Search

Sufficient evidence supports a relationship between certain myeloid neoplasms and exposure to benzene or formaldehyde. DNA methylation could underlie benzene- and formaldehyde-induced health outcomes, but data in exposed human populations are limited. We conducted two cross-sectional epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS), one in workers exposed to benzene and another in workers exposed to formaldehyde. Using HumanMethylation450 BeadChips, we investigated differences in blood cell DNA methylation among 50 benzene-exposed subjects and 48 controls, and among 31 formaldehyde-exposed subjects and 40 controls. We performed CpG-level and regional-level analyses. In the benzene EWAS, we found genome-wide significant alterations, i.e., FWER-controlled

Number of deletions in each gene tested amongst 559 ALL cases from the CCLS, assessed by MLPA.

Supplementary Methods for miR Extraction, qPCR, and statistical analysis

Revised Supplemental Material

Association analyses stratified by sex between tobacco smoke exposures and the number of deletions in the child's leukemia using multivariable Poisson regressions, the California Childhood Leukemia Study, 1995-2015.

Supplementary Figure S2A and S2B: miR qPCR Assay Comparison

Background: Blood miRNAs are a new promising area of disease research, but variability in miRNA measurements may limit detection of true-positive findings. Here, we measured sources of miRNA variability and determine whether repeated measures can improve power to detect fold-change differences between comparison groups.Methods: Blood from healthy volunteers (N = 12) was collected at three time points. The miRNAs were extracted by a method predetermined to give the highest miRNA yield. Nine different miRNAs were quantified using different qPCR assays and analyzed using mixed models to identify sources of variability. A larger number of miRNAs from a publicly available blood miRNA microarray dataset with repeated measures were used for a bootstrapping procedure to investigate effects of repeated measures on power to detect fold changes in miRNA expression for a theoretical case–control study.Results: Technical variability in qPCR replicates was identified as a significant source of variability (P < 0.05) for all nine miRNAs tested. Variability was larger in the TaqMan qPCR assays (SD = 0.15–0.61) versus the qScript qPCR assays (SD = 0.08–0.14). Inter- and intraindividual and extraction variability also contributed significantly for two miRNAs. The bootstrapping procedure demonstrated that repeated measures (20%–50% of N) increased detection of a 2-fold change for approximately 10% to 45% more miRNAs.Conclusion: Statistical power to detect small fold changes in blood miRNAs can be improved by accounting for sources of variability using repeated measures and choosing appropriate methods to minimize variability in miRNA quantification.Impact: This study demonstrates the importance of including repeated measures in experimental designs for blood miRNA research.See all the articles in this CEBP Focus section, “Biomarkers, Biospecimens, and New Technologies in Molecular Epidemiology.”Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 23(12); 2658–66. ©2014 AACR.

Supplementary Results for Figures S1-S4

Tobacco smoke exposure has been associated with risk of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Understanding the relationship between tobacco exposures and specific mutations may yield etiologic insights. We carried out a case-only analysis to explore whether prenatal and early-life tobacco smoke exposure influences the formation of leukemogenic genomic deletions. Somatic copy number of 8 genes frequently deleted in ALL (CDKN2A, ETV6, IKZF1, PAX5, RB1, BTG1, PAR1 region, and EBF1) was assessed in 559 pretreatment tumor samples from the California Childhood Leukemia Study. Parent and child's passive tobacco exposure was assessed using interview-assisted questionnaires as well as DNA methylation in aryl-hydrocarbon receptor repressor (AHRR), a sentinel epigenetic biomarker of exposure to maternal smoking during pregnancy. Multivariable Poisson regressions were used to test the association between the smoking exposures and total number of deletions. Deletion burden varied by subtype, with a lower frequency in high-hyperdiploid and higher frequency in ETV6–RUNX1 fusion ALL. The total number of deletions per case was positively associated with tobacco smoke exposure, in particular for maternal ever-smoking (ratio of means, RM, 1.31; 95% CI, 1.08–1.59), maternal smoking during pregnancy (RM, 1.48; 95% CI, 1.12–1.94), and during breastfeeding (RM, 2.11; 95% CI, 1.48–3.02). The magnitude of association with maternal ever-smoking was stronger in male children compared with females (Pinteraction = 0.04). The total number of deletions was also associated with DNA methylation at the AHRR epigenetic biomarker (RM, 1.32; 95% CI, 1.02–1.69). Our results suggest that prenatal and early-life tobacco smoke exposure increase the frequency of somatic deletions in children who develop ALL. Cancer Res; 77(7); 1674–83. ©2017 AACR.

