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Edwards L, McCray NL, VanNoy BN, Yau A, Geller RJ, Adamkiewicz G, Zota AR. Phthalate and novel plasticizer concentrations in food items from U.S. fast food chains: a preliminary analysis. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 2022; 32:366-373. [PMID: 34702987 PMCID: PMC9119856 DOI: 10.1038/s41370-021-00392-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2021] [Revised: 09/24/2021] [Accepted: 09/27/2021] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Fast food consumption is associated with biomarkers of ortho-phthalates exposures. However, the chemical content of fast food is unknown; certain ortho-phthalates (i.e., di-n-butyl phthalate (DnBP) and di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP)) have been phased out and replaced with other plasticizers (e.g., dioctyl terephthalate (DEHT)). OBJECTIVE We conducted a preliminary study to examine ortho-phthalate and replacement plasticizer concentrations in foods and food handling gloves from U.S. fast food restaurants. METHODS We obtained hamburgers, fries, chicken nuggets, chicken burritos, cheese pizza (n = 64 food samples) and gloves (n = 3) from restaurants and analyzed them for 11 chemicals using gas chromatography mass spectrometry. RESULTS We found DEHT at the highest concentrations in both foods (n = 19; median = 2510 µg/kg; max = 12,400 µg/kg) and gloves (n = 3; range: 28-37% by weight). We detected DnBP and DEHP in 81% and 70% of food samples, respectively. Median DEHT concentrations were significantly higher in burritos than hamburgers (6000 µg/kg vs. 2200 µg/kg; p < 0.0001); DEHT was not detected in fries. Cheese pizza had the lowest levels of most chemicals. SIGNIFICANCE To our knowledge, these are the first measurements of DEHT in food. Our preliminary findings suggest that ortho-phthalates remain ubiquitous and replacement plasticizers may be abundant in fast food meals. IMPACT STATEMENT A selection of popular fast food items sampled in this study contain detectable levels of replacement plasticizers and concerning ortho-phthalates. In addition, food handling gloves contain replacement plasticizers, which may be a source of food contamination. These results, if confirmed, may inform individual and regulatory exposure reduction strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lariah Edwards
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, The George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Nathan L McCray
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, The George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Brianna N VanNoy
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, The George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Alice Yau
- Department of Analytical and Environmental Chemistry, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX, USA
| | - Ruth J Geller
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, The George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, Washington, DC, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Gary Adamkiewicz
- Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Ami R Zota
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, The George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, Washington, DC, USA.
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Perry MJ, Arrington S, Freisthler MS, Ibe IN, McCray NL, Neumann LM, Tajanlangit P, Trejo Rosas BM. Pervasive structural racism in environmental epidemiology. Environ Health 2021; 20:119. [PMID: 34784917 PMCID: PMC8595076 DOI: 10.1186/s12940-021-00801-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2020] [Accepted: 10/22/2021] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Epistemological biases in environmental epidemiology prevent the full understanding of how racism's societal impacts directly influence health outcomes. With the ability to focus on "place" and the totality of environmental exposures, environmental epidemiologists have an important opportunity to advance the field by proactively investigating the structural racist forces that drive disparities in health. OBJECTIVE This commentary illustrates how environmental epidemiology has ignored racism for too long. Some examples from environmental health and male infertility are used to illustrate how failing to address racism neglects the health of entire populations. DISCUSSION While research on environmental justice has attended to the structural sources of environmental racism, this work has not been fully integrated into the mainstream of environmental epidemiology. Epidemiology's dominant paradigm that reduces race to a mere data point avoids the social dimensions of health and thus fails to improve population health for all. Failing to include populations who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) in health research means researchers actually know very little about the effect of environmental contaminants on a range of population health outcomes. This commentary offers different practical solutions, such as naming racism in research, including BIPOC in leadership positions, mandating requirements for discussing "race", conducting far more holistic analyses, increasing community participation in research, and improving racism training, to address the myriad of ways in which structural racism permeates environmental epidemiology questions, methods, results and impacts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melissa J Perry
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Milken Institute School of Public Health, The George Washington University, 950 New Hampshire Ave NW Suite 400, Washington, DC, 20052, USA.
