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Open Access Publications from the University of California

Scholarly Works (11 results)

  • Article
  • Peer Reviewed
UC San Diego Previously Published Works (2019)
This data article presents mean serum concentrations (wet weight and lipid standardized) of 32 persistent organic pollutants (POPs) detected in >75% of participants of the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study across levels of POPs scores, and their corresponding coefficients of determination. POPs scores were calculated as: A) the sum of each participant's log-transformed POPs concentrations (∑ of log Pops], or B) as the sum of the participants' log-transformed concentrations of each POP divided by the groups' standard deviation of the corresponding log-transformed POP (POPs summary score. Scores were calculated for both wet weight and lipid standardized concentrations and for all 32 POPs and for PCBs and organochlorine pesticides separately. POPs summary scores analyses were used in the article "Organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in early adulthood and blood lipids over a 23-year follow-up" [Suarez-Lopez et al., 2018].
    Cover page: Summary data of serum concentrations of 32 persistent organic pollutants in young adults in relation to summary scores of persistent organic pollutants
    • Article
    • Peer Reviewed
    UC San Diego Previously Published Works (2019)

    Introduction

    Agricultural pesticide spray periods increase the pesticide exposure potential of children living nearby and growing evidence indicates that they may affect children's health. We examined the association of time following a heightened agricultural production period, the Mother's Day flower harvest (May), with children's blood pressure (BP).

    Methods

    We included cross-sectional information of 313 children ages 4-9 years in Ecuadorian agricultural communities (the ESPINA study). Examinations occurred during a period of low flower production, but within 63-100 days (mean = 81.5, SD = 10.9) following the Mother's Day harvest. BP was measured twice using a pediatric sphygmomanometer and BP percentiles appropriate for age, gender and height were calculated.

    Results

    Participants were 51% male, 1.6% hypertensive and 7.7% had elevated BP. The mean (SD) BP percentiles were: systolic: 51.7 (23.9); diastolic: 33.3 (20.3). There was an inverse relationship between of time after the spray season with percentiles of systolic (difference [β] per 10.9 days after the harvest: -4.3 [95%CI: -6.9, -1.7]) and diastolic BP (β: -7.5 [-9.6, -5.4]) after adjusting for race, heart rate and BMI-for-age z-score. A curvilinear association with diastolic BP was observed. For every 10.9 days that a child was examined sooner after the harvest, the OR of elevated BP/hypertension doubled (OR: 2.0, 95% CI: 1.3, 3.1). Time after the harvest was positively associated with acetylcholinesterase.

    Conclusions

    Children examined sooner after a heightened pesticide spray period had higher blood pressure and pesticide exposure markers than children examined later. Further studies with multiple exposure-outcome measures across pesticide spray periods are needed.
      Cover page: Blood pressure after a heightened pesticide spray period among children living in agricultural communities in Ecuador.
      • Thesis
      • Peer Reviewed
      UC San Diego Electronic Theses and Dissertations (2024)

      Introduction: Living near agriculture increases exposure risks through movement of volatilized pesticides, known as pesticide drift. Evidence from the Study of Secondary Exposures to Pesticides among Children and Adolescents (ESPINA) found suspected floricultural pesticide drift and subsequent worse mood for individuals living in Pedro Moncayo, Ecuador, underscoring the need to assess contributions from broader agriculture. Yet this region lacks contemporary agriculture maps.

      Methods: To map agriculture (Aim 1), Uniform Manifold Approximation and Projection for Dimension Reduction (UMAP) and the Segment Anything Model (SAM) helped identify temporal endmembers for time series of Sentinel-2 spectrally unmixed vegetation fractions and PlanetScope enhanced vegetation index 2 imagery. Aim 2 and 3 used the agriculture map from Aim 1 and 2022 ESPINA data. These Aims assessed the relationship between home distance to the nearest agricultural field boundary (home-ag distance) and surface areas of agriculture within buffers around the home (home-ag SA) with urinary organophosphate, pyrethroid, and herbicide metabolite concentrations (Aim 2, n=500), and with anxiety and depression symptoms (Aim 3, n=484). Associations were estimated using generalized estimating equations, logistic regression, Getis-ord Gi* hotspot analysis, and geospatially weighted regression (GWR), adjusting for confounders.

