Reduced Lung Function in Children Associated with Cesium 137 Body Burden

Dittmarite-type magnesium phosphates for highly efficient capture of Cs. JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 2023;453:131385. [PMID: 37043858 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131385] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0]

The presence of cesium ions (Cs⁺) in radioactive wastewater has attracted considerable attention owing to their extreme toxic effects. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop adsorbents for Cs⁺ with high adsorption capacities (q). While phosphate-based adsorbents have advantages for their disposal, previous adsorbents have shown limited q because of their limited capacity for ion exchange, despite showing high theoretical q values. In this study, two dittmarite-type magnesium phosphates, KMgPO₄·H₂O (KMP) and NH₄MgPO₄·H₂O (NMP), were synthesized because of their ability to contain readily exchangeable cations in their interlayers. KMP and NMP demonstrated remarkable adsorption capacities for Cs⁺ (q_e^KMP = 630 mg g^-1 and q_e^NMP = 711 mg g^-1), which were the highest among all reported adsorbents and are ∼84 % of their theoretical values. Their distribution coefficients in waters with high divalent ion concentrations were low, which limits their use for the adsorption of Cs⁺ from such environments. After adsorption, KMP and NMP were structurally transformed into struvite-type CsMgPO₄·6H₂O (CsMP), which has two different stacking structures, either cubic or hexagonal, depending on the pH of the solution. The high q values of KMP and NMP enable them to reduce the volume of radioactive waste for disposal.

Radioactive releases from the nuclear power sector and implications for child health

Although radioactivity is released routinely at every stage of nuclear power generation, the regulation of these releases has never taken into account those potentially most sensitive-women, especially when pregnant, and children. From uranium mining and milling, to fuel manufacture, electricity generation and radioactive waste management, children in frontline and Indigenous communities can be disproportionately harmed due to often increased sensitivity of developing systems to toxic exposures, the lack of resources and racial and class discrimination. The reasons for the greater susceptibility of women and children to harm from radiation exposure is not fully understood. Regulatory practices, particularly in the establishment of protective exposure standards, have failed to take this difference into account. Anecdotal evidence within communities around nuclear facilities suggests an association between radiation exposure and increases in birth defects, miscarriages and childhood cancers. A significant number of academic studies tend to ascribe causality to other factors related to diet and lifestyle and dismiss these health indicators as statistically insignificant. In the case of a major release of radiation due to a serious nuclear accident, children are again on the frontlines, with a noted susceptibility to thyroid cancer, which has been found in significant numbers among children exposed both by the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear accident in Ukraine and the 2011 Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan. The response among authorities in Japan is to blame increased testing or to reduce testing. More independent studies are needed focused on children, especially those in vulnerable frontline and Indigenous communities. In conducting such studies, greater consideration must be applied to culturally significant traditions and habits in these communities.

Urinary Metals, Arsenic, and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Exposure and Risk of Self-reported Emphysema in the US Adult Population

PURPOSE

Metal and chemical exposure can cause acute and chronic respiratory diseases in humans. The purpose of this analysis was to analyze 14 types of urinary metals including mercury, uranium, tin, lead, antimony, barium, cadmium, cobalt, cesium, molybdenum, manganese, strontium, thallium, tungsten, six types of speciated arsenic, total arsenic and seven forms of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and the link with self-reported emphysema in the US adult population.

METHODS

A cross-sectional analysis using the 2011-2012, 2013-2014 and 2015-2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey datasets was conducted. A specialized weighted complex survey design analysis package was used in analyzing the data. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to assess the association between urinary metals, arsenic, and PAHs and self-reported emphysema among all participants and among non-smokers only. Models were adjusted for lifestyle and demographic factors.

RESULTS

A total of 4,181 adults were analyzed. 1-Hydroxynaphthalene, 2-hydroxynaphthalene, 3-hydroxyfluorene, 2-hydroxyfluorene, 1-hydroxypyrene, and 2 & 3-hydroxyphenanthrene were positively associated with self-reported emphysema. Positive associations were also observed in cadmium and cesium with self-reported emphysema. Among non-smokers, quantiles among 2-hydroxynaphthalene, arsenocholine, total urinary arsenic, cesium, and tin were associated with increased odds of self-reported emphysema. Quantiles among 1-hydroxyphenanthrene, cadmium, manganese, lead, antimony, thallium, and tungsten were associated with an inverse relationship with self-reported emphysema in non-smokers.

CONCLUSION

The study determined that six types of urinary PAHs, cadmium, and cesium are positively associated with self-reported emphysema. Certain quantiles of 2-hydroxynaphthalene, arsenocholine, total urinary arsenic, cesium, and tin are positively associated with self-reported emphysema among non-smokers.

ROLE OF GENETIC PREDISPOSITION, GENE POLYMORPHISM OF GLUTATHIONE-S-TRANSFERASE (GSTT1, GSTM1, GSTP1) AND SOME ADVERSE FACTORS IN DEVELOPMENT OF BRONCHIAL ASTHMA IN CHILDREN - RESIDENTS OF RADIOACTIVELY CONTAMINATED AREAS

OBJECTIVE

to determine the influence of hereditary predisposition, polymorphism of GSTT1, GSTM1, GSTP1 genes andenvironmental factors on the development of bronchial asthma in children - residents of radioactively contaminat-ed areas.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

School-age children-residents of radioactively contaminated areas with bronchial asthma,and those without clinical signs of respiratory pathology were examined. Genetic, medical, biological and social riskfactors were determined based on the study of anamnestic data and medical records. Ventilation lung capacity wasassessed by the method of computer spirometry. Molecular genetic studies were carried out using polymerase chainreaction (PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) for further analysis.