Supplemental Figures S1-S7

Supplementary Legends for Figures S1-S4

Supplementary Table 1 from Chromosome 12p Deletions in TEL-AML1 Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Are Associated with Retrotransposon Elements and Occur Postnatally

Benzene is a recognized hematotoxin and leukemogen; however, its mechanism of action in humans remain unclear. To provide insight into the processes underlying benzene hematotoxicity, we performed high-resolution metabolomic profiling of plasma collected from a cross-sectional study of 33 healthy workers exposed to benzene (median 8-h time-weighted average exposure; 20 ppma), and 25 unexposed controls in Shanghai, China. Metabolic features associated with benzene were identified using a metabolome-wide association study (MWAS) that tested for the relationship between feature intensity and benzene exposure. MWAS identified 478 mass spectral features associated with benzene exposure at false discovery rate < 20%. Comparison to a list of 13 known benzene metabolites and metabolites predicted using a multi-component biotransformation algorithm showed five metabolites were detected, which included the known metabolites phenol and benzene diolepoxide. Metabolic pathway enrichment identified 41 pathways associated with benzene exposure, with altered pathways including carnitine shuttle, fatty acid metabolism, sulfur amino acid metabolism, glycolysis, gluconeogenesis and branched chain amino acid metabolism. These results suggest disruption to fatty acid uptake, energy metabolism and increased oxidative stress, and point towards pathways related to mitochondrial dysfunction, which has previously been linked to benzene exposure in animal models and human studies. Taken together, these results suggest benzene exposure is associated with disruption of mitochondrial pathways, and provide promising, systems biology biomarkers for risk assessment of benzene-induced hematotoxicity in humans.

Summary Background Non-Hodgkin lymphoma comprises a heterogeneous group of cancers with unresolved aetiology, although risk factors include environmental exposures to toxic chemicals. Although the ubiquitous pollutant benzene is an established leukemogen, its potential to cause non-Hodgkin lymphoma has been widely debated. We aimed to examine the potential link between benzene exposure and risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in humans by evaluating a wide array of cohort and case-control studies using electronic systematic review. Methods We did a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis of all qualified human epidemiological studies that assessed the relationship between benzene exposure and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. We queried the PubMed and Embase databases for relevant articles published before June 5, 2019, and applied the SysRev platform for study selection. All peer-reviewed human cohort and case-control studies that reported non-Hodgkin lymphoma risk estimates specifically for benzene exposure were eligible for inclusion. Studies that calculated relative risks (RRs) for industries or job types without identifying those specifically exposed to benzene, that combined non-Hodgkin lymphoma with other cancer types, or that reported many different solvent exposures together were excluded. From each study, two investigators independently extracted information on the study design, location, years, sample size, participation rates, age, sex, sources of cases and controls, diagnosis, histological verification, exposure assessment, results, adjustment, and statistical analysis, and subsequently assessed study quality. We calculated the meta-analysis relative risk (meta-RR) and CIs using the fixed effect and random effect models, as well as assessing publication bias. Findings Our search yielded 2481 articles. After screening and removal of duplicates, 20 case-control studies and eight cohort studies were included in our meta-analysis, which included a total of 9587 patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. We reported an increased meta-relative risk (meta-RR) of 33% in highly exposed groups, when data were available (meta-RR 1·33 [95% CI 1·13–1·57], n=28). The meta-RR rose to 1·51 (1·22–1·87, n=18) in the studies that provided results specifically for highly exposed individuals. In particular, we reported a doubling of this risk for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, a major non-Hodgkin lymphoma subtype (1·67 [1·01–2·77]). We also detected increased risks for follicular lymphoma (1·47 [0·95–2·27]) and hairy cell leukaemia (1·77 [0·99–3·16]), though they were not statistically significant. Funnel plot, Egger's test (p=0·77) and Begg's test (p=0·98) did not show evidence of publication bias. We evaluated the major aspects of causal inference and found evidence to support all the Hill considerations for assigning causation. Interpretation Our findings suggest a causal link between benzene exposure and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, especially for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Funding National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

