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Hoang TT, Rathod RA, Rosales O, Castellanos MI, Schraw JM, Burgess E, Peckham-Gregory EC, Oluyomi AO, Scheurer ME, Hughes AE, Lupo PJ. Residential proximity to oil and gas developments and childhood cancer survival. Cancer 2024. [PMID: 38922855 DOI: 10.1002/cncr.35449] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2024] [Revised: 04/29/2024] [Accepted: 05/13/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Environmental toxicants may impact survival in children with cancer, but the literature investigating these associations remains limited. Because oil and gas developments emit several hazardous air pollutants, the authors evaluated the relationship between residential proximity to oil or gas development and survival across 21 different pediatric cancers. METHODS The Texas Cancer Registry had 29,730 children (≤19 years old) diagnosed with a primary cancer between 1995 to 2017. Geocoded data were available for 285,266 active oil or gas wells and 109,965 horizontal wells. The authors calculated whether each case lived within 1000 m (yes/no) from each type of oil or gas development. Survival analyses were conducted using Cox regression, adjusting for potential confounders. RESULTS A total of 14.2% of cases lived within 1000 m of an oil or gas well or horizontal well. Living within 1000 m of an oil or gas well was associated with risk of mortality in cases with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.36; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01-1.84) and hepatoblastoma (aHR, 2.13; 95% CI, 1.03-4.39). An inverse association was observed with Ewing sarcoma (aHR, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.13-0.95). No associations were observed with horizontal well. There was evidence of a dose-response effect in children with AML or hepatoblastoma and residential proximity to oil or gas wells. In general, the magnitude of association increased with decreasing distance and with higher number of wells across the three distances. CONCLUSIONS Residential proximity to oil or gas wells at diagnosis is associated with the risk of mortality in children with AML or hepatoblastoma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thanh T Hoang
- Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
- Dan L. Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
- Cancer and Hematology Center, Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Rutu A Rathod
- Peter O'Donnell Jr. School of Public Health, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA
| | - Omar Rosales
- Epidemiology and Population Sciences Section, Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Maria I Castellanos
- Division of Pediatric Hematology Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA
| | - Jeremy M Schraw
- Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
- Dan L. Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
- Cancer and Hematology Center, Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Elyse Burgess
- Epidemiology and Population Sciences Section, Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Erin C Peckham-Gregory
- Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
- Dan L. Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
- Cancer and Hematology Center, Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Abiodun O Oluyomi
- Epidemiology and Population Sciences Section, Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Michael E Scheurer
- Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
- Dan L. Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
- Cancer and Hematology Center, Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Amy E Hughes
- Peter O'Donnell Jr. School of Public Health, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA
- Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA
| | - Philip J Lupo
- Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
- Dan L. Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA
- Cancer and Hematology Center, Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, Texas, USA
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Aker AM, Friesen M, Ronald LA, Doyle-Waters MM, Takaro TK, Thickson W, Levin K, Meyer U, Caron-Beaudoin E, McGregor MJ. The human health effects of unconventional oil and gas development (UOGD): A scoping review of epidemiologic studies. CANADIAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH = REVUE CANADIENNE DE SANTE PUBLIQUE 2024; 115:446-467. [PMID: 38457120 PMCID: PMC11133301 DOI: 10.17269/s41997-024-00860-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2023] [Accepted: 01/23/2024] [Indexed: 03/09/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Unconventional oil and gas development (UOGD, sometimes termed "fracking" or "hydraulic fracturing") is an industrial process to extract methane gas and/or oil deposits. Many chemicals used in UOGD have known adverse human health effects. Canada is a major producer of UOGD-derived gas with wells frequently located in and around rural and Indigenous communities. Our objective was to conduct a scoping review to identify the extent of research evidence assessing UOGD exposure-related health impacts, with an additional focus on Canadian studies. METHODS We included English- or French-language peer-reviewed epidemiologic studies (January 2000-December 2022) which measured exposure to UOGD chemicals directly or by proxy, and where health outcomes were plausibly caused by UOGD-related chemical exposure. Results synthesis was descriptive with results ordered by outcome and hierarchy of methodological approach. SYNTHESIS We identified 52 studies from nine jurisdictions. Only two were set in Canada. A majority (n = 27) used retrospective cohort and case-control designs. Almost half (n = 24) focused on birth outcomes, with a majority (n = 22) reporting one or more significant adverse associations of UOGD exposure with: low birthweight; small for gestational age; preterm birth; and one or more birth defects. Other studies identified adverse impacts including asthma (n = 7), respiratory (n = 13), cardiovascular (n = 6), childhood acute lymphocytic leukemia (n = 2), and all-cause mortality (n = 4). CONCLUSION There is a growing body of research, across different jurisdictions, reporting associations of UOGD with adverse health outcomes. Despite the rapid growth of UOGD, which is often located in remote, rural, and Indigenous communities, Canadian research on its effects on human health is remarkably sparse. There is a pressing need for additional evidence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amira M Aker
- Université Laval, CHU de Quebec - Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada
| | - Michael Friesen
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada
| | - Lisa A Ronald
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada
- Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Mary M Doyle-Waters
- Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Tim K Takaro
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada
| | - Willow Thickson
- Department of Family Practice, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Karen Levin
- Emerald Environmental Consulting, Kent, OH, USA
| | - Ulrike Meyer
- Department of Family Practice, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Elyse Caron-Beaudoin
- Department of Health and Society and Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Margaret J McGregor
- Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
- Department of Family Practice, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
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Ray K, Cooper JF. The Bioethics of Environmental Injustice: Ethical, Legal, and Clinical Implications of Unhealthy Environments. THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOETHICS : AJOB 2024; 24:9-17. [PMID: 37104666 DOI: 10.1080/15265161.2023.2201192] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
Environmental health remains a niche topic in bioethics, despite being a prominent social determinant of health. In this paper we argue that if bioethicists are to take the project of health justice as a serious one, then we have to address environmental injustices and the threats they pose to our bioethics principles, health equity, and clinical care. To do this, we lay out three arguments supporting prioritizing environmental health in bioethics based on bioethics principles including a commitment to vulnerable populations and justice. We also highlight and advocate for environmental law efforts that align with these priorities, focusing specifically on the need for a right to a healthy environment. Our intention is to draw attention to the legal and ethical concepts that underlie the importance of a healthy environment, and urge bioethicists to prioritize both legal and ethical advocacy against environmental injustices in their practice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keisha Ray
