• Dissolved black carbon mediated photo-transformation of tetrachlorantraniliprole: Kinetics, pathways, and adverse effects of the photoproduct

      Li, Yaling; Luo, Tianlie; Yang, Minhui; Liu, Guo; Chen, Xian; Li, Yihua; Zhou, Chengzhi; Peijnenburg, Willie JGM Peijnenburg (2024-08-21)
    • Consumer products with health, environmental and/or sustainability claims: indications for adverse health effects?

      Proquin, H; Saleh, M; Hendriks, H (Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu RIVM, 2024-03-19)
      Statements such as ‘natural’, ‘organic’ or ‘vegan’ are becoming increasingly common on consumer products. These are referred to as health, environmental and/or sustainability claims. Consumers often think that products with such a claim are healthier and/or safer. The question is whether that assumption is correct, or whether these products can still be harmful to health. For the human body, it makes no difference whether a chemical substance is manmade (synthetic) or natural. Due to the wide range of consumer products on the market, RIVM has focused on personal care products with words such as ‘natural’, ‘organic’ or ‘vegan’ on the packaging. It identified which chemicals (ingredients) are present in these products. The 35 most common ingredients were investigated further. For most of these ingredients, it is not expected that normal use of the product containing them will have adverse health effects. However, RIVM does have concerns about ‘botanical ingredients’ in personal care products. These ingredients come from plants and may contain substances such as linalool and limonene. Linalool and limonene can cause an allergic reaction. Furthermore, there are concerns that botanical ingredients may contain pesticide residues and heavy metals. For many botanical ingredients, there is very limited hazard information available. More research should clarify whether these concerns are justified. RIVM has also listed which labels are often found on consumer products with health, environmental and/or sustainability claims and what they mean. For personal care products, these are mainly COSMetic Organic and Natural Standard (COSMOS), NATRUE and Vegan. In the case of claims such as ‘non-toxic’, ‘free from...’ or ‘hypoallergenic’, it is often not clear to consumers what they mean. Moreover, some claims appear not to comply with the applicable regulations and legislation. Further research could focus on whether the claims investigated in this study comply with regulations. RIVM considers it important that the meaning of labels and claims on packaging becomes clearer to consumers. It therefore recommends making more information available about this, for instance on the website waarzitwatin.nl. The European Commission recently presented a draft directive to tighten the regulation of new labels and claims.
    • Synthetic Pyrethroids and Water Quality

      Lahr, J; Smit, E; Komen, C; Buijs, S; Wesdorp, K (Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu RIVM, 2024-03-19)
      Synthetic pyrethroids are chemicals that kill insects and parasites. They are used in crop protection products, in biocides (such as home aerosols and ant bait boxes), and in medication for people and animals (such as flea collars). Synthetic pyrethroids can enter the water in several ways. Synthetic pyrethroids are a problem for the quality of surface water. They are very toxic to the organisms that live in water. The safe concentrations of these substances for the environment are very low, but low concentrations are difficult to measure in water, so their levels in surface water are therefore often unclear. If these substances are found, the quantities are often higher than the standard. In addition, there are different laws with different standards for these substances. As a result, the concentration may comply with one law, but not with another. The permitted concentrations when admitting plant protection products and biocides are generally less strict than the general standards for the quality of surface water. As a result, water quality standards can be exceeded, even though the substance does meet the requirements for approval. A solution to this could be to compare all national and European laws for these substances and determine one safe concentration. It is known that three of the synthetic pyrethroids (deltamethrin, esfenvalerate and lambda-cyhalothrin) cause 90 percent of the effects on water quality, while they only account for 0.1 percent of use. This concerns all crop protection products for crops grown in the open air. Less use of these synthetic pyrethroids will therefore greatly improve water quality in the Netherlands. In any case, RIVM recommends using more environmentally friendly alternatives to these substances whenever possible. This research summarises what is known from various studies about the sale of synthetic pyrethroids, how much is emitted, how they behave in the environment, their toxicity and their presence in surface waters and sewage treatment plants in the Netherlands. With this knowledge, the government, water managers, manufacturers and users of these substances can continue to work on measures to improve water quality.
    • Onzekerheden bij metingen van radioactiviteit in vaten met specifiek ziekenhuisafval

