Glickman et al., 2004
Glickman, L. T., Raghavan, M., Knapp, D. W., Bonney, P. L., & Dawson, M. H.; “Herbicide exposure and the risk of transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder in Scottish Terriers;” Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 2004, 224(8), 1290-1297; DOI: 10.2460/javma.2004.224.1290.
ABSTRACT:
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether exposure to lawn or garden chemicals was associated with an increased risk of transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the urinary bladder in Scottish Terriers. DESIGN: Case-control study.
ANIMALS: 83 Scottish Terriers with TCC (cases) and 83 Scottish Terriers with other health-related conditions (controls).
PROCEDURE: Owners of study dogs completed a written questionnaire pertaining to exposure to lawn or garden chemicals during the year prior to diagnosis of TCC for case dogs and during a comparable period for control dogs.
RESULTS: The risk of TCC was significantly increased among dogs exposed to lawns or gardens treated with both herbicides and insecticides (odds ratio [OR], 7.19) or with herbicides alone (OR, 3.62), but not among dogs exposed to lawns or gardens treated with insecticides alone (OR, 1.62), compared with dogs exposed to untreated lawns. Exposure to lawns or gardens treated with phenoxy herbicides (OR, 4.42) was associated with an increased risk of TCC, compared with exposure to untreated lawns or gardens, but exposure to lawns or gardens treated with nonphenoxy herbicides (OR, 3.49) was not significantly associated with risk of TCC.
CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Results suggest that exposure to lawns or gardens treated with herbicides was associated with an increased risk of TCC in Scottish Terriers. Until additional studies are performed to prove or disprove a cause-and-effect relationship, owners of Scottish Terriers should minimize their dogs’ access to lawns or gardens treated with phenoxy herbicides.
Hayes et al., 1991
Hayes, H. M., Tarone, R. E., Cantor, K. P., Jessen, C. R., McCurnin, D. M., & Richardson, R. C.; “Case-control study of canine malignant lymphoma: positive association with dog owner’s use of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid herbicides;” Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 1991, 83(17), 1226-1231; DOI: 10.1093/jnci/83.17.1226.
ABSTRACT:
A hospital-based case-control study of companion dogs examined the risk of developing canine malignant lymphoma associated with the use of chemicals in and about the home. Information from a self-administered owner questionnaire and/or a telephone interview of about 491 cases, 466 nontumor controls, and 479 tumor controls indicated that owners in households with dogs that developed malignant lymphoma applied 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) herbicides to their lawn and/or employed commercial lawn care companies to treat their yard significantly more frequently than control owners (odds ratio = 1.3). In addition, the risk of canine malignant lymphoma rose to a twofold excess with four or more yearly owner applications of 2,4-D. The findings in this study are consistent with occupational studies in humans, which have reported modest associations between agricultural exposure to 2,4-D and increased risk of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, the histology and epidemiology of which are similar to those of canine malignant lymphoma. The present study suggests that human health implications of 2,4-D exposure in the home environment should receive further investigation. FULL TEXT
Karthikraj and Kannan, 2019
Karthikraj, R., & Kannan, K.; “Widespread occurrence of glyphosate in urine from pet dogs and cats in New York State, USA;” Science of the Total Environment, 2019, 659, 790-795; DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.12.454.
ABSTRACT:
Glyphosate is one of the most widely used herbicides in the United States, which has led to its ubiquitous occurrence in food and water and regular detection in human urine at concentrations of 1-10mug/L. Data pertaining to health risks arising from the ingestion of glyphosate are limited and are the subject of much debate, which demands the need for more exposure information for this herbicide. Very little is known about glyphosate exposure in pets. In this study, we determined concentrations of glyphosate (Glyp) and its derivatives, methyl glyphosate (Me-Glyp) and aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA), in urine collected from 30 dogs and 30 cats from New York State, USA. Glyp was the most predominant compound found in pet urine followed by AMPA and Me-Glyp. The mean urinary concentration of summation operatorGlyp (sum of Glyp+Me-Glyp+AMPA) in cats (mean: 33.8+/-46.7ng/mL) was 2-fold higher than that in dogs (mean: 16.8+/-24.4ng/mL). Cumulative daily intakes (CDI) of Glyp in dogs and cats estimated from the urinary concentrations were, on average, 0.57 and 1.37mug/kgbw/d, respectively. The exposure doses were two to four orders of magnitude below the current acceptable daily intake (ADI) suggested by several international health organizations for humans. FULL TEXT
Vermeulen et al., 2020
Vermeulen, R., Schymanski, E. L., Barabasi, A. L., & Miller, G. W.; “The exposome and health: Where chemistry meets biology;” Science, 2020, 367(6476), 392-396; DOI: 10.1126/science.aay3164.
