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Duraffour F, Ramos-Bonilla JP, Lysaniuk B. Use of agent-based modeling to analyze potential non-occupational exposures to asbestos of the general population of Sibaté (Colombia). ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT 2024; 196:900. [PMID: 39237806 DOI: 10.1007/s10661-024-13052-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2024] [Accepted: 08/23/2024] [Indexed: 09/07/2024]
Abstract
Previous studies conducted in the municipality of Sibaté (Colombia) have revealed alarming findings regarding asbestos exposure in the region, as it is the site of the country's first mesothelioma cluster. Non-occupational asbestos exposure events were identified in this population, and the young age of the mesothelioma cases at the time of diagnosis suggests that asbestos exposure occurred during their childhood. The creation of landfilled zones in the 1980s and 1990s, utilizing friable asbestos among other disposed materials, may have been a significant asbestos exposure event contributing to the elevated number of mesothelioma cases. The objective of this study was to model various historical exposure scenarios related to the creation and interaction of the population with asbestos-contaminated landfilled zones, in light of the absence of asbestos monitoring in the region. The models utilized a multi-agent simulation process, focusing on a 10-year period (1986-1995). Various relevant variables were incorporated into the modeling process, including, for example, the number of children playing in the landfilled zones and the percentage of children carrying asbestos fibers on their clothes to their homes. A range of values for input data for the models were utilized, spanning from very conservative numbers to exposure-promoting values. The average number of exposed individuals estimated over 750 simulation runs, considering all scenarios, was 571, with a range between 31 and 3800 exposed individuals. The use of multi-agent simulation models can assist the understanding of past asbestos exposure events, especially when there is a lack of environmental surveillance data.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Juan Pablo Ramos-Bonilla
- Departamento de Ingeniería Civil y Ambiental, Universidad de Los Andes, 111711, Bogotá, Colombia
- Collegium Ramazzini, 40010, Bentivoglio, Bologna, Italy
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Capitani G, Dalpiaz M, Vergani F, Campanale F, Conconi R, Odorizzi S. Recycling thermally deactivated asbestos cement in mortar: A possible route towards a rapid conclusion of the "asbestos problem". JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2024; 355:120507. [PMID: 38457895 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.120507] [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: 12/07/2023] [Revised: 02/06/2024] [Accepted: 02/25/2024] [Indexed: 03/10/2024]
Abstract
The "asbestos problem" arises from the fact that asbestos is still abundant in many buildings and represents a hazard for human health. Current strategies adopted by law aiming at mitigating this hazard are far from being ideal. A smarter solution would be an energy sustainable detoxification treatment followed by recycling. If adopted, it would preserve the environment from pollution, natural resources from depletion and human health from hazard. Asbestos-cement slates were thermally deactivated through a sustainable process and reused in mortar for plaster applications. We found that the addition up to 7 wt% of the deactivated product does not affect significantly the water demand; does not affect thixotropy, stickiness and spreadability of the plastic mixture; slightly increases the strength of the mortar; does not compromise mechanical properties after aging. Considering the huge amount of traditional mortar employed worldwide, a rapid end of the "asbestos problem" is envisaged.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giancarlo Capitani
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Milan-Bicocca, Italy.
| | | | - Fabrizio Vergani
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Milan-Bicocca, Italy.
| | - Fabrizio Campanale
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Milan-Bicocca, Italy.
| | - Roberto Conconi
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Milan-Bicocca, Italy.