BackgroundKey characteristics (KCs), properties of agents or exposures that confer potential hazard, have been developed for carcinogens and other toxicant classes. KCs have been used in the systematic assessment of hazards and to identify assay and data gaps that limit screening and risk assessment. Many of the mechanisms through which pharmaceuticals and occupational or environmental agents modulate immune function are well recognized. Thus KCs could be identified for immunoactive substances and applied to improve hazard assessment of immunodulatory agents.ObjectivesThe goal was to generate a consensus-based synthesis of scientific evidence describing the KCs of agents known to cause immunotoxicity and potential applications, such as assays to measure the KCs.MethodsA committee of 18 experts with diverse specialties identified 10 KCs of immunotoxic agents, namely, 1) covalently binds to proteins to form novel antigens, 2) affects antigen processing and presentation, 3) alters immune cell signaling, 4) alters immune cell proliferation, 5) modifies cellular differentiation, 6) alters immune cell-cell communication, 7) alters effector function of specific cell types, 8) alters immune cell trafficking, 9) alters cell death processes, and 10) breaks down immune tolerance. The group considered how these KCs could influence immune processes and contribute to hypersensitivity, inappropriate enhancement, immunosuppression, or autoimmunity.DiscussionKCs can be used to improve efforts to identify agents that cause immunotoxicity via one or more mechanisms, to develop better testing and biomarker approaches to evaluate immunotoxicity, and to enable a more comprehensive and mechanistic understanding of adverse effects of exposures on the immune system. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP10800.

The ability to induce chronic inflammation and immunosuppression are two key characteristics of carcinogens and important forms of immunotoxicity. The National Toxicology Program (NTP) evaluated the immunotoxicity of two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) and PFOS (perfluorooctane sulfonate), in 2016. However, the potential pro-inflammatory and immunosuppressive effects of other PFASs remain largely uncharacterized.We developed an expanded set of search terms pertaining to the chronic inflammatory and immunosuppressive effects of PFASs based on those of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and NTP. To confirm searching effectiveness and scope, we compared our search term results with those of IARC and NTP for both PFASs and two other known carcinogens, chromium (VI) and benzene. Systematic evidence maps (SEMs) were also produced using Tableau to visualize the distribution of study numbers and types reporting immunotoxic effects and specific biomarkers elicited by PFAS exposures.In total, 1155 PFAS studies were retrieved, of which 321 qualified for inclusion in our dataset. Using our search terms, we identified a greater number of relevant studies than those obtained using IARC and NTP's search terms. From the SEM findings, increased cytokine production strengthened an association between PFAS exposure and chronic inflammation, and decreased B-cell activation and altered levels of T-cell subtypes and immunoglobulins confirmed PFAS-induced immunosuppression.Our SEM findings confirm that several PFASs commonly found in both in the environment, including those that are lesser-known, may induce immunosuppression and chronic inflammation, two key characteristics of carcinogens. This approach, including development of search terms, study screening process, data coding, and evidence mapping visualizations, can be applied to other key characteristics of chemical carcinogens.

Matrix multiplication is one of the bottleneck computations for training the weights within deep neural networks. To speed up the training phase, we propose to use faster algorithms for matrix multiplication known as Arbitrary Precision Approximating (APA) algorithms. APA algorithms perform asymptotically fewer arithmetic operations than the classical algorithm, but they compute an approximate result with an error that can be made arbitrarily small in exact arithmetic. Practical APA algorithms provide significant reduction in computation time and still provide enough accuracy for many applications like neural network training. We demonstrate that APA algorithms can be efficiently implemented and parallelized for multicore CPUs to obtain up to 28% and 21% speedups over the fastest implementation of the classical algorithm using one core and 12 cores, respectively. Furthermore, using these algorithms to train a Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) network yields no significant reduction in the training or testing error. Our performance results on a large MLP network show overall sequential and multithreaded performance improvements of up to 25% and 13%, respectively. We also demonstrate up to 15% improvement when training the fully connected layers of the VGG-19 image classification network.