- University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
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4
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Tran H, Polka E, Buonocore JJ, Roy A, Trask B, Hull H, Arunachalam S. Air Quality and Health Impacts of Onshore Oil and Gas Flaring and Venting Activities Estimated Using Refined Satellite-Based Emissions. GEOHEALTH 2024; 8:e2023GH000938. [PMID: 38449816 PMCID: PMC10916426 DOI: 10.1029/2023gh000938] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2023] [Revised: 01/28/2024] [Accepted: 01/31/2024] [Indexed: 03/08/2024]
Abstract
Emissions from flaring and venting (FV) in oil and gas (O&G) production are difficult to quantify due to their intermittent activities and lack of adequate monitoring and reporting. Given their potentially significant contribution to total emissions from the O&G sector in the United States, we estimate emissions from FV using Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite satellite observations and state/local reported data on flared gas volume. These refined estimates are higher than those reported in the National Emission Inventory: by up to 15 times for fine particulate matter (PM2.5), two times for sulfur dioxides, and 22% higher for nitrogen oxides (NOx). Annual average contributions of FV to ozone (O3), NO2, and PM2.5 in the conterminous U.S. (CONUS) are less than 0.15%, but significant contributions of up to 60% are found in O&G fields with FV. FV contributions are higher in winter than in summer months for O3 and PM2.5; an inverse behavior is found for NO2. Nitrate aerosol contributions to PM2.5 are highest in the Denver basin whereas in the Permian and Bakken basins, sulfate and elemental carbon aerosols are the major contributors. Over four simulated months in 2016 for the entire CONUS, FV contributes 210 additional instances of exceedances to the daily maximum 8-hr average O3 and has negligible contributions to exceedance of NO2 and PM2.5, given the current form of the national ambient air quality standards. FV emissions are found to cause over $7.4 billion in health damages, 710 premature deaths, and 73,000 asthma exacerbations among children annually.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huy Tran
- Institute for the EnvironmentThe University of North Carolina at Chapel HillChapel HillNCUSA
| | - Erin Polka
- Department of Environmental HealthBoston University School of Public HealthBostonMAUSA
| | - Jonathan J. Buonocore
- Department of Environmental HealthBoston University School of Public HealthBostonMAUSA
| | - Ananya Roy
- Environmental Defense FundWashingtonDCUSA
| | - Beth Trask
- Environmental Defense FundWashingtonDCUSA
| | | | - Saravanan Arunachalam
- Institute for the EnvironmentThe University of North Carolina at Chapel HillChapel HillNCUSA
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Levin R, Villanueva CM, Beene D, Cradock AL, Donat-Vargas C, Lewis J, Martinez-Morata I, Minovi D, Nigra AE, Olson ED, Schaider LA, Ward MH, Deziel NC. US drinking water quality: exposure risk profiles for seven legacy and emerging contaminants. JOURNAL OF EXPOSURE SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENTAL EPIDEMIOLOGY 2024; 34:3-22. [PMID: 37739995 PMCID: PMC10907308 DOI: 10.1038/s41370-023-00597-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2023] [Revised: 08/16/2023] [Accepted: 08/17/2023] [Indexed: 09/24/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Advances in drinking water infrastructure and treatment throughout the 20th and early 21st century dramatically improved water reliability and quality in the United States (US) and other parts of the world. However, numerous chemical contaminants from a range of anthropogenic and natural sources continue to pose chronic health concerns, even in countries with established drinking water regulations, such as the US. OBJECTIVE/METHODS In this review, we summarize exposure risk profiles and health effects for seven legacy and emerging drinking water contaminants or contaminant groups: arsenic, disinfection by-products, fracking-related substances, lead, nitrate, per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) and uranium. We begin with an overview of US public water systems, and US and global drinking water regulation. We end with a summary of cross-cutting challenges that burden US drinking water systems: aging and deteriorated water infrastructure, vulnerabilities for children in school and childcare facilities, climate change, disparities in access to safe and reliable drinking water, uneven enforcement of drinking water standards, inadequate health assessments, large numbers of chemicals within a class, a preponderance of small water systems, and issues facing US Indigenous communities. RESULTS Research and data on US drinking water contamination show that exposure profiles, health risks, and water quality reliability issues vary widely across populations, geographically and by contaminant. Factors include water source, local and regional features, aging water infrastructure, industrial or commercial activities, and social determinants. Understanding the risk profiles of different drinking water contaminants is necessary for anticipating local and general problems, ascertaining the state of drinking water resources, and developing mitigation strategies. IMPACT STATEMENT Drinking water contamination is widespread, even in the US. Exposure risk profiles vary by contaminant. Understanding the risk profiles of different drinking water contaminants is necessary for anticipating local and general public health problems, ascertaining the state of drinking water resources, and developing mitigation strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ronnie Levin
- Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
| | - Cristina M Villanueva
- ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain
- CIBER epidemiología y salud pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
- IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Daniel Beene
- Community Environmental Health Program, College of Pharmacy, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM, USA
- University of New Mexico Department of Geography & Environmental Studies, Albuquerque, NM, USA
| | | | - Carolina Donat-Vargas
- ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain
- CIBER epidemiología y salud pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Johnnye Lewis
- Community Environmental Health Program, College of Pharmacy, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM, USA
| | - Irene Martinez-Morata
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA
| | - Darya Minovi
- Center for Science and Democracy, Union of Concerned Scientists, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Anne E Nigra
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA
| | - Erik D Olson
- Natural Resources Defense Council, Washington, DC, USA
| | | | - Mary H Ward
- Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD, USA