      Cats, KH (Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu RIVM, 2024-03-18)
      In veel ziekenhuizen ontstaat afval dat gevaarlijke stoffen bevat; dat heet Specifiek Ziekenhuis Afval, SZA. Voorbeelden zijn spuiten of urine van mensen die een chemokuur krijgen. Dit afval mag niet op de normale manier worden afgevoerd om verbrand te worden. De verwerker van medisch afval Zavin moet dit apart verwerken. Zavin accepteert geen vaten die radioactief besmet zijn. Grote ziekenhuizen en Zavin controleren daarom of een vat met SZA radioactiviteit bevat. Ondanks deze controles komt er heel soms een vat met te veel radioactief materiaal bij Zavin terecht. Wanneer Zavin dat ontdekt, wordt het RIVM gevraagd te bepalen hoeveel radioactiviteit er in het afvalvat zit, maar daar bestond geen algemeen geaccepteerde methode voor. Het RIVM heeft deze nu ontwikkeld, in opdracht van de Autoriteit Nucleaire Veiligheid en Stralingsbescherming (ANVS). Met de methode kunnen dit soort vaten worden gemeten zonder het vat te openen. Dat is belangrijk, omdat mensen niet aan gevaarlijk biologisch materiaal uit het afval mogen worden blootgesteld. Een belangrijk onderdeel van de methode is dat het vat tijdens de meting moet worden gedraaid. Ook moet het vat op ongeveer 1 meter afstand van de meetapparatuur staan. In dat geval is de foutmarge van de meting klein genoeg. Als het nodig is, kan het vat ook dichter bij de detector worden geplaatst, bijvoorbeeld als er maar weinig radioactiviteit in het afvalvat zit. Dan wordt de onzekerheid wel wat groter. Het RIVM heeft de beschreven methode getest door een bron met een bekende activiteit in een afvalvat te plaatsen. Als het vat niet gedraaid wordt, wordt de activiteit niet correct bepaald. Pas bij het draaien van het vat vinden we de correcte activiteit terug. Dit geeft aan dat de methode goed werkt en geschikt is.
    • Regulation of Emissions of Tobacco Products other than Cigarettes

      Kienhuis, AS; Klerx, WN; Talhout, R (2024-03-14)
    • Differential susceptibility of geographically distinct Ixodes ricinus populations to tick-borne encephalitis virus and louping ill virus

      Bakker, Julian W; Esser, Helen J; Sprong, Hein; Godeke, Gert-Jan; Hoornweg, Tabitha E; de Boer, Willem F; Pijlman, Gorben P; Koenraadt, Constantianus J M (2024-03-14)
      Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) is an emerging pathogen in the Netherlands. Multiple divergent viral strains are circulating and the focal distribution of TBEV remains poorly understood. This may, however, be explained by differences in the susceptibility of tick populations for specific viruses and viral strains, and by viral strains having higher infection success in their local tick population. We investigated this hypothesis by exposing Dutch Ixodes ricinus ticks to two different TBEV strains: TBEV-NL from the Netherlands and TBEV-Neudoerfl from Austria. In addition, we exposed ticks to louping Ill virus (LIV), which is endemic to large parts of the United Kingdom and Ireland, but has not been reported in the Netherlands. Ticks were collected from two locations in the Netherlands: one location without evidence of TBEV circulation and one location endemic for the TBEV-NL strain. Ticks were infected in a biosafety level 3 laboratory using an artificial membrane feeding system. Ticks collected from the region without evidence of TBEV circulation had lower infection rates for TBEV-NL as compared to TBEV-Neudoerfl. Vice versa, ticks collected from the TBEV-NL endemic region had higher infection rates for TBEV-NL compared to TBEV-Neudoerfl. In addition, LIV infection rates were much lower in Dutch ticks compared to TBEV, which may explain why LIV is not present in the Netherlands. Our findings show that ticks from two distinct geographical populations differ in their susceptibility to TBEV strains, which could be the result of differences in the genetic background of the tick populations.
    • Effectiveness of educational interventions for healthcare workers on vaccination dialogue with older adults: a systematic review

      Wennekes, MD; Almási, T; Eilers, R; Mezei, F; Petykó, ZI; Timen, A; Vokó, Z (2024-03-13)
    • Vaccinatiegraad COVID-19 vaccinatie Nederland, 2022

