Consumption of energy drinks has been increasing dramatically in the last two decades, particularly amongst adolescents and young adults. Energy drinks are aggressively marketed with the claim that these products give an energy boost to improve physical and cognitive performance. However, studies supporting these claims are limited. In fact, several adverse health effects have been related to e...

Annoyance and health-related quality of life concerns experienced by individuals living in the vicinity of two Australian wind farms are recorded. Noise exposures for individuals living in the vicinity of the same wind farms are examined for overall level and character. Twenty-one of the 25 respondents participating in the study reported severe to moderate adverse health effects. Reported adver...

Acute poisoning with organophosphate based pesticides is a notable cause of morbidity and mortality in the developing world, but much less common in the United Kingdom. However, the potential for frequent low level exposures to organophosphates exists for many occupational groups including agricultural workers, sheep dippers, and pesticide sprayers. Over the past decade an increasing number of ...

Worldwide, the preponderance and severity of wildfires is increasing due to a number of factors, among them changes in temperature and precipitation patterns consistent with climate change. Aside from the acute threat of imminent death, wildfires expose people to a range of harmful pollutants in smoke. Although health effects are well documented for many of these individual pollutants— includin...

Pesticide exposure can cause many different health effects, from acute problems such as dermatitis and asthma exacerbation to chronic problems such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cancer. The resulting clinical presentations are undifferentiated, and specific knowledge of the links to environmental exposures is often required for effective diagnosis. In this article we illustrate t...

Voelz et al. conducted a study of 7,112 white male workers employed at Rocky Flats between 1952 and 1979. Deaths in workers were compared with those in the U.S. white male population. Fewer deaths were observed than expected based on rates in the U.S. population from most causes. The only cause of death significantly elevated in these workers was brain cancers. There were eight deaths in the Ro...

Lead levels in North American children and adults have declined in the past 3 decades, but lead persists in the environment in lead paint, old plumbing and contaminated soil. There are also a number of occupations and hobbies that carry a high risk of lead exposure. There is no evidence for a threshold below which lead has no adverse health effects. Blood lead levels previously considered safe ...

CONTEXT This review describes the health effects of beryllium exposure in the workplace and the environment. AIM To collate information on the consequences of occupational and environmental exposure to beryllium on physiological function and well being. MATERIALS AND METHODS The criteria used in the current review for selecting articles were adopted from proposed criteria in The Internation...

BACKGROUND The scientific discoveries of health risks resulting from methylmercury exposure began in 1865 describing ataxia, dysarthria, constriction of visual fields, impaired hearing, and sensory disturbance as symptoms of fatal methylmercury poisoning. OBJECTIVE Our aim was to examine how knowledge and consensus on methylmercury toxicity have developed in order to identify problems of wide...