Health impact assessment of Roma housing policies in Central and Eastern Europe: A comparative analysis

Marginalised Roma communities in European countries live in substandard housing conditions the improvement of which has been one of the major issues of the Decade of Roma Inclusion, the ongoing intergovernmental European Roma programme. The paper presents EU-funded health impact assessments of national Roma housing policies and programmes in 3 Central and Eastern European countries in light of the evaluation of a completed local project in a fourth CEE country so as to compare predicted effects to observed ones. Housing was predicted to have beneficial health effects by improving indoor and outdoor conditions, access to services, and socioeconomic conditions. Negative impacts were predicted only in terms of maintenance expenses and housing tenure. However, observed impacts of the completed local project did not fully support predictions especially in terms of social networks, satisfaction with housing and neighbourhood, and inhabitant safety. In order to improve the predictive value of HIA, more evidence should be produced by the careful evaluation of locally implemented housing projects. In addition, current evidence is in favour of planning Roma housing projects at the local rather than at the national level in alignment with the principle of subsidiarity.     

Environmental and public health co-benefits of consumer switches to immunity-supporting food

During COVID-19, there has been a surge in public interest for information on immunity-boosting foods. There is little scientific support for immunity-supporting properties of specific foods, but strong evidence for food choice impacts on other health outcomes (e.g. risk of non-communicable disease) and environmental sustainability. Here, we relate online recommendations for “immunity-boosting” foods across five continents to their environmental and human health impacts. More frequently recommended food items and groups are plant based and have lower land use and greenhouse gas emission impacts plus more positive health outcomes (reducing relative risks of mortality or chronic diet-related diseases) per serving of food. We identify trade-offs between environmental outcomes of increasing consumption of recommended food items, with aquatic environment impacts increasing with food recommendation frequency. People’s reliance on the Internet for health information creates an opportunity to consolidate behaviour change towards consuming foods with multiple co-benefits. Our study identifies win–win options for nudging online information-seeking behaviour towards more sustainable choices for terrestrial biodiversity conservation and human health.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13280-021-01693-w.     

Regional economic conditions and crash fatality rates--a cross-county analysis

INTRODUCTION: Most studies that evaluate the relationship between economic conditions and traffic fatalities focus on the time-series relationship between the two factors. This analysis considers the cross-sectional perspective by estimating the cross-county correlation between per capita income and fatalities per vehicle mile traveled (VMT) in Ohio. METHOD: The empirical model employed in this analysis allows for interaction effects between per capita income and highway usage, in the determination of fatality rates. RESULTS: The resultant least squares estimates indicate that a significant interaction effect exists between per capita income and the percentage of highway VMT, indicating a nonlinear correlation between per capita income and fatality rates. This correlation rises as the proportion of VMT on highways rises, such that there is an inverse relationship with fatality rates when the highway share of county VMT is low and a direct relationship with fatality rates when the highway share of county VMT is high. Additionally, population density, the presence of interstate highways in rural counties, the prior prevalence of severe alcohol abuse, and the proportion of teen drivers all proved to be significant correlates with county fatality rates. CONCLUSIONS: These observations suggest factors that state and federal policy makers should consider when allocating resources that impact (whether directly or indirectly) traffic fatalities.     

The distance between state and rural society in the PRC. Reading document no 1 (February 2004)

While the People's Republic of China appears on a daily basis in all of the important newspapers around the world with its enormous successes in modernizing its economy, life in the Chinese countryside usually does not attract international attention. However, we know from a wide range of reports that the situation in the Chinese countryside is getting more and more complicated with local corruption, pollution and poverty growing in most parts of the country. The Chinese language press reports on a growing number of local uprisings in remote areas. While some analysts regard the situation in the countryside as a potential threat to the ongoing peaceful process of economic reform in China, China seems to be well prepared to cope with this change and the state is comparatively flexible in dealing with unrest among the rural population. So far the system itself has not been challenged by peasant discontent. This article introduces the idea that the distance between state and rural society is the basis of this flexibility. It will analyze a major policy document issued by the state and party leadership in order to show how state and rural society interact on the basis of a still insurmountable distance between state and rural society.     

