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Objectives: We examined to what degree annoyance ratings to noise, air pollution and other common environmental factors in the home environment could be considered to mirror personality disposition in terms of habitual anxiety level and, when appropriate, objectively modeled noise and nitrogen emission (NOx)., Methods: A trait anxiety scale was introduced in a cross-sectional public health survey with 2,856 respondents. Of these, 705 had self-reported asthma and the rest constituted gender-matched referents. Annoyance to ten specific factors in the residential environment, mainly focusing on source-specific noise and air pollution, was assessed on a six-point likert scale. A-weighted energy equivalent continuous sound pressure level during a full day (24 h; L (Aeq,24)) as well as annual average NOx levels (microg/m(3)) at the residential address were modeled with high resolution, using a road data base and a detailed emission data base for NOx., Results: The two most prevalent complaints were annoyance to traffic noise and sounds from neighbors, which was reported by about 8% of the participants. Unadjusted logistic regression analyses using the continuous trait anxiety score as a predictor showed positive associations with ratings of annoyance from total traffic noise, sounds from neighbors, sound from ventilation, exhaust fumes from traffic, sounds from other installations, and vibrations from traffic (ORs between 1.37 and 2.14). Modeled noise and NOx exposure were positively related with annoyance to traffic noise and exhaust fumes, respectively. Adjustment of the trait anxiety scores for other individual characteristics and potential determinants did not change the overall pattern of results., Conclusion: Trait anxiety scores were often mirrored in ratings of annoyance, which suggests caution when using annoyance reports either as a surrogate measure for environmental exposure on the individual-level in epidemiologic studies or when studying the moderating effects of annoyance on health outcomes.

Objective: To estimate the occurrence of hand eczema in hairdressers in Sweden., Methods: The occurrence of hand eczema was estimated in a Swedish longitudinal retrospective cohort study including all female graduates from vocational schools for hairdressers from 1970 to 1995. A stratified sample from the general population acted as controls. A self-administered questionnaire including questions on the occurrence of hand eczema, skin atopy, working periods and number of hair treatments performed per week was sent to the participants. Incidence rate ratios (IRRs) of hand eczema were estimated., Results: The incidence rate of hand eczema in hairdressers was 23.8 cases/1000 person-years, whereas in hairdressers who were aged <25 years it was 37.1/1000 person-years. The corresponding IRR for hairdressers compared with controls was 2.5 (95% confidence interval (CI) 2.2 to 2.8), and that for younger hairdressers was 3.1 (95% CI 2.6 to 3.5). The mean age at onset of hand eczema was 21.6 years for hairdressers and 21.2 years for controls. The 1-year prevalence of hand eczema was 18.0% for hairdressers and 12.1% for controls. A large number of hair treatments involving exposure to skin irritants and sensitisers were reported. The incidence rate of hand eczema was higher among individuals with a history of childhood eczema, both for hairdressers and for controls, giving an (age-adjusted) IRR of 1.9 and 2.2, respectively. The attributable fraction of hand eczema from skin atopy was 9.6%. A synergistic effect of skin atopy and hairdressing was found on the occurrence of hand eczema. The relative excess risk due to interaction was 1.21 (95% CI 0.21 to 2.21; p = 0.01)., Conclusion: Hairdressers are highly exposed to skin-damaging substances. The self-reported incidence of hand eczema was substantially higher in female hairdressers than in controls from the general population and than that found previously in register-based studies. For many individuals, onset of hand eczema occurs early in life. Only about 10% of the hand eczema cases among hairdressers would be prevented if no one with skin atopy entered the trade.

Objectives: This study investigated residential noise from road traffic and its relation to annoyance, disturbance of daily activities, and general health., Methods: A large public health survey in southern Sweden in 1999-2000 supplied data (N=13 557; 54% participation rate) on the demography, annoyance, and disturbance of daily activities, and on general health problems regarding concentration, sleep, stress, and treatment for hypertension. Residential road noise exposure was assessed with a geographic information system. Associations with 24-hour equivalent (average) and maximum road noise level were investigated for all participants and for selected subgroups using the Cochran-Armitage trend test and Cox regression analysis., Results: Annoyance from road traffic noise and the disturbance of daily activities increased markedly with road noise exposure. More than 25% reported at least occasional disturbance from traffic noise during relaxation and sleep in the highest exposure category for each noise measure. No overall pattern between road noise exposure and general health problems emerged. Among the participants that reported annoyance from road traffic noise (N=623), the average road noise level was associated with concentration problems (P for trend = 0.03) and with treatment for hypertension (P for trend = 0.02). Positive associations between average road noise exposure and health problems were found among females (hypertension), persons born outside Sweden (sleep), the unemployed (stress), and participants that reported financial problems (concentration problems)., Conclusions: Exposure to road traffic noise at high levels was common and produced frequent disturbances of daily activities. Negative health effects from road traffic noise were observed in important subgroups. The findings are of concern for southern Sweden, as well as for other regions with similar or higher traffic intensity.

