CI 0.45 to 1.26) in communities with high PM2.5 (⩾13.7 μg/m3). A similar pattern was observed for forced expiratory volume in 1 s. Little variation in HR was observed for ozone.

Conclusion

Exposure to high levels of PM2.5 attenuates the protective effect of better lung function against new onset asthma.

Background

Because asthma has been associated with exercise and ozone exposure, an association likely mediated by oxidative stress, we hypothesized that GSTP1, GSTM1, exercise and ozone exposure have inter-related effects on asthma pathogenesis.

Methods

We examined associations of the well characterized null variant of GSTM1 and four SNPs that characterized common variation in GSTP1 with new-onset asthma in a cohort of 1,610 school children. Children’s exercise and ozone-exposure status were classified using participation in team sports and community-specific ozone levels, respectively.

Results

A two SNP model (rs6591255, rs1695 [Ile105Val]) best captured the association between GSTP1 and asthma. Compared to children with common alleles for both the SNPs, the risk of asthma was lower for those with the Val allele of Ile105Val (HR 0.60, 95% CI 0.4, 0.8) and higher for the variant allele of rs6591255 (HR 1.40, 95%CI 1.1–1.9). Asthma risk increased with level of exercise among ile105 homozygotes but not among those with at least one val105 allele (interaction p-value=0.02). Risk was highest among ile105 homozygotes who participated in ≥3 sports in the high-ozone communities (HR: 6.15, 95%CI: 2.2–7.4). GSTM1 null was independently associated with asthma and showed little variation with air pollution or GSTP1 genotype. These results were consistent in two independent fourth-grade cohorts in the study population recruited in 1993 and 1996.

Conclusion

Children who inherit a val105 variant allele may be protected from the increased risk of asthma associated with exercise, especially in high-ozone communities. GSTM1 null genotype was associated with increased risk of asthma.

Rationale: The glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) are important detoxification enzymes.

Objectives: To investigate effects of variants in GST mu genes on lung function and assess their interactions with tobacco smoke exposure.

Methods: In this prospective study, 14,836 lung function measurements were collected from 2,108 children who participated in two Southern California cohorts. For each child, tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms in GSTM2, GSTM3, GSTM4, and GSTM5 loci were genotyped. Using principal components and haplotype analyses, the significance of each locus in relation to level and growth of FEV1, maximum midexpiratory flow rate (MMEF), and FVC was evaluated. Interactions between loci and tobacco smoke on lung function were also investigated.

Measurements and Main Results: Variation in the GST mu family locus was associated with lower FEV1 (P = 0.01) and MMEF (0.04). Two haplotypes of GSTM2 were associated with FEV1 and MMEF, with effect estimates in opposite directions. One haplotype in GSTM3 showed a decrease in growth for MMEF (−164.9 ml/s) compared with individuals with other haplotypes. One haplotype in GSTM4 showed significantly decreased growth in FEV1 (−51.3 ml), MMEF (−69.1 ml/s), and FVC (−44.4 ml), compared with all other haplotypes. These results were consistent across two independent cohorts. Variation in GSTM2 was particularly important for FVC and FEV1 among children whose mothers smoked during pregnancy.

Conclusions: Genetic variation across the GST mu locus is associated with 8-year lung function growth. Children of mothers who smoked during pregnancy and had variation in GSTM2 had lower lung function growth.

Rationale: Although oxidative stress is a cardinal feature of asthma, the roles of oxidant air pollutants and antioxidant genes heme oxygenase 1 (HMOX-1), catalase (CAT), and manganese superoxide dismutase (MNSOD) in asthma pathogenesis have yet to be determined.

Objectives: We hypothesized that the functional polymorphisms of HMOX-1 ([GT]n repeat), CAT (−262C>T −844C>T), and MNSOD (Ala-9Val) are associated with new-onset asthma, and the effects of these variants vary by exposure to ozone, a potent oxidant air pollutant.

Methods: We assessed this hypothesis in a population-based cohort of non-Hispanic (n = 1,125) and Hispanic white (n = 586) children who resided in 12 California communities and who were followed annually for 8 years to ascertain new-onset asthma.

Measurements and Main Results: Air pollutants were continuously measured in each of the study communities during the 8 years of study follow-up. HMOX-1 “short” alleles (<23 repeats) were associated with a reduced risk for new-onset asthma among non-Hispanic whites (hazard ratio [HR], 0.64; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.41–0.99). This protective effect was largest in children residing in low-ozone communities (HR, 0.48; 95% CI, 0.25–0.91) (interaction P value = 0.003). Little evidence for an association with HMOX-1 was observed among Hispanic children. In contrast, Hispanic children with a variant of the CAT-262 “T” allele (CT or TT) had an increased risk for asthma (HR, 1.78; P value = 0.01). The effects of these polymorphisms were not modified by personal smoking or secondhand-smoke exposure.