Formaldehyde (FA), a well-known toxic gas molecule similar to nitric oxide (NO), carbon monoxide (CO), and hydrogen sulfide (H2S), is widely produced endogenously via numerous biochemical pathways, and has a number of physiological roles in the biosystem. We attempted to investigate the vasorelaxant effects of FA and their underlying mechanisms. We found that FA induced vasorelaxant effects on rat aortic rings in a concentration-dependent manner. The NO/cyclic guanosine 5' monophosphate (cGMP) pathway was up-regulated when the rat aortas were treated with FA. The expression of large-conductance Ca2+-activated K+ (BKCa) channel subunits α and β of the rat aortas was increased by FA. Similarly, the levels of ATP-sensitive K+ (KATP) channel subunits Kir6.1 and Kir6.2 were also up-regulated when the rat aortas were incubated with FA. In contrast, levels of the L-type Ca2+ channel (LTCC) subunits, Cav1.2 and Cav1.3, decreased dramatically with increasing concentrations of FA. We demonstrated that the regulation of FA on vascular contractility may be via the up-regulation of the NO/cGMP pathway and the modulation of ion channels, including the upregulated expression of the KATP and BKCa channels and the inhibited expression of LTCCs. Further study is needed to explore the in-depth mechanisms of FA induced vasorelaxation.

Sustainability should be viewed as the ultimate goal of human beings. However, the reality is still not optimistic. Over the years, sustainability in shipping has attracted growing attention through green or sustainable shipping, similar to sustainable development and green development being the prominent approaches to sustainability in development. However, the concepts of green or sustainable shipping, as well as those for green or sustainable development, remain vague. This paper thus distinguishes these four seemingly similar but essentially different concepts with respect to their theoretical bases, objectives, and implications through a structured literature review. Many have discussed the concept of sustainable development, while only a few have explored these concepts for green development, sustainable shipping, and green shipping. The main difference between sustainable and green development is whether or not the method is anthropocentric: the former emphasizes satisfying the needs of the present and future generations, while the latter is non-anthropocentric or eco-centric, focusing on conserving the health of nature. We argue that green shipping should follow the concept of green development. It is a better approach to reach sustainability than sustainable shipping which follows sustainable development. Finally, a definition of green shipping is proposed for the consideration of sustainability by decision-makers.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of our study was to evaluate the association between occupational exposure to trichloroethylene (TCE), a suspected lymphomagen, and serum levels of miRNAs in a cross-sectional molecular epidemiology study of TCE exposed workers and comparable unexposed controls in China. METHODS: Serum levels of 40 miRNAs were compared in 74 workers exposed to TCE (median: 12 ppm) and 90 unexposed control workers. Linear regression models were used to test for differences in serum miRNA levels between exposed and unexposed workers and to evaluate exposure-response relationships across TCE exposure categories using a three-level ordinal variable (i.e., unexposed

Comprehensive recognition and scientific evaluation of ecosystem value are fundamental for sustainable decision-making and nature conservation. The most popular concept, ecosystem services value (ESV), however, is based on the utility of ecosystems to humans and thus would bias ecosystem value. Here we compared and discussed the concept of ecosystem intrinsic value (EIV), which emphasizes the objective value of ecosystems. A practical approach based on emergy and eco-exergy analysis was developed for evaluating EIV and was then applied in Pearl River Estuary (PRE), a large subtropical estuarine ecosystem in southern China. EIV of PRE was around USD 54 million km−2, which was close to the Xiamen Bay ecosystem, another subtropical estuary with distinct social-economic levels of development. The consistent values suggest that EIV is independent of human activities. Further, EIV was integrated into two cost-benefit analysis based decision-making processes. Results showed significant decrease of benefits in both decisions by using EIV. Especially, in the case of principal coastal functional zoning in Xiamen Bay, the results by EIV ruled out the function which was accepted by ESV. Together, our results demonstrated that EIV provides stricter and more objective evaluation of ecosystem value and thus is expected to improve current decision-making processes toward more sustainable development and nature conservation.

