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Persistent Toxic Substances and Their Influence on Reproductive Health, Child Development, Adolescent Development, and Adult Health

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 July 2018) | Viewed by 19455

Special Issue Editor

Department of Public Health and Nursing, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, 9037 Tromso, Norway
Interests: public health; epidemiology; environmental health; reproductive health; pregnancy care; climate change
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Studies of longitudinal design are ongoing on a global basis, especially in Arctic countries. For both ethical and scientific reasons, many studies have a cohort design, with a long-term follow up of mothers and their children.The most vulnerable period in human life is before one is born and in early childhood. A number of reports and publications are now coming out of these studies, and this Special Issue invites authors to submit papers on important studies and their defined health endpoints. Different epidemiological studies in the circumpolar area have shown associations between contaminants and different health outcomes.Risk assessment of the effects of environmental pollutants is an essential tool in the overall protection of health for the next generation. Different methods are available, but one of the biggest challenges is how to translate contaminant concentrations measured in blood to information useful for risk characterization (the likelihood that specific effects will occur at these concentrations). The next challenge is to communicate these risks to policy-making for populations, as well as information for individuals for preventive reasons. The precautionary principle should be the basis for all approaches of acquired knowledge, as well as providing good arguments for the reduction of exposure to humans. Climate change and future changes in exposure will further complicate this assessment, providing good rationale to continue monitoring and assessing exposure and related health effects.This Special Issue is open to any subject related to persistent toxic substances and their influence. The listed keywords suggest just a few of the many possibilities. Other relevant topics will get a thorough review.

Prof. Dr. Jon Øyvind Odland
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Global monitoring of the human body, levels and trends
  • Different biological media for different purposes
  • Knowledge of combined effects in humans
  • Cohorts and dietary studies
  • Neurobehavioral effects
  • Immunological effects
  • Reproductive effects
  • Cardiovascular effects
  • Endocrine effects
  • Carcinogenic effects
  • Genetic modifiers
  • Effect modifiers
  • Risk assessment
  • Risk communication
  • Adaptation and climate change
  • Food and water security.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 360 KiB  
Article
Reproductive Function in a Population of Young Faroese Men with Elevated Exposure to Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) and Perfluorinated Alkylate Substances (PFAS)
by Maria Skaalum Petersen, Jónrit Halling, Niels Jørgensen, Flemming Nielsen, Philippe Grandjean, Tina Kold Jensen and Pál Weihe
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2018, 15(9), 1880; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15091880 - 30 Aug 2018
Cited by 59 | Viewed by 4660
Abstract
Semen quality may be adversely affected by exposure to environmental chemicals such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and perfluorinated alkylate substances (PFASs) that are persistent and may act as endocrine disrupting compounds. The aim of this study was to explore whether PCBs or PFASs [...] Read more.
Semen quality may be adversely affected by exposure to environmental chemicals such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and perfluorinated alkylate substances (PFASs) that are persistent and may act as endocrine disrupting compounds. The aim of this study was to explore whether PCBs or PFASs exposure were associated with abnormalities in semen quality or reproductive hormones in Faroese men. This population based cross-sectional study includes 263 Faroese men (24–26 years) who delivered a semen sample for assessment of sperm concentration, total sperm count, semen volume, morphology and motility. A blood sample was drawn and analyzed for reproductive hormones, PCBs and PFASs. Exposure to ∑PCBs and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) was positively associated with sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) and luteinizing hormone (LH). In addition, total testosterone (T) was positively associated with ∑PCB. Both PCBs and PFOS appear to lead to increased SHBG, perhaps mediated via the liver. The higher total T associated with PCB may represent a compensatory adaption to elevated SHBG levels to maintain an unchanged free testosterone concentration. The positive association to LH for both PCBs and PFOS may indicate a direct adverse effect on the testosterone producing Leydig cells. Full article
8 pages, 514 KiB  
Article
The Effect of Glyphosate on Human Sperm Motility and Sperm DNA Fragmentation
by George Anifandis, Katerina Katsanaki, Georgia Lagodonti, Christina Messini, Mara Simopoulou, Konstantinos Dafopoulos and Alexandros Daponte
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2018, 15(6), 1117; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15061117 - 30 May 2018
Cited by 57 | Viewed by 6434
Abstract
Glyphosate is the active ingredient of Roundup®, which is one of the most popular herbicides worldwide. Although many studies have focused on the reproductive toxicity of glyphosate or glyphosate-based herbicides, the majority of them have concluded that the effect of the [...] Read more.
Glyphosate is the active ingredient of Roundup®, which is one of the most popular herbicides worldwide. Although many studies have focused on the reproductive toxicity of glyphosate or glyphosate-based herbicides, the majority of them have concluded that the effect of the specific herbicide is negligible, while only a few studies indicate the male reproductive toxicity of glyphosate alone. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of 0.36 mg/L glyphosate on sperm motility and sperm DNA fragmentation (SDF). Thirty healthy men volunteered to undergo semen analysis for the purpose of the study. Sperm motility was calculated according to WHO 2010 guidelines at collection time (zero time) and 1 h post-treatment with glyphosate. Sperm DNA fragmentation was evaluated with Halosperm® G2 kit for both the control and glyphosate-treated sperm samples. Sperm progressive motility of glyphosate-treated samples was significantly reduced after 1 h post-treatment in comparison to the respective controls, in contrast to the SDF of glyphosate-treated samples, which was comparable to the respective controls. Conclusively, under these in vitro conditions, at high concentrations that greatly exceed environmental exposures, glyphosate exerts toxic effects on sperm progressive motility but not on sperm DNA integrity, meaning that the toxic effect is limited only to motility, at least in the first hour. Full article
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1442 KiB  
Article
Exposure to Ambient Fine Particulate Air Pollution in Utero as a Risk Factor for Child Stunting in Bangladesh
by Nihit Goyal and David Canning
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2018, 15(1), 22; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15010022 - 23 Dec 2017
Cited by 28 | Viewed by 7644
Abstract
Pregnant mothers in Bangladesh are exposed to very high and worsening levels of ambient air pollution. Maternal exposure to fine particulate matter has been associated with low birth weight at much lower levels of exposure, leading us to suspect the potentially large effects [...] Read more.
Pregnant mothers in Bangladesh are exposed to very high and worsening levels of ambient air pollution. Maternal exposure to fine particulate matter has been associated with low birth weight at much lower levels of exposure, leading us to suspect the potentially large effects of air pollution on stunting in children in Bangladesh. We estimate the relationship between exposure to air pollution in utero and child stunting by pooling outcome data from four waves of the nationally representative Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey conducted between 2004 and 2014, and calculating children’s exposure to ambient fine particulate matter in utero using high resolution satellite data. We find significant increases in the relative risk of child stunting, wasting, and underweight with higher levels of in utero exposure to air pollution, after controlling for other factors that have been found to contribute to child anthropometric failure. We estimate the relative risk of stunting in the second, third, and fourth quartiles of exposure as 1.074 (95% confidence interval: 1.014–1.138), 1.150 (95% confidence interval: 1.069–1.237, and 1.132 (95% confidence interval: 1.031–1.243), respectively. Over half of all children in Bangladesh in our sample were exposed to an annual ambient fine particulate matter level in excess of 46 µg/m3; these children had a relative risk of stunting over 1.13 times that of children in the lowest quartile of exposure. Reducing air pollution in Bangladesh could significantly contribute to the Sustainable Development Goal of reducing child stunting. Full article
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