BACKGROUND Human exposure to complex, changing, and variably correlated mixtures of environmental chemicals has presented analytical challenges to epidemiologists and human health researchers. There has been a wide variety of recent advances in statistical methods for analyzing mixtures data, with most methods having open-source software for implementation. However, there is no one-size-fits-all method

BACKGROUND Fat-soluble toxicants such as chlorpyrifos (CPF) can accumulate in adipose tissue and the liver. During weight loss, these compounds may be released into circulation, but the metabolic consequences of this mobilization remain poorly understood. OBJECTIVES This study aimed to investigate the mobilization of CPF during weight loss and its effects on liver health and adipose tissue metabolism

BACKGROUND Growing evidence links air pollution to cognitive dysfunction in older adults. The gut microbiome and circulating metabolites present an important yet unexplored pathway, given their crucial role in the gut-brain axis. OBJECTIVES We aimed to explore the potential roles of gut bacteria, fungi, microbial functional potentials, and circuiting metabolites in the association of residential

BACKGROUND Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a research priority for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Because PFAS include thousands of structurally diverse chemicals, there is a pressing need for identifying what data are available to assess the human health hazard of these compounds. OBJECTIVES We used systematic evidence map (SEM) methods to summarize the available

BACKGROUND Diarrheal diseases remain a leading cause of mortality and morbidity among under-five children in South Asia. In rural Bangladesh, deep tubewells that tap into low-arsenic deep aquifers have been installed to provide microbially safe and arsenic-free drinking-water at source. However, unlike more widely used shallow tubewells, deep tubwells are sparsely distributed, and households often

BACKGROUND Exposomics is a conceptual framework positioned at the intersection of environmental health sciences and precision medicine. It seeks to comprehensively understand how environmental exposures and the body's response to these exposures impact human health across the life course. Introduced in 2005, the exposome concept represents a paradigm shift from single-pollutant studies to an integrated

BACKGROUND Antimicrobial use in food-animal production selects for antimicrobial-resistant Escherichia coli (E. coli) that can be transmitted to humans via contaminated meat products. California Senate Bill 27 (SB27), which took effect on January 1, 2018, restricts the use of medically important antimicrobials in California food-animal production. Over time, SB27 could reduce the prevalence of an

BACKGROUND Organophosphate ester flame retardants and plasticizers (OPEs) have myriad uses in industry and consumer products. Increasing human exposure to OPEs has raised concerns about their potential effects on child neurodevelopment during pregnancy. OBJECTIVE We investigated whether OPE urinary concentrations during pregnancy were associated with child autism-related outcomes. METHODS

BACKGROUND Environmental epidemiology studies increasingly integrate "big" geospatial and health datasets to examine associations between environmental factors and health outcomes. Using such datasets - and linking between them - presents a number of complexities with regard to study design and analytic approaches. These complexities are often magnified with the integration of additional contextual

BACKGROUND The relationship between prenatal exposure to low-level air pollution and child autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is unclear. OBJECTIVE To examine associations of prenatal air pollution exposure with autism. METHODS We analyzed data from 8,035 mother-child pairs from 44 United States cohorts in the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Cohort. Fine particulate matter

BACKGROUND Extreme heat risk assessments often rely on epidemiologic studies that used the nearest available outdoor airport temperatures (OATs) rather than individually-experienced temperatures (IETs) and frequently lack key individual-level determinants of exposure, including occupation, housing, and air conditioning. This hampers efforts to characterize heat burden inequities and guide interventions

INTRODUCTION Disparities in exposure to and harm associated with pesticides are established. However, high resolution spatial data on exposure to pesticides are lacking. PURPOSE To describe the development of a pesticide metric for Washington State and to evaluate the associations between pesticide exposure and sociodemographic characteristics of census tracts. METHODS We used the US cropland

BACKGROUND While numerous studies have examined associations between prenatal air pollution exposure and fetal growth measures, investigations assessing longitudinal growth trajectories across multiple time points during mid-to-late pregnancy remain limited. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study is to explore the effects of prenatal exposure to air pollution during pregnancy on fetal growth trajectories

BACKGROUND Long-term exposure to arsenic (As) can cause many health effects and As metabolism is key in the detoxification and elimination of As. We hypothesize that hepatic steatosis might affect As metabolism efficiency. We evaluated the association of As exposure and As metabolism biomarkers with hepatic steatosis. METHODS In this cross-sectional analysis, we analyzed data from 3,577 participants

