Policy relevant Results from an Expert Elicitation on the Human Health Risks of Decabromodiphenyl ether (decaBDE) and Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD)

Ravnum, Solveig; Zimmer, Karin Elisabeth; Keune, Hans; Gutleb, Arno C.; Murk, Albertinka J.; Koppe, Janna G.; Magnanti, Brooke; Lyche, Jan Ludvig; Eriksen, Gunnar Sundstøl; Ropstad, Erik; Skaare, Janneche Utne; Kobernus, Michael John; Yang, Aileen; Bartoňová, Alena; Krauß, Martin

doi:10.1186/1476-069x-11-s1-s7

Cited by 11 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…7 Deca-BDE was banned in 2008 in the E.U., 8 and voluntarily phased out in 2013 in the United States. 9 In our earlier study, 10 we reported extremely high PBDE levels (∑ 19 PBDEs median = 2903 ng/g lipid, max = 22 537 ng/ g lipid) in the serum of California (CA) house cats (aged between 3 yr −20 yr) sampled between 2008 and 2010 (n = 26). Levels of major congeners (BDE-47, -99, -100, -153) in cats' serum (∑ 4 PBDEs median = 2647 ng/g lipid) were about 60 times higher than the levels in CA residents (∑ 4 PBDEs median = 43.2 ng/g lipid) selected from NHANES (sampled in 2003−2004), who themselves were among the highest human levels in the world probably due to CA's unique fire safety standards.…”

Section: ■ Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Temporal Changes of PBDE Levels in California House Cats and a Link to Cat Hyperthyroidism

Guo

Gardner²,

Yen³

et al. 2016

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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In this study, we measured serum PBDE levels in California (CA) house cats during two time periods: 2008-2010 and 2012-2013 to assess the impacts of the decline in use of these materials after the bans. The median ∑19PBDE level in CA household cats (age ≥10 yr) was 3479 ng/g lipid in 2008-2010 (1st time period, n = 21) and 1518 ng/g lipid in 2012-2013 (2nd time period, n = 22), about 2 times lower than in the first time period (p = 0.006). In contrast, PCB and OCP levels showed no statistically significant changes. With better matched group size and age (HT = 11 vs non-HT = 11, age ≥10 yr) in the second time period, we found that ∑19PBDE level (mean ± SE ng/g lipid) was significantly higher in the HT group (3906 ± 1442) than those in the non-HT group (1125 ± 244) (p = 0.0030). Higher levels of PCBs and OCPs were also found in HT group. Despite the declines of PBDE levels, our findings indicate that the current levels of PBDEs, as well as PCBs and OCPs, may still pose health effects for house cats and, possibly, humans.

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Section: ■ Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Temporal Changes of PBDE Levels in California House Cats and a Link to Cat Hyperthyroidism

Guo

Gardner²,

Yen³

et al. 2016

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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“…For this purpose the HENVINET project has been developing a series of policy briefs that are available at the HENVINET portal. They are the results of web-based expert knowledge evaluations (see [ 26 - 30 ]) and expert elicitation workshops [ 31 ], giving a short overview of a scientific problem and offering specific options to take up scientific results into the development of concrete policy actions. Each brief consists of policy context, policy options, an executive summary and recommendations with references, allowing the user to trace the information that is used for the brief (available at http://www.henvinet.eu ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application of social media in the environment and health professional community

2012

Self Cite

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The purpose of the EU FP6 funded coordination action HENVINET was to create a permanent network of environment and health professionals. The main outcome is a networking portal (http://www.henvinet.eu), based on the concepts of social media to support communication between professional stakeholders in the environment and health fields. Its aim is to enable sharing of relevant information in an innovative and interactive manner to eventually support policy making. A social networking tool is not necessarily a typical platform for communication in the professional context, or between scientists and decision-makers. The aim of this paper is to look upon the use of social media in relevant professional communities in the light of the HENVINET experience, and to reflect on the acceptance and usefulness of such a new approach.The portal was designed over the course of HENVINET through intensive interactions by a multi-disciplinary group, involving environmental as well as health scientists, but with only limited access to decision-makers’ opinions. After the social networking portal was launched, a recruitment campaign was run during the last six months of the project, taking every opportunity to present the portal and to get feedback from users. This feedback was used to improve the functionalities of the tool.Additionally, a feedback session was organized at the final event of the project, attended by over 50 professionals, about half of whom participated from the beginning in the entire HENVINET project. We have also compared the HENVINET portal with similar tools employed by other related communities, and made a literature-based survey on the use of social media for scientific communication.At the end of the project, the portal had more than 300 members with registered professional profile, over 10 topics and 15 discussion groups. The HENVINET consortium members were the most active group of users. The quality of the portal content was considered more important than having a large amount of information. To maintain the content, the majority of the participants declared their willingness to use their time, stating however that dedicated content providers would be also necessary.In theory, professionals see the value of such a tool, and are willing to contribute. Only time will tell if the tool is viable in the long run.

