Both the WHO and the EC advise on the use of Lnight as the primary indicator for sleep disturbanc... more Both the WHO and the EC advise on the use of Lnight as the primary indicator for sleep disturbance. Still, a key question for noise policy is whether from a public health point of view it may be advantageous to use number of events in addition to Lnight. For some effects, it may be more effective to reduce the number of events above a certain threshold than to lower the overall exposure level of events. Based on data of a field study among 418 people, the current paper investigates the associ-ation between objectively measured sleep disturbance and the number of aircraft noise events. The data from this study are well suited for this purpose, since for eve-ry subject both the number and the level of events were available. The analysis focuses on mean motility during the sleep period, and addresses the question whether this motility can be predicted more accurately taking the number of passages into account. The results suggest that an increase in the average sound exposure level of events contributes more to motility than an increase in the number of events. However, it was also found that the influence of number of events increases with increas-ing levels of the events. Thus, to reduce motility as a proxy for restless sleep, it may be better to prevent the occurrence of events with high maximum levels than to re-duce the overall number or level of events.
This model builds on a framework borrowed from the air pollution field – from so-called air pollu... more This model builds on a framework borrowed from the air pollution field – from so-called air pollution accountability research - that has been utilized to evaluate whether actions taken to improve air quality have resulted in reduced health effects. The air pollution framework puts most emphasis on ambient concentrations of air pollutants and this has less relevance for environmental noise. Peoples’ noise exposure is strongly influenced by the propagation paths from sources to receivers, and hence highly dependent not only on emission levels but on the disposition of receivers relative to sources. Propagation paths need to be included as a component of the system in the causal pathway between environmental noise sources and human health effects. Another difference is that air pollution accountability research has tended to focus on regulatory interventions to reduce emissions, examining whether this intervention consequently reduces ambient concentrations over time. While regulatory intervention is also used in managing environmental noise, for example by control of vehicle source levels, there is a much broader set of interventions that is utilized in environmental noise management - five broad categories of intervention can be identified. The model will provide a framework for organizing, in a search for evidence in the noise literature, a synthesis of the impacts of environmental noise interventions on human health outcomes.
Despite a call for attention already for years, the health effects of vibrations due to rail traf... more Despite a call for attention already for years, the health effects of vibrations due to rail traffic have been understudied. In the meanwhile, rail traffic (passenger and freight) is increasing and regulations for vibration need to be adapted accordingly. In order to fill this gap and with the aim to better inform policy, a baseline survey was performed in 2013 among people of 16 years and older living within 300 meter from a railroad track (N= 4927). Based on the results and in view of the railroad expansion, monitoring was advised. In 2019 and 2021 the measurements were repeated in participants who indicated that they could be contacted again. This resulted in 1349 and 784 participants in measurement 1 and 2 respectively. This allows studying trends in effects while accounting for co-determinants and changes in exposure, providing the building blocks for further development of policy and regulations on railway vibration. We are currently analyzing the data, and will present the first results at the conference
Equal-Life team: Improving child exposome and quality of life Four PhD students from the Equal-Li... more Equal-Life team: Improving child exposome and quality of life Four PhD students from the Equal-Life team, Christoph Giehl, Roos Teeuwen, Sammie Jansen and Vasileios Milias look at the environment children are raised in and the effects it has on mental health and cognitive development in child exposure. These early exposures during childhood can be brought on by external social and physical and internal factors which impact cognitive development and mental health later on in life, including the environment children are raised in and their family's impact. The Equal-Life project team aims to propose the best environments for children to grow up in, as the quality of life, social relations and interactions and their physical surroundings can effect their development and mental health later in life. The team are developing new solutions to improving mental health, such as bettering the housing environment and contributing to healthier outdoor environments for European children.
Depression is a heterogeneous mental health problem affecting millions worldwide, but a majority ... more Depression is a heterogeneous mental health problem affecting millions worldwide, but a majority of individuals with depression do not experience relief from initial treatments. Therefore, we need to improve our understanding of the biology of depression. Metabolomic approaches, especially untargeted ones, can suggest new hypotheses for further exploring biological mechanisms. Using the FinnTwin12 cohort, a longitudinal Finnish population-based twin cohort, with data collected in adolescence and young adulthood including 725 blood plasma samples, we investigated associations between depression and 11 low–molecular weight metabolites (amino acids and ketone bodies). In linear regression models with the metabolite (measured at age 22) as the dependent variable and depression ratings (measured at age 12, 14, 17, or 22 from multiple raters) as independent variables [adjusted first for age, sex, body mass index (BMI), and additional covariates (later)], we initially identified a signific...