RESULTS

Molecular genetic studies of the distribution of genotypes and frequencies of polymorphic variants of thegenes GSTT1, GSTM1, GSTP1 were performed in children living under long-term intake of 137Cs by food chains. It wasfound that in children with BA the tendency to frequency of the deletion variant of the GSTT1 and GSTM1 genes incomparison with children without bronchial and pulmonary pathology was increased. The study of distributing theGSTP1 A313G gene polymorphic variants revealed in children with BA a significant increase in the frequency of AG-genotype, compared with the data of reference group. Adverse factors that increase the risk of developing bron-choobstructive disorders and the probability of their implementation in the form of bronchial asthma in children -residents of RCA have been identified. It is established that among them the leading role is played by hereditarypredisposition to this disease. On the part of the child, such negative factors were unfavorable conditions of fetaldevelopment, the presence of signs of exudative-catarrhal diathesis, manifestations of allergies and frequent respi-ratory diseases from the first months of life. It was found that the risk of developing BA was significantly increasedin children with the GSTT1 and GSTM1 gene deletion genotypes; an increased risk of developing BA in children witha combination of the GSTP1 A313G gene polymorphism with deletion polymorphism of the GSTT1 or GSTM1 gene wasdetermined. Сonclusion. Оne of the leading mechanisms, due to which there is a realization of hereditary predisposition tobronchial asthma in children living under constant intake of radionuclides with a long half-life, is the polymorphismof certain glutathione-S-transferase genes, namely, GSTT1, GSTM1 and A313G gene deletion polymorphism and GSTP1gene polymorphism.

MOLECULAR GENETIC ASPECTS OF BRONCHIAL HYPERREACTIVITY IN CHILDREN - RESIDENTS OF RADIOACTIVELY CONTAMINATED AREAS

OBJECTIVE

to determine the relationship between polymorphisms of glutathione S-transferase gene family andbronchial hyperreactivity in children living in radioactively contaminated areas.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

School age children-residents of radioactively contaminated areas (RCA), without clinicalsigns of respiratory pathology were examined. Molecular genetic studies were carried out by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) for further analysis. The GSTT1, GSTM1 gene deletion polymorphism was investigated using multiplex PCR. PCR and PCR-RFLP analyses were performed in the studyof the GSTP1 gene A313G polymorphism. The ventilation lung capacity was examined by the pneumotachographicmethod according to the analysis of «the flow-volume» loop. The pharmacologic inhalation test with bronchodilator drug, affecting the β2-adrenergic lung receptors was used to detect the early changes in the ventilation lungcapacity - the bronchial hyperreactivity (latent and nonlatent bronchospasm).

RESULTS

Molecular genetic studies showed that the GSTM1 gene deletion genotype and the GSTP1 gene A313G polymorphism were found significantly more often in the subgroup of children with bronchial hyperreactivity living inRCA than in children without bronchial hyperreactivity and children of the control group. The frequency of GSTT1deletion polymorphism did not have a statistically significant difference in all subgroups.

CONCLUSIONS

The GSTM1 gene deletion polymorphism and the GSTP1 gene A313G genotype may be a risk factor fordeveloping bronchial hyperreactivity in children living under adverse environmental conditions, including radioactively contaminated areas.

Metabolomic and metallomic profile differences between Veterans and Civilians with Pulmonary Sarcoidosis

Sarcoidosis is a disorder characterized by granulomatous inflammation of unclear etiology. In this study we evaluated whether veterans with sarcoidosis exhibited different plasma metabolomic and metallomic profiles compared with civilians with sarcoidosis. A case control study was performed on veteran and civilian patients with confirmed sarcoidosis. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H NMR), hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (HILIC-MS) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) were applied to quantify metabolites and metal elements in plasma samples. Our results revealed that the veterans with sarcoidosis significantly differed from civilians, according to metabolic and metallomics profiles. Moreover, the results showed that veterans with sarcoidosis and veterans with COPD were similar to each other in metabolomics and metallomics profiles. This study suggests the important role of environmental risk factors in the development of different molecular phenotypic responses of sarcoidosis. In addition, this study suggests that sarcoidosis in veterans may be an occupational disease.

Chronic diseases and mortality among immigrants to Israel from areas contaminated by the Chernobyl disaster: a follow-up study

OBJECTIVES

To examine six chronic diseases and all-cause mortality among immigrants to Israel from areas contaminated by the Chernobyl accident.

METHODS

The medical data were obtained from the two largest HMOs in Israel. In the assessment of chronic diseases, individuals were divided into three groups: less exposed (n = 480), more exposed (n = 359), and liquidators (n = 45) and in the mortality analysis, into two groups: less exposed (n = 792) and more exposed (n = 590).

RESULTS

Compared to the less exposed, adults from the more exposed group had increased odds of respiratory disorders (OR = 2.34, 95% CI 1.21, 4.54) and elevated odds, with borderline significance, of ischemic heart disease (OR = 2.01, 95% CI 0.97, 4.20). In addition, the liquidators had increased odds of hypertension compared to the less exposed (OR = 2.64, 95% CI 1.24, 5.64). The Cox proportional-hazards model indicated no difference in the ratio of all-cause mortality between the exposed groups during the follow up period.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study, conducted approximately two decades after the accident, suggests that exposure to radionuclides may be associated with increased odds of respiratory disorders and hypertension.