      Lanooij, SJ; Valk, A; Smagge, B; Neppelenbroek, NJM; Maxwell, AAA; van Iersel, S; Haverkate, M; Hahné, SJM; de Melker, HE; van den Hof, S (Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu RIVM, 2024-03-12)
      Het RIVM beschrijft hoe de vaccinatiecampagnes tegen het coronavirus in 2022 zijn verlopen in Nederland. Dit is inclusief de eilanden Aruba, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, Saba, Curaçao en Sint Maarten. Vaccinatie tegen COVID-19 begon op 6 januari 2021 met de zogeheten basisserie met meestal twee vaccinaties. Het belangrijkste doel van de vaccinatie was om de kans te verkleinen dat mensen ernstig ziek zouden worden van het virus of erdoor zouden overlijden. In 2022 volgden verschillende campagnes om mensen hier nog beter tegen te beschermen. Zo liep begin 2022 de boostercampagne, die eind 2021 was begonnen, nog door. Vanaf eind februari 2022 startte de campagne voor de herhaalprik voor specifieke risicogroepen, zoals mensen van 60 jaar en ouder. Op 19 september 2022 begon de volgende herhaalprikronde. Hiervoor zijn eerst mensen van 60 jaar en ouder, mensen met een medisch risico en zorgmedewerkers uitgenodigd. Daarna kon iedereen vanaf 12 jaar een herhaalprik halen. Er zijn in 2022 zeven verschillende COVID-19-vaccins gebruikt, gemaakt door vier producenten: BioNTech/Pfizer, Moderna, Janssen en Novavax. Aan het eind van 2022 had 80,4 procent van iedereen vanaf 12 jaar de basisserie gekregen (vaccinatiegraad). Voor de booster voor iedereen vanaf 18 jaar was dat 62,1 procent. De vaccinatiegraad van de herhaalprik in het voorjaar voor risicogroepen was bij 60-plussers 52,1 procent. In het najaar was dat 59 procent voor deze leeftijdsgroep. De vaccinaties zijn gegeven door de GGD'en, huisartsen en overige uitvoerders, zoals zorginstellingen. Net als in 2021 hebben meer oudere mensen zich laten vaccineren dan jongeren. Verder hebben in het oosten en zuidoosten van Nederland meer mensen zich laten vaccineren dan in het westen en noorden. In enkele gemeenten, zoals in de Biblebelt en grote steden, is de vaccinatiegraad lager dan gemiddeld.
    • Corrigendum to "Health effects of railway-induced vibration combined with railway noise - A systematic review with exposure-effect curves" [Environ. Res. 233 (2023) 116480].

      Seidler, Andreas; Schubert, Melanie; Mehrjerdian, Yasmin; Krapf, Klaus; Popp, Christian; van Kamp, Irene; Ögren, Mikael; Hegewald, Janice (2024-03-12)
    • Sharp increase in gonorrhoea notifications among young people, EU/EEA, July 2022 to June 2023.

      Nerlander, Lina; Champezou, Lydia; Gomes Dias, Joana; Aspelund, Gudrun; Berlot, Lina; Constantinou, Elisavet; Díaz, Asunción; Epštein, Jevgenia; Fogarassy, Erika; Hernando, Victoria; et al. (2024-03-11)
    • Effectiveness of Omicron XBB.1.5 vaccine against infection with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron XBB and JN.1 variants, prospective cohort study, the Netherlands, October 2023 to January 2024.

      Huiberts, Anne J; Hoeve, Christina E; de Gier, Brechje; Cremer, Jeroen; van der Veer, Bas; de Melker, Hester E; van de Wijgert, Janneke Hhm; van den Hof, Susan; Eggink, Dirk; Knol, Mirjam J (2024-03-11)
    • Projecting COVID-19 intensive care admissions for policy advice, the Netherlands, February 2020 to January 2021.

      Klinkenberg, Don; Backer, Jantien; de Keizer, Nicolette; Wallinga, Jacco (2024-03-11)
    • Incidence of Invasive and Noninvasive Pneumococcal Pneumonia Hospitalizations in People Aged ≥50 Years: Assessing Variability Across Denmark and Spain.

      López-Lacort, Mónica; Amini, Marzyeh; Emborg, Hanne-Dorthe; Nielsen, Jens; McDonald, Scott A; Valentiner-Branth, Palle; Díez-Domingo, Javier; Orrico-Sánchez, Alejandro (2024-03-09)
    • Antiviral responses induced by Tdap-IPV vaccination are associated with persistent humoral immunity to Bordetella pertussis.

      Gillard, Joshua; Suffiotti, Madeleine; Brazda, Peter; Venkatasubramanian, Prashanna B; Versteegen, Pauline; de Jonge, Marien I; Kelly, Dominic; Bibi, Sagida; Pinto, Marta Valente; Simonetti, Elles; et al. (2024-03-08)
    • Disruption of hospital care during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic impacted socioeconomic groups differently: population based study using routine registration data.

