Heavy Metals Asetiologic Agents of Illness Due to Enviroment

Annals of The New York Academy of Sciences, 2006

Abstract: Several recent studies have documented that a widespread practice of dumping toxic wastes has taken place for many years in the Provinces of Naples and Caserta. Extensive programs of environmental monitoring are currently ongoing in the area. In this frame, the Department of Civil Defence of the Italian Government has appointed an ad hoc study group in order to assess the health status of the population resident in the area of interest. The first investigation performed by the study group has been a geographic study on cancer mortality and occurrence of malformations in 196 municipalities constituting the two Provinces. The study detected an area located in the southeastern part of the Province of Caserta and in the northwestern part of the Province of Naples, where cancer mortality and congenital malformations show significantly increased rates with respect to expected figures derived from the regional population. The area highlighted by the study is, in general terms, overlapping with the area where most illegal dumping of toxic wastes took place. It is now recommended that mortality studies be extended to take into account other health outcomes, to search for correlations with environmental exposures, and consider possible confounding factors.

Annali dell'Istituto superiore di sanità, 2014

The incidence of cancer among residents in sites contaminated by pollutants with a possible health impact is not adequately studied. In Italy, SENTIERI Project (Epidemiological study of residents in National Priority Contaminated Sites, NPCSs) was implemented to study major health outcomes for residents in 44 NPCSs. The Italian Association of Cancer Registries (AIRTUM) records cancer incidence in 23 NPCSs. For each NPCSs, the incidence of all malignant cancers combined and 35 cancer sites (coded according to ICD-10), was analysed (1996-2005). The observed cases were compared to the expected based on age (5-year period,18 classes), gender, calendar period (1996-2000; 2001-2005), geographical area (North-Centre and Centre-South) and cancer sites specific rates. Standardized Incidence Ratios (SIR) with 90% Confidence Intervals were computed. In both genders an excess was observed for overall cancer incidence (9% in men and 7% in women) as well as for specific cancer sites (colon and re...

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

In the province of Lecce (southern Italy), a higher incidence of lung cancer (LC) among men compared to regional and national data was reported. In a sub-area in the center of the province (cluster area), the incidence and mortality for LC was even higher. PROTOS is a case–control study aimed at investigating possible risk factors for LC in the province area. A total of 442 patients with LC and 1326 controls matched by sex and age living in the province of Lecce for at least 10 years were enrolled and georeferenced; they filled in a questionnaire with their personal information and exposures. For each risk factor, an Odds Ratio adjusted for all the other variables was calculated. The risk of LC increased with excessive use of alcohol in women, for those subjects with a family cancer history, for each increase in pack/year of cigarettes, for men more exposed considering the industrial district in the cluster area, and for those using pesticides in agriculture without wearing personal...

Tumori Journal, 1988

Mouth or pharynx Brain Uterus 10 Liver Liver Brain Among other tobacco-related sites, rates were somewhat higher than in previous years for cancer of the mouth or pharynx in males, pancreas and bladder in both sexes. There were upward trends for lung cancer in females, too, although still moderate in relation to the Unites States and several North European countries (7, 8). Among non tobacco-related neoplasms, there was some further decline in stomach and some increase in intestinal cancer in both sexes: thus, for the first time in 1982, the intestine was the second leading cause of cancer death in Italy (Appendix table of ranks). Moderate increases were evident for breast cancer in femalesat its highest rates ever reported in Italyand a very delayed inflection (at ages 65-69) emerged in age-specific rates, probably due to a cohort effect. In females, rates were higher than in previous years for ovarian cancer in various age groups, whereas the downward trend for cancer of the cervix uteri persisted, in the absence of any suggestion of reversal of trends even in the younger age groups (observed, for instance, in Britain or Scandinavia) (3, 6). Further increases were evident for melanoma Cl)

… , data analysis and …, 2008

We report geochemical and epidemiological data as maps representing the patterns of toxic metal concentrations and some, potentially, related pathologies in the Campania region of Italy. The comparison of a particular element distribution with specific pathologies, at regional scale, has been carried out taking into account previous epidemiological research, that demonstrated the existence of relationships between anomalous concentrations of some metals and incidence of some pathologies. This study shows that some types of cancer are found in Campania, in areas characterized by relatively high concentration of heavy metals, though, in epidemiological study, correlation does not automatically imply causation. For instance, Zn-Cd-rich areas overlap with areas of high prostate-cancer mortality; bladder and pancreatic cancer are correlated with Pb-Sb-rich areas, whereas, bronchial-tracheal-lung cancer is correlated with As-, Cd-and Pb-rich areas.

Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2009

Objectives: Waste management in the Campania region has been characterised, since the 1980s, by widespread uncontrolled and illegal practices of waste dumping, generating concerns over the health implications. The objective of this study was to evaluate possible adverse health effects of such environmental pressure. Methods: The health effects of waste-related environmental exposures in Campania were assessed in a correlation study on nine causes of death (for the years 1994-2001) and 12 types of congenital anomaly (CA) (1996-2002) in 196 municipalities of the provinces of Naples and Caserta. Poisson regression was used to analyse the association between health outcomes and environmental contamination due to waste, as measured through a composite index, adjusting for deprivation. Results: Statistically significant excess relative risks (ERR, %) in high-index compared with low-index (unexposed) municipalities were found for all-cause mortality (9.2 (95% CI 6.5 to 11.9) in men and 12.4 (9.5 to 15.4) in women and liver cancer (19.3 (1.4 to 40.3) in men and 29.1 (7.6 to 54.8) in women). Increased risks were also found for all cancer mortality (both sexes), stomach and lung cancer (in men). Statistically significant ERRs were found for CAs of the internal urogenital system (82.7 (25.6 to 155.7)) and of the central nervous system (83.5 (24.7 to 169.9)). Conclusion: Although the causal nature of the association is uncertain, findings support the hypothesis that waste-related environmental exposures in Campania produce increased risks of mortality and, to a lesser extent, CAs.

Cancer Biology & Therapy, 2013

Mortality data by geographic area and trend-based surveillance are particularly relevant in orienting public health decisions targeting specific populations. We analyzed overall and site-specific cancer mortality between 1988 and 2009 in the metropolitan area of naples and Caserta in southern italy. age-standardized mortality rates (SMR) were computed for each 5-y age group, by gender, primitive cancer site and specific Province in the overall population and age-defined subgroups. Cancer mortality trends were quantified by annual percent change (aPC) and 95% confidence interval (Ci). From naples and Caserta, the reduction observed between 1988 and 2009 in SMR in males, but not in females, was significantly lower compared with the decrease reported at a national level (−11.4% and −28.4%, respectively). in elderly men, differences between local and national SMR were more pronounced (+13.6% compared with −2.7%). in males, the joinpoint regression analysis showed the following aPC and 95% Ci: −0.9%/year (−1.2; −0.7) and −0.6%/year (−1.0; −0.2) for naples and Caserta, respectively. in females, estimates were −0.6%/year (−0.8; −0.5) and −0.7%/year (−1.2; −0.3). the overall orientation toward declining cancer mortality trends appeared in antithesis with the slight, but significant, increase for some tumors (e.g., pancreatic cancer in both genders). a complex mixture of heterogeneous factors concurs to explain the evidence observed including lifestyle, access to screening procedures, advancements in cancer diagnosis and treatment. Further details might eventually derive from biomonitoring studies for ascertaining the causal link between exposure to potential contaminants in air, water, and soil and cancer-related outcomes in the area of interest.

2013

The Careers Research & Advisory Centre (CRAC) is a limited company established in 1964 and registered as a charity. We provide research, expertise and innovation to all those who support career development at all ages and across all sectors. Our main business activities are:  Provision of research, evaluation, consultancy and innovation relating to career development, with a focus on higher education and graduate employability;  Leadership and co-development/co-delivery with the UK higher education sector of the national Vitae programme to enhance the personal, professional and career development of researchers within higher education;  Sharing of information and best practice for careers advisers and others supporting career decision-making, including the national 'Decisions at 18' conference.

2011