Environmental Exposures: What Lowering Them Has Shown

Each 10 µg/m³ of higher long-term PM2.5 at the home address was associated with 7.3% higher death from any cause (95% CI 7.1 to 7.5). Limited to years below the US standard of the time (12 µg/m³), the figure was 13.6% (13.1 to 14.1). Places with dirtier air differ in many other ways, and a cohort cannot fully separate them.

Three days of portable filtration in the bedroom and living room lowered personal PM2.5 from a mean of 15.5 µg/m³ with sham A fake version of a procedure or device used as the comparison, so participants cannot tell which one they received. filters to 10.9 and 7.4 µg/m³ with the two filter types. Systolic blood pressure was 3.2 mm Hg lower with any filtration (95% CI 0.2 to 6.1 lower). Most secondary measures did not change.

Over a median of 13.5 days, home air filtration lowered systolic blood pressure by 3.94 mm Hg (95% CI 0.89 to 7.00). Diastolic pressure did not differ (0.95 mm Hg, 95% CI 2.81 lower to 0.91 higher).

Each 74.5 µg/m³ higher average PM2.5 during pregnancy was associated with a 14.8 g lower birth weight (95% CI 0.8 to 28.7 g lower).

Personal PM2.5 fell to a median of 23.9 µg/m³ against 70.7 µg/m³ in the control group. Birth weight did not differ: 19.6 g higher in the gas stove group (95% CI 10.1 g lower to 49.2 g higher).

Severe pneumonia occurred at 5.67 per 100 child-years with gas stoves and 6.06 with biomass, an incidence rate ratio of 0.96 (98.75% CI 0.64 to 1.44).

Blood lead of 6.7 µg/dL against 1.0 µg/dL (the 90th against the 10th percentile) was associated with higher death from any cause (hazard ratio How often an event happened in the treated group compared with the control group over the same period. A ratio of 0.80 means 20 percent fewer events. 1.37, 95% CI 1.17 to 1.60) and from cardiovascular disease (1.70, 1.30 to 2.22).

The combined endpoint The outcome a trial measures to decide whether the treatment worked, such as heart attacks, blood pressure or a symptom score. of death, heart attack, stroke, revascularization or angina hospitalization fell (hazard ratio 0.82, 95% CI 0.69 to 0.99; P = .035 against a required .036). Death alone did not differ (0.93, 0.70 to 1.25). Of the participants, 17% withdrew consent during the trial.

Chelation lowered median blood lead from 9.03 to 3.46 µg/L (0.90 to 0.35 µg/dL, the unit used above); with placebo it went from 9.3 to 8.7 µg/L. The combined cardiovascular endpoint did not differ (hazard ratio 0.93, 95% CI 0.76 to 1.16), nor did death (0.96, 0.71 to 1.30).

Each doubling of serum PFOA measured before diagnosis was associated with higher odds of kidney cancer (odds ratio 1.71, 95% CI 1.23 to 2.37). The highest quarter against the lowest gave 2.63 (1.33 to 5.20).

Plasma donation every 6 weeks lowered PFOS by 2.9 ng/mL (95% CI 2.3 to 3.6) and PFHxS by 1.1 ng/mL (0.7 to 1.6). Blood donation every 12 weeks lowered PFOS by 1.1 ng/mL (0.7 to 1.5) and did not change PFHxS. Levels did not change with observation only.

Adults in the top third of urinary metabolites of high molecular weight phthalates had higher death from any cause than those in the bottom third (hazard ratio 1.48, 95% CI 1.19 to 1.86).

Urinary DEHP metabolites rose in the replacement group, from a median of 283.7 to 7,027.5 nmol/g, and BPA rose as well. The supplied food was contaminated: ground coriander held 21,400 ng/g of DEHP and milk 673 ng/g. Written advice changed nothing.

Urinary BPA fell by 66% and DEHP metabolites by 53% to 56% during the 3 days, and returned when the usual diet resumed.

Polyethylene was found in the plaque of 150 patients (58.4%). They had more heart attacks, strokes and deaths than patients without detectable plastic (hazard ratio 4.53, 95% CI 2.00 to 10.27).