Preprint Feed – Occupational and Environmental Health

medrxiv Subject Collection: Occupational And Environmental Health This feed contains articles for medRxiv Subject Collection "Occupational And Environmental Health"

• Long COVID and Work in the UK: Challenges, Support and Perspectives

  by Wei, H., Daniels, S., Wiggans, R., Coleman, A., Bramwell, D., McElvenny, D., Forde, D., van Tongeren, M. on May 8, 2025 at 12:00 am

  Aim Long COVID (LC) presents significant challenges for working age individuals, leading to major inequalities in access to work, employment and relevant support. This study investigates the workplace support provided to people with Long COVID (PwLC) in the UK, focusing on their return-to-work (RTW) experiences. It encompasses perspectives from both PwLC and managers of PwLC. Methods Semi-structured interviews […]

• Impact of Manganese on Neuronal Function: An Exploratory MultiOmic Study on Ferroalloy Workers in Brescia, Italy

  by Azmoun, S., Lewis, F., Shoieb, D., Jin, Y., Colicino, E., Winters, I., Gu, H., Krishnamurthy, H., Richardson, J., Placidi, D., Lambertini, L., Lucchini, R. on May 6, 2025 at 12:00 am

  Interest is growing in the potential role of manganese (Mn) in Alzheimers Disease (ADRD). This nested pilot study of a ferroalloy workers cohort was aimed to investigate the effects of long-term occupational Mn exposure on cognitive function through {beta}-amyloid (A{beta}) modification and brain deposition, as well as metabolomic, lipidomic and proteomic profiling. We examined 6 male exposed workers (median age […]

• Healthcare associated infection risk analysis at the obstetrics and gynecology department of a referral hospital in Cameroon

  by Cheuyem, F. Z. L., Lyonga, E. E., Takougang, I. on May 5, 2025 at 12:00 am

  BackgroundHealthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are a major problem in healthcare facilities. In Cameroon, maternal and neonatal mortality remain a concern. The underlying determinants include shortcomings in the quality of care, inadequate infrastructure and inconsistent application of infection control and prevention (ICP) measures. The objective of this study was to identify risks that increase the likelihood […]

• Cause-specific mortality among banana plantation workers in the French West Indies

  by Luce, D., Gambaretti, J., Michineau, L., Multigner, L., Barul, C. on May 2, 2025 at 12:00 am

  ObjectiveTo describe cause-specific mortality patterns of banana plantation workers in the French West Indies. MethodsThe study included 11221 farmers and farm workers who had work in banana cultivation in the French West indies (Guadeloupe or Martinique) between 1973 and 1993, followed up from January 1981 to December 2017. We calculated standardized mortality ratios (SMRs), causal mortality ratios (CMRs) and […]

• Return to Work with Long COVID: A Rapid Review of Support and Challenges

  by Daniels, S., Wei, H., McElvenny, D. M., van Tongeren, M., Bramwell, D., Coleman, A., Forde, D., Wiggans, R. on April 29, 2025 at 12:00 am

  ObjectiveTo explore existing evidence for the provision of support for return to work (RTW) in long COVID (LC) patients, and the barriers and facilitators to taking up this support. MethodsA rapid review was reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) approach. Searches were completed in June 2024 and included MEDLINE, Embase, American Psychological […]

• Occupational falls by site of occurrence within the workplace in Japan

  by Watanabe, K., Hirohashi, S., Yoshimi, T., Zaitsu, M. on April 28, 2025 at 12:00 am

  BackgroundLittle is known about the distribution of specific sites where occupational falls frequently occur within the workplace. This study aimed to examine the distribution of occupational falls by sites of occurrence in Japan. MethodsNational data of occupational falls resulting in absences of four or more days in 2023 were extracted from a website managed by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan. […]

• Study protocol for evaluating EEG-based predictive model for drowsiness measurement to reduce accident risk in active individuals

  by Boitard, C., Sadatnejad, K., Berthomier, C., Coehlo, J., Lenoir, J., Sagaspe, P., Mattei, J., Berthomier, P., Brandewinder, M., Philip, P., Micoulaud Franchi, J.-A., Taillard, J. on April 28, 2025 at 12:00 am

