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OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the hypothesis that work burden, the simultaneous engagement in paid work and unpaid family housework, is a potential risk factor for psychiatric symptoms among women. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out with 460 women randomly selected from a poor area of the city of Salvador, Brazil. Women between 18 to 70 years old, who reported having a paid occupation or were involved in unpaid domestic activities for their families, were eligible. Work burden-related variables were defined as: a) double work shift, i.e., simultaneous engagement in a paid job plus unpaid housework; and b) daily working time. Psychiatric symptoms were collected through a validated questionnaire, the QMPA. RESULTS: Positive, statistically significant associations between high (>7 symptoms) QMPA scores and either double work shift (prevalence ratio -- PR=2.04, 95% confidence interval -- CI: 1.16, 2.29) or more than 10 hours of daily work time (PR=2.29, 95% CI: 1.96, 3.43) were found after adjustment for age, marital status and number of pre-school children. CONCLUSIONS: Major correlates of high QMPA scores are work burden variables. Being married or having pre-school children are also associated with high QMPA scores only when associated with work burden.

OBJETIVO: Verificar se existe excesso na mortalidade por câncer em militares da Marinha do Brasil em comparação com uma população geral de referência e fatores de risco ocupacionais potenciais. MÉTODOS: Utilizaram-se dados de mortalidade extraídos de certidões de óbitos e históricos ocupacionais de militares da Marinha do Brasil, de idade acima de 19 anos, no período de 1991 a 1995. A população de referência escolhida foi a do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, onde se concentram 70% dos militares da Marinha. RESULTADOS: Razões de mortalidade ajustadas por idade mostraram que câncer de cérebro, próstata e linfomas não Hodgkin foram mais comuns em militares do que na população de referência. A análise de ocupação, restrita ao grupo militar, evidenciou o câncer de cérebro e de fígado em associação com as funções do grupo saúde; cólon-reto com funções dos oficiais da Armada e da administração; e câncer de laringe com o grupo de manutenção e reparos. CONCLUSÕES: A mortalidade por tipo de câncer entre os militares da Marinha difere da população geral de referência e se associa a certas ocupações, em cujas populações os fatores de risco para neoplasias necessitam ser avaliados, especificando-se os tipos histopatológicos e também as exposições ocupacionais.

Abstract Background Human exposures to inorganic arsenic (iAs) have been linked to an increased risk of diabetes mellitus. Recent laboratory studies showed that methylated trivalent metabolites of iAs may play key roles in the diabetogenic effects of iAs. Our study examined associations between chronic exposure to iAs in drinking water, metabolism of iAs, and prevalence of diabetes in arsenicosis-endemic areas of Mexico. Methods We used fasting blood glucose (FBG), fasting plasma insulin (FPI), oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), and insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) to characterize diabetic individuals. Arsenic levels in drinking water and urine were determined to estimate exposure to iAs. Urinary concentrations of iAs and its trivalent and pentavalent methylated metabolites were measured to assess iAs metabolism. Associations between diabetes and iAs exposure or urinary metabolites of iAs were estimated by logistic regression with adjustment for age, sex, hypertension and obesity. Results The prevalence of diabetes was positively associated with iAs in drinking water (OR 1.13 per 10 ppb, p < 0.01) and with the concentration of dimethylarsinite (DMAsIII) in urine (OR 1.24 per inter-quartile range, p = 0.05). Notably, FPI and HOMA-IR were negatively associated with iAs exposure (β -2.08 and -1.64, respectively, p < 0.01), suggesting that the mechanisms of iAs-induced diabetes differ from those underlying type-2 diabetes, which is typically characterized by insulin resistance. Conclusions Our study confirms a previously reported, but frequently questioned, association between exposure to iAs and diabetes, and is the first to link the risk of diabetes to the production of one of the most toxic metabolites of iAs, DMAsIII.

