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Several concerns have been raised over the health of animals used in equestrian games that have their origins in historical or religious events and are currently held in many countries. This study investigated physiological stress response and health status of horses participating in the Sartiglia, a historical horse tournament held in the city of Oristano, Italy, which is principally based on the attempts of masked horsemen at a gallop to run a sword through a hole in a suspended silver star. Blood samples were collected from 21 horses the day before the tournament (D0), during the tournament (D1), and the day after the tournament (D2). Samples were analyzed for complete blood count and biochemical, hormonal, and oxidative stress assays. Data were analyzed using the mixed effect model with sampling session as one of the fixed effects. On the whole, blood parameters evidenced an optimal health status of horses at D0. Significant dehydration and increase of circulating glucose, enzymes, cortisol, and β-endorphin were registered at D1 (P< 0.001) with a complete recovery of physiological values just at D2. The reactive oxygen metabolites (d-ROM), from which the prooxidant activity can be evaluated, showed an increase from D0 to D1 and D2. Concentration of biological antioxidant potential, which measured the antioxidant capacity, was characterized by the maximum level registered during the tournament and counteracted the simultaneous increase of d-ROM. It can be hypothesized that the tournament played an important role in causing high levels of oxidant markers not only because of the physical exercise represented by the gallop but also because the emotional stressors. In conclusion, the tournament caused significant changes of most parameters, which rapidly recovered to baseline values within the day after. These data will certainly be useful for a future implementation of tests in equine medicine and for the improvements of knowledge of changes of blood parameters and health of horses in similar tournaments.

Background:In 1997, a Monograph from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified occupational exposure to crystalline silica as carcinogenic to humans. Large amounts of epidemiological data have been published subsequently.

Some excess of non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL) and soft tissue sarcomas (STS) was reported in the literature among agricultural workers, mainly in relation to exposure to phenoxyacids and chlorophenols. In this study, information was analyzed for a cohort of rice growers that comprised 1,493 subjects, and for a follow-up that was more than 99% complete with regard to both traced subjects and known causes of deaths. A total of 960 subjects (65%) died during the observation period (1957–1992). Lower than expected standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) were found for all causes, for cardiovascular diseases (especially ischemic heart disease) and for all cancers. Slightly increased SMRs were found for some cancer sites (oral cavity, esophagus, liver, intestines, pancreas, bladder, STS, and NHL), although none of these was statistically significant in the overall analysis. An excess risk of close to statistical significance was found for NHL among workers with longer exposure during the period when phenoxyacid herbicide was in use (1950–1992). Thus, a prolonged follow-up is advisable. At present the study should be evaluated in the context of the data set suggesting a tendency toward an increased risk of NHL among farmers. Am. J. Ind. Med. 31:435–441, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

A study on asbestos risk in an old multi-fuel-fired steam-electric power station was carried out. In spite of the presence of large amounts of asbestos-containing materials (20 km of asbestos insulated pipes), the mean airborne concentration of asbestos was as low as 1.55 fibres 1.−1 (SD 2.05) under normal operating conditions. Much higher concentrations may obviously occur during maintenance or renovation operations. Man-made mineral fibres (MMMF) were detected only occasionally in some samples. Three non-consecutive sputum samples were collected for all the 521 workers included in the study: 3.1% had asbestos bodies (AB), but in no case were there more than four AB per gramme sputum. Small opacities, in most cases irregular or of mixed type, were present in 15 out of 470 radiograms of acceptable quality (3.2%). No AB were found in these cases. Pleural changes were less common (10 cases, 2.1 %): two out of five bilateral cases had AB in the sputum. It is concluded that repeated AB counts in the sputum turned out to be more useful than the search of pleural abnormalities by traditional postero-anterior (PA) view in detecting the signs of low asbestos exposure.