ABSTRACT:
Despite extensive evidence showing that exposure to specific chemicals can lead to disease, current research approaches and regulatory policies fail to address the chemical complexity of our world. To safeguard current and future generations from the increasing number of chemicals polluting our environment, a systematic and agnostic approach is needed. The “exposome” concept strives to capture the diversity and range of exposures to synthetic chemicals, dietary constituents, psychosocial stressors, and physical factors, as well as their corresponding biological responses. Technological advances such as high-resolution mass spectrometry and network science have allowed us to take the first steps toward a comprehensive assessment of the exposome. Given the increased recognition of the dominant role that nongenetic factors play in disease, an effort to characterize the exposome at a scale comparable to that of the human genome is warranted. FULL TEXT
Topping et al., 2020
Topping, C. J., Aldrich, A., & Berny, P.; “Overhaul environmental risk assessment for pesticides;” Science, 2020, 367(6476), 360-363; DOI: 10.1126/science.aay1144.
SUMMARY:
Environmental risk assessment (ERA) of pesticides does not account for many stressors that have intensified in recent years, such as climate change, habitat destruction, and increasing landscape homogeneity, the combination of which can aggravate effects of pesticides in nature. We describe how several assumptions underlying ERA may not hold in modern intensive agricultural landscapes, and the interaction among assumption violations may account for observed declines in biodiversity. Using European contexts to exemplify these global concerns, we review how regulatory ERA for pesticides has fallen out of step with scientific knowledge and societal demands for sustainable food production and suggest systematic and recently feasible changes for regulation. FULL TEXT
Escher et al., 2020
Escher, B. I., Stapleton, H. M., & Schymanski, E. L.; “Tracking complex mixtures of chemicals in our changing environment;” Science, 2020, 367(6476), 388-392; DOI: 10.1126/science.aay6636.
ABSTRACT:
Chemicals have improved our quality of life, but the resulting environmental pollution has the potential to cause detrimental effects on humans and the environment. People and biota are chronically exposed to thousands of chemicals from various environmental sources through multiple pathways. Environmental chemists and toxicologists have moved beyond detecting and quantifying single chemicals to characterizing complex mixtures of chemicals in indoor and outdoeor environments and biological matrices. We highlight analytical and bioanalytical approaches to isolating, characterizing, and tracking groups of chemicals of concern in complex matrices. Techniques that combine chemical analysis and bioassays have the potential to facilitate the identification of mixtures of chemicals that pose a combined risk. FULL TEXT
Chung and Herceg, 2020
Chung, F. F., & Herceg, Z.; “The Promises and Challenges of Toxico-Epigenomics: Environmental Chemicals and Their Impacts on the Epigenome;” Environmental Health Perspectives, 2020, 128(1), 15001; DOI: 10.1289/EHP6104.
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND: It has been estimated that a substantial portion of chronic and noncommunicable diseases can be caused or exacerbated by exposure to environmental chemicals. Multiple lines of evidence indicate that early life exposure to environmental chemicals at relatively low concentrations could have lasting effects on individual and population health. Although the potential adverse effects of environmental chemicals are known to the scientific community, regulatory agencies, and the public, little is known about the mechanistic basis by which these chemicals can induce long-term or transgenerational effects. To address this question, epigenetic mechanisms have emerged as the potential link between genetic and environmental factors of health and disease.
OBJECTIVES: We present an overview of epigenetic regulation and a summary of reported evidence of environmental toxicants as epigenetic disruptors. We also discuss the advantages and challenges of using epigenetic biomarkers as an indicator of toxicant exposure, using measures that can be taken to improve risk assessment, and our perspectives on the future role of epigenetics in toxicology.
DISCUSSION: Until recently, efforts to apply epigenomic data in toxicology and risk assessment were restricted by an incomplete understanding of epigenomic variability across tissue types and populations. This is poised to change with the development of new tools and concerted efforts by researchers across disciplines that have led to a better understanding of epigenetic mechanisms and comprehensive maps of epigenomic variation. With the foundations now in place, we foresee that unprecedented advancements will take place in the field in the coming years.