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Clark CJ, Warren JL, Saiers JE, Ma X, Bell ML, Deziel NC. Predictors of early life residential mobility in urban and rural Pennsylvania children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and implications for environmental exposure assessment. JOURNAL OF EXPOSURE SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENTAL EPIDEMIOLOGY 2023:10.1038/s41370-023-00636-9. [PMID: 38148338 DOI: 10.1038/s41370-023-00636-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2023] [Revised: 12/08/2023] [Accepted: 12/12/2023] [Indexed: 12/28/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Residential mobility can introduce exposure misclassification in pediatric epidemiology studies using birth address only. OBJECTIVE We examined whether residential mobility varies by sociodemographic factors and urbanicity/rurality among children with cancer. METHODS Our study included 400 children born in Pennsylvania during 2002-2015 and diagnosed with leukemia at ages 2-7 years. Addresses were obtained from state registries at birth and diagnosis. We considered three aspects of mobility between birth and diagnosis: whether a child moved, whether a mover changed census tract, and distance moved. We evaluated predictors of these aspects in urban- and rural-born children using chi-square, t-tests, and regression analyses. RESULTS Overall, 58% of children moved between birth and diagnosis; suburban/rural-born children were more likely to move than urban-born children (67% versus 57%). The mean distance moved was 16.7 km in suburban/rural-born and 14.8 km in urban-born movers. In urban-born children, moving between birth and diagnosis was associated with race, education, participation in the Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), and census tract-level income (all χ2 p < 0.01). Urban-born movers tended to be born in a census tract with a higher Social Vulnerability Index than non-movers (t-test p < 0.01). No factors were statistically significantly associated with any of the residential mobility metrics in suburban/rural-born children, although the sample size was small. IMPACT STATEMENT In this study of a vulnerable population of children with cancer, we found that rural-born children were more likely to move than urban-born children, however, the frequency of movers changing census tracts was equivalent. Mobility in urban-born children, but not rural-born, was associated with several social factors, although the sample size for rural-born children was small. Mobility could be an important source of misclassification depending on the spatial heterogeneity and resolution of the exposure data and whether the social factors are related to exposures or health outcomes. Our results highlight the importance of considering differences in mobility between urban and rural populations in spatial research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cassandra J Clark
- Yale School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, 60 College St., New Haven, CT, 06510, USA.
| | - Joshua L Warren
- Yale School of Public Health, Department of Biostatistics, 60 College St., New Haven, CT, 06510, USA
| | - James E Saiers
- Yale School of the Environment, 195 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA
| | - Xiaomei Ma
- Yale School of Public Health, Department of Chronic Disease Epidemiology, 60 College St., New Haven, CT, 06510, USA
| | - Michelle L Bell
- Yale School of the Environment, 195 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA
| | - Nicole C Deziel
- Yale School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, 60 College St., New Haven, CT, 06510, USA
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7
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Achakulwisut P, Erickson P, Guivarch C, Schaeffer R, Brutschin E, Pye S. Global fossil fuel reduction pathways under different climate mitigation strategies and ambitions. Nat Commun 2023; 14:5425. [PMID: 37704643 PMCID: PMC10499994 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-41105-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2022] [Accepted: 08/21/2023] [Indexed: 09/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The mitigation scenarios database of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Sixth Assessment Report is an important resource for informing policymaking on energy transitions. However, there is a large variety of models, scenario designs, and resulting outputs. Here we analyse the scenarios consistent with limiting warming to 2 °C or below regarding the speed, trajectory, and feasibility of different fossil fuel reduction pathways. In scenarios limiting warming to 1.5 °C with no or limited overshoot, global coal, oil, and natural gas supply (intended for all uses) decline on average by 95%, 62%, and 42%, respectively, from 2020 to 2050, but the long-term role of gas is highly variable. Higher-gas pathways are enabled by higher carbon capture and storage (CCS) and carbon dioxide removal (CDR), but are likely associated with inadequate model representation of regional CO2 storage capacity and technology adoption, diffusion, and path-dependencies. If CDR is constrained by limits derived from expert consensus, the respective modelled coal, oil, and gas reductions become 99%, 70%, and 84%. Our findings suggest the need to adopt unambiguous near- and long-term reduction benchmarks in coal, oil, and gas production and use alongside other climate mitigation targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ploy Achakulwisut
- Stockholm Environment Institute, Seattle, WA, USA.
- Stockholm Environment Institute, Bangkok, Thailand.
| | | | - Céline Guivarch
- International Research Center on Environment and Development (CIRED), École des Pont, Nogent-sur-Marne, France
| | - Roberto Schaeffer
- Centre for Energy and Environmental Economics (CENERGIA), COPPE, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Elina Brutschin
- International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Laxenburg, Austria
| | - Steve Pye
- UCL Energy Institute, University College London, London, UK
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8
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Gaughan C, Sorrentino KM, Liew Z, Johnson NP, Clark CJ, Soriano M, Plano J, Plata DL, Saiers JE, Deziel NC. Residential proximity to unconventional oil and gas development and birth defects in Ohio. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2023; 229:115937. [PMID: 37076028 PMCID: PMC10198955 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.115937] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/01/2023] [Revised: 03/30/2023] [Accepted: 04/16/2023] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Chemicals used or emitted by unconventional oil and gas development (UOGD) include reproductive/developmental toxicants. Associations between UOGD and certain birth defects were reported in a few studies, with none conducted in Ohio, which experienced a thirty-fold increase in natural gas production between 2010 and 2020. METHODS We conducted a registry-based cohort study of 965,236 live births in Ohio from 2010 to 2017. Birth defects were identified in 4653 individuals using state birth records and a state surveillance system. We assigned UOGD exposure based on maternal residential proximity at birth to active UOG wells and a metric specific to the drinking-water exposure pathway that identified UOG wells hydrologically connected to a residence ("upgradient UOG wells"). We estimated odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for all structural birth defects combined and specific birth defect types using binary exposure metrics (presence/absence of any UOG well and presence/absence of an upgradient UOG well within 10 km), adjusting for confounders. Additionally, we conducted analyses stratified by urbanicity, infant sex, and social vulnerability. RESULTS The odds of any structural defect were 1.13 times higher in children born to mothers living within 10 km of UOGD than those born to unexposed mothers (95%CI: 0.98-1.30). Odds were elevated for neural tube defects (OR: 1.57, 95%CI: 1.12-2.19), limb reduction defects (OR: 1.99, 95%CI: 1.18-3.35), and spina bifida (OR 1.93; 95%CI 1.25-2.98). Hypospadias (males only) was inversely related to UOGD exposure (OR: 0.62, 95%CI: 0.43-0.91). Odds of any structural defect were greater in magnitude but less precise in analyses using the hydrological-specific metric (OR: 1.30; 95%CI: 0.85-1.90), in areas with high social vulnerability (OR: 1.27, 95%CI: 0.99-1.60), and among female offspring (OR: 1.28, 95%CI: 1.06-1.53). CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest a positive association between UOGD and certain birth defects, and findings for neural tube defects corroborate results from prior studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Casey Gaughan
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale College, New Haven, CT, USA; Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Keli M Sorrentino
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Zeyan Liew
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Nicholaus P Johnson
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Cassandra J Clark
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Mario Soriano
- Yale School of the Environment, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA; High Meadows Environmental Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Julie Plano
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Desiree L Plata
- Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - James E Saiers
- Yale School of the Environment, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Nicole C Deziel
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA.