| | - Suzanne Arrington
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Milken Institute School of Public Health, The George Washington University, 950 New Hampshire Ave NW Suite 400, Washington, DC, 20052, USA
| | - Marlaina S Freisthler
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Milken Institute School of Public Health, The George Washington University, 950 New Hampshire Ave NW Suite 400, Washington, DC, 20052, USA
| | - Ifeoma N Ibe
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Milken Institute School of Public Health, The George Washington University, 950 New Hampshire Ave NW Suite 400, Washington, DC, 20052, USA
| | - Nathan L McCray
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Milken Institute School of Public Health, The George Washington University, 950 New Hampshire Ave NW Suite 400, Washington, DC, 20052, USA
| | - Laura M Neumann
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Milken Institute School of Public Health, The George Washington University, 950 New Hampshire Ave NW Suite 400, Washington, DC, 20052, USA
| | - Patrick Tajanlangit
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Milken Institute School of Public Health, The George Washington University, 950 New Hampshire Ave NW Suite 400, Washington, DC, 20052, USA
| | - Brenda M Trejo Rosas
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Milken Institute School of Public Health, The George Washington University, 950 New Hampshire Ave NW Suite 400, Washington, DC, 20052, USA
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McCray NL, Young HA, Irwig MS, Frankfurter D, Schwartz AM, Witmyer J, Hynes M, Jayanthi VV, Marcus M, Patel M, Perry MJ. The Association Between Race, Obesity, and Sperm Quality Among Men Attending a University Physician Practice in Washington, DC. Am J Mens Health 2021; 14:1557988320925985. [PMID: 32602769 PMCID: PMC7328221 DOI: 10.1177/1557988320925985] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
A decades-long decline in sperm counts in Western countries has coincided with an
increase in obesity rates, prompting study into their association. Few of these
studies have incorporated men of color, the sperm health of whom is relatively
unknown. The present exploratory study evaluated the association between body
mass index (BMI), race, ethnicity, and sperm parameters among a diverse sample
of U.S. men attending a Washington, DC physician practice. Semen samples were
collected and processed at a single laboratory and sperm concentration,
motility, morphology, and count were evaluated according to World Health
Organization (WHO) 5th edition criteria. Multivariate models accounted for
covariates related to sperm health. The study population (n =
128) was largely obese (45.3%) or overweight (34.4%), and 36.0% were black or
Hispanic. Black men had lower adjusted sperm concentration compared to white men
(75.0 million/mL to 107.4 million/mL, p = .01) and were more
likely to have oligozoospermia (p = .01), asthenozoospermia
(p = .004), and low sperm count (p <
.0001). Hispanic men had higher adjusted sperm concentration compared to
non-Hispanic men (124.5 million/mL to 62.1 million/mL, p =
.007) and were less likely to have teratozoospermia (p = .001).
Obesity and BMI were associated with lower sperm motility and count in crude
models only. Given the study’s sample size its findings should be interpreted
with caution but align with the limited epidemiological literature to date that
has evaluated racial and ethnic differences in semen quality. Heightened
clinical research attention is needed to ensure men of color are included in
representative numbers in studies of urologic and andrologic health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathan L McCray
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Milken Institute School of Public Health, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Heather A Young
- Department of Epidemiology, Milken Institute School of Public Health, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Michael S Irwig
- Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA
| | - David Frankfurter
- Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, The George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Arnold M Schwartz
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Milken Institute School of Public Health, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.,Department of Pathology, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Jeannine Witmyer
- Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, The George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Marijane Hynes
- Department of Medicine, The George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Vimala V Jayanthi
- Department of Medicine, The George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Mia Marcus
- Department of Medicine, The George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Mihir Patel
- Department of Medicine, The George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Melissa J Perry
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Milken Institute School of Public Health, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
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Stallings TL, Riefkohl Lisci A, McCray NL, Weiner DE, Kaufman JS, Aschengrau A, Ma Y, LaValley MP, Ramírez-Rubio O, Jose Amador J, López-Pilarte D, Laws RL, Winter M, McSorley VE, Brooks DR, Applebaum KM. Dysuria, heat stress, and muscle injury among Nicaraguan sugarcane workers at risk for Mesoamerican nephropathy. Scand J Work Environ Health 2021; 47:377-386. [PMID: 34003295 PMCID: PMC8259701 DOI: 10.5271/sjweh.3963] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Objectives: Nicaraguan sugarcane workers, particularly cane cutters, have an elevated prevalence of chronic kidney disease of unknown origin, also referred to as Mesoamerican nephropathy (MeN). The pathogenesis of MeN may include recurrent heat stress, crystalluria, and muscle injury with subsequent kidney injury. Yet, studies examining the frequency of such events in long-term, longitudinal studies are limited. Methods: Using employment and medical data for male workers at a Nicaraguan sugarcane company, we classified months of active work as either work as a cane cutter or other sugarcane job and determined occurrence of dysuria, heat events and muscle events. Work months and events occurred January 1997 to June 2010. Associations between cane cutting and each outcome were analyzed using logistic regression based on generalized estimating equations for repeated events, controlling for age. Results: Among 242 workers with 7257 active work months, 19.5% of person-months were as a cane cutter. There were 160, 21, and 16 episodes of dysuria, heat events, and muscle events, respectively. Compared with work months in other jobs, cane cutting was associated with an elevated odds of dysuria [odds ratio 2.40 (95% confidence interval 1.56–3.68)]. The number of heat and muscle events by cane cutter and other job were limited. Conclusions: Working as a cane cutter compared with other jobs in the sugarcane industry was associated with increased dysuria, supporting the hypothesis that cane cutters are at increased risk of events suspected of inducing or presaging clinically evident kidney injury.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tiffany L Stallings
- The George Washington University, Milken Institute School of Public Health, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, 950 New Hampshire Ave., NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20052, USA.
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