BACKGROUND Triclosan, an antimicrobial chemical that was widely used in consumer products, may increase risk of allergic diseases in children, but prospective studies are needed to clarify the association. OBJECTIVES To elucidate the associations of time-varying urinary triclosan concentrations with eczema, allergic rhinitis, and wheeze. METHODS In the HOME Study, a prospective pregnancy and

BACKGROUND Environmental exposures to toxicants, such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), during gestation can disrupt immune development, causing long-term impacts on a child's ability to generate a well-regulated, protective immune response. T-cells coordinate with all immune cell types to orchestrate both cellular and antibody-mediated responses. While there is compelling evidence that

BACKGROUND Influenza remains a significant public health threat, with pandemic potential. Understanding environmental factors influencing virus spread and severity is critical, particularly as wildfires become more frequent and intense. While temperature and humidity's roles in virus seasonality and persistence are well understood, the impacts of air pollution-especially wildfire-specific particulate

BACKGROUND The evidence linking long-term exposure to air pollution and development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is still controversial. Furthermore, most studies have investigated associations with particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), disregarding their emission source and other relevant air pollutants, such as ultrafine particles (UFP) and elemental carbon (EC)

BACKGROUND Temperature-related risks on non-accidental morbidity or mortality have been well documented. However, limited studies have investigated the injury morbidity risk and burden attributed to ambient temperature. OBJECTIVE The current study aimed to assess the injury morbidity risk and burden attributed to ambient temperature in China. METHODS A time-stratified case-crossover study

BACKGROUND Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are toxic chemicals that bioaccumulate and were used in pesticides and industrial products/processes. POP-exposed occupations and environmental exposure to POPs have been associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), but no study has evaluated the association with ALS when measuring POPs in samples collected before ALS onset. OBJECTIVES This

BACKGROUND Dietary intake, especially foods of animal-origin, is an important source of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposure to the general population. However, the distribution of legacy and emerging PFAS in different food categories is unclear, as well as their potential health risk for children. OBJECTIVES To investigate dietary sources of PFAS and evaluate the risk for 7-year-old

BACKGROUND The field of environmental health sciences increasingly demands comprehensive and diverse datasets, particularly in response to emerging research areas such as climate change, mixtures, and exposomics. The data needed to address the complexity of environmental health research questions often extend beyond the boundaries of a single study or data resource. Traditional data management approaches

BACKGROUND Toxicology in the 21st Century (Tox21) assay data provide a valuable resource for the prediction of in vivo toxicity using machine learning models. However, the performances of these models previously developed using the pre-existing Tox21 assay data were less than ideal, likely due to insufficient coverage of the biological response space by the assay targets. OBJECTIVES This study

BACKGROUND China is an important producer and consumer of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), but there is limited understanding of longitudinal trends of PFAS in Chinese people. OBJECTIVES This study investigated decadal trends in PFAS and potential sources of exposure in the Dongfeng-Tongji cohort of Chinese people and explored potential misclassification bias. METHODS We repeatedly

BACKGROUND Maternal sustained smoking during pregnancy is associated with thousands of differentially methylated CpGs in newborns, but impacts of other prenatal tobacco smoking exposures remain unclear. OBJECTIVE To identify differential DNA methylation in newborns from maternal sustained smoking and less studied prenatal smoking exposures (i.e., maternal exposure to secondhand smoke [SHS] exposure

BACKGROUND Exposure to the ambient air pollutant ozone (O3) is associated with adverse respiratory health outcomes. Rodent models have been used to identify mechanisms of response to O3 but their utility has been questioned owing to species differences in physiologic response, most notably exposure-induced hypothermia, which renders rodents relatively resistant to O3 compared to humans. OBJECTIVES

BACKGROUND Several drinking water contaminants are known or suspected carcinogens; however, there are only a few investigations of drinking water exposures and ovarian cancer. We evaluated associations between regulated contaminants in community water systems (CWS) and ovarian cancer risk in the California Teachers Study, a prospective cohort of female California educators. METHODS Participants

BACKGROUND Evidence on lead and the burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) derived from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data, a general sample of the U.S. population, lacks sufficient representation of American Indians. Moreover, there is limited prospective evidence on lead and incident CVD outcomes. OBJECTIVES We evaluated if blood lead levels were associated with CVD