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9
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Howarth MV, Eiser AR. Environmentally Mediated Health Disparities. Am J Med 2023; 136:518-522. [PMID: 36828212 PMCID: PMC10213113 DOI: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2023.02.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2023] [Revised: 02/01/2023] [Accepted: 02/02/2023] [Indexed: 02/24/2023]
Abstract
We describe important settings where environmental exposure leads to disease disparities. Lead exposure in urban settings disproportionately impacts the urban Black poor. Native Americans have been forcibly relocated to areas of the West that have arsenic-contaminated groundwater or exposure to radionuclides near mines and nuclear development. Latino farm workers are disproportionately exposed to pesticides and herbicides. These chemicals are associated with cancer, neuropsychiatric disorders, renal failure, and respiratory disorders. The rural poor, both white and of color, are disproportionately impacted by hydraulic fracturing, exposing residents to volatile organic compounds such as toluene and benzene and heavy metals such as lead and arsenic. The urban and rural poor are both exposed to air pollution that significantly impact health. Short- and long-term ambient air pollution exposure has been associated with all-cause cardiovascular disease, stroke, blood pressure, and ischemic heart disease. Cancer due to air pollution has disproportionately impacted poor communities like "Cancer Alley" where numerous industrial sources are geographically clustered. Understanding local environmental hazards and available resources to address them can enhance the quality of medical care.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marilyn V Howarth
- Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
| | - Arnold R Eiser
- Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
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10
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Hoang TT, Rosales O, Burgess E, Lupo PJ, Scheurer ME, Oluyomi AO. Clustering of Pediatric Brain Tumors in Texas, 2000-2017. TOXICS 2023; 11:351. [PMID: 37112578 PMCID: PMC10146099 DOI: 10.3390/toxics11040351] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2023] [Revised: 03/30/2023] [Accepted: 04/06/2023] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
Risk factors for pediatric brain tumors are largely unknown. Identifying spatial clusters of these rare tumors on the basis of residential address may provide insights into childhood socio-environmental factors that increase susceptibility. From 2000-2017, the Texas Cancer Registry recorded 4305 primary brain tumors diagnosed among children (≤19 years old). We performed a spatial analysis in SaTScan to identify neighborhoods (census tracts) where the observed number of pediatric brain tumors was higher than expected. Within each census tract, the number of pediatric brain tumors was summed on the basis of residential address at diagnosis. The population estimate from the 2007-2011 American Community Survey of 0- to 19-year-olds was used as the at-risk population. p-values were calculated using Monte Carlo hypothesis testing. The age-standardized rate was 54.3 per 1,000,000. SaTScan identified twenty clusters, of which two were statistically significant (p < 0.05). Some of the clusters identified in Texas spatially implicated potential sources of environmental risk factors (e.g., proximity to petroleum production processes) to explore in future research. This work provides hypothesis-generating data for further investigations of spatially relevant risk factors of pediatric brain tumors in Texas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thanh T. Hoang
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Hematology-Oncology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (T.T.H.); (P.J.L.); (M.E.S.)
- Dan L. Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
- Cancer and Hematology Center, Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Omar Rosales
- Department of Medicine, Epidemiology and Population Sciences Section, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (O.R.); (E.B.)
| | - Elyse Burgess
- Department of Medicine, Epidemiology and Population Sciences Section, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (O.R.); (E.B.)
| | - Philip J. Lupo
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Hematology-Oncology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (T.T.H.); (P.J.L.); (M.E.S.)
- Dan L. Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
- Cancer and Hematology Center, Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Michael E. Scheurer
- Department of Pediatrics, Division of Hematology-Oncology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (T.T.H.); (P.J.L.); (M.E.S.)
- Dan L. Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
- Cancer and Hematology Center, Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Abiodun O. Oluyomi
- Department of Medicine, Epidemiology and Population Sciences Section, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (O.R.); (E.B.)