      Results: SAM identified more agricultural plots for PlanetScope compared to Sentinel-2 and UMAP pre-processing enhanced performance. Compared to PlanetScope, Sentinel-2 agricultural maps provided greater accuracy and sensitivity. The final agriculture map was 72.6% accurate and 75.3% precise (Aim 1). Greater home-ag distance was negatively associated with 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and malathion dicarboxylic acid (MDA). GWR found the strongest associations between home-ag distance and 2,4-D near an industrial agriculture plot. Conversely, having a greater agricultural presence was negatively associated with para-nitrophenol and 3-phenoxybenzoic acid (Aim 2). Living farther from agriculture was associated with lower anxiety and depression symptoms. Spatial variations of home-ag distance with anxiety and depression symptoms was observed (Aim 3).

      Conclusion: This study demonstrates that integrating manifold learning and SAM for agricultural characterization of high- and low-resolution imagery can achieve moderately accurate agricultural maps. Our results found that pesticide drift of 2,4-D and MDA may be stemming from agricultural production, and pesticide drift may increase risk of worse depression and anxiety symptoms.

        • Article
        • Peer Reviewed
        UC San Diego Previously Published Works (2015)

        Objectives

        Substantial evidence associates persistent organic pollutants (POP) with metabolic disturbances related to diabetes, but longitudinal studies with repeated measures are scarce. We aimed to characterize the association between background exposures to POPs with repeated measures of glucose homeostasis over 23-years.

        Methods

        Within the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study (year 0 ages: 18-30 years), we measured POPs in serum obtained in 1987-88 (follow-up year 2) in 90 non-diabetic controls and 90 cases diabetes-free at year 2 who became diabetic by year 20. We analyzed 32 POPs detectable in ≥75% of participants and created summary scores for 32 POPs, 23 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), and 8 organochlorine pesticides (OCP). Dependent variables were measures of glucose homeostasis at years 0-25 (up to 8 examinations). We explored associations using repeated measures regression adjusted for race, sex, concurrent body mass index (BMI), examination center and period, separately for cases and controls.

        Results

        The associations between the three summary scores and measures of glucose homeostasis were present for observations at ages 40-55 years, and particularly between 48-55 years: the 23 PCB summary was associated with HbA1c (never-diabetics: slope [value per unit of summary score], β=0.008, p=0.02; diabetics: β=0.03, p=0.07), fasting glucose (never-diabetics: β=0.24, p=0.003; diabetics: β=1.10, p=0.03), and insulin sensitivity% (never-diabetics: β=-2.82, p<0.001, diabetics: β=-0.31, p=0.30). No associations were observed at younger ages.

        Conclusions

        Glucose homeostasis may worsen after decades of exposure to PCBs and OCPs at background environmental levels, independent of BMI and after participants reached the 5th decade of life.
          Cover page: Persistent organic pollutants in young adults and changes in glucose related metabolism over a 23-year follow-up
          • Article
          • Peer Reviewed
          UC San Diego Previously Published Works (2017)

          Background

          Exposures to cholinesterase inhibitor pesticides (e.g. organophosphates) have been associated with children's neurobehavioral alterations, including attention deficit and impulsivity. Animal studies have observed transient alterations in neurobehavioral performance in relation to cholinesterase inhibitor pesticide exposures; however, limited evidence exists regarding transient effects in humans.

          Methods

          We estimated the associations between neurobehavioral performance and time after Mother's Day flower harvest (the end of a heightened pesticide usage period) among 308 4-to 9-year-old children living in floricultural communities in Ecuador in 2008 who participated in the ESPINA study. Children's neurobehavior was examined once (NEPSY-II: 11 subtests covering 5 domains), between 63 and 100days (SD: 10.8days) after Mother's Day harvest (blood acetylcholinesterase activity levels can take 82days to normalize after irreversible inhibition with organophosphates).

          Results

          The mean (SD) neurobehavioral scaled scores across domains ranged from 6.6 (2.4) to 9.9 (3.3); higher values reflect greater performance. Children examined sooner after Mother's Day had lower neurobehavioral scores than children examined later, in the domains of (score difference per 10.8days, 95%CI): Attention/Inhibitory Control (0.38, 0.10-0.65), Visuospatial Processing (0.60, 0.25-0.95) and Sensorimotor (0.43, 0.10-0.77). Scores were higher with longer time post-harvest among girls (vs. boys) in Attention/Inhibitory Control.

