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Wise JP, Wise RM, Hoffert A, Wise JTF, Specht AJ. Elevated Metal Levels in U.S. Honeys: Is There a Concern for Human Health? Biol Trace Elem Res 2024:10.1007/s12011-024-04295-1. [PMID: 38995435 DOI: 10.1007/s12011-024-04295-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2024] [Accepted: 06/25/2024] [Indexed: 07/13/2024]
Abstract
Honey is a bioactive food used for millennia to improve health and treat diseases. More recently, researchers employ honey as a tool to assess local environmental pollution. Honeybees effectively 'sample' their environment within a ~ 7 km radius, actively collecting nectar, pollen, and water to bring to their hive. Foraging honeybees also sample the air as dust particles accumulate on their pubescence, adding to the hive's contaminant load. Many studies from around the world report elevated metal levels in honey, with the most reports from Iran, Italy, and Turkey, but only two reports have measured metal levels in honey from the United States (U.S.). We report levels of 20 metals from 28 honeys collected from 15 U.S. states between 2022-2023. We then focus on four toxic metals recognized as hazards in foodstuffs when the concentrations are above safety recommendations - lead, cadmium, arsenic, and mercury. Two of these metals (lead and mercury) are regulated in honey by the European Union (EU), though the U.S. currently lacks defined regulations for metal levels in honey. We consider the levels of these toxic metals by state, then compare the U.S. mean honey level for these metals against the provisional tolerable weekly intake (PTWI). Our results suggest U.S. honey have levels metal that exceed the PWTI and EU regulations and may be hazardous to human health. Further research is needed to determine if the effects of these toxic metal at measured levels outweigh the health benefits from consumption of honey.
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Affiliation(s)
- John P Wise
- Department of Pediatrics, Pediatrics Research Institute, University of Louisville, 570 S. Preston Street, Baxter I Building, Rm: 204F, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA.
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, 40202, United States.
| | - Rachel M Wise
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA
| | - Annabelle Hoffert
- School of Health Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
| | - James T F Wise
- Wise Laboratory of Nutritional Toxicology and Metabolism, School of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, 70803, USA
- School of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, Baton Rouge, LA, 70803, USA
| | - Aaron J Specht
- School of Health Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
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Specht AJ, Adesina KE, Read DE, Weisskopf MG. Benchtop x-ray fluorescence to quantify elemental content in nails non-destructively. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 918:170601. [PMID: 38309346 PMCID: PMC10923075 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170601] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2023] [Revised: 01/29/2024] [Accepted: 01/29/2024] [Indexed: 02/05/2024]
Abstract
Metals continue to impose health issues among world populations. A non-invasive alternative biomarker for assessment of metals and other elements has been explored in other studies using toenail samples. Some benefits of using toenails as biomarkers over blood samples include cost efficiency, ease of collection, and a longer biological half-life within samples. The objective of this study was to employ desktop XRF for the purpose of measuring metal concentrations in human nail samples, thus conducting a non-destructive assessment. These benefits paired with comparable accuracy in exposure detection could prove toenail samples to be a preferred biomarker for many studies. Current elemental quantification techniques in toenail samples could be improved. The standard practice for measuring metal exposure in toenails, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), has a counterpart in x-ray fluorescence. While maintaining similar quantification capabilities, x-ray fluorescence could provide decreased cost, preservation of samples, and ease of operation. Portable XRF machines have been tested for measuring toenail samples, but they have drastically increased detection limits in comparison to ICP-MS. New benchtop XRF systems should give comparable detection limits to ICP-MS. This study compares the benchtop XRF measurements of lead (Pb), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), and Selenium (Se) levels to that of ICP-MS measurements of toenail samples and calculates estimated detection limits for 23 other elements. We found strong correlations for the toenail lead (R2 = 0.92), copper (R2 = 0.95), selenium (R2 = 0.60), and iron (R2 = 0.77) comparison between desktop XRF and ICP-MS measurements. Median minimum detection limits over the 23 elements were found to be 0.2 μg/g using a 7.5-min measurement. Benchtop XRF provides a lower detection limit than previously studied portable XRF machines, which gives it the capability of accurately detecting almost any desired element in nail samples. Benchtop XRF provides a non-destructive alternative to ICP-MS in surveillance of nail samples.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aaron J Specht
- School of Health Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47906, United States of America; Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, United States of America.