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Soriano MA, Warren JL, Clark CJ, Johnson NP, Siegel HG, Deziel NC, Saiers JE. Social Vulnerability and Groundwater Vulnerability to Contamination From Unconventional Hydrocarbon Extraction in the Appalachian Basin. GEOHEALTH 2023; 7:e2022GH000758. [PMID: 37064218 PMCID: PMC10100439 DOI: 10.1029/2022gh000758] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2022] [Revised: 02/20/2023] [Accepted: 03/07/2023] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
Unconventional oil and gas (UOG) development, made possible by horizontal drilling and high-volume hydraulic fracturing, has been fraught with controversy since the industry's rapid expansion in the early 2000's. Concerns about environmental contamination and public health risks persist in many rural communities that depend on groundwater resources for drinking and other daily needs. Spatial disparities in UOG risks can pose distributive environmental injustice if such risks are disproportionately borne by marginalized communities. In this paper, we analyzed groundwater vulnerability to contamination from UOG as a physically based measure of risk in conjunction with census tract level sociodemographic characteristics describing social vulnerability in the northern Appalachian Basin. We found significant associations between elevated groundwater vulnerability and lower population density, consistent with UOG development occurring in less densely populated rural areas. We also found associations between elevated groundwater vulnerability and lower income, higher proportions of elderly populations, and higher proportion of mobile homes, suggesting a disproportionate risk burden on these socially vulnerable groups. We did not find a statistically significant association between elevated groundwater vulnerability and populations of racial/ethnic minorities in our study region. Household surveys provided empirical support for a relationship between sociodemographic characteristics and capacity to assess and mitigate exposures to potentially contaminated water. Further research is needed to probe if the observed disparities translate to differences in chemical exposure and adverse health outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mario A. Soriano
- School of the EnvironmentYale UniversityNew HavenCTUSA
- Integrated GroundWater Modeling CenterHigh Meadows Environmental InstitutePrinceton UniversityPrincetonNJUSA
| | - Joshua L. Warren
- Department of BiostatisticsSchool of Public HealthYale UniversityNew HavenCTUSA
| | - Cassandra J. Clark
- Department of Environmental Health SciencesSchool of Public HealthYale UniversityNew HavenCTUSA
| | - Nicholaus P. Johnson
- Department of Environmental Health SciencesSchool of Public HealthYale UniversityNew HavenCTUSA
| | | | - Nicole C. Deziel
- Department of Environmental Health SciencesSchool of Public HealthYale UniversityNew HavenCTUSA
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12
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Landrigan PJ, Raps H, Cropper M, Bald C, Brunner M, Canonizado EM, Charles D, Chiles TC, Donohue MJ, Enck J, Fenichel P, Fleming LE, Ferrier-Pages C, Fordham R, Gozt A, Griffin C, Hahn ME, Haryanto B, Hixson R, Ianelli H, James BD, Kumar P, Laborde A, Law KL, Martin K, Mu J, Mulders Y, Mustapha A, Niu J, Pahl S, Park Y, Pedrotti ML, Pitt JA, Ruchirawat M, Seewoo BJ, Spring M, Stegeman JJ, Suk W, Symeonides C, Takada H, Thompson RC, Vicini A, Wang Z, Whitman E, Wirth D, Wolff M, Yousuf AK, Dunlop S. The Minderoo-Monaco Commission on Plastics and Human Health. Ann Glob Health 2023; 89:23. [PMID: 36969097 PMCID: PMC10038118 DOI: 10.5334/aogh.4056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 53.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2023] [Accepted: 02/14/2023] [Indexed: 03/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Plastics have conveyed great benefits to humanity and made possible some of the most significant advances of modern civilization in fields as diverse as medicine, electronics, aerospace, construction, food packaging, and sports. It is now clear, however, that plastics are also responsible for significant harms to human health, the economy, and the earth's environment. These harms occur at every stage of the plastic life cycle, from extraction of the coal, oil, and gas that are its main feedstocks through to ultimate disposal into the environment. The extent of these harms not been systematically assessed, their magnitude not fully quantified, and their economic costs not comprehensively counted. Goals The goals of this Minderoo-Monaco Commission on Plastics and Human Health are to comprehensively examine plastics' impacts across their life cycle on: (1) human health and well-being; (2) the global environment, especially the ocean; (3) the economy; and (4) vulnerable populations-the poor, minorities, and the world's children. On the basis of this examination, the Commission offers science-based recommendations designed to support development of a Global Plastics Treaty, protect human health, and save lives. Report Structure This Commission report contains seven Sections. Following an Introduction, Section 2 presents a narrative review of the processes involved in plastic production, use, and disposal and notes the hazards to human health and the environment associated with each of these stages. Section 3 describes plastics' impacts on the ocean and notes the potential for plastic in the ocean to enter the marine food web and result in human exposure. Section 4 details plastics' impacts on human health. Section 5 presents a first-order estimate of plastics' health-related economic costs. Section 6 examines the intersection between plastic, social inequity, and environmental injustice. Section 7 presents the Commission's findings and recommendations. Plastics Plastics are complex, highly heterogeneous, synthetic chemical materials. Over 98% of plastics are produced from fossil carbon- coal, oil and gas. Plastics are comprised of a carbon-based polymer backbone and thousands of additional chemicals that are incorporated into polymers to convey specific properties such as color, flexibility, stability, water repellence, flame retardation, and ultraviolet resistance. Many of these added chemicals are highly toxic. They include carcinogens, neurotoxicants and endocrine disruptors such as phthalates, bisphenols, per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), brominated flame retardants, and organophosphate flame retardants. They are integral components of plastic and are responsible for many of plastics' harms to human health and the environment.Global plastic production has increased almost exponentially since World War II, and in this time more than 8,300 megatons (Mt) of plastic have been manufactured. Annual production volume has grown from under 2 Mt in 1950 to 460 Mt in 2019, a 230-fold increase, and is on track to triple by 2060. More than half of all plastic ever made has been produced since 2002. Single-use plastics account for 35-40% of current plastic production and represent the most rapidly growing segment of plastic manufacture.Explosive recent growth in plastics production reflects a deliberate pivot by the integrated multinational fossil-carbon corporations that produce coal, oil and gas and that also manufacture plastics. These corporations are reducing their production of fossil fuels and increasing plastics manufacture. The two principal factors responsible for this pivot are decreasing global demand for carbon-based fuels due to increases in 'green' energy, and massive expansion of oil and gas production due to fracking.Plastic manufacture is energy-intensive and contributes significantly to climate change. At present, plastic production is responsible for an estimated 3.7% of global greenhouse gas emissions, more than the contribution