The National Key Research and Development Program of China, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, the Guangdong Province Natural Science Foundation, the Career Development Fellowship of Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, and the Early Career Fellowship of Australian National Health and Medical Research Council.

Organophosphate esters (OPEs) represent an important group of industrial additives with broad applications. However, their occurrences and fate in the atmospheric environment have not been sufficiently investigated. Our study focused on four novel OPEs, including tris­(2,4-di-tert-butylphenyl) phosphate (AO168 = O), bis­(2,4-di-tert-butylphenyl) pentaerythritol diphosphate, triisodecyl phosphate, and trisnonylphenol phosphate, and characterized their organophosphite antioxidant (OPA) precursors and selected transformation products, in airborne fine particles from South China. House dust from South China was also studied for comparison. Among these four OPEs, exceedingly high concentrations were determined for AO168 = O (i.e., median: 25 500 ng/g in PM2.5, 52 900 ng/g in PM1.0, and 10 700 ng/g in indoor dust), reaching 1 order of magnitude greater than those of traditional OPEs. Their OPA precursors were not detectable in airborne particles but hypothesized as one of the sources for airborne OPEs. In addition, potential transformation products of AO168 = O, including bis­(2,4-di-tert-butylphenyl) phosphate (B2,4DtBPP) and 2,4-di-tert-butylphenol (2,4DtBP), also exhibited broad distributions. The levels of 2,4DtBP even surpassed those of AO168 = O in particles. The links between OPAs, OPEs, and other transformation products indicate the complexity of OPE-related chemicals in atmospheric environments. These links should be taken into consideration for a better characterization of OPEs’ environmental and health risks.

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Perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) are a group of common chemicals that ubiquitously exist in wildlife and humans. Experimental data suggest that they may alter T-lymphocyte functioning in situ by preferentially enhancing the development of T-helper 2 (TH2)- and inhibiting TH1-lymphocyte development and might increase allergic inflammation, but few human studies have been conducted. To evaluate the association between serum PFAAs concentrations and T-lymphocyte-related immunological markers of asthma in children, and further to assess whether gender modified this association, 231 asthmatic children and 225 non-asthmatic control children from Northern Taiwan were recruited into the Genetic and Biomarker study for Childhood Asthma. Serum concentrations of ten PFAAs and levels of TH1 [interferon (IFN)-γ, interleukin (IL)-2] and TH2 (IL-4 and IL-5) cytokines were measured. The results showed that asthmatics had significantly higher serum PFAAs concentrations compared with the healthy controls. When stratified by gender, a greater number of significant associations between PFAAs and asthma outcomes were found in males than in females. Among males, adjusted odds ratios for asthma among those with the highest versus lowest quartile of PFAAs exposure ranged from 2.59 (95% CI: 1.14, 5.87) for the perfluorobutanesulfonate (PFBS) to 4.38 (95% CI: 2.02, 9.50) for perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS); and serum PFAAs were associated positively with TH2 cytokines and inversely with TH1 cytokines among male asthmatics. Among females, no significant associations between PFAAs and TH2 cytokines could be detected. In conclusion, increased serum PFAAs levels may promote TH cell dysregulation and alter the availability of key TH1 and TH2 cytokines, ultimately contributing to the development of asthma that may differentially impact males to a greater degree than females. These results have potential relevance in asthma prevention.

Multiple systematic reviews on greenspace and health outcomes exist, but the overall evidence base remains unclear. Therefore, we performed an umbrella review to collect and appraise all relevant systematic reviews of epidemiological studies on greenness exposure and health. We searched PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science from inception to June 28, 2021, and screened references of relevant articles. Systematic reviews with or without meta-analyses of epidemiological studies that examined the associations of greenness with any health outcome were included. Two independent investigators performed study selection and data extraction. We also evaluated the methodological quality of the included systematic reviews using the “Assessing the Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews 2” checklist. A total of 40 systematic reviews and meta-analyses were included, of which most were cross-sectional studies conducted in high-income countries. Greenspace exposure was estimated with various objective and subjective parameters. Beneficial associations of greenspace with all-cause and stroke-specific mortality, CVD morbidity, cardiometabolic factors, mental health, low birth weight, physical activity, sleep quality, and urban crime were observed. No consistent associations between greenspace and other health outcomes (e.g., cancers) were observed. Most of the included systematic reviews and meta-analyses had one or more limitations in methodology. Our findings provide supportive evidence regarding the beneficial effects of greenspace exposure on some aspects of human health. However, the credibility of such evidence was compromised by methodological limitations. Better performed systematic reviews and meta-analyses as well as longitudinal designed primary studies are needed to validate this conclusion.

Obesity amplifies the association of long-term air pollution exposure with blood pressure and hypertension in Chinese children.

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