  Voluntary behaviors and socio-economic factors, such as social jetlag and shift work, can lead to insufficient or disrupted sleep, resulting in drowsiness in active individuals. In occupational and driving contexts, drowsiness poses a serious safety risk by impairing alertness, slowing reaction times, and increasing the likelihood of accidents. Developing predictive, automatic and easy to implement tools for […]

• Standard precautions perception and practice among health workers in the obstetrics-gynecology department of a referral hospital in Cameroon

  by Cheuyem, F. Z. L. on April 22, 2025 at 12:00 am

  BackgroundStandard precautions are infection control and prevention (ICP) measures designed to reduce the risk of transmission of infectious agents in healthcare settings. In Cameroon, maternal and neonatal mortality remain a concern. Unsystematic compliance with these measures increases the risk of HAIs and other medical hazards. The present investigation aimed at assessing the baseline understanding of hand […]

• Investigating biomarkers of exposure to jet aircraft oil fumes using mass spectrometry

  by Furlong, C. E., Richter, R., Marsillach, J., Zelter, A., McDonald, M., Rettie, A., Lockridge, O., Lundeen, R., Whittington, D. on April 19, 2025 at 12:00 am

  Most commercial passenger jet aircraft use very hot compressed engine air, after cooling as a source for ventilation and cabin pressurization onboard. This design means that engine oil and/or hydraulic fluid can contaminate the ventilation supply air during otherwise normal flights, exposing onboard crewmembers and passengers to the fumes. The oils and hydraulic fluids contain a complex mixture of triaryl […]

• Enhancing Bayesian Kernel Machine Regression: A Dynamic Thresholding Framework to Address Variability and Skewness in High-Dimensional Environmental Health Data

  by Hasan, K. T., Odom, G., Bursac, Z., Lucchini, R., Ibrahimou, B. on April 16, 2025 at 12:00 am

  Bayesian Kernel Machine Regression (BKMR) is widely used in environmental health research to model complex, nonlinear, and interactive relationships in high-dimensional datasets. However, using a fixed posterior inclusion probability (PIP) threshold can lead to inconsistent test size control, influenced by the coefficient of variation (CV) and sample size. This study introduces a dynamic thresholding approach that […]

• Dried blood spots analysis for targeted and non-targeted exposomics

  by Verri Hernandes, V., Zeyda, M., Wisgrill, L., Warth, B. on April 16, 2025 at 12:00 am

  Dried blood spots (DBS) are an established sample type, widely used in newborn screening programs for monitoring metabolic diseases. Their minimally invasive nature offers great promise for assessing chemical exposures, particularly during early life stages and in large-scale epidemiological studies. However, comprehensive evaluations of key analytical parameters such as extraction efficiency and matrix effects […]

• Association of Long-Term Outdoor Air Pollution Exposure with Incidence of Parkinson’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis and Motor Neuron Diseases: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

  by Tien-Smith, A. Z., Absar, S., Best Rogowski, C., Phillips, V., Andersen, Z. J., Bredell, C., Fung, K. W., Hong, L., Szybka, M., Woodcock, J., Brayne, C., Khreis, H., Navaratnam, A. M. D. on April 16, 2025 at 12:00 am

  BackgroundParkinsons disease (PD), multiple sclerosis (MS) and motor neurone disease (MND) are progressive and debilitating diseases that are increasing in prevalence globally. Some primary studies show an increased risk from long-term outdoor air pollution exposure, while others contradict this association. MethodsAs per Khreis et al.1 protocol, a systematic review and meta-analysis was undertaken to assess the […]