of Brazil. This fraction is projected to increase to 4.5% by 2060 if current trends continue unchecked. Plastic Life Cycle The plastic life cycle has three phases: production, use, and disposal. In production, carbon feedstocks-coal, gas, and oil-are transformed through energy-intensive, catalytic processes into a vast array of products. Plastic use occurs in every aspect of modern life and results in widespread human exposure to the chemicals contained in plastic. Single-use plastics constitute the largest portion of current use, followed by synthetic fibers and construction.Plastic disposal is highly inefficient, with recovery and recycling rates below 10% globally. The result is that an estimated 22 Mt of plastic waste enters the environment each year, much of it single-use plastic and are added to the more than 6 gigatons of plastic waste that have accumulated since 1950. Strategies for disposal of plastic waste include controlled and uncontrolled landfilling, open burning, thermal conversion, and export. Vast quantities of plastic waste are exported each year from high-income to low-income countries, where it accumulates in landfills, pollutes air and water, degrades vital ecosystems, befouls beaches and estuaries, and harms human health-environmental injustice on a global scale. Plastic-laden e-waste is particularly problematic. Environmental Findings Plastics and plastic-associated chemicals are responsible for widespread pollution. They contaminate aquatic (marine and freshwater), terrestrial, and atmospheric environments globally. The ocean is the ultimate destination for much plastic, and plastics are found throughout the ocean, including coastal regions, the sea surface, the deep sea, and polar sea ice. Many plastics appear to resist breakdown in the ocean and could persist in the global environment for decades. Macro- and micro-plastic particles have been identified in hundreds of marine species in all major taxa, including species consumed by humans. Trophic transfer of microplastic particles and the chemicals within them has been demonstrated. Although microplastic particles themselves (>10 µm) appear not to undergo biomagnification, hydrophobic plastic-associated chemicals bioaccumulate in marine animals and biomagnify in marine food webs. The amounts and fates of smaller microplastic and nanoplastic particles (MNPs <10 µm) in aquatic environments are poorly understood, but the potential for harm is worrying given their mobility in biological systems. Adverse environmental impacts of plastic pollution occur at multiple levels from molecular and biochemical to population and ecosystem. MNP contamination of seafood results in direct, though not well quantified, human exposure to plastics and plastic-associated chemicals. Marine plastic pollution endangers the ocean ecosystems upon which all humanity depends for food, oxygen, livelihood, and well-being. Human Health Findings Coal miners, oil workers and gas field workers who extract fossil carbon feedstocks for plastic production suffer increased mortality from traumatic injury, coal workers' pneumoconiosis, silicosis, cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lung cancer. Plastic production workers are at increased risk of leukemia, lymphoma, hepatic angiosarcoma, brain cancer, breast cancer, mesothelioma, neurotoxic injury, and decreased fertility. Workers producing plastic textiles die of bladder cancer, lung cancer, mesothelioma, and interstitial lung disease at increased rates. Plastic recycling workers have increased rates of cardiovascular disease, toxic metal poisoning, neuropathy, and lung cancer. Residents of "fenceline" communities adjacent to plastic production and waste disposal sites experience increased risks of premature birth, low birth weight, asthma, childhood leukemia, cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lung cancer.During use and also in disposal, plastics release toxic chemicals including additives and residual monomers into the environment and into people. National biomonitoring surveys in the USA document population-wide exposures to these chemicals. Plastic additives disrupt endocrine function and increase risk for premature births, neurodevelopmental disorders, male reproductive birth defects, infertility, obesity, cardiovascular disease, renal disease, and cancers. Chemical-laden MNPs formed through the environmental degradation of plastic waste can enter living organisms, including humans. Emerging, albeit still incomplete evidence indicates that MNPs may cause toxicity due to their physical and toxicological effects as well as by acting as vectors that transport toxic chemicals and bacterial pathogens into tissues and cells.Infants in the womb and young children are two populations at particularly high risk of plastic-related health effects. Because of the exquisite sensitivity of early development to hazardous chemicals and children's unique patterns of exposure, plastic-associated exposures are linked to increased risks of prematurity, stillbirth, low birth weight, birth defects of the reproductive organs, neurodevelopmental impairment, impaired lung growth, and childhood cancer. Early-life exposures to plastic-associated chemicals also increase the risk of multiple non-communicable diseases later in life. Economic Findings Plastic's harms to human health result in significant economic costs. We estimate that in 2015 the health-related costs of plastic production exceeded $250 billion (2015 Int$) globally, and that in the USA alone the health costs of disease and disability caused by the plastic-associated chemicals PBDE, BPA and DEHP exceeded $920 billion (2015 Int$). Plastic production results in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions equivalent to 1.96 gigatons of carbon dioxide (CO2e) annually. Using the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) social cost of carbon metric, we estimate the annual costs of these GHG emissions to be $341 billion (2015 Int$).These costs, large as they are, almost certainly underestimate the full economic losses resulting from plastics' negative impacts on human health and the global environment. All of plastics' economic costs-and also its social costs-are externalized by the petrochemical and plastic manufacturing industry and are borne by citizens, taxpayers, and governments in countries around the world without compensation. Social Justice Findings The adverse effects of plastics and plastic pollution on human health, the economy and the environment are not evenly distributed. They disproportionately affect poor, disempowered, and marginalized populations such as workers, racial and ethnic minorities, "fenceline" communities, Indigenous groups, women, and children, all of whom had little to do with creating the current plastics crisis and lack the political influence or the resources to address it. Plastics' harmful impacts across its life cycle are most keenly felt in the Global South, in small island states, and in disenfranchised areas in the Global North. Social and environmental justice (SEJ) principles require reversal of these inequitable burdens to ensure that no group bears a disproportionate share of plastics' negative impacts and that those who benefit economically from plastic bear their fair share of its currently externalized costs. Conclusions It is now clear that current patterns of plastic production, use, and disposal are not sustainable and are responsible for significant harms to human health, the environment, and the economy as well as for deep societal injustices.The main driver of these worsening harms is an almost exponential and still accelerating increase in global plastic production. Plastics' harms are further magnified by low rates of recovery and recycling and by the long persistence of plastic waste in the environment.The thousands of chemicals in plastics-monomers, additives, processing