Conclusions: Functional promoter variants in CAT and HMOX-1 showed ethnicity-specific associations with new-onset asthma. Oxidant gene protection was restricted to children living in low-ozone communities.

The pursuit of eternal youth has existed for centuries and recent data indicate that fat-storing tissues control lifespan. In a D. melanogaster fat body insertional mutagenic enhancer trap screen designed to isolate genes that control longevity, we identified a regulator of G protein signaling (RGS) domain containing sorting nexin, termed snazarus (sorting nexin lazarus, snz). Flies with insertions into the 5′ UTR of snz live up to twice as long as controls. Transgenic expression of UAS-Snz from the snz Gal4 enhancer trap insertion, active in fat metabolic tissues, rescued lifespan extension. Further, the lifespan extension of snz mutants was independent of endosymbiont, e.g., Wolbachia, effects. Notably, old snz mutant flies remain active and fertile indicating that snz mutants have prolonged youthfulness, a goal of aging research. Since mammals have snz-related genes, it is possible that the functions of the snz family may be conserved to humans.

Family history of asthma and allergies strongly influences asthma risk in children but the association may differ for early onset persistent, early onset transient, and late onset asthma. We analyzed the relation between family history and these types of asthma using cross-sectional data from a school-based study of 5,046 Southern California children. Parental and/or sibling history of asthma and allergy were generally more strongly associated with early onset persistent asthma compared with early onset transient or late onset asthma. For children with two asthmatic parents relative to those with none, the prevalence ratio (PR) for early onset persistent asthma was 12.1 [95% confidence interval (CI) 7.91–18.7] compared with 7.51 (95% CI 2.62–21.5) for early onset transient asthma and 5.38 (95% CI 3.40–8.50) for late onset asthma. Maternal smoking in pregnancy was predominantly related to the risk of early onset persistent asthma in the presence of parental history of allergy and asthma and the joint effects were more than additive (interaction contrast ratio = 3.10, 95% CI 1.45–4.75). Our results confirm earlier data that parental history of asthma and allergy is most strongly associated with early onset persistent asthma and suggest that among genetically predisposed children, an early life environmental exposure, maternal smoking during pregnancy, favors the development of early onset asthma that persists into later early childhood.

Rationale: In late October 2003, Southern California wildfires burned more than 3,000 km2. The wildfires produced heavy smoke that affected several communities participating in the University of Southern California Children's Health Study (CHS).

Objectives: To study the acute effects of fire smoke on the health of CHS participants.

Methods: A questionnaire was used to assess smoke exposure and occurrence of symptoms among CHS high-school students (n = 873; age, 17–18 yr) and elementary-school children (n = 5,551; age, 6–7 yr), in a total of 16 communities. Estimates of particulate matter (PM10) concentrations during the 5 d with the highest fire activity were used to characterize community smoke level.

Main Results: All symptoms (nose, eyes, and throat irritations; cough; bronchitis; cold; wheezing; asthma attacks), medication usage, and physician visits were associated with individually reported exposure differences within communities. Risks increased monotonically with the number of reported smoky days. For most outcomes, reporting rates between communities were also associated with the fire-related PM10 levels. Associations tended to be strongest among those without asthma. Individuals with asthma were more likely to take preventive action, such as wearing masks or staying indoors during the fire.

Conclusions: Exposure to wildfire smoke was associated with increased eye and respiratory symptoms, medication use, and physician visits.

Rationale: Although involuntary exposure to maternal smoking during the in utero period and to secondhand smoke are associated with occurrence of childhood asthma, few studies have investigated the role of active cigarette smoking on asthma onset during adolescence.

Objectives: To determine whether regular smoking is associated with the new onset of asthma during adolescence.

Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study among 2,609 children with no lifetime history of asthma or wheezing who were recruited from fourth- and seventh-grade classrooms and followed annually in schools in 12 southern California communities. Regular smoking was defined as smoking at least seven cigarettes per day on average over the week before and 300 cigarettes in the year before each annual interview. Incident asthma was defined using new cases of physician-diagnosed asthma.