• Evaluation of two easy-to-implement digital breathing interventions in the context of daily stress levels in a series of N-of-1 trials: results from the Anti-Stress Intervention Among Physicians (ASIP) Study

  by Vetter, V. M., Kurth, T., Konigorski, S. on April 11, 2025 at 12:00 am

  Physicians face intense work-related stress, which can harm their health, increase the risk of medical errors, lower healthcare quality, and increase costs within the healthcare system. In this 4-week intervention study, individual-level and population-level effects of two short and easy-to-perform breathing exercises designed to reduce stress are evaluated among 76 physicians in residency in Germany in a series […]

• Short-term ambient heat exposure and low APGAR score in newborns: A time-stratified case-crossover analysis in Sao Paulo state, Brazil (2013-2019)

  by Del Carretto, M. M., Godin, A., Neves, D., Paixao, E. S., Wan, K., Pescarini, J., Ferreira, A., Cortes, T. R., Smeeth, L., Barreto, M. L., Brickley, E. B., Part, C. on April 10, 2025 at 12:00 am

  Exposure to high ambient temperatures near the time of delivery has been associated with adverse birth outcomes, but studies examining the impact on immediate newborn health remain limited. We used a time-stratified case-crossover design combined with a distributed lag nonlinear model to evaluate the short-term effects of ambient heat (0-1 day lag) on low 5-minute APGAR score ([≤]7; sub-categories: 6-7, 3-5, […]

• Epigenome-wide association study of household air pollution exposure in an area with high lung cancer incidence

  by Rahman, M. L., Portengen, L., Blechter, B., Breeze, C. E., Wong, J. Y. Y., Hu, W., Downward, G. S., Zhang, Y., Cardenas, A., Ning, B., Li, J., Yang, K., Hosgood, H. D., Silverman, D. T., Rothman, N., Huang, Y., Vermeulen, R., Lan, Q. on April 4, 2025 at 12:00 am

  BackgroundLung cancer incidence among never-smoking women in Xuanwei, China, ranks among the highest worldwide and is largely attributed to household air pollution (HAP) from smoky (bituminous) coal combustion, with early-life exposures possibly playing a critical role. We conducted an epigenome-wide DNA methylation (DNAm) analysis across multiple exposure windows to elucidate molecular mechanisms. […]

• Indoor and Outdoor Volatile Organic Compound Levels During and After the 2025 Los Angeles Wildfires

  by Yao, Y., Garcia-Gonzales, D., Li, J., Niu, M., Jerrett, M., Zhu, Y. on April 1, 2025 at 12:00 am

  The January 2025 Los Angeles urban wildfires caused extensive destruction and exposed millions to wildfire smoke containing hazardous volatile organic compounds (VOCs). To evaluate exposure risks, we conducted indoor and outdoor VOC sampling at 24 locations during three phases: active burning, smoldering, and off-gassing. Outdoor benzene concentrations peaked during active burning but remained below OEHHA health […]

• 18F-FAPI PET/CT Imaging in Pneumoconiosis: a new tool for early diagnosis and guiding treatment of pulmonary fibrosis

  by Liu, C., Guo, Z., Shi, Y. w., Wu, Z., Xiang, Z., Yao, T., Liang, G., Wang, H., Pang, M., Li, S. on March 31, 2025 at 12:00 am

  PurposePneumoconiosis is characterized by pulmonary fibrosis. The activation of fibroblasts play an important role in the pathological development of pulmonary fibrosis. Chest CT, as a conventional examination to diagnose pulmonary fibrosis of pneumoconiosis, cannot evaluate the fibrosis activity. The application value of 18F-FAPI in pneumoconiosis is unclear. This study aimed to clarify the feasibility of […]

• The Effects of Daily Six Major Pollutants on the Risk of Respiratory Disease-Related Emergency Ambulance Calls: A Six-Year Time Series Study

  by Jiang, H., Zhang, Z., Peng, L., Lu, W., Zhu, J., Hu, Y., Liu, X. on March 26, 2025 at 12:00 am

  BackgroundIn recent years, the impact of air pollution on the emergency departments of medical institutions has become increasingly evident. Emergency Ambulance Calls (EACs), compared to traditional health indicators such as mortality and hospitalization rates, provide a more direct reflection of the short-term effects of air pollution on public health. This study aims to explore the short-term association between […]

