Environmental and Occupational Risk Factors of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A Population-Based Case- Control Study

2020 · Harm · Low evidence

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HarmLow evidencePaper 1548

Study snapshot

Publicationmanual · 2020

Study typecase_control

Reported directionHarm

Evidence ratingLow

Abstract

Environmental and Occupational Risk Factors of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A Population-Based Case- Control Study Filippini T, Tesauro M, Fiore M , Malagoli C, Consonni M, et al. Environmental and Occupational Risk Factors of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A Population-Based Case-Control Study. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Apr 22;17(8):E2882; doi: 10.3390/ijerph17082882. Abstract Objectives: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disease with still unknown etiology. We aimed at investigating the association between environmental and occupational factors with ALS risk. Methods: We performed a population-based case-control study in four Italian provinces (Catania, Modena, Novara, and Reggio Emilia) by administration of tailored questionnaires to ALS cases (n = 95) and randomly selected population referents (n = 135). We estimated ALS risk by calculating the odds ratio (OR) with its 95% confidence interval (CI) using an unconditional logistic regression model. Results: We found a positive association with disease risk for history of occupation in the agricultural sector (OR = 2.09, 95% CI 0.79-7.54), especially for longer than 10 years (OR = 2.72, 95% 1.02-7.20). Overall occupational exposure to solvents also suggested a positive association, especially for thinners (OR = 2.27, 95% CI 1.14-4.54) and paint removers (OR = 2.01, 95% CI 0.90-4.48). Both occupational and environmental exposure to electromagnetic fields show a slightly increased risk with OR = 1.69 (95% CI 0.70-4.09) and 2.41 (95% CI 1.13- 5.12), respectively. Occupational but not environmental exposure to pesticides (OR = 1.22, 95% CI 0.63-2.37), particularly fungicides, and exposure to metals (OR = 4.20, 95% CI 1.88-9.38), particularly lead, mercury, and selenium, showed an imprecise but positive association. Finally, there was an indication of increased risk for living in proximity to water bodies. Conclusions: Despite the caution that needs to be used due to some study limitations, such as the low number of exposed subjects and the possibility of recall bias, these results suggest the potential role of some environmental and occupational factors in ALS etiology. Open access paper: mdpi.com

Machine Enhanced Logic

AI evidence extraction

Structured fields below were generated from the paper’s abstract and metadata to make the evidence easier to inspect. Automated extraction may be incomplete or incorrect; verify important details against the original paper.

Study typecase_control

Effect directionharm

PopulationALS cases and population referents in four Italian provinces (Catania, Modena, Novara, and Reggio Emilia)

Sample size230

ExposureNot supplied

Evidence strengthLowConfidence: 74% · Peer reviewed: yes

Main findings

In this population-based case-control study (95 ALS cases; 135 referents), both occupational and environmental exposure to electromagnetic fields were associated with slightly increased ALS risk (occupational OR=1.69, 95% CI 0.70–4.09; environmental OR=2.41, 95% CI 1.13–5.12). The study also reported positive associations for some other occupational/environmental factors (e.g., agricultural work >10 years, certain solvents, and metals).

Outcomes measured

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) risk

Limitations

Low number of exposed subjects
Possibility of recall bias

View raw extracted JSON

{
  "study_type": "case_control",
  "exposure": {
    "band": null,
    "source": "occupational and environmental exposure to electromagnetic fields",
    "frequency_mhz": null,
    "sar_wkg": null,
    "duration": null
  },
  "population": "ALS cases and population referents in four Italian provinces (Catania, Modena, Novara, and Reggio Emilia)",
  "sample_size": 230,
  "outcomes": [
    "Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) risk"
  ],
  "main_findings": "In this population-based case-control study (95 ALS cases; 135 referents), both occupational and environmental exposure to electromagnetic fields were associated with slightly increased ALS risk (occupational OR=1.69, 95% CI 0.70–4.09; environmental OR=2.41, 95% CI 1.13–5.12). The study also reported positive associations for some other occupational/environmental factors (e.g., agricultural work >10 years, certain solvents, and metals).",
  "effect_direction": "harm",
  "limitations": [
    "Low number of exposed subjects",
    "Possibility of recall bias"
  ],
  "evidence_strength": "low",
  "confidence": 0.74,
  "peer_reviewed_likely": "yes",
  "keywords": [
    "amyotrophic lateral sclerosis",
    "ALS",
    "case-control",
    "Italy",
    "occupational exposure",
    "environmental exposure",
    "electromagnetic fields",
    "solvents",
    "pesticides",
    "metals",
    "agriculture"
  ],
  "suggested_hubs": [
    {
      "slug": "occupational-exposure",
      "weight": 0.9,
      "reason": "Assesses occupational exposure to electromagnetic fields and other workplace factors in relation to ALS risk."
    }
  ]
}

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AI-extracted fields are generated from the abstract and metadata and may be incomplete or incorrect. This material is for informational purposes and is not medical advice.

Identifiers and source

DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17082882
PubMed: Not supplied

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