Published Studies
Prenatal and early life exposure to environmental chemicals can increase the risk of multiple adverse child health outcomes. However, biomonitoring data for young children remain limited. This study leveraged the nationwide ECHO Cohort to assess chemical exposures in 201 children aged 2–4 years between 2010 and 2021.
Research suggests exposure to chemical and non-chemical stressors may increase the risk of pregnancy complications, including gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Exposure to melamine and aromatic amines (AAs) is ubiquitous among pregnant people. However, studies investigating the maternal and fetal health effects of prenatal exposure are limited.
Environmental exposures, including widespread industrial pollution, impact human health and are amplified in more highly exposed communities. Policy and regulatory frameworks for making decisions and recommendations on interventions to mitigate or prevent exposures tend to narrowly focus on exposure and some health-related data related to risks.
Returning results to participants of environmental exposure studies has become more common in recent years. Despite evidence of benefits for study participants, there are challenges in communicating results to people with limited resources or capacity to mitigate chemical exposures.
A major challenge in epidemiology is knowing when an exposure effect is large enough to be clinically important, in particular how to interpret a difference in mean outcome in unexposed/exposed groups. Where it can be calculated, the proportion/percentage beyond a suitable cut-point is useful in defining individuals at high risk to give a more meaningful outcome.
Camp Fire smoke exposure in California (November 8-22, 2018) was associated with increased rates of preterm birth, with sensitive windows in the first trimester.
Pregnancy, wildfire, California, preterm birth, CAMP fire
There has been considerable work over the past 20 years designed to bring about a paradigm shift in regulatory toxicology from chemical risk management decisions based on data from animal studies to a “Next Generation Risk Assessments” (NGRAs) system founded on New Approach Methods (NAMs).
Our understanding of the relationship of the human microbiome to health has expanded greatly, including its role in a range of conditions with developmental origins. The vaginal microbiome, in particular, has been associated with clinical outcomes such as infections in the reproductive tract and preterm birth, although not all studies have been consistent.
Commentary on a study entitled “Unhealthy air quality secondary to wildfires is associated with lower blastocyst yield” that examined the impact of the 2020 Oregon wildfires on gamete development and fertility outcomes.
Fertility, wildfire, SF Bay area, IVF, commentary
Wildfires in the Western United States are a growing and significant source of air pollution that is eroding decades of progress in air pollution reduction. The effects on preterm birth during critical periods of pregnancy are unknown.
Pregnancy, wildfire, California, preterm birth
Systematic reviews were first developed in clinical medicine to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions. Systematic review methods are now increasingly being used to inform environmental health decisions, and they have a direct, long-term effect on health equity due to improved consistency, greater transparency, and reduced bias when evaluating the scientific evidence.
Pollution, including air pollution, water pollution, pollution from lead and other chemicals, and toxic occupational exposures, is the leading cause of premature death globally, with more than 90% of pollution-related deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries. Chemical pollution is estimated to be responsible for at least 1.8 million deaths each year.
Wildfires have become more frequent and intense due to climate change and outdoor wildfire fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations differ from relatively smoothly varying total PM2.5. Thus, we introduced a conceptual model for computing long-term wildfire PM2.5 and assessed disproportionate exposures among marginalized communities.
Widespread exposure to organophosphate ester (OPE) flame retardants with potential reproductive toxicity raises concern regarding the impacts of gestational exposure on birth outcomes. Previous studies of prenatal OPE exposure and birth outcomes had limited sample sizes, with inconclusive results.
Some hormonally active cancers have low survival rates, but a large proportion of their incidence remains unexplained. Endocrine disrupting chemicals may affect hormone pathways in the pathology of these cancers.