In Iraq, war contamination is the result of dispensed bombs, bullets, detonation of chemical and conventional weapons, and burn-pit emissions by US bases. Increases in congenital anomalies were reported from Iraqi cities post-2003. These cities were heavily bombed and encircled by US bases with burn-pits. Thorium is a radioactive compound and a direct depleted-uranium decay-product. Radioactive materials, including depleted uranium, are routinely stored in US bases and they have been shown to leak into the environment. We conducted a case-control study to investigate associations of residential proximity to Tallil Air Base, a US military base near Nasiriyah, as well as levels of uranium and thorium in hair and deciduous teeth with congenital anomalies. The study was based on a sample of 19 cases and 10 controls who were recruited during late Summer and early Fall of 2016. We developed mixed effects logistic regression models with village as the random effect, congenital anomaly as the outcome and distance to the US base and hair metal levels (one at a time) as the predictor variable, controlling for child's age, sex and paternal education. We also explored the mediation of the association between proximity to the base and congenital anomalies by hair metal levels. We found an inverse association between distance to Tallil Air Base and risk of congenital anomalies and hair levels of thorium and uranium. The results of our mediation analyses were less conclusive. Larger studies are necessary to understand the scope of war contamination and its impact on congenital anomalies in Iraq.

Breast cancer is the most frequent tumor in women worldwide, although well-established risk factors account for 53%–55% of cases. Therefore, other risk factors, including environmental exposures, may explain the remaining variation. Our objective was to assess the relationship between risk of breast cancer and residential proximity to industries, according to categories of industrial groups and specific pollutants released, in the context of a population-based multicase-control study of incident cancer carried out in Spain (MCC-Spain). Using the current residence of cases and controls, this study was restricted to small administrative divisions, including both breast cancer cases (452) and controls (1511) in the 10 geographical areas recruiting breast cancer cases. Distances were calculated from the respective woman's residences to the 116 industries located in the study area. We used logistic regression to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) for categories of distance (between 1 km and 3 km) to industrial plants, adjusting for matching variables and other confounders. Excess risk (OR; 95%CI) of breast cancer was found near industries overall (1.30; 1.00–1.69 at 3 km), particularly organic chemical industry (2.12; 1.20–3.76 at 2.5 km), food/beverage sector (1.87; 1.26–2.78 at 3 km), ceramic (4.71; 1.62–13.66 at 1.5 km), surface treatment with organic solvents (2.00; 1.23–3.24 at 3 km), and surface treatment of plastic and metals (1.51; 1.06–2.14 at 3 km). By pollutants, the excess risk (OR; 95%CI) was detected near industries releasing pesticides (2.09; 1.14–3.82 at 2 km), and dichloromethane (2.09; 1.28–3.40 at 3 km). Our results suggest a possible increased risk of breast cancer in women living near specific industrial plants and support the need for more detailed exposure assessment of certain agents released by these plants.

We investigated whether there might be excess ovarian cancer mortality among women residing near Spanish industries, according to different categories of industrial groups and toxic substances. An ecologic study was designed to examine ovarian cancer mortality at a municipal level (period 1997–2006). Population exposure to pollution was estimated by means of distance from town to facility. Using Poisson regression models, we assessed the relative risk of dying from ovarian cancer in zones around installations, and analyzed the effect of industrial groups and pollutant substances. Excess ovarian cancer mortality was detected in the vicinity of all sectors combined, and, principally, near refineries, fertilizers plants, glass production, paper production, food/beverage sector, waste treatment plants, pharmaceutical industry and ceramic. Insofar as substances were concerned, statistically significant associations were observed for installations releasing metals and polycyclic aromatic chemicals. These results support that residing near industries could be a risk factor for ovarian cancer mortality.

International audience | Pas un mois ne passe sans que la pollution plastique ne fasse l’actualité d’une façon ou d’une autre. Il faut dire que nul écosystème n’échappe à la pollution plastique. En moins d’un siècle, nous avons produit deux fois plus de plastique en masse qu’il n’existe d’animaux sur terre.La majeure partie de ces plastiques deviennent finalement des déchets et contribuent à la saturation d’un système de gestion déjà à bout de souffle. Mais la problématique de la pollution plastique va bien au-delà de la question des déchets mal gérés : les plastiques polluent à toutes les étapes de leur cycle de vie. C’est ainsi qu’ils affectent tous les écosystèmes, du fond des océans jusqu’à l’air que nous respirons, en passant par les sols qui nous nourrissent.Les scientifiques ne cessent d’alerter sur cette pollution qui a conduit à la plastification de notre planète en nuisant profondément à la santé humaine. Ces derniers ont un rôle à jouer dans les négociations internationales, comme à Ottawa (Canada) en avril 2024. Il s’agissait de la quatrième et avant-dernière session de négociation du traité mondial contre la pollution plastique (CIN-4). Depuis, le travail continue jusqu’à la dernière étape pour la finalisation du Traité, en novembre 2024 à Busan, en Corée du Sud.