          Conclusions

          Our findings, although cross-sectional, are among the first in non-worker children to suggest that a peak pesticide use period may transiently affect neurobehavioral performance, as children examined sooner after the flower harvest had lower neurobehavioral performance than children examined later. Studies assessing pre- and post-exposure measures are needed.
            Cover page: Potential short-term neurobehavioral alterations in children associated with a peak pesticide spray season: The Mother's Day flower harvest in Ecuador.
            • Article
            • Peer Reviewed
            UC San Diego Previously Published Works (2013)

            Background

            Organophosphate exposures can affect children's neurodevelopment, possibly due to neurotoxicity induced by acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibition, and may affect boys more than girls. We tested the hypothesis that lower AChE activity is associated with lower neurobehavioral development among children living in Ecuadorian floricultural communities.

            Methods

            In 2008, we examined 307 children (age: 4-9 years; 52% male) and quantified AChE activity and neurodevelopment in 5 domains: attention/executive functioning, language, memory/learning, visuospatial processing, and sensorimotor (NEPSY-II test). Associations were adjusted for demographic and socioeconomic characteristics and height-for-age, flower worker cohabitation, and hemoglobin concentration.

            Results

            Mean ± standard deviation AChE activity was 3.14 ± 0.49 U/mL (similar for both genders). The range of scores among neurodevelopment subtests was 5.9 to 10.7 U (standard deviation: 2.6-4.9 U). Girls had a greater mean attention/executive functioning domain score than boys. In boys only, there were increased odds ratios of low (<9th percentile) neurodevelopment among those in the lowest tertile versus the highest tertile of AChE activity (odds ratios: total neurodevelopment: 5.14 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.84 to 31.48]; attention/executive functioning domain: 4.55 [95% CI: 1.19 to 17.38], memory/learning domain: 6.03 [95% CI: 1.17 to 31.05]) after adjustment for socioeconomic and demographic factors, height-for-age, and hemoglobin. Within these domains, attention, inhibition and long-term memory subtests were most affected.

            Conclusions

            Low AChE activity was associated with deficits in neurodevelopment, particularly in attention, inhibition, and memory in boys but not in girls. These critical cognitive skills affect learning and academic performance. Added precautions regarding secondary occupational pesticide exposure would be prudent.
              Cover page: Acetylcholinesterase Activity and Neurodevelopment in Boys and Girls
              • Article
              • Peer Reviewed
              UC San Diego Previously Published Works (2019)

              Background

              The cholinergic system has an important role in mood regulation. Cholinesterase inhibitor pesticides (e.g. organophosphates) appear to increase depression and anxiety symptoms in the few existing animal and human studies. Human studies have not described such associations using biomarkers of exposure and studies among children are needed.

              Methods

              We studied 529 adolescents (ages 11-17y) in agricultural communities in the Ecuadorian Andes (ESPINA study). Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity was measured in a finger-stick sample. Anxiety and depression symptoms were assessed using the CDI-2 and MASC-2 (greater scores reflect greater internalizing symptoms). Models adjusted for age, gender, hemoglobin, income among others.

              Results

              The median age was 14.38y and 51% were female. The mean (SD) of the following parameters were: AChE 3.7 U/mL (0.55), depression T-score 53.0 (9.4) and anxiety T-score: 57.6 (9.8). Lower AChE activity (reflecting greater cholinesterase inhibitor exposure) was associated with higher depression symptoms (difference per SD decrease of AChE [β [95% CI:]]: 1.09 [0.02, 2.16]), was stronger among girls (β = 1.61) than boys (β = 0.69), and among younger (<14.38y, β = 1.61) vs. older children (β = 0.57). The associations were strongest among girls <14.38y (β = 3.30 [0.54, 6.05], OR for elevated symptoms per SD decrease in AChE = 2.58 [1.26, 5.27]). No associations were observed with anxiety scores. Analyses of AChE change between 2008 and 2016 concurred with these findings.