| | - Kolawole E Adesina
- School of Health Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47906, United States of America
| | - Daniel E Read
- School of Health Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47906, United States of America
| | - Marc G Weisskopf
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, United States of America
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Lewis NL, Ware C, Griffin MJ. Edwardsiella tarda Isolated from a Kidney Mass in a Common Loon (Gavia immer). J Wildl Dis 2023; 59:804-806. [PMID: 37486877 DOI: 10.7589/jwd-d-22-00086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2022] [Accepted: 03/15/2023] [Indexed: 07/26/2023]
Abstract
A Common Loon (Gavia immer) was found recumbent at Island Beach State Park, New Jersey, US, and euthanized. Necropsy revealed a caseous mass in the kidney, from which bacteria were isolated and phenotypically and molecularly identified as Edwardsiella tarda.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole L Lewis
- Division of Fish and Wildlife, Office of Fish and Wildlife Health and Forensics, Hampton, New Jersey 08827, USA
| | - Cynthia Ware
- Department of Pathobiology and Population Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Mississippi State University, Stoneville, Mississippi 38776, USA
- Thad Cochran National Warmwater Aquaculture Center, Delta Research and Extension Center, Mississippi State University, Stoneville, Mississippi 38776, USA
| | - Matt J Griffin
- Department of Pathobiology and Population Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Mississippi State University, Stoneville, Mississippi 38776, USA
- Thad Cochran National Warmwater Aquaculture Center, Delta Research and Extension Center, Mississippi State University, Stoneville, Mississippi 38776, USA
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Specht AJ, Steadman DW, Davis M, Bartell SM, Weisskopf MG. Bone lead variability in bone repository skeletal samples measured with portable x-ray fluorescence. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 880:163197. [PMID: 37001655 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163197] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2022] [Revised: 03/27/2023] [Accepted: 03/27/2023] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Bone lead serves as a better, more accessible biomarker to many communities experiencing chronic exposure to lead. A new method using low energy x-ray fluorescence in a handheld device (portable XRF) allows us to measure this chronic biomarker in only a few minutes. However, many unknowns remain about this biomarker measured using a new low energy x-ray technique. The low energy of the new method was theorized to measure a slightly different portion of the bone than previous techniques, which could influence measurements at different bone sites and types. We tested how bone measurements varied across five bone sites: mid-tibial shaft, proximal tibia, distal tibia (ankle), ilium, and cranium. We found bone lead measurements are not significantly different between skeletal elements when measured using a portable XRF. On average, bone lead in the repository samples was measured to be 21.6 ± 21.3 μg/g with an XRF detection limit of 2.1 ± 0.5 μg/g. Cumulative lead exposure can be effectively measured using the portable XRF on a variety of bone types, but the tibia should be preferentially measured to compare between studies and individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aaron J Specht
- School of Health Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, United States of America; Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States of America.
| | - Dawnie W Steadman
- Department of Anthropology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, United States of America
| | - Mary Davis
- Department of Anthropology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, United States of America
| | - Scott M Bartell
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Department of Statistics, University of California, Irvine, CA, United States of America
| | - Marc G Weisskopf
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States of America
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Hampton JO, Lohr MT, Specht AJ, Nzabanita D, Hufschmid J, Berger L, McGinnis K, Melville J, Bennett E, Pay JM. Lead exposure of mainland Australia's top avian predator. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2023:122004. [PMID: 37302786 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2023] [Revised: 05/24/2023] [Accepted: 06/08/2023] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Lead (Pb) toxicity, through ingestion of lead ammunition in carcasses, is a threat to scavenging birds worldwide, but has received little attention in Australia. We analyzed lead exposure in the wedge-tailed eagle (Aquila audax), the largest raptor species found in mainland Australia and a facultative scavenger. Eagle carcasses were collected opportunistically throughout south-eastern mainland Australia between 1996 and 2022. Lead concentrations were measured in bone samples from 62 animals via portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF). Lead was detected (concentration >1 ppm) in 84% (n = 52) of the bone samples. The mean lead concentration of birds in which lead was detected was 9.10 ppm (±SE 1.66). Bone lead concentrations were elevated (10-20 ppm) in 12.9% of samples, and severe (>20 ppm) in 4.8% of samples. These proportions are moderately higher than equivalent data for the same species from the island of Tasmania, and are comparable to data from threatened eagle species from other continents. Lead exposure at these levels is likely to have negative impacts on wedge-tailed eagles at the level of the individual and perhaps at a population level. Our results suggest that studies of lead exposure in other Australian avian scavenger species are warranted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jordan O Hampton
- Faculty of Science, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, 3052, Australia; Harry Butler Institute, Murdoch University, 90 South Street, Murdoch, Western Australia, 6150, Australia.