• Inequalities in NHS Staff Support among those from Ethnic Minority and Migrant groups during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

  by Croak, B., Lamb, D., Stevelink, S., Bhundia, R., Onwumere, J., Dempsey, B., Almeida-Meza, P., Chui, Z., Greenberg, N., Raine, R., Woodhead, C., Hatch, S., Rhead, R. on March 20, 2025 at 12:00 am

  ObjectivesDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, NHS staff support services aimed to support healthcare workers (HCWs) wellbeing, alongside informal support from colleagues and managers. However, bullying, harassment, and discrimination against HCWs from ethnic minority and migrant groups, along with low wellbeing support uptake, suggest disparities in workplace support. This study aimed to address the following research […]

• Scarlet Fever and Meteorological Exposures in Jiangsu, China: A Time-stratified Case-crossover Study

  by Wang, K., Liu, W., Zhu, H., Tang, Y., Ji, H., Wang, Y., Zhu, L., Ling, C. on March 13, 2025 at 12:00 am

  BackgroundIncreasing interest arises in the association between short-term meteorological exposure and scarlet fever risk, but the association with individual-level infection risk remains poorly understood. MethodsWe collected weather data from ERA5-Land (hourly, 9 km x 9 km) and aggregated into daily exposures to match all scarlet fever cases data in Jiangsu, reported the Nationwide Notifiable Infectious […]

• Short-Term Effect of Ambient Meteorological Factors on Hand-Foot-Mouth Disease: An Individual-Level Case-Crossover Study in Jiangsu, China

  by Tang, Y., Hong, J., Zhu, H., Wang, X., Bai, L., Liu, W., Wang, K., Wen, C., Wang, Y., Ling, C. L., Zhu, L. on March 13, 2025 at 12:00 am

  BackgroundHand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) represent a significant public health concern in the Asia-Pacific region, imposing a substantial burden that warrants urgent attention. However, the associations between individual-level exposure to ambient meteorological factors and the HFMD risk remain poorly understood. MethodsUsing a time-stratified case-crossover design, we examine the individual-level […]

• Atopy, asthma symptoms, and eosinophilic airway inflammation in British woodworkers

  by Wiggans, R. E., Sumner, J., Robinson, E., Young, C., Yates, T., Simpson, A., Fishwick, D., Barber, C. M. on March 7, 2025 at 12:00 am

  ObjectivesAlthough wood dust remains a leading cause of occupational asthma (OA) in Great Britain, there have been no recent studies in British woodworkers. This cross-sectional study examined asthma risk factors in woodworkers across exposure groups. MethodsParticipants answered a respiratory questionnaire and underwent fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FENO), spirometry, and specific immunoglobulin E […]

• Electric Fan Use During an Eight-hour Replicated Extreme Heat Event: Sex Differences in Systemic Biomarkers and Thermoregulation

  by Wang, F., Wang, H., Lei, T.-H., Xu, H., Lu, C., Mundel, T. on March 7, 2025 at 12:00 am

  Health agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO), recommend different temperature thresholds for electric fan use during heat events (CDC: 32.2{degrees}C, WHO: 40{degrees}C). However, these guidelines do not account for the fans physiological effects on immune and inflammatory responses in males and females. This study evaluated the efficacy of […]

• The Association Between Information Technology-Profession-Specific Stressors and Mental Health Conditions Plus the Role of Mental Health Literacy in Help-Seeking

  by Garcia, E., Liu, N., Chow, A., Sherwood-Laughlin, C., Macy, J. T. on February 25, 2025 at 12:00 am

  BackgroundThe Information Technology (IT) sector is growing and encompasses all professions, from leisure and recreation to hospitals and emergency response groups. IT professionals are experiencing increased threats (e.g., ransomware attacks), but little is known about the relationship between these IT-profession-specific stressors and the professionals mental health. This study aimed to 1) estimate the […]