agents, and non-intentionally added substances-include amongst their number known human carcinogens, endocrine disruptors, neurotoxicants, and persistent organic pollutants. These chemicals are responsible for many of plastics' known harms to human and planetary health. The chemicals leach out of plastics, enter the environment, cause pollution, and result in human exposure and disease. All efforts to reduce plastics' hazards must address the hazards of plastic-associated chemicals. Recommendations To protect human and planetary health, especially the health of vulnerable and at-risk populations, and put the world on track to end plastic pollution by 2040, this Commission supports urgent adoption by the world's nations of a strong and comprehensive Global Plastics Treaty in accord with the mandate set forth in the March 2022 resolution of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA).International measures such as a Global Plastics Treaty are needed to curb plastic production and pollution, because the harms to human health and the environment caused by plastics, plastic-associated chemicals and plastic waste transcend national boundaries, are planetary in their scale, and have disproportionate impacts on the health and well-being of people in the world's poorest nations. Effective implementation of the Global Plastics Treaty will require that international action be coordinated and complemented by interventions at the national, regional, and local levels.This Commission urges that a cap on global plastic production with targets, timetables, and national contributions be a central provision of the Global Plastics Treaty. We recommend inclusion of the following additional provisions:The Treaty needs to extend beyond microplastics and marine litter to include all of the many thousands of chemicals incorporated into plastics.The Treaty needs to include a provision banning or severely restricting manufacture and use of unnecessary, avoidable, and problematic plastic items, especially single-use items such as manufactured plastic microbeads.The Treaty needs to include requirements on extended producer responsibility (EPR) that make fossil carbon producers, plastic producers, and the manufacturers of plastic products legally and financially responsible for the safety and end-of-life management of all the materials they produce and sell.The Treaty needs to mandate reductions in the chemical complexity of plastic products; health-protective standards for plastics and plastic additives; a requirement for use of sustainable non-toxic materials; full disclosure of all components; and traceability of components. International cooperation will be essential to implementing and enforcing these standards.The Treaty needs to include SEJ remedies at each stage of the plastic life cycle designed to fill gaps in community knowledge and advance both distributional and procedural equity.This Commission encourages inclusion in the Global Plastic Treaty of a provision calling for exploration of listing at least some plastic polymers as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) under the Stockholm Convention.This Commission encourages a strong interface between the Global Plastics Treaty and the Basel and London Conventions to enhance management of hazardous plastic waste and slow current massive exports of plastic waste into the world's least-developed countries.This Commission recommends the creation of a Permanent Science Policy Advisory Body to guide the Treaty's implementation. The main priorities of this Body would be to guide Member States and other stakeholders in evaluating which solutions are most effective in reducing plastic consumption, enhancing plastic waste recovery and recycling, and curbing the generation of plastic waste. This Body could also assess trade-offs among these solutions and evaluate safer alternatives to current plastics. It could monitor the transnational export of plastic waste. It could coordinate robust oceanic-, land-, and air-based MNP monitoring programs.This Commission recommends urgent investment by national governments in research into solutions to the global plastic crisis. This research will need to determine which solutions are most effective and cost-effective in the context of particular countries and assess the risks and benefits of proposed solutions. Oceanographic and environmental research is needed to better measure concentrations and impacts of plastics <10 µm and understand their distribution and fate in the global environment. Biomedical research is needed to elucidate the human health impacts of plastics, especially MNPs. Summary This Commission finds that plastics are both a boon to humanity and a stealth threat to human and planetary health. Plastics convey enormous benefits, but current linear patterns of plastic production, use, and disposal that pay little attention to sustainable design or safe materials and a near absence of recovery, reuse, and recycling are responsible for grave harms to health, widespread environmental damage, great economic costs, and deep societal injustices. These harms are rapidly worsening.While there remain gaps in knowledge about plastics' harms and uncertainties about their full magnitude, the evidence available today demonstrates unequivocally that these impacts are great and that they will increase in severity in the absence of urgent and effective intervention at global scale. Manufacture and use of essential plastics may continue. However, reckless increases in plastic production, and especially increases in the manufacture of an ever-increasing array of unnecessary single-use plastic products, need to be curbed.Global intervention against the plastic crisis is needed now because the costs of failure to act will be immense.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philip J. Landrigan
- Global Observatory on Planetary Health, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, US
- Centre Scientifique de Monaco, Medical Biology Department, MC
| | - Hervé Raps
- Centre Scientifique de Monaco, Medical Biology Department, MC
| | - Maureen Cropper
- Economics Department, University of Maryland, College Park, US
| | - Caroline Bald
- Global Observatory on Planetary Health, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, US
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Patrick Fenichel
- Université Côte d’Azur
- Centre Hospitalier, Universitaire de Nice, FR
| | - Lora E. Fleming
- European Centre for Environment and Human Health, University of Exeter Medical School, UK
| | | | | | | | - Carly Griffin
- Global Observatory on Planetary Health, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, US
| | - Mark E. Hahn
- Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, US
- Woods Hole Center for Oceans and Human Health, US
| | - Budi Haryanto
- Department of Environmental Health, Universitas Indonesia, ID
- Research Center for Climate Change, Universitas Indonesia, ID
| | - Richard Hixson
- College of Medicine and Health, University of Exeter, UK
| | - Hannah Ianelli
- Global Observatory on Planetary Health, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, US
| | - Bryan D. James
- Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
- Department of Biology, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, US
| | | | - Amalia Laborde
- Department of Toxicology, School of Medicine, University of the Republic, UY
| | | | - Keith Martin
- Consortium of Universities for Global Health, US
| | - Jenna Mu
- Global Observatory on Planetary Health, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, US
| | | | - Adetoun Mustapha
- Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Lagos, Nigeria
- Lead City University, NG
| | - Jia Niu
- Department of Chemistry, Boston College, US
| | - Sabine Pahl
- University of Vienna, Austria
- University of Plymouth, UK