Eng et al., 2019
Eng, M. L., Stutchbury, B. J. M., & Morrissey, C. A.; “A neonicotinoid insecticide reduces fueling and delays migration in songbirds;” Science, 2019, 365(6458), 1177-1180; DOI: 10.1126/science.aaw9419.
ABSTRACT:
Neonicotinoids are neurotoxic insecticides widely used as seed treatments, but little is known of their effects on migrating birds that forage in agricultural areas. We tracked the migratory movements of imidacloprid-exposed songbirds at a landscape scale using a combination of experimental dosing and automated radio telemetry. Ingestion of field-realistic quantities of imidacloprid (1.2 or 3.9 milligrams per kilogram body mass) by white-crowned sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys) during migratory stopover caused a rapid reduction in food consumption, mass, and fat and significantly affected their probability of departure. Birds in the high-dose treatment stayed a median of 3.5 days longer at the site of capture after exposure as compared with controls, likely to regain fuel stores or recover from intoxication. Migration delays can carry over to affect survival and reproduction; thus, these results confirm a link between sublethal pesticide exposure and adverse outcomes for migratory bird populations. FULL TEXT
DiBartolomeis et al., 2019
DiBartolomeis, M., Kegley, S., Mineau, P., Radford, R., & Klein, K.; “An assessment of acute insecticide toxicity loading (AITL) of chemical pesticides used on agricultural land in the United States;” Plos One, 2019, 14(8), e0220029; DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0220029.
ABSTRACT:
We present a method for calculating the Acute Insecticide Toxicity Loading (AITL) on US agricultural lands and surrounding areas and an assessment of the changes in AITL from 1992 through 2014. The AITL method accounts for the total mass of insecticides used in the US, acute toxicity to insects using honey bee contact and oral LD50 as reference values for arthropod toxicity, and the environmental persistence of the pesticides. This screening analysis shows that the types of synthetic insecticides applied to agricultural lands have fundamentally shifted over the last two decades from predominantly organophosphorus and N-methyl carbamate pesticides to a mix dominated by neonicotinoids and pyrethroids. The neonicotinoids are generally applied to US agricultural land at lower application rates per acre; however, they are considerably more toxic to insects and generally persist longer in the environment. We found a 48- and 4-fold increase in AITL from 1992 to 2014 for oral and contact toxicity, respectively. Neonicotinoids are primarily responsible for this increase, representing between 61 to nearly 99 percent of the total toxicity loading in 2014. The crops most responsible for the increase in AITL are corn and soybeans, with particularly large increases in relative soybean contributions to AITL between 2010 and 2014. Oral exposures are of potentially greater concern because of the relatively higher toxicity (low LD50s) and greater likelihood of exposure from residues in pollen, nectar, guttation water, and other environmental media. Using AITL to assess oral toxicity by class of pesticide, the neonicotinoids accounted for nearly 92 percent of total AITL from 1992 to 2014. Chlorpyrifos, the fifth most widely used insecticide during this time contributed just 1.4 percent of total AITL based on oral LD50s. Although we use some simplifying assumptions, our screening analysis demonstrates an increase in pesticide toxicity loading over the past 26 years, which potentially threatens the health of honey bees and other pollinators and may contribute to declines in beneficial insect populations as well as insectivorous birds and other insect consumers. FULL TEXT
Kasiotis and Machera, 2015
Kasiotis, K. M., & Machera, K.; “Neonicotinoids and their Metabolites in Human Biomonitoring: A Review;” Hellenic Plant Protection Journal, 2015, 8(2), 33-45; DOI: 10.1515/hppj-2015-0006.
ABSTRACT:
Neonicotinoids (NNDs) constitute a major class of insecticides with a broad and versatile spectrum of applications in agriculture. Hence, their residues are found in several environmental compartments and can be transferred via several pathways to numerous organisms. Despite their profound impact on honeybees and wild bees (impairment of memory, impact on immune system), their presence in humans is far less reported, possibly due to the low to moderate toxicological eff ects that they elicit. The aim of the present review is to emphasize on developments in the biomonitoring of NNDs. It focuses mainly on chromatographic analysis of NNDs and their metabolites in human biological fl uids, discussing key features, such as sample preparation and analytical method validation. Nonetheless, case reports regarding intoxication incidents are presented, highlighting the signifi cance of such cases especially in the developing world. FULL TEXT