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Liu B, Niu L, Lee FF. Utilizing residential histories to assess environmental exposure and socioeconomic status over the life course among mesothelioma patients. J Thorac Dis 2023; 15:6126-6139. [PMID: 38090310 PMCID: PMC10713296 DOI: 10.21037/jtd-23-533] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2023] [Accepted: 07/21/2023] [Indexed: 02/01/2024]
Abstract
Background Exposure misclassification based solely on the address at cancer diagnosis has been widely recognized though not commonly assessed. Methods We linked 1,015 mesothelioma cases diagnosed during 2011-2015 from the New York State Cancer Registry to inpatient claims and LexisNexis administrative data and constructed residential histories. Percentile ranking of exposure to ambient air toxics and socioeconomic status (SES) were based on the National Air Toxic Assessment and United States Census data, respectively. To facilitate comparisons over time, relative exposures (REs) were calculated by dividing the percentile ranking at individual census tract by the state-level average and subtracting one. We used generalized linear regression models to compare the RE in the past with that at cancer diagnosis, adjusting for patient-level characteristics. Results Approximately 43.7% of patients had residential information available for up to 30 years, and 96.0% up to 5 years. The median number of unique places lived was 4 [interquartile range (IQR), 2-6]. The time-weighted-average RE from all addresses available had a median of -0.11 (IQR, -0.50 to 0.30) for air toxics and -0.28 (IQR, -0.65 to 0.25) for SES. RE associated with air toxics (but not SES) was significantly higher for earlier addresses than addresses at cancer diagnosis for the 5-year [annual increase =1.24%; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.71-1.77%; n=974] and 30-year (annual increase =0.36%; 95% CI: 0.25-0.48%; n=444) look-back windows, respectively. Conclusions Environmental exposure to non-asbestos air toxics among mesothelioma patients may be underestimated if based solely on the address at diagnosis. With geospatial data becoming more readily available, incorporating cancer patients' residential history would lead to reduced exposure misclassification and accurate health risk estimates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bian Liu
- Department of Population Health Science and Policy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Li Niu
- Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Furrina F. Lee
- Bureau of Cancer Epidemiology, Division of Chronic Disease Prevention, New York State Department of Health, Menands, NY, USA
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Fazzo L, Minelli G, De Santis M, Ceccarelli E, Iavarone I, Zona A. The Epidemiological Surveillance of Mesothelioma Mortality in Italy as a Tool for the Prevention of Asbestos Exposure. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2023; 20:5957. [PMID: 37297561 PMCID: PMC10252364 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20115957] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2023] [Revised: 05/17/2023] [Accepted: 05/19/2023] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
As part of a surveillance plan active since the early 1990s, this study evaluates malignant mesothelioma (MM) mortality for the time-window 2010-2019 in Italy, a country that banned asbestos in 1992. National and regional mortality rates for MM, and municipal standardized mortality ratios (all mesotheliomas, pleural (MPM) and peritoneal (MPeM)), by gender and age group were calculated. A municipal clustering analysis was also performed. There were 15,446 deaths from MM (11,161 males, 3.8 × 100,000; 4285 females, 1.1 × 100,000), of which 12,496 were MPM and 661 were MPeM. In the study period, 266 people ≤50 years died from MM. A slightly decreasing rate among males since 2014 was observed. The areas at major risk hosted asbestos-cement plants, asbestos mines (chrysotile in Balangero), shipyards, petrochemical and chemical plants, and refineries. Female mortality excesses particularly were found in municipalities with a fluoro-edenite-contaminated mine (Biancavilla) and textile facilities. Excesses were also found in a region with the presence of natural asbestos fibres and in males living in two small islands. The Italian National Prevention Plan stated recommendations to eliminate asbestos exposures and to implement health surveillance and healthcare for people exposed to asbestos.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucia Fazzo
- Department of Environment and Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy; (M.D.S.); (I.I.); (A.Z.)
| | - Giada Minelli
- Statistical Service, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy; (G.M.); (E.C.)
| | - Marco De Santis
- Department of Environment and Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy; (M.D.S.); (I.I.); (A.Z.)
| | - Emiliano Ceccarelli
- Statistical Service, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy; (G.M.); (E.C.)
| | - Ivano Iavarone
- Department of Environment and Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy; (M.D.S.); (I.I.); (A.Z.)
| | - Amerigo Zona
- Department of Environment and Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy; (M.D.S.); (I.I.); (A.Z.)
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Buralli RJ, Pinheiro RDC, Susviela LL, Duracenko SRC, De Capitani EM, Savaris A, Algranti E. The Brazilian System for Monitoring Workers and General Population Exposed to Asbestos: Development, Challenges, and Opportunities for Workers' Health Surveillance. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2023; 20:4295. [PMID: 36901302 PMCID: PMC10001436 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20054295] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2023] [Revised: 02/18/2023] [Accepted: 02/24/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