Background: Due to shortcomings in the design, no source-specific exposure-effect relations are a... more Background: Due to shortcomings in the design, no source-specific exposure-effect relations are as yet available describing the effects of noise on children's cognitive performance. This paper reports on a study investigating the effects of aircraft and road traffic noise exposure on the cognitive performance of primary schoolchildren in both the home and the school setting. Methods: Participants were 553 children (age 9-11 years) attending 24 primary schools around Schiphol Amsterdam Airport. Cognitive performance was measured by the Neurobehavioral Evaluation System (NES), and a set of paperand-pencil tests. Multilevel regression analyses were applied to estimate the association between noise exposure and cognitive performance, accounting for demographic and school related confounders. Results: Effects of school noise exposure were observed in the more difficult parts of the Switching Attention Test (SAT): children attending schools with higher road or aircraft noise levels ma...
Why do countries regulate, or prefer to regulate, environmental health risks such as radiofrequen... more Why do countries regulate, or prefer to regulate, environmental health risks such as radiofrequency electromagnetic fields and endocrine disruptors differently? A wide variety of theories, models, and frameworks can be used to help answer this question, though the resulting answer will strongly depend on the theoretical perspective that is applied. In this theoretical review, we will explore eight conceptual frameworks, from different areas of science, which will offer eight different potential explanations as to why international differences occur in environmental health risk management. We are particularly interested in frameworks that could shed light on the role of scientific expertise within risk management processes. The frameworks included in this review are the Risk Assessment Paradigm, research into the roles of experts as policy advisors, the Psychometric Paradigm, the Cultural Theory of Risk, participatory approaches to risk assessment and risk management, the Advocacy Co...
Idiopathic Environmental Intolerance (IEI) attributed to electromagnetic fields (EMF) refers to s... more Idiopathic Environmental Intolerance (IEI) attributed to electromagnetic fields (EMF) refers to self-reported sensitivity mainly characterised by the attribution of non-specific physical symptoms to low-level EMF exposure emitted from sources such as mobile phones. Scientific studies have not provided evidence for the existence of IEI-EMF, but these studies did not resemble the real-life situation or suffered from poor exposure characterisation and biased recall of health symptoms. To improve existing methods for the study of IEI-EMF, an Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) study is designed. The study is an EMA study in which respondents carry personal exposure metres (exposimeters) that measure radiofrequency (RF) EMF, with frequent assessment of health symptoms and perceived EMF exposure through electronic diary registration during five consecutive days. Participants will be a selection from an epidemiological study who report to be sensitive to RF EMF. The exposimeters measure ...
Both the WHO and the EC advise on the use of Lnight as the primary indicator for sleep disturbanc... more Both the WHO and the EC advise on the use of Lnight as the primary indicator for sleep disturbance. Still, a key question for noise policy is whether from a public health point of view it may be advantageous to use number of events in addition to Lnight. For some effects, it may be more effective to reduce the number of events above a certain threshold than to lower the overall exposure level of events. Based on data of a field study among 418 people, the current paper investigates the associ-ation between objectively measured sleep disturbance and the number of aircraft noise events. The data from this study are well suited for this purpose, since for eve-ry subject both the number and the level of events were available. The analysis focuses on mean motility during the sleep period, and addresses the question whether this motility can be predicted more accurately taking the number of passages into account. The results suggest that an increase in the average sound exposure level of events contributes more to motility than an increase in the number of events. However, it was also found that the influence of number of events increases with increas-ing levels of the events. Thus, to reduce motility as a proxy for restless sleep, it may be better to prevent the occurrence of events with high maximum levels than to re-duce the overall number or level of events.
This model builds on a framework borrowed from the air pollution field – from so-called air pollu... more This model builds on a framework borrowed from the air pollution field – from so-called air pollution accountability research - that has been utilized to evaluate whether actions taken to improve air quality have resulted in reduced health effects. The air pollution framework puts most emphasis on ambient concentrations of air pollutants and this has less relevance for environmental noise. Peoples’ noise exposure is strongly influenced by the propagation paths from sources to receivers, and hence highly dependent not only on emission levels but on the disposition of receivers relative to sources. Propagation paths need to be included as a component of the system in the causal pathway between environmental noise sources and human health effects. Another difference is that air pollution accountability research has tended to focus on regulatory interventions to reduce emissions, examining whether this intervention consequently reduces ambient concentrations over time. While regulatory intervention is also used in managing environmental noise, for example by control of vehicle source levels, there is a much broader set of interventions that is utilized in environmental noise management - five broad categories of intervention can be identified. The model will provide a framework for organizing, in a search for evidence in the noise literature, a synthesis of the impacts of environmental noise interventions on human health outcomes.