| | | | - Maria-Luiza Pedrotti
- Laboratoire d’Océanographie de Villefranche sur mer (LOV), Sorbonne Université, FR
| | | | | | - Bhedita Jaya Seewoo
- Minderoo Foundation, AU
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, AU
| | | | - John J. Stegeman
- Biology Department and Woods Hole Center for Oceans and Human Health, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, US
| | - William Suk
- Superfund Research Program, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, US
| | | | - Hideshige Takada
- Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry (LOG), Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, JP
| | | | | | - Zhanyun Wang
- Technology and Society Laboratory, WEmpa-Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials and Technology, CH
| | - Ella Whitman
- Global Observatory on Planetary Health, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, US
| | | | | | - Aroub K. Yousuf
- Global Observatory on Planetary Health, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, US
| | - Sarah Dunlop
- Minderoo Foundation, AU
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, AU
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González DJX, Morton CM, Hill LAL, Michanowicz DR, Rossi RJ, Shonkoff SBC, Casey JA, Morello‐Frosch R. Temporal Trends of Racial and Socioeconomic Disparities in Population Exposures to Upstream Oil and Gas Development in California. GEOHEALTH 2023; 7:e2022GH000690. [PMID: 36968155 PMCID: PMC10035325 DOI: 10.1029/2022gh000690] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2022] [Revised: 01/30/2023] [Accepted: 02/16/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
People living near oil and gas development are exposed to multiple environmental stressors that pose health risks. Some studies suggest these risks are higher for racially and socioeconomically marginalized people, which may be partly attributable to disparities in exposures. We examined whether racially and socioeconomically marginalized people in California are disproportionately exposed to oil and gas wells and associated hazards. We longitudinally assessed exposure to wells during three time periods (2005-2009, 2010-2014, and 2015-2019) using sociodemographic data at the census block group-level. For each block group and time period, we assessed exposure to new, active, retired, and plugged wells, and cumulative production volume. We calculated risk ratios to determine whether marginalized people disproportionately resided near wells (within 1 km). Averaged across the three time periods, we estimated that 1.1 million Californians (3.0%) lived within 1 km of active wells. Nearly 9 million Californians (22.9%) lived within 1 km of plugged wells. The proportion of Black residents near active wells was 42%-49% higher than the proportion of Black residents across California, and the proportion of Hispanic residents near active wells was 4%-13% higher than their statewide proportion. Disparities were greatest in areas with the highest oil and gas production, where the proportion of Black residents was 105%-139% higher than statewide. Socioeconomically marginalized residents also had disproportionately high exposure to wells. Though oil and gas production has declined in California, marginalized communities persistently had disproportionately high exposure to wells, potentially contributing to health disparities.
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Affiliation(s)
- David J. X. González
- Division of Environmental Health SciencesSchool of Public HealthUniversity of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyCAUSA
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and ManagementUniversity of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyCAUSA
| | - Claire M. Morton
- Mathematical and Computational Science ProgramStanford UniversityStanfordCAUSA
| | | | | | | | - Seth B. C. Shonkoff
- Division of Environmental Health SciencesSchool of Public HealthUniversity of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyCAUSA
- PSE Healthy EnergyOaklandCAUSA
- Lawrence Berkeley National LaboratoryEnergy Technologies AreaBerkeleyCAUSA
| | - Joan A. Casey
- Department of Environmental Health SciencesColumbia UniversityNew YorkNYUSA
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health SciencesUniversity of WashingtonSeattleWAUSA
| | - Rachel Morello‐Frosch
- Division of Environmental Health SciencesSchool of Public HealthUniversity of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyCAUSA
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and ManagementUniversity of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyCAUSA
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Quist AJL, Van Horne YO, Farzan SF, Johnston JE. Metal Exposures in Residents Living Near an Urban Oil Drilling Site in Los Angeles, California. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 2022; 56:15981-15989. [PMID: 36288551 PMCID: PMC9670842 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c04926] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2022] [Revised: 10/18/2022] [Accepted: 10/18/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Urban environmental justice communities are potentially exposed to multiple toxic metals, through contaminated air, soil, water, and food. However, information on metals and their sources is lacking. This study uses non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) in a community-based participatory research study to identify potential sources and to understand how these metals cluster in a population near an urban oil drilling site. We recruited 203 Latinx, Black, and Asian residents who lived within 1 km of an oil drilling site in south Los Angeles and collected toenail clippings to assess exposure to arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), and antimony (Sb). Using NMF, we identified three clusters based on concentrations in the participants' toenails. As, Cd, Pb, and Sb grouped together, indicative of an industrial source. A second grouping was composed of Ni and Mn, which may be related to oil drilling. We also identified a third source factor predominantly driven by Hg and As, which may arise from dietary sources. Utilizing NMF, a dimension reduction method, we identified a source factor high in Ni and Mn in residents living in a neighborhood near an active oil drilling site.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arbor J. L. Quist
- Department of Population
and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, 1845 N Soto St, Los Angeles, California90032, United States
| | - Yoshira Ornelas Van Horne
- Department of Population
and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, 1845 N Soto St, Los Angeles, California90032, United States
| | - Shohreh F. Farzan
- Department of Population
and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, 1845 N Soto St, Los Angeles, California90032, United States
| | - Jill E. Johnston
- Department of Population
and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, 1845 N Soto St, Los Angeles, California90032, United States
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Pascual F. Fracking and Childhood Leukemia: New Evidence Supports Greater Residential Setbacks. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVES 2022; 130:94002. [PMID: 36178796 PMCID: PMC9524600 DOI: 10.1289/ehp11982] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2022] [Accepted: 09/01/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
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Announcing the Minderoo – Monaco Commission on Plastics and Human Health. Ann Glob Health 2022; 88:73. [PMID: 36072831 PMCID: PMC9414927 DOI: 10.5334/aogh.3916] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2022] [Accepted: 07/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
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