| | - Michael T Lohr
- School of Science, Edith Cowan University, 100 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup, Western Australia, 6027, Australia; SLR Consulting, 500 Hay St, Subiaco, Western Australia, 6008, Australia
| | - Aaron J Specht
- Purdue University, 610 Purdue Mall, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, United States
| | - Damien Nzabanita
- School of Science, RMIT University, 264 Plenty Road, Bundoora, Victoria, 3083, Australia
| | - Jasmin Hufschmid
- Faculty of Science, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, 3052, Australia
| | - Lee Berger
- Faculty of Science, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, 3052, Australia
| | - Kate McGinnis
- Faculty of Science, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, 3052, Australia; Animal Welfare League Queensland, Shelter Road, Coombabah, Queensland, 4216, Australia
| | - Jane Melville
- Museums Victoria Research Institute, 11 Nicholson Street, Carlton, Victoria, 3053, Australia; School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, 25 Rainforest Walk, Clayton, Victoria, 3800, Australia
| | - Emma Bennett
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, 25 Rainforest Walk, Clayton, Victoria, 3800, Australia
| | - James M Pay
- University of Tasmania, Churchill Avenue, Hobart, Tasmania, 7005, Australia
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Nzabanita D, Hampton JO, Toop SD, Bengsen AJ, Specht AJ, Flesch JS, Hufschmid J, Nugegoda D. Expanding the use of portable XRF to monitor lead exposure in an Australian duck species two decades after a ban on lead shot. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 869:161803. [PMID: 36708833 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.161803] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2022] [Revised: 01/19/2023] [Accepted: 01/20/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
There is growing worldwide recognition of the threat posed by toxic lead for wildlife and humans. Lead toxicity from ammunition has been shown to be a threat to waterbirds across the globe. Lead shot was banned for all waterfowl hunting in Victoria, Australia, in 2002. However, no assessments of lead exposure in Australian waterfowl have been published since the 1990s. Our aim was to estimate contemporary lead exposure via measuring bone lead concentrations in a harvested dabbling duck, the Pacific black duck (Anas superciliosa). We collected wings from 77 Pacific black ducks, spanning 2018 (n = 30) and 2021 (n = 47), from nine sites with long-term histories of regular waterfowl hunting. We sought to validate portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF) for this purpose by taking a piece of humerus bone from each bird, and measuring lead concentration (mg/kg), first via non-destructive XRF and then via destructive inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and validated the relationship via regression analysis. Portable XRF bone lead measurement demonstrated a strong correlation with ICP-MS results using root-transformed regression (R2 = 0.85). Greater than 92 % of ducks had only background lead exposure (<10 mg/kg). When compared to historical studies in the same species at similar field sites from the 1990s, lead exposure levels were considerably lower, with mean lead concentrations ∼2-fold lower (3.7 c.f. 7.7 mg/kg), and the frequency of birds with severe lead exposure (>20 mg/kg) ∼3-fold lower (2.6 c.f. 7.5 %). Our results confirm that portable XRF is a useful option for measurement of bone lead in Australasian waterbird species. Our findings also demonstrate that a ban on the use of lead shot around 20 years ago has been associated with a substantial reduction in lead exposure in at least one species of waterfowl.
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Affiliation(s)
- Damien Nzabanita
- School of Science, RMIT University, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia.
| | - Jordan O Hampton
- Faculty of Science, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia; Harry Butler Institute, Murdoch University, 90 South Street, Western Australia 6150, Australia
| | - Simon D Toop
- Game Management Authority, Bourke St, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia
| | - Andrew J Bengsen
- Vertebrate Pest Research Unit, Department of Primary Industries, 1447 Forest Road, Orange, NSW 2800, Australia; Biosphere Environmental Consultants, Tamworth, NSW 2340, Australia
| | - Aaron J Specht
- Purdue University, 610 Purdue Mall, West Lafayette, IN 47907, United States
| | - Jason S Flesch
- Game Management Authority, Bourke St, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia
| | - Jasmin Hufschmid
- Faculty of Science, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia
| | - Dayanthi Nugegoda
- School of Science, RMIT University, Bundoora, Victoria 3083, Australia
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Hampton JO, Specht AJ, Pay JM, Pokras MA, Bengsen AJ. Portable X-ray fluorescence for bone lead measurements of Australian eagles. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2021; 789:147998. [PMID: 34051503 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147998] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2021] [Revised: 05/07/2021] [Accepted: 05/20/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Lead (Pb) toxicity from ammunition has been shown to be a threat to scavenging birds across the globe. Toxic levels of lead have recently been found in Australia's largest bird of prey, the wedge-tailed eagle (Aquila audax), through inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) analysis of liver and bone samples. However, ICP-MS is consumptive (causing damage to archived specimens), time-consuming, and expensive. For these reasons, portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF) devices have been optimized to measure bone lead in North American avian species, humans, and other environmental samples. In this study, we assessed portable XRF for bone lead measurement in Australian raptors in two parts. First, we validated the method using tissues from wedge-tailed eagles from Tasmania (A. a. fleayi), analysing bone samples taken from sites on the femur immediately adjacent to sites for which we had ICP-MS data (n = 89). Second, we measured lead via portable XRF in the skulls of wedge-tailed eagles from south-eastern mainland Australia (A. a. audax) collected during a criminal prosecution (n = 92). Portable XRF bone lead measurement demonstrated an excellent correlation with ICP-MS results using root-transformed regression (R2 = 0.88). Calculated equivalent ICP-MS values revealed that greater than 50% of the eagles from mainland Australia had elevated lead levels (>10 mg/kg) and 13% had severe lead exposure (>20 mg/kg). Our results support previous studies of North American avian species and suggest that portable XRF could be a useful and inexpensive option for measurement of bone lead in Australian scavenger species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jordan O Hampton
- Game Management Authority, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia; School of Veterinary and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia 6150, Australia.