Measurements and Main Results: Regular smoking was associated with increased risk of new-onset asthma. Children who reported smoking 300 or more cigarettes per year had a relative risk (RR) of 3.9 (95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.7–8.5) for new-onset asthma compared with nonsmokers. The increased risk from regular smoking was greater in nonallergic than in allergic children. Regular smokers who were exposed to maternal smoking during gestation had the largest risk from active smoking (RR, 8.8; 95% CI, 3.2–24.0).

Conclusions: Regular smoking increased risk for asthma among adolescents, especially for nonallergic adolescents and those exposed to maternal smoking during the in utero period.

Background

Experimental data suggest that asthma exacerbation by ambient air pollutants is enhanced by exposure to endotoxin and allergens; however, there is little supporting epidemiologic evidence.

Methods

We evaluated whether the association of exposure to air pollution with annual prevalence of chronic cough, phlegm production, or bronchitis was modified by dog and cat ownership (indicators of allergen and endotoxin exposure). The study population consisted of 475 Southern California children with asthma from a longitudinal cohort of participants in the Children’s Health Study. We estimated average annual ambient exposure to nitrogen dioxide, ozone, particulate matter < 10, 2.5, and 10–2.5 μm in aerodynamic diameter (PM10, PM2.5, and PM10–2.5, respectively), elemental and organic carbon, and acid vapor from monitoring stations in each of the 12 study communities. Multivariate models were used to examine the effect of yearly variation of each pollutant. Effects were scaled to the variability that is common for each pollutant in representative communities in Southern California.

Results

Among children owning a dog, there were strong associations between bronchitic symptoms and all pollutants examined. Odds ratios ranged from 1.30 per 4.2 μg/m3 for PM10–2.5 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.91–1.87) to 1.91 per 1.2 μg/m3 for organic carbon (95% CI, 1.34–2.71). Effects were somewhat larger among children who owned both a cat and dog. There were no effects or small effects with wide CIs among children without a dog and among children who owned only a cat.

Conclusion

Our results suggest that dog ownership, a source of residential exposure to endotoxin, may worsen the relationship between air pollution and respiratory symptoms in asthmatic children.

Concentrations of endotoxin in urban air pollution have not previously been extensively characterized. We measured 24-hr levels of PM10 (particulate matter < 10 microm in aerodynamic diameter) and the associated endotoxin component once every 6 weeks for 1 year in 13 communities in Southern California. All the samples collected had detectable PM10 and endotoxin levels. The geometric mean PM10 was 34.6 microg/m3 [geometric SD (GSD), 2.1; range, 3.0-135]. By volume, the endotoxin geometric mean was 0.44 endotoxin units (EU)/m3 (GSD, 3.1; range, 0.03-5.44). Per unit material collected, the geometric mean of endotoxin collected was 13.6 EU/mg (GSD, 3.2; range, 0.7-96.8). No correlation was found between endotoxin concentrations and other ambient pollutants concurrently measured [ozone, nitrogen dioxide, total acids, or PM2.5 (particulate matter < 2.5 micro m in aerodynamic diameter]. PM10 and endotoxin concentrations were significantly correlated, most strongly in summer. Samples collected in more rural and agricultural areas had lower PM10 and mid-range endotoxin levels. The high desert and mountain communities had lower PM10 levels but endotoxin levels comparable with or higher than the rural agricultural sites. By volume, endotoxin levels were highest at sites downwind of Los Angeles, California, which were also the locations of highest PM10. Endotoxin concentrations measured in this study were all < 5.5 EU/m3, which is lower than recognized thresholds for acute adverse health effects for occupational exposures but in the same range as indoor household concentrations. This study provides the first extensive characterization of endotoxin concentration across a large metropolitan area in relation to PM10 and other pollutant monitoring, and supports the need for studies of the role of endotoxin in childhood asthma in urban settings.

There are fundamental approaches that can be used by health professionals to study the contribution of occupational exposures to cancer occurrence. It would be helpful for clinicians who see patients with cancer to be aware of the methods used to identify those types of cancer that are related to work. Such physicians may be asked by companies or unions to collaborate on the design of epidemiologic studies in work settings or to assist in interpreting results, or they may be consulted by patients from such work environments. Understanding these approaches is essential in order to anticipate, detect and prevent cancer caused by occupational exposures.

In a proportional mortality analysis of 161 deceased workers in two plants processing or producing vinyl chloride, a 50% excess of deaths due to all cancer was seen. Specific sites of cancer with the greatest excess included liver and biliary tract, lung and brain. The excess in fatal cancer was seen mainly in men who died before age 60. Also, there was a trend in time in the ratio of observed to expected deaths: since 1970 over twice as many cancer deaths as expected have occurred.