Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

A Systematic Literature Review Of The Prevalence, Distribution, Exposure, And Human Health Risks Of Tire Microplastics And The Contribution Of Their Physicochemically Diverse Properties, Luke Glastad

Theses & Dissertations

The history of synthetic plastics dates back to their first uses in 1907, continues with their expansion through the middle of the century with a diverse array of new polymers, and are so omnipresent today that many label this age of Earth the Plasticene Era. Tire microplastics (TMPs) have been increasingly identified as one of the environment's most bountiful types of microplastics (MPs). TMPs mainly enter the environment as tire-wear particles (TWPs) and recycled tire crumb (RTC). TWPs, in particular, have a high degree of variability, which impacts their distribution, degradation, and risk for adverse human health effects. This review …

Environmental Exposures And Human Health Challenges: Evidence-Based Insights From Health Surveillance Systems, Jagadeesh Puvvula

Theses & Dissertations

Human exposure to environmental hazards is associated with a variety of preventable adverse health outcomes. As the environmental health risks result from the complex interaction between hazard, exposure, and susceptibility, these exposure-outcome associations are heterogeneous across the population. Improving environmental health literacy by advocating evidence-based environmental risk communication could play a role in reinforcing protective behavior against environmental hazards. The use of public health surveillance systems to assess the exposure-response associations is one of the effective ways to quantify the environmental health risks. However, there are several gaps in effectively quantifying environmental health risks. This dissertation aims to address a …

Agrichemicals (Nitrate And Atrazine) In Drinking Water And Adverse Health Outcomes In Children In Nebraska, Balkissa S. Ouattara

Theses & Dissertations

Objectives: This research was conducted to (1) determine the concentrations of atrazine, and nitrate, in Nebraska watersheds and counties; (2) calculate the incidence of pediatric cancers and prevalence of birth defects in Nebraska counties and watersheds, respectively; (3) assess the relationship between the contaminant levels and the incidence rate of pediatric cancers and birth defects prevalence.

Methods: Pediatric cancers and birth defects data were obtained from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. Water quality data were collected and retrieved from the Water Quality Portal and the Nebraska Groundwater Quality Clearinghouse. Geospatial and statistical analyses were conducted at the …