BACKGROUND: While asbestos has long been known to cause mesothelioma, quantitative exposure-response data on the relation of mesothelioma risk and exposure to chrysotile asbestos are sparse. METHODS: Quantitative relationships of mortality from mesothelioma and pleural cancer were investigated in an established cohort of 5397 asbestos textile manufacturing workers in North Carolina, USA. Eligible workers were those employed between 1950 and 1973 with mortality follow-up through 2003. Individual exposure to chrysotile fibres was estimated on the basis of 3420 air samples covering the entire study period linked to work history records. Exposure coefficients adjusted for age, race, and time-related covariates were estimated by Poisson regression. RESULTS: Positive, statistically significant associations were observed between mortality from all pleural cancer (including mesothelioma) and time since first exposure (TSFE) to asbestos (rate ratio [RR], 1.19; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.06-1.34 per year), duration of exposure, and cumulative asbestos fibre exposure (RR, 1.15; 95% CI, 1.04-1.28 per 100 f-years/mL; 10-year lag). Analyses of the shape of exposure-response functions suggested a linear relationship with TSFE and a less-than-linear relationship with cumulative exposure. Restricting the analysis to years when mesothelioma was coded as a unique cause of death yielded stronger but less precise associations. CONCLUSIONS: These observations support with quantitative data the conclusion that chrysotile causes mesothelioma and encourage exposure-response analyses of mesothelioma in other cohorts exposed to chrysotile.

Background:Identifying cancer hazards is the first step towards cancer prevention. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) Monographs Programme, which has evaluated nearly 1,000 agents for their carcinogenic potential since 1971, typically selects agents for hazard identification on the basis of public nominations, expert advice, published data on carcinogenicity, and public health importance.Objectives:Here, we present a novel and complementary strategy for identifying agents for hazard evaluation using chemoinformatics, database integration, and automated text mining.Discussion:To inform selection among a broad range of pesticides nominated for evaluation, we identified and screened nearly 6,000 relevant chemical structures, after which we systematically compiled information on 980 pesticides, creating network maps that allowed cluster visualization by chemical similarity, pesticide class, and publicly available information concerning cancer epidemiology, cancer bioassays, and carcinogenic mechanisms. For the IARC Monograph meetings that took place in March and June 2015, this approach supported high-priority evaluation of glyphosate, malathion, parathion, tetrachlorvinphos, diazinon, p,p′-dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), lindane, and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D).Conclusions:This systematic approach, accounting for chemical similarity and overlaying multiple data sources, can be used by risk assessors as well as by researchers to systematize, inform, and increase efficiency in selecting and prioritizing agents for hazard identification, risk assessment, regulation, or further investigation. This approach could be extended to an array of outcomes and agents, including occupational carcinogens, drugs, and foods.Citation:Guha N, Guyton KZ, Loomis D, Barupal DK. 2016. Prioritizing chemicals for risk assessment using chemoinformatics: examples from the IARC Monographs on Pesticides. Environ Health Perspect 124:1823–1829; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP186

While all forms of asbestos have been determined to be carcinogenic to humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as well as other authoritative bodies, the relative carcinogenic potency of chrysotile continues to be argued, largely in the context of toxic tort litigation. Relatively few epidemiologic studies have investigated only a single form of asbestos; however, one study that included an asbestos textile plant located in Marshville, North Carolina that processed chrysotile asbestos was used by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2020 to help inform the agency's chrysotile asbestos risk assessment. During the EPA proceedings toxic tort defense consultants submitted comments to the EPA docket and made public presentations asserting that the Marshville plant had processed amphibole asbestos types and should not be used for the chrysotile risk assessment. A detailed evaluation of defense consultant assertions and supporting information and a full assessment of the available information concerning asbestos types used at the Marshville plant was undertaken. The preponderance of evidence continues to support the conclusion that neither amosite nor crocidolite were likely to have been processed in the Marshville textile plant. Defense consultants' assertions about chrysotile use are not supported by the preponderance of evidence and constitute an example of manipulation of information to cast uncertainty and doubt rather than to seek truth and contribute to the body of scientific evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]