Objectives: The study investigated whether working as a hairdresser has a negative impact on fertility, measured as time to pregnancy and miscarriage risk., Methods: Self-administered questionnaires were sent to 5289 Swedish hairdressers (response rate 50%) and to 5299 age-matched women from the general Swedish population (response rate 54%). Information was collected on time to pregnancy or trying time for women who had tried, but failed, to conceive at the time of the study. The outcome of the pregnancy was determined and categorized as either miscarriage or stillbirth or live birth. The hairdressers were compared with the referents with respect to these two outcomes. Within the hairdresser cohort, the effects of hair treatments, as well as physical workload and stress were investigated., Results: The hairdressers were less successful than the reference cohort in conceiving (fecundability ratio 0.91, 95% confidence interval 0.83-0.99). The effect was reduced after first-month conceptions were excluded, the indication being that the effect may be the result of birth control bias. Within the hairdresser cohort, a self-perceived stressful work situation seemed to prolong the time to pregnancy. No effects were found for the different chemical hair treatments. There was no cohort difference with respect to miscarriage risk (odds ratio 1.12, 95% confidence interval 0.88-1.42), but miscarriage risks were increased for most of the hair treatments and for self-perceived stressful work situations. However, none of these effects were statistically significant., Conclusions: The present study indicates a negative impact on time to pregnancy and miscarriage risk for working as a hairdresser".

Lack of functional telomeres can cause chromosomal aberrations. This type of genetic instability may promote tumorigenesis. We have investigated the association between mean telomere length in buccal cells (assessed with quantitative real-time PCR) and bladder cancer risk in a case-control study. Patients with bladder cancer displayed significantly shorter telomeres than control subjects (P = 0.001). Median telomere length ratio was 0.95 (range 0.53-3.2) for cases and 1.1 (0.51-2.4) for controls. Moreover, the adjusted odds ratio (OR) for bladder cancer was significantly increased in the quartile with the shortest telomere length OR = 4.5 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.7-12]. It is known that oxidative stress, alkylation or UV radiation increases shortening of telomeres. Therefore, we also analyzed whether environmental and genetic factors associated with DNA damage, i.e. smoking and polymorphisms in the genes involved in the metabolism of genotoxic carcinogens (EPHX1, GSTA1, GSTM1, GSTP1, GSTT1, NAT1, NAT2 and NQO1) or DNA repair (APE1, NBS1, XPC, XPD, XRCC1, XRCC3 and XRCC4), could modify the association between telomere length and cancer risk. A clear effect of smoking and telomere length could be observed. Current smokers with short telomeres had more than six times as higher risk as non-smokers/former smokers with long telomeres (OR = 6.3, 95% CI 1.7-23). Lack of the biotransformation gene GSTM1 and short telomeres were associated with OR = 6.5 (95% CI 2.4-18), whereas homozygous carriers of 312Asn in the DNA repair gene XPD, with short telomeres, displayed an OR of 17 (95% CI 1.9-150). However, no significant interaction for cancer risk could be proven for telomere length, smoking and susceptibility genotypes of metabolizing and DNA-repairing genes.

Background: Airway diseases in hairdressers are a concern. The objective of this investigation is to evaluate the risk for three respiratory symptoms, wheeze, dry cough, and nasal blockage, in hairdressers., Methods: A questionnaire on respiratory symptoms, atopy, smoking, and work history was answered by 3,957 female hairdressers and 4,905 women from the general population as referents. Incidence rates (IR) and incidence rate ratios (IRRs) for the three symptoms were estimated., Results: The IRs of all three studied symptoms were higher in the hairdressers compared with the referents. Smoking modified the effects of cohort affiliation for all three symptoms; the combined effect from hairdressing work and smoking was less than expected. In addition, the effect of cohort affiliation for wheeze was also modified by atopy, and the effect of cohort affiliation for nasal blockage was also modified by calendar year., Conclusions: Hairdressing work was associated with increased incidences of respiratory symptoms. Smoking had a negative modifying effect., (Copyright 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

Objectives: This study investigated the association between occupational and hobby exposure and the risk of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) while focusing on differential patterns of clonal chromosome aberrations and morphologic subgroups., Methods: A case-referent study was conducted with 330 MDS patients investigated cytogenetically in 1976-1993 (cases) and matched referents. Telephone interviews with either the person or a next-of-kin were used. The participation rate of the cases and referents was 85% and 60%, respectively. Information was obtained from the next-of-kin more often for the cases (88%) than for the referents (26%). Occupational hygienists assessed the exposure using interview data on worktasks and hobbies. Associations with disease risk were evaluated for 10 exposures with a logistic regression analysis., Results: The investigated exposures were generally not associated with cytogenetically abnormal MDS. Effect estimates for specific cytogenetic or morphologic subgroups were generally imprecise. Occupational exposure to extremely low-frequency magnetic fields (EMF) was associated with MDS with a normal karyotype [odds ratio (OR) 2.0, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.0-4.0]. The exposure-response association was consistent for intensity but inconclusive for duration. A decreased risk was observed for MDS, irrespective of karyotypic pattern, among farmers and farmhands (OR 0.53, 95% CI 0.35-0.81)., Conclusions: Cytogenetically abnormal MDS was generally not associated with occupational or hobby exposure to known or suspected genotoxic agents. However, exposure prevalences and intensities were low for several agents. An association was suggested between occupational exposure to EMF and MDS with a normal karyotype. Biases due to differential information quality and selective participation cannot be ruled out.