      Jansen, Tessa; Gouwens, Sigur; Meijerink, Lotta; Meulman, Iris; Kouwenberg, Lisanne H J A; de Wit, G Ardine; Polder, Johan J; Kunst, Anton E; Uiters, Ellen (2024-03-06)
    • Risk assessment of herbal preparations containing Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha)

      JA de Heer (Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu RIVM, 2024-03-05)
      Herbal preparations containing Withania somnifera are sold in the Netherlands. The herb is better known as Ashwagandha. Food supplements containing this herb are sold in drugstores and online in web shops. Withania somnifera tea is mostly sold online. Withania somnifera is used by consumers for stress and fatigue, or to improve sleep. RIVM studied if herbal preparations containing Withania somnifera are harmful to health. The herb can induce harmful effects in individuals who are sensitive to it. It is unknown which individuals are sensitive to Withania somnifera. As a precaution, RIVM advises consumers not to use herbal preparations containing Withania somnifera, especially during pregnancy. International studies in humans usually focus on the positive effects of the herb. These studies found no harmful effects in individuals who took food supplements containing Withania somnifera. Yet, physicians have seen intoxications in individuals who took these food supplements. They have reported harmful effects on the liver and on concentrations of thyroid hormones and cortisol. These individuals took food supplements containing a similar amount of Withania somnifera as that which is found in food supplements containing Withania somnifera sold in the Netherlands. Withania somnifera can also be used to make tea. It is not known whether consumers are exposed to the same amount of harmful substances through Withania somnifera tea as through food supplements. No scientific research has been carried out into the effect of Withania somnifera tea. In the absence of information, it is assumed that the conclusion for food supplements is also valid for Withania somnifera tea. In traditional practices in oriental countries, including China and India, Withania somnifera has been used to induce abortion, amongst others. It is unknown how often this was done and if this approach is currently still used. The effect has not been studied. As a precaution, therefore, RIVM advises consumers not to use herbal preparations containing Withania somnifera during pregnancy.
    • Risk assessment of herbal preparations containing Huperzia serrata

      JA de Heer; L de Wit-Bos (Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu RIVM, 2024-03-05)
      Herbal preparations (food supplements) containing extracts of the herb Huperzia serrata are sold in the Netherlands. These herbal preparations are mainly available online. According to the manufacturers, Huperzia serrata can support memory and improve concentration. Herbal preparations containing this herb turn out to be harmful to human health. RIVM advises consumers not to use herbal preparations with Huperzia serrata, especially during pregnancy. The number of people using such products is not known. People can experience acute undesirable effects on the cholinergic system. Examples include increased salivation, muscles weakness, abdominal cramps, diarrhoea, blurred vision, lacrimation and paralysis. There are also indications that Huperzia serrata is harmful to the unborn child during pregnancy. These health effects can already occur when people take the advised dose. The effects are caused by constituents of Huperzia serrrata, of which huperzine A is most studied. People using herbal preparations with Huperzia serrata extract ingest enough huperzine A to experience the harmful effects. No information is available on other constituents in Huperzia serrata, apart from an indication that eight compounds, other than huperzine A, may also inhibit the enzyme acetylcholinesterase. It is therefore possible that these eight compounds can enhance the effect of huperzine A.
    • Risk assessment of herbal preparations containing Tabernanthe iboga

      W Chen (Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu RIVM, 2024-03-05)
      In the Netherlands, products with extracts of the herb Tabernanthe iboga are mainly sold online. They are sometimes used as a drug withdrawal aid, but also as a mind-altering product. The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport has asked RIVM to assess the safety of this herbal preparation. RIVM has investigated whether products containing Tabernanthe iboga are harmful to health. Based on this investigation, RIVM advises consumers not to use herbal preparations containing Tabernanthe iboga. The main side effect is disturbance of the heart rhythm. In the worst case, people can die from this. Worldwide, dozens of deaths have been reported after using this herb, including some cases in the Netherlands. Other adverse effects commonly occurring are nausea, vomiting, or more serious: acute psychosis, seizures, and hallucinations. These effects can already arise at levels commonly used.
    • Ethics of early detection of disease risk factors: A scoping review.

      Jansen, Sammie N G; Kamphorst, Bart A; Mulder, Bob C; van Kamp, Irene; Boekhold, Sandra; van den Hazel, Peter; Verweij, Marcel F (2024-03-05)