Environmental Exposures And Risk For Cancer and Chronic Diseases In Adults

National Institute Of Environmental Health Sciences

Investigators

Linked publications, trials & patents

Abstract

The anaysis of data from the North Carolina kidney Disease Study focused on the potential risk associated with self-reported job history and specific occupational exposures, including solvents, dusts, metals and silica. Our study included 548 cases with renal disfunction confirmed by hospital chart review and 514 matched population controls. A paper in revision assessed risk of chronic kidney disease in relation to work in agriculture and manufacturing jobs in the presence of dusty conditions. We previously reported that occupational silica exposure was associated with increased chonic kidney disease risk. We measured arsenic in historical urine samples from 300 Pima Indians participating in a prospective study conducted by NIDDK. Half remained free of diabetes at follow-up exam at least 10 years after initial visit and half had developed diabetes. Results suggest a slight association between low level arsenic exposure and diabetes risk. We are also using the Pima cohort study to assess risk of diabetes and diabetic nephropathy associated with exposure to organochlorine compounds measured in serum samples from individuals who developed diabetes without nephropathy, those who developed diabetic nephropathy, and those who remained diabetes free after at least 10 years of follow-up. In the ADHD study we reported that the prevalence of ADHD in school-aged children is higher than previously published estimates and that the specific method used to define case status has significant impact on disease prevalence estimates.