工业废弃场地健康风险评价

城市的发展,越来越多的工业企业都在逐步搬迁出主城区,拆迁遗留下的场地将会用作商业或居住用地,对这些拆迁场地如不加强环境管理,将会对公众健康造成危害。本文以化工企业拆迁场地为例,按照危害识别、暴露评估、毒性评估、风险表征4个步骤介绍了健康风险评价的一般方法,着重介绍了"危害识别"中对于化工企业拆迁场地"场地环境调查"方面的方法与注意事项。最后针对我国在污染场地健康风险评价方面的不足,提出了相应的建议。     

Preliminary investigation on cytotoxicity of fluorinated polymer nanoparticles

As well-known persistent organic pollutants(POPs), organofluorine pollutants such as perfluorooctane sulfonate(PFOS) have been proven to be bioaccumulated and harmful to health. However, toxicological assessment of organofluorinated nanoparticles, which have emerged as a novel tool for biomedical and industrial applications, is lacking, to the best of our knowledge. To assess the biological effects and health risk of fluorinated nanoparticles,trifluoroethyl aryl ether-based fluorinated poly(methyl methacrylate) nanoparticles(PTFEPMMA NPs) were synthesized with various fluorine contents(PTFE-PMMA-1 NPs 12.0 wt.%,PTFE-PMMA-2 NPs 6.1 wt.% and PTFE-PMMA-3 NPs 5.0 wt.%), and their cytotoxicity was investigated in this study. The in vitro experimental results indicated that the cytotoxicity of PTFE-PMMA NPs was mild, and was closely related to their fluorine(F) contents and Fcontaining side chains. Specifically, the cytotoxicity of PTFE-PMMA NPs decreased with increasing F content and F-containing side chains. After exposure to PTFE-PMMA NPs at a sublethal dose(50 μg/m L) for 24 hr, the phospholipid bilayer was damaged, accompanied by increasing permeability of the cell membrane. Meanwhile, the intracellular accumulation of reactive oxygen species(ROS) occurred, resulting in the increase of DNA damage, cell cycle arrest and cell death. Overall, the PTFE-PMMA NPs were found to be relatively safe compared with typical engineered nanomaterials(ENMs), such as silver nanoparticles and graphene oxide, for biomedical and industrial applications.     

Bioaccumulation and human health risk assessment of trace metals in the freshwater mussel Cristaria plicata in Dongting Lake, China

Trace metal contamination in water and bioaccumulation in aquatic organisms are human health risks of increasing concern. However, the bioaccumulation of trace metals in the organs of the mussel Cristaria plicata in Dongting Lake, China and the human health risks of mussel consumption are largely unknown. We investigated the concentrations of 15 trace metals and metalloids in surface water, sediments, and C. plicata organs (foot, gill, mantle, and visceral mass) and quantified the bioaccumulation and human health risk of these trace metals in specimens collected from Dongting Lake. The concentrations of most metals in surface water exceeded previously published background values. In contrast, the concentrations of most metals in sediments showed a decreasing trend. Overall, the metal concentrations in the gill and visceral masses of C. plicata were higher than those in the foot and mantle, and higher bioaccumulation capacities were observed for essential metals than for nonessential metals. The mean concentrations of the trace elements Zn, Pb, Cd, As, Cu, and Cr in C. plicata foot samples were lower than the threshold values established by international and Chinese organizations. The estimated daily intake (EDI) values of the essential metal Mn in C. plicata foot was higher than the recommended tolerable daily intake (TDI) values for juveniles. Only Mn for juveniles and As for both juveniles and adults may pose noncarcinogenic health risks through foot consumption. The hazard index (HI) values for adults and juveniles were higher than 1, suggesting significant risks of noncarcinogenic effects to humans by exposure to multiple metals.     

城市生态系统健康评价方法的一种改进及应用

对基于主成分分析和模糊优选的客观评价方法进行改进,引入参照城市将评价结果由绝对度量转化为相对度量,以此消除评价指标间的大部分相关性。以厦门为参照城市,将本文评价方法运用到连云港,评价结果为：（1）连云港市生态系统健康水平总体较低,但在评价期内一直保持上升趋势;（2）连云港生态系统健康水平提升速度低于厦门,与厦门的差距逐渐拉大,连云港市需进一步增强城市生态化建设的重视程度。     

垃圾填埋场地下水污染对居民健康的风险评价

调查了某垃圾填埋场地下水和周边居民饮用水中的As、Hg等重金属和挥发酚等有机物的污染状况,运用美国环保局的健康风险计算模型,评估了该垃圾填埋场地下水对周边居民的潜在健康风险。结果表明,各类人群对4种有阈化合物的饮食和皮肤暴露的终身健康危险度在8．2×10^-11～1．3×10^-10之间,均低于可以接受的风险水平10^-6;对As的终身超额健康危险度在3．1×10^-7～4．9×10^-7之间,表明地下水中砷污染对居民潜在的致癌风险不明显。各类人群通过皮肤对Hg、As、Cd和挥发酚的暴露剂量比通过饮水暴露的剂量高0．7倍～14．5倍,皮肤暴露将是地下水影响人体健康并构成潜在风险的重要途径。