| | - Aaron J Specht
- Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States
| | - James M Pay
- University of Tasmania, Churchill Ave, Hobart, Tasmania 7005, Australia
| | - Mark A Pokras
- Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, Tufts University, N. Grafton, MA, United States
| | - Andrew J Bengsen
- Vertebrate Pest Research Unit, NSW Department of Primary Industries, Orange, NSW 2800, Australia
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Green RE, Pain DJ. Risks to human health from ammunition-derived lead in Europe. AMBIO 2019; 48:954-968. [PMID: 31098877 PMCID: PMC6675757 DOI: 10.1007/s13280-019-01194-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2019] [Revised: 04/17/2019] [Accepted: 04/19/2019] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
It has been known for centuries that lead is toxic to humans. Chronic exposure to lead, even at low levels, is associated with an elevated risk of cardiovascular and chronic kidney disease in adults and of impaired neurodevelopment and subsequent cognitive and behavioural development in the foetus and young children. Health agencies throughout the world have moved from assuming that there are tolerable levels of exposure to lead to a recognition that valid 'no-effect' thresholds cannot currently be defined. Formerly, the most important exposure pathways were occupational exposure, water from lead plumbing, paints, petrol additives and foods. Regulation of products and improved health and safety procedures at work have left dietary lead as the main remaining pathway of exposure in European countries. Ammunition-derived lead is now a significant cause of dietary lead exposure in groups of people who eat wild game meat frequently. These are mostly hunters, shoot employees and their families, but also some people who choose to eat game for ethical, health or other reasons, and their children. Extrapolation from surveys conducted in the UK and a review of studies of game consumption in other countries suggest that approximately 5 million people in the EU may be high-level consumers of lead-shot game meat and that tens of thousands of children in the EU may be consuming game contaminated with ammunition-derived lead frequently enough to cause significant effects on their cognitive development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rhys E. Green
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, David Attenborough Building, Pembroke Street, Cambridge, CB2 3QZ UK
| | - Deborah J. Pain
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, David Attenborough Building, Pembroke Street, Cambridge, CB2 3QZ UK
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Specht AJ, Dickerson AS, Weisskopf MG. Comparison of bone lead measured via portable x-ray fluorescence across and within bones. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2019; 172:273-278. [PMID: 30822560 PMCID: PMC6511307 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2019.02.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2018] [Revised: 02/19/2019] [Accepted: 02/20/2019] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Bone lead measured via x-ray fluorescence (XRF) has been used for decades in health studies. A portable XRF device for bone lead measurement is gaining in popularity for its ease of use and shorter measurement times. Previous XRF devices have measured different bone types in order to sample both cortical and trabecular bone, in which lead has different half residence times. OBJECTIVE The portable XRF uses lower energy to measure bone lead than previous devices, and, thus, only measures the surface of the bone. Because all bones have a cortical shell, we hypothesized that portable XRF bone lead measurements would be similar regardless of the bone measured. METHODS This study tested differences in portable XRF bone lead measurements across different cortical and trabecular bones in measurements made on 31 cadavers. We also compared tissue thicknesses overlying different bones, which can impact portable XRF measurements. RESULTS The correlation coefficients found between bones were higher (rho ~0.4) than previous K-shell XRF bone measurements in cortical and trabecular over the same range of values (rho~0.2). The concentrations were shown to vary non-significantly across different bones within individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aaron J Specht
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, United States.
| | - Aisha S Dickerson
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, United States
| | - Marc G Weisskopf
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, United States
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