Despite a call for attention already for years, the health effects of vibrations due to rail traf... more Despite a call for attention already for years, the health effects of vibrations due to rail traffic have been understudied. In the meanwhile, rail traffic (passenger and freight) is increasing and regulations for vibration need to be adapted accordingly. In order to fill this gap and with the aim to better inform policy, a baseline survey was performed in 2013 among people of 16 years and older living within 300 meter from a railroad track (N= 4927). Based on the results and in view of the railroad expansion, monitoring was advised. In 2019 and 2021 the measurements were repeated in participants who indicated that they could be contacted again. This resulted in 1349 and 784 participants in measurement 1 and 2 respectively. This allows studying trends in effects while accounting for co-determinants and changes in exposure, providing the building blocks for further development of policy and regulations on railway vibration. We are currently analyzing the data, and will present the first results at the conference
Equal-Life team: Improving child exposome and quality of life Four PhD students from the Equal-Li... more Equal-Life team: Improving child exposome and quality of life Four PhD students from the Equal-Life team, Christoph Giehl, Roos Teeuwen, Sammie Jansen and Vasileios Milias look at the environment children are raised in and the effects it has on mental health and cognitive development in child exposure. These early exposures during childhood can be brought on by external social and physical and internal factors which impact cognitive development and mental health later on in life, including the environment children are raised in and their family's impact. The Equal-Life project team aims to propose the best environments for children to grow up in, as the quality of life, social relations and interactions and their physical surroundings can effect their development and mental health later in life. The team are developing new solutions to improving mental health, such as bettering the housing environment and contributing to healthier outdoor environments for European children.
Depression is a heterogeneous mental health problem affecting millions worldwide, but a majority ... more Depression is a heterogeneous mental health problem affecting millions worldwide, but a majority of individuals with depression do not experience relief from initial treatments. Therefore, we need to improve our understanding of the biology of depression. Metabolomic approaches, especially untargeted ones, can suggest new hypotheses for further exploring biological mechanisms. Using the FinnTwin12 cohort, a longitudinal Finnish population-based twin cohort, with data collected in adolescence and young adulthood including 725 blood plasma samples, we investigated associations between depression and 11 low–molecular weight metabolites (amino acids and ketone bodies). In linear regression models with the metabolite (measured at age 22) as the dependent variable and depression ratings (measured at age 12, 14, 17, or 22 from multiple raters) as independent variables [adjusted first for age, sex, body mass index (BMI), and additional covariates (later)], we initially identified a signific...
Background: Due to shortcomings in the design, no source-specific exposure-effect relations are a... more Background: Due to shortcomings in the design, no source-specific exposure-effect relations are as yet available describing the effects of noise on children's cognitive performance. This paper reports on a study investigating the effects of aircraft and road traffic noise exposure on the cognitive performance of primary schoolchildren in both the home and the school setting. Methods: Participants were 553 children (age 9-11 years) attending 24 primary schools around Schiphol Amsterdam Airport. Cognitive performance was measured by the Neurobehavioral Evaluation System (NES), and a set of paperand-pencil tests. Multilevel regression analyses were applied to estimate the association between noise exposure and cognitive performance, accounting for demographic and school related confounders. Results: Effects of school noise exposure were observed in the more difficult parts of the Switching Attention Test (SAT): children attending schools with higher road or aircraft noise levels ma...
Why do countries regulate, or prefer to regulate, environmental health risks such as radiofrequen... more Why do countries regulate, or prefer to regulate, environmental health risks such as radiofrequency electromagnetic fields and endocrine disruptors differently? A wide variety of theories, models, and frameworks can be used to help answer this question, though the resulting answer will strongly depend on the theoretical perspective that is applied. In this theoretical review, we will explore eight conceptual frameworks, from different areas of science, which will offer eight different potential explanations as to why international differences occur in environmental health risk management. We are particularly interested in frameworks that could shed light on the role of scientific expertise within risk management processes. The frameworks included in this review are the Risk Assessment Paradigm, research into the roles of experts as policy advisors, the Psychometric Paradigm, the Cultural Theory of Risk, participatory approaches to risk assessment and risk management, the Advocacy Co...
Idiopathic Environmental Intolerance (IEI) attributed to electromagnetic fields (EMF) refers to s... more Idiopathic Environmental Intolerance (IEI) attributed to electromagnetic fields (EMF) refers to self-reported sensitivity mainly characterised by the attribution of non-specific physical symptoms to low-level EMF exposure emitted from sources such as mobile phones. Scientific studies have not provided evidence for the existence of IEI-EMF, but these studies did not resemble the real-life situation or suffered from poor exposure characterisation and biased recall of health symptoms. To improve existing methods for the study of IEI-EMF, an Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) study is designed. The study is an EMA study in which respondents carry personal exposure metres (exposimeters) that measure radiofrequency (RF) EMF, with frequent assessment of health symptoms and perceived EMF exposure through electronic diary registration during five consecutive days. Participants will be a selection from an epidemiological study who report to be sensitive to RF EMF. The exposimeters measure ...
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Papers by Irene van Kamp