ObjectivesThe occupational exposure limit for trichloroethylene (TCE) in different countries varies from 1 to 100 ppm as an 8-hour time-weighted average (TWA). Many countries currently use 10 ppm as the regulatory standard for occupational exposures, but the biological effects in humans at this level of exposure remain unclear. The objective of our study was to evaluate alterations in immune and renal biomarkers among workers occupationally exposed to low levels of TCE below current regulatory standards.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional molecular epidemiology study of 80 healthy workers exposed to a wide range of TCE (ie, 0.4–229 ppm) and 96 comparable unexposed controls in China, and previously reported that TCE exposure was associated with multiple candidate biological markers related to immune function and kidney toxicity. Here, we conducted further analyses of all of the 31 biomarkers that we have measured to determine the magnitude and statistical significance of changes in the subgroup of workers (n=35) exposed to ResultsSix immune biomarkers (ie, CD4+ effector memory T cells, sCD27, sCD30, interleukin-10, IgG and IgM) were significantly decreased (% difference ranged from −16.0% to −72.1%) and one kidney toxicity marker (kidney injury molecule-1, KIM-1) was significantly increased (% difference: +52.5%) among workers exposed to ConclusionOur results suggest that occupational exposure to TCE below 10 ppm as an 8-hour TWA may alter levels of key markers of immune function and kidney toxicity.

Sustainability is a necessity for the future earth. As international shipping, the lifeblood of the global economy, moves toward door-to-door, strategic planning for sustainability of such movements becomes extremely important and challenging. Extant research on strategic planning for sustainability in shipping is rare. This study adopts a structured literature review in conjunction with content analysis to identify whether the existing strategic planning encourages sustainability in international shipping. A broad review of maritime logistics is also conducted to understand whether its strategic planning contributes to sustainability. Key findings include (1) the most strategic planning in shipping is limited to “port-to-port”; (2) the efforts of strategic planning toward sustainability in shipping are fragmented; (3) maritime logistics represents an active research area but lags behind in strategic planning; (4) proactive efforts to encourage green or sustainable maritime logistics have emerged; and (5) the research gaps include the distinction between the terms of sustainability, “green,” and “sustainable,” and the lack of an appropriate approach, methods, and a collaborative research-practice network of strategic planning for sustainability in international shipping. The findings suggest directions for future research to make international shipping fit for the sustainability challenge.

Formaldehyde (FA), a ubiquitous environmental pollutant, is classified as a Group I human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Previously, we reported that FA induced hematotoxicity and chromosomal aneuploidy in exposed workers and toxicity in bone marrow and hematopoietic stem cells of experimental animals. Using functional toxicogenomic profiling in yeast, we identified genes and cellular processes modulating eukaryotic FA cytotoxicity. Although we validated some of these findings in yeast, many specific genes, pathways and mechanisms of action of FA in human cells are not known. In the current study, we applied genome-wide, loss-of-function CRISPR screening to identify modulators of FA toxicity in the human hematopoietic K562 cell line. We assessed the cellular genetic determinants of susceptibility and resistance to FA at 40, 100 and 150 μM (IC10, IC20 and IC60, respectively) at two time points, day 8 and day 20. We identified multiple candidate genes that increase sensitivity (e.g. ADH5, ESD and FANC family) or resistance (e.g. FASN and KDM6A) to FA when disrupted. Pathway analysis revealed a major role for the FA metabolism and Fanconi anemia pathway in FA tolerance, consistent with findings from previous studies. Additional network analyses revealed potential new roles for one-carbon metabolism, fatty acid synthesis and mTOR signaling in modulating FA toxicity. Validation of these novel findings will further enhance our understanding of FA toxicity in human cells. Our findings support the utility of CRISPR-based functional genomics screening of environmental chemicals.

BackgroundPeople are exposed to numerous chemicals throughout their lifetimes. Many of these chemicals display one or more of the key characteristics of carcinogens or interact with processes described in the hallmarks of cancer. Therefore, evaluating the effects of chemical mixtures on cancer development is an important pursuit. Challenges involved in designing research studies to evaluate the joint action of chemicals on cancer risk include the time taken to perform the experiments because of the long latency and choosing an appropriate experimental design.ObjectivesThe objectives of this work are to present the case for developing a research program on mixtures of environmental chemicals and cancer risk and describe recommended approaches.MethodsA working group comprising the coauthors focused attention on the design of mixtures studies to inform cancer risk assessment as part of a larger effort to refine the key characteristics of carcinogens and explore their application. Working group members reviewed the key characteristics of carcinogens, hallmarks of cancer, and mixtures research for other disease end points. The group discussed options for developing tractable projects to evaluate the joint effects of environmental chemicals on cancer development.Results and discussionThree approaches for developing a research program to evaluate the effects of mixtures on cancer development were proposed: a chemical screening approach, a transgenic model-based approach, and a disease-centered approach. Advantages and disadvantages of each are discussed. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP8525.