Pietro Apostoli

..Also, for females the evidences of specific aspects such as fertility or abortions are usually higher and clearer from animal experiments than from human studies...

..A slight association was found for lead only, but it was very weak, as strictly dependent on the worst data from one study...

..The characterization of DNA methylation abnormalities by modern molecular biology methods may allow the development of new molecular biomarkers of early biological effects...

..Owing to the retrospective design of the study, these results require confirmation...

..Intravenous injection of mercury has seldom been reported, especially in cases of attempted suicide, and is associated with variable clinical outcomes...

..The role of past environmental-occupational exposures could not be fully elucidated, due to the limited sample size and the retrospective nature of the study...

..To evaluate a combined biomonitoring approach based on both cobalt and tungsten determination in workers of the hard metal alloy sector...

..Mothers of neonates born by preterm programmed caesarean delivery showed significantly (p<0.005 for both) higher serum p,p'-DDE serum concentrations and p,p'-DDT levels in the adipose tissue, as compared to mothers delivering at term...

..The study was aimed at: (i) evaluating the validity of these formulae; (ii) evaluating the influence of different estimates on serum levels of lipid adjusted persistent organochlorine compounds...

..Linear regression confirmed that occupational exposure was a main predictor of U-MTBE, U-B and S-PMA values, both the latter confounded by smoking habits. The study supports the usefulness of biomonitoring even at low exposure levels...

..The PCDF as a group may be therefore classified at limited evidence of carcinogenicity. This paper concludes the cycle of review about other POPs, i.e. dioxins and PCBs...

..In this paper a literature review accompanied by comments is reported with the aim to provide information about the evaluation process and tools for its more critical and scrupulous interpretation...

..The determination of measurable levels of toxic and potentially carcinogenic compounds in office rooms may be of interest for personnel not specifically engaged to handle chemicals...

..Such a variability of measures, combined with the very low metal concentrations calls for the definition and use of standardized procedures of sample collection, storage, and analysis...

..Our results demonstrate that, in MDCK cells, inorganic Hg(2+) promotes the activation of specific detoxifying pathways that may, at least partly, depend on the activity of MRP transporters...

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..In conclusion, we found high serum PCB levels in humans living in a highly polluted area in an industrialized town in Italy, due mainly to consumption of food produced in polluted areas...

..Indeed, different chaperones are involved in the specific nephrotoxic mechanism of these environmental pollutants and work together for cell survival...

..The low arsenic and chromium levels in the Prince's tissues as compared to modern people would be suggestive of raised concentrations of both the elements in the present era, which are likely due to industrial pollution...

..Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) may interact with several thyroid functions. Severe environmental pollution by PCBs has been observed in Brescia, Italy, due to the presence of a factory that produced these compounds until 1984...

..Maternal serum levels of these pollutants can allow a reliable estimation of organochlorine compound body burden, and can be useful markers of prenatal exposure, given their relationships with placental and umbilical cord serum levels...

..This appears an interesting starting point for further investigations for identifying and better understanding cobalt neurotoxicity, apparently not so frequent in occupational medicine and clinical practice...

..These effects appeared to be strictly associated to the Pb-induced arrest of cell cycle at G0/G1 phase also proved in this cell line...