The lack of safe levels of asbestos exposure and the long latency of asbestos-related disease (ARD) makes workers' health surveillance challenging, especially in lower-income countries. This paper aims to present the recently developed Brazilian system for monitoring workers and general population exposed to asbestos (Datamianto), and to discuss the main challenges and opportunities for workers' health surveillance. METHODS a descriptive study of the Datamianto development process, examining all the stages of system planning, development, improvement, validation, availability, and training of health services for its use, in addition to presenting the main challenges and opportunities for its implementation. RESULTS The system was developed by a group of software developers, workers' health specialists, and practitioners, and it was recently incorporated by the Ministry of Health to be used for workers' health surveillance. It can facilitate the monitoring of exposed individuals, epidemiological data analysis, promote cooperation between health services, and ensure periodical medical screening guaranteed to workers by labor legislation. Moreover, the system has a Business Intelligence (BI) platform to analyze epidemiologic data and produce near real-time reports. CONCLUSIONS Datamianto can support and qualify the healthcare and surveillance of asbestos-exposed workers and ARD, promoting a better quality of life for workers and improving companies' compliance with legislation. Even so, the system's significance, applicability, and longevity will depend on the efforts aimed at its implementation and improvement.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rafael Junqueira Buralli
- Departamento de Vigilância em Saúde Ambiental e Saúde do Trabalhador, Ministério da Saúde, Brasil (CGSAT/DSAST/SVS/MS), SRTV 702, Via W5 Norte, Brasília 70723-040, DF, Brazil
| | - Regina Dal Castel Pinheiro
- Gerência em Saúde do Trabalhador, Diretoria de Vigilância Sanitária do Estado de Santa Catarina (GESAT/DIVS/SUV/SES), Av. Rio Branco, 152, Centro, Florianópolis 88015-200, SC, Brazil
| | - Laura Lima Susviela
- Gerência em Saúde do Trabalhador, Diretoria de Vigilância Sanitária do Estado de Santa Catarina (GESAT/DIVS/SUV/SES), Av. Rio Branco, 152, Centro, Florianópolis 88015-200, SC, Brazil
| | - Sandra Renata Canale Duracenko
- Centro de Referência em Saúde do Trabalhador de Piracicaba (Cerest Piracicaba/SMS/PMP), Rua do Trabalho, 634, 1º andar, Vila Independência, Piracicaba 13418-220, SP, Brazil
| | - Eduardo Mello De Capitani
- Departamento de Clínica Médica, Centro de Informação e Assistência Toxicológica (CIATox) de Campinas, FCM, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Rua Vital Brasil 251, Campinas 13083-888, SP, Brazil
| | - Alexandre Savaris
- Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa e Extensão Universitária (FAPEU), Rua Delfino Conti, S/N, Florianópolis 88040-370, SC, Brazil
| | - Eduardo Algranti
- Division of Applied Research, Fundacentro, Rua Capote Valente, 710, São Paulo 05409-002, SP, Brazil
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Liu B, Lee FF. Utilizing Residential History to Examine Heterogeneous Exposure Trajectories: A Latent Class Mixed Modeling Approach Applied to Mesothelioma Patients. JOURNAL OF REGISTRY MANAGEMENT 2023; 50:144-154. [PMID: 38504699 PMCID: PMC10945925] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/21/2024]
Abstract
Background Life-course exposure assessment, as opposed to a one-time snapshot assessment based on the address at cancer diagnosis, has become increasingly possible with available cancer patients' residential history data. To demonstrate a novel application of residential history data, we examined the heterogeneous trajectories of the nonasbestos air toxic exposures among mesothelioma patients, and compared the patients' residential locations with the spatiotemporal clusters estimated from the National Air Toxic Assessment (NATA) data. Methods Patients' residential histories were obtained by linking mesothelioma cases diagnosed during 2011-2015 in the New York State (NYS) Cancer Registry to LexisNexis administrative data and inpatient claims data. To compare cancer risks over time, yearly relative exposure (RE) was calculated by dividing the NATA cancer risk at individual census tracts by the NYS average and subtracting 1. We used a latent class mixed model to identify distinct exposure trajectories among patients with a 15-year residential history prior to cancer diagnosis (n = 909). We further examined patient characteristics by the latent trajectory groups using bivariate comparisons and a logistic regression model. The spatiotemporal clusters of RE were generated based on all NATA data (n = 72,079) across the contiguous United States and using the SaTScan software. Results The median number of addresses lived was 2 (IQR, 1-4), with a median residential duration of 8 years (IQR, 4.7-13.2 years). We identified 3 distinct exposure trajectories: persistent low exposure (27%), decreased low exposure (41%), and increased high exposure (32%). Patient characteristics did not differ across trajectory groups, except for race and Hispanic ethnicity (P < .0001) and residential duration (P = .03). Compared to their counterparts, non-Hispanic White patients had a significantly lower odds of belonging to the increased high exposure group (adjusted odds ratio, 0.14; 95% CI, 0.09-0.23) than the persistent low exposure and decreased low exposure groups. Patients in the increased high exposure group tended to reside in New York City (NYC), which was covered by one of the high-RE clusters. On the other hand, patients in the persistent low exposure group tended to reside outside of NYC within NYS, which was largely covered by 2 low-RE clusters. Conclusion Using mesothelioma as an example, we quantified the heterogeneous trajectories of nonasbestos air toxic exposure based on patients' residential histories. We found that patients' race and ethnicity differed across the latent groups, likely reflecting the differences in patients' residential mobility before their cancer diagnoses. Our method can be used to study cancer types that do not have a clear etiology and may have a higher attributable risk due to environmental exposures as well as socioeconomic conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bian Liu
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Furrina F. Lee
- Bureau of Cancer Epidemiology, Division of Chronic Disease Prevention, New York State Department of Health, Menands, New York
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