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“…In the case studies, this method was applied to every “What is your level of confidence ...” question asked. The numbers of questions in case studies varied between 27 (Chlorpyrifos, [ 11 ]) and 63 (HexaBromoCycloDodecane, [ 13 ]). To identify areas that merit interest, we ranked the consensus values and then further explored the questions that ranked lowest, or highest.…”

Section: Approach and Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… Consensus and agreement values across the evaluations. Frequency distribution of (1) consensus values (upper panel, values range from 0=disagreement to 1=consensus) and (2) average responses (lower panel, categories from very low=1 to very high = 5), for five HENVINET case studies – online questionnaire evaluations of (from top) DecaBromoDiphenylEther DecaBDE and HexaBromoCycloDodecane HBCD [ 13 ], Climate change CC [ 10 ], Phthalates [ 12 ], Chlorpyrifos CPF [ 11 ] and Cancer [ 14 ]. The curves represent a theoretical normal distribution, and serve as a visual aide.…”

Section: Approach and Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

How can scientists bring research to use: the HENVINET experience

Bartoňová

2012

Environmental Health

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BackgroundHealth concerns have driven the European environmental policies of the last 25 years, with issues becoming more complex. Addressing these concerns requires an approach that is both interdisciplinary and engages scientists with society. In response to this requirement, the FP6 coordination action “Health and Environment Network” HENVINET was set up to create a permanent inter-disciplinary network of professionals in the field of health and environment tasked to bridge the communication gap between science and society. In this paper we describe how HENVINET delivered on this task.MethodsThe HENVINET project approached the issue of inter-disciplinary collaboration in four ways. (1) The Drivers-Pressures-State-Exposure-Effect-Action framework was used to structure information gathering, collaboration and communication between scientists in the field of health and the environment. (2) Interactive web-based tools were developed to enhance methods for knowledge evaluation, and use these methods to formulate policy advice. (3) Quantification methods were adapted to measure scientific agreement. And (4) Open architecture web technology was used to develop an information repository and a web portal to facilitate collaboration and communication among scientists.ResultsTwenty-five organizations from Europe and five from outside Europe participated in the Health and Environment Network HENVINET, which lasted for 3.5 years. The consortium included partners in environmental research, public health and veterinary medicine; included medical practitioners and representatives of local administrations; and had access to national policy making and EEA and WHO expertise. Dedicated web-based tools for visualisation of environmental health issues and knowledge evaluation allowed remote expert elicitation, and were used as a basis for developing policy advice in five health areas (asthma and allergies; cancer; neurodevelopmental disorders; endocrine disruption; and engineered nanoparticles in the environment). An open searchable database of decision support tools was established and populated. A web based social networking tool was developed to enhance collaboration and communication between scientists and society.ConclusionsHENVINET addressed key issues that arise in inter-disciplinary research on health and environment and in communicating research results to policy makers and society. HENVINET went beyond traditional scientific tools and methods to bridge the communication gap between science and policy makers. The project identified the need for a common framework and delivered it. It developed and implemented a variety of novel methods and tools and, using several representative examples, demonstrated the process of producing politically relevant scientific advice based on an open participation of experts. It highlighted the need for, and benefits of, a liaison between health and environment professionals and professionals in the social sciences and liberal arts. By adopting critical complexity thinking, HENVINET extended ...

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Policy relevant Results from an Expert Elicitation on the Human Health Risks of Decabromodiphenyl ether (decaBDE) and Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD)

Cited by 11 publications

References 34 publications

Temporal Changes of PBDE Levels in California House Cats and a Link to Cat Hyperthyroidism

Temporal Changes of PBDE Levels in California House Cats and a Link to Cat Hyperthyroidism

Application of social media in the environment and health professional community

How can scientists bring research to use: the HENVINET experience

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