• A Rest-Shade-Hydration-Hygiene program reduces acute kidney injury and increases production at a sugar mill in Nicaragua, an economic analysis

  by Schlader, Z., Boswell, T., Prince, H., Wesseling, C., Amorim, F., Arias, E., Poveda, S., Hansson, E., Lucas, R., Jakobsson, K., Wegman, D., Glaser, J. on February 21, 2025 at 12:00 am

  BackgroundOccupational heat stress mediated acute kidney injury (AKI) has been linked to the development of chronic kidney disease of non-traditional causes (CKDnt) in agriculture workers. Rest-shade-hydration-hygiene (RSHH) programs are promising interventions for preventing CKDnt. An obstacle to the implementation of RSHH programs is the concern that the reduced work time associated with these programs may […]

• Occupational fall incidence associated with heated tobacco product smoking and lifestyle behaviors: a nationwide cross-sectional study in Japan

  by Tsushima, S., Watanabe, K., Hirohashi, S., Yoshimi, T., Fujino, Y., Tabuchi, T., Zaitsu, M. on February 18, 2025 at 12:00 am

  ObjectivesTo identify the association between heated tobacco product (HTP) smoking and occupational falls, particularly combined with other lifestyle variables, including sleeping duration and comorbidities. MethodsThis web-based nationwide cross-sectional study (September-November 2023) involved 18,440 current workers (mean age, 43 years; women, 43.9%) in Japan. The primary outcome was occupational fall […]

• Occurrence, Risk factors and Antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter from Poultry and Humans in Central Ethiopia: A One Health Approach

  by Kflewahd, F. Z., Adamu, H., Woldearegay, Y. H., Sisay Tessema, T., Hansson, I., Boqvist, S. on February 16, 2025 at 12:00 am

  BackgroundCampylobacter is a leading foodborne pathogen posing a significant One Health challenge due to its broad animal reservoirs and serious antibiotic resistance issues. Despite frequent human-animal-environment interactions in Ethiopia, One Health studies on the occurrence and transmission of Campylobacter are crucial but lacking. Methodology/Principal FindingsA cross-sectional study from March 2021 to […]

• Notification and recordkeeping of occupational mesothelioma in India.

  by Singh, R., Frank, A. L. on February 14, 2025 at 12:00 am

  This paper studies the number of occupational mesothelioma cases that have been reported as per law to the factories and mines regulators in India. Zero cases of mesothelioma, which is a notified/notifiable disease under the Mines Act 1952, and notified/notifiable under the broad category of occupational cancers under the Factories, Act 1948 have been notified between 2004 to 2024 (with the factory data compiled […]

• Development of a questionnaire library for rapid health data acquisition during wildfire events

  by Liu, L., Loftus, C., Rohlman, D., Seto, E., Austin, E. on February 13, 2025 at 12:00 am

  Rapid health outcome data acquisition using existing questionnaires can greatly facilitate time-sensitive research during or after a wildfire event. We aimed to develop a readily available library of questionnaires for self-reported health outcomes to serve as a centralized platform for wildfire researchers seeking to quickly design instruments tailored to their research aims. In this paper, we describe the […]

• MicroRNA Expression in Asymptomatic Welders: Implications for Biomarker Discovery for Environmentally-Linked Neurodegenerative Disorders

  by Bargues-Carot, A., Prado-Rico, J. M., Imamura Kawasawa, Y., Cai, J., Yanosky, J. D., Zenitsky, G., Jin, H., Lewis, M. M., Ma, P., Anantharam, V., Kanthasamy, A., Garao Rico, A. L., Hall, M., Mailman, R. B., Kanthasamy, A. G., Huang, X. on February 12, 2025 at 12:00 am

  Chronic occupational exposure to metals in welding fumes has been implicated in the etiology of neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs), including Parkinsons disease (PD) and Alzheimers disease (AD). Changes in microRNA (miRNA) expression have been associated with various neurodegenerative conditions. Circulating miRNAs, in particular, have emerged as promising, minimally invasive biomarkers for diagnosing and […]