Exposure to environmental neurotoxic substances and neurodevelopment in children from Latin America and the Caribbean

Dórea, José G.

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2020.110199

Cited by 50 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 213 publications

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“…On the other hand, the community environmental risk is perceived with more limited individual control and more dependent on environmental health policies. All the environmental health issues included are prevalent in Chile but also could be present in other countries from Latin America [13,[29][30][31].…”

Section: Comparisons With the Results Of Other Studies In Chile And Latin Americamentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Health Risk Perception: Adaptation of a Population-Based Questionnaire from Latin America

Cortés

Burgos

Adaros³

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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BACKGROUND: Environmental risk assessments and interventions to mitigate environmental risks are essential to protect public health. While the objective measurement of environmental hazards is important, it is also critical to address the subjective perception of health risks. A population’s perception of environmental health hazards is a powerful driving force for action and engagement in safety and health behaviors and can also inform the development of effective and more sustainable environmental health policies. To date, no instruments are available to assess risk perception of environmental health hazards in South America even though there are many concerning issues in the region, including mining. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to adapt and validate an environmental health risk perception questionnaire in a Chilean population affected by mining activity among other risks frequently reported in Latin American countries and included the collection of information on trust on public information sources. METHODS: We adapted an Australian risk perception questionnaire for validation in an adult population from a Chilean mining community. This adaptation included two blinded translations (direct, inverse), a pre-test study (n = 20) and a review by environmental health experts. Principal Component Analyses (PCA) was used to identify factors within major domains of interest. The Bartlett test of sphericity, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure and the Cronbach α test were used to assess the instrument’s validity and reliability. The instrument was pilot tested in 205 adults from a mining community in Chañaral. RESULTS: The final adapted questionnaire proved to be a good instrument to measure risk perception in a community chronically exposed to mining waste. For community risks, four factors explained 59.4% of the variance. “Global Issues” (30.2%) included air pollution, contamination of mining, ozone layer depletion and vector diseases. For personal risks, the first two components explained 59.5% of the variance, the main factor (36.7%) was “unhealthy behaviors within the household”. For trust in information, the first factor (36.2%) included as main sources “Media and authorities”. The Cronbach α ranged between 0.68 and 0.75; and the KMO test between 0.7 to 0.79 for community and personal risks and trust. CONCLUSIONS: The final questionnaire is a simple, reliable and useful instrument that can assist in evaluating environmental health risk perceptions in Latin American countries.

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Section: Comparisons With the Results Of Other Studies In Chile And Latin Americamentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Health Risk Perception: Adaptation of a Population-Based Questionnaire from Latin America

Cortés

Burgos

Adaros³

et al. 2021

IJERPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Explicitly related to agricultural work in the adult population. Developmental studies were not considered due to the existence of other reviews and meta-analyses that focus on neurodevelopment in relation to agricultural risk factors [ 17 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 ]. As noted in the introduction, agricultural work is an umbrella term that includes many distinct job activities.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Risk Factors for Brain Health in Agricultural Work: A Systematic Review

Sturm

Castro

Mendez-Colmenares

et al. 2022

IJERPH

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Certain exposures related to agricultural work have been associated with neurological disorders. To date, few studies have included brain health measurements to link specific risk factors with possible neural mechanisms. Moreover, a synthesis of agricultural risk factors associated with poorer brain health outcomes is missing. In this systematic review, we identified 106 articles using keywords related to agriculture, occupational exposure, and the brain. We identified seven major risk factors: non-specific factors that are associated with agricultural work itself, toluene, pesticides, heavy metal or dust exposure, work with farm animals, and nicotine exposure from plants. Of these, pesticides are the most highly studied. The majority of qualifying studies were epidemiological studies. Nigral striatal regions were the most well studied brain area impacted. Of the three human neuroimaging studies we found, two focused on functional networks and the third focused on gray matter. We identified two major directions for future studies that will help inform preventative strategies for brain health in vulnerable agricultural workers: (1) the effects of moderators such as type of work, sex, migrant status, race, and age; and (2) more comprehensive brain imaging studies, both observational and experimental, involving several imaging techniques.

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“…While children shelter-in-place, they may experience higher exposure to pesticides used and stored in their homes. Exposure to pesticides, particularly during critical developmental stages, could increase children's risk of both short- and long-term health effects ( Dórea 2021 ; Muñoz-Quezada et al, 2013 ). With children spending more time indoors, there may be a greater likelihood of access and accidental poisoning by pesticides not stored or used safely in the home ( Namulanda 2016 ).…”

Section: Environmental Exposures During Covid-19mentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19 and children's health in the United States: Consideration of physical and social environments during the pandemic

Suárez-López

Cairns

Sripada

et al. 2021

Environmental Research

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Public health measures necessary to counteract the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have resulted in dramatic changes in the physical and social environments within which children grow and develop. As our understanding of the pathways for viral exposure and associated health outcomes in children evolves, it is critical to consider how changes in the social, cultural, economic, and physical environments resulting from the pandemic could affect the development of children. This review article considers the environments and settings that create the backdrop for children's health in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic, including current threats to child development that stem from: A) change in exposures to environmental contaminants such as heavy metals, pesticides, disinfectants, air pollution and the built environment; B) changes in food environments resulting from adverse economic repercussion of the pandemic and limited reach of existing safety nets; C) limited access to children's educational and developmental resources; D) changes in the social environments at the individual and household levels, and their interplay with family stressors and mental health; E) social injustice and racism. The environmental changes due to COVID-19 are overlaid onto existing environmental and social disparities. This results in disproportionate effects among children in low-income settings and among populations experiencing the effects of structural racism. This article draws attention to many environments that should be considered in current and future policy responses to protect children's health amid pandemics.

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Exposure to environmental neurotoxic substances and neurodevelopment in children from Latin America and the Caribbean

Cited by 50 publications

References 213 publications

Environmental Health Risk Perception: Adaptation of a Population-Based Questionnaire from Latin America

Environmental Health Risk Perception: Adaptation of a Population-Based Questionnaire from Latin America

Risk Factors for Brain Health in Agricultural Work: A Systematic Review

COVID-19 and children's health in the United States: Consideration of physical and social environments during the pandemic

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