A cross-sectional study was performed in eight companies, comprising 32 buildings without previously recognized indoor air problems. Engineers filled in a technical questionnaire on building characteristics, floor surface materials, ventilation, cleaning procedures, heating and cooling. A total of 3562 employees returned questionnaires on individual factors, workload, perceived physical work environment, allergy and symptoms. Frequent symptoms were feeling of fatigue or heavy-headedness, eye irritation, and dry facial skin. Women reported symptoms more frequently than men. Employees with allergy had a 1.8-2.5 times risk of reporting a high score for general, skin, or mucosal symptoms. The risk of a high symptom score increased with daily visual display unit (VDU) work time. Passive smoking and psychosocial load were also relatively strong predictors of symptoms. Weekly cleaning as compared with a frequency of cleaning two to four times a week increased the risk of symptoms. Adjusted odds ratio for a high general symptoms score from infrequent cleaning was 1.5 (95%CI 1.1-2.0). A high ventilation flow or central ventilation unit filter EU7 vs. EU8 seemed to be associated with an increased risk of general symptoms. Absence of local temperature control increased the risk of mucosal symptoms.
Alcohol is a known modulator of the innate immune system. Owing to the absence of human studies, alcohol's effect on circulating cytokine profile remains unclear. We investigated the effect of acute high dose alcohol consumption on systemic cytokine release. After an overnight fasting, alcohol-experienced healthy male volunteers (N = 20) aged 25–45 years were given oral ethanol in the form of vodka (4.28 mL/kg) which they drank over a period of 30 minutes reaching peak blood alcohol concentration of 0.12% (SD 0.028). Blood samples were obtained prior to alcohol intake as well as 2, 7, and 12 hours thereafter. Serum levels of the inflammatory cytokines IL-1β, IL-1Ra, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17, IFN-γ, MCP-1, and TNF-α were determined by the multibead-based assay. Baseline cytokine levels were not related to BMI, hepatic parameters, electrolytes, glucose, or morning cortisol levels. Within 2 hours of alcohol intake, levels of IL-1Ra were elevated and remained so throughout the assessment period (p for trend = 0.015). In contrast, the levels of the chemokine MCP-1 dropped acutely followed by steadily increasing levels during the observation period (p < 0.001). The impact of sustained elevated levels of MCP-1 even after the clearance of blood alcohol content deserves attention.
This experimental field trial shows that comprehensive cleaning reduces the airborne dust in offices, and also can reduce mucosal symptoms and nasal congestion.
This article in PubMed: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3890162 Scand J Work Environ Health 11 (1985) 11 (1985) 65-74. Sixty-six cases of mica pneumoconiosis have been reported in the literature. Twenty-six of the cases suggest that pneumoconiosis may be caused by pure mica alone. In only six cases the diagnosis was based on clinical examination, radiography, and lung biopsy or autopsy results. In one of these six, doubt was raised by the authors about the purity of the mica exposure. Seven epidemiologic studieshave been performed among mica-processing workers, and these studies are all cross-sectional. In addition 30 experimental investigations have been carried out. However, there are no controlled inhalation studies among them. The results from the intratracheal instillation studies do not give a unanimous conclusion as to whether pure mica is fibrogenic or not. Present knowledge suggests that pure mica is moderately toxic and may induce pneumoconiosis. Exposure to mica is usually associated with exposure to other minerals such as quartz and feldspar.
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A longitudinal study of youth explored physical activity and academic achievement.
Physical activity was assessed by accelerometry and academic achievement by school grades.
Mediation through changes in waist circumference and sleep duration were explored.
Changes in physical activity were not associated with changes in academic achievement.
There was no mediation via changes in waist circumference or sleep duration.
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