              Discussion

              We observed associations between a biomarker of pesticide exposure and children's depression symptoms. Lower AChE activity may create risk for depression in teenagers, particularly among girls during early adolescence.
                Cover page: Associations of acetylcholinesterase activity with depression and anxiety symptoms among adolescents growing up near pesticide spray sites.
                • Article
                • Peer Reviewed
                UC San Diego Previously Published Works (2018)
                BACKGROUND:Pesticide drift from agricultural plantations increases the chemical exposure potential of people living nearby. Some studies have described positive associations between pesticide exposures and blood pressure (BP) in adults, whereas limited evidence in children suggests negative associations. This study characterized the association between home proximity to plantations and BP among children living in a flower-growing county in Ecuador. METHODS:We included 310 4-9-year-old children living in Pedro Moncayo County, Ecuador as part of The ESPINA study. We calculated age, gender and height-specific BP z-scores. Geographic coordinates of homes and flower plantations were collected using GPS receivers and satellite imagery. Exposure-outcome associations were analyzed using linear regression. RESULTS:The mean home distance to the nearest flower plantation was 449 m (SD: 347) and the median plantation area within 150 m of participants' homes was 989 m2 (25th-75Th percentile: 492-3164) among those with non-zero values. Children living closer to plantations had lower AChE activity. Systolic BP z-score increased with greater residential proximity to plantations (0.24 SD per 1000 m [95% CI: 0.01, 0.47]) and with greater areas of flower plantations within 150 m of homes (0.03 SD per 1000 m2 [0.00, 0.06]), after adjusting for socio-economic, anthropometric and other factors. Further adjustment for acetylcholinesterase and hemoglobin strengthened these associations. CONCLUSIONS:Proximity of homes to flower plantations and greater plantation areas within 150 m from homes were associated with higher systolic BP, independent of cholinesterase activity. This suggests that non-cholinesterase inhibitor pesticide drift from agricultural plantations may be sufficient to induce physiologic changes on children living nearby.
                  Cover page: Home proximity to flower plantations and higher systolic blood pressure among children
                  • Article
                  • Peer Reviewed
                  UC San Diego Previously Published Works (2021)

                  Background

                  Cholinesterase inhibitor pesticides, especially organophosphates, are endocrine disruptors and a few existing studies have linked self-reports of exposure with increased depression and anxiety. Some evidence suggests that associations may be stronger in women, but the mechanism of this gender difference is unclear. We assessed whether acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibition between 2 time points (reflecting greater cholinesterase inhibitor exposure) during different agricultural seasons in the year was associated with anxiety/depression symptoms.

                  Methods

                  We examined 300 adolescents (ages 11-17y, 51% female) living near agricultural settings in Ecuador (ESPINA study) twice in 2016: April and July-October. We assessed AChE activity (finger stick), estradiol, testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone, cortisol (saliva) and anxiety and depression scales (CDI-2 and MASC-2).

                  Results

                  The mean (SD) depression and anxiety scores were 52.8 (9.3) and 58.1 (9.6), respectively. The median (25th, 75th percentile) AChE change (July-October vs April) was -3.94% (-10.45%, 5.13%). For every 10% decrease in AChE activity, there was a 0.96 unit (95%CI: 0.01, 1.90) increase in depression symptoms and an OR of elevated depression score of 1.67 (1.04, 2.66). These associations were stronger in girls (OR=2.72 [1.23, 6.00]) than boys (1.18 [0.59, 2.37]). Adjustment for cortisol, testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone reduced gender differences by 18-62%. No associations were observed with anxiety.

                  Discussion

                  Inhibition of AChE activity at 2 points in time during different pesticide spray periods was associated with greater depression symptoms, affecting girls more than boys. Gender differences may be partly explained by endocrine disruption. These findings suggest that AChE inhibition may transiently affect the mood of adolescents.
                    Cover page: Associations of acetylcholinesterase inhibition between pesticide spray seasons with depression and anxiety symptoms in adolescents, and the role of sex and adrenal hormones on gender moderation.
                    • Article
                    • Peer Reviewed
                    UC Berkeley Previously Published Works (2021)
                    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.
                      Cover page: COVID-19 and children's health in the United States: Consideration of physical and social environments during the pandemic
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