BACKGROUND Bariatric surgery is an intervention for severe obesity, leading to significant weight loss and metabolic improvements. However, the release of lipophilic chemicals accumulated in adipose tissue during weight loss presents a unique clinical challenge and research opportunity. Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) is a persistent organic pollutant increasingly recognized as obesogen, while

BACKGROUND Exposure to metals and metalloids (hereafter referred to as 'metals') during gestation and early childhood may affect children's neurodevelopment. However, few studies have simultaneously evaluated the impact of exposure to both essential and non-essential metals across specific windows of exposure on children's neurodevelopmental outcomes. OBJECTIVE To investigate whether levels of

BACKGROUND Liver injury is a frequent complication of heatstroke and constitutes a direct cause of death. However, only a few studies examined the mechanism underlying heatstroke-induced liver injury. OBJECTIVE We aimed to evaluate the role of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα) in heatstroke-induced liver injury and explore the potential mechanisms. METHODS Male C57BL/6N

BACKGROUND Children may be involuntarily exposed to chemical residue from thirdhand tobacco smoke (THS) in environments where tobacco has previously been used. Factors contributing to this exposure among children of nonsmokers with no known secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure are currently unknown. OBJECTIVE To understand the contribution of THS residue to the overall tobacco smoke exposure (TSE)

BACKGROUND Anthropogenic land modification influences human-livestock-wildlife interactions and zoonotic spillover emergence. However, the extent of this impact remains unclear and could be better understood through the collaborative use of advanced predictive and explanatory analytical tools, alongside, an up-to-date dataset on zoonotic spillover events. OBJECTIVE The main objective is to develop

BACKGROUND Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been associated with numerous deleterious health outcomes including liver damage. However, whether exposure to PFAS is associated with liver cancer risk remains unclear. METHODS We conducted a matched nested case-control study among 12 prospective cohort studies located in the United States. Pre-diagnostic PFAS, namely perfluorooctanesulfonate

BACKGROUND Emerging observational studies suggest air pollution can influence the gut microbiome. However, this association is often highly confounded by factors such as diet and poverty. The gut virome may influence respiratory health independent of the gut microbiome. We recently demonstrated in a randomized waitlist-controlled trial (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03351504) that a clean lighting intervention

BACKGROUND Traditional temperature-health studies have predominantly relied on temperature measurements from stations or modelled spatial averages from gridded temperature datasets. It has been suggested that population-weighted spatial averages would perform better in remote regions with large temperature and population variability. This would be particularly true in regions other than North America

BACKGROUND Quantitative characterization of the health impacts associated with exposure to chemical mixtures has received considerable attention in current environmental and epidemiological studies. With many existing statistical methods and emerging approaches, it is important for practitioners to understand which method is best suited for their inferential goals. OBJECTIVE The goal of this paper

BACKGROUND Both environmental exposure and type 2 diabetes (T2D) genetic susceptibility affect fetal growth. However, most previous studies used single exposure rather than an exposome strategy to explore the association between environmental factors and fetal growth, and the interactions of environmental exposures with maternal and fetal genes were often overlooked. OBJECTIVES To explore the

BACKGROUND Heat wave frequency and intensity is increasing and this trend is more pronounced in urban areas. Heat waves may be acutely associated with early birth. OBJECTIVES To examine the acute relationship between heat waves and preterm (<37 weeks) and early-term (37-38 weeks) birth in eight states: California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Oregon. METHODS

BACKGROUND The impact of non-nutritive sweeteners on male reproductive health, particularly at the cellular level, remains insufficiently explored. Sucralose's high stability and resistance to degradation during wastewater treatment raises concerns about its long-term environmental and health impacts. Whether sucralose consumption correlates with reduced reproductive hormone levels and testicular

BACKGROUND The increase in the frequency and scale of climate-related disasters is closely linked to greenhouse gas emissions (GHGEs) from food systems. Due to a lack of a comprehensive emission database that covers entire food systems, data on per capita dietary GHGEs are limited. OBJECTIVE We created the Food Systems-related GHGE Factor Database (FS-GHGEF-D) to cover an entire food system and

BACKGROUND A large proportion of global population uses solid fuels for household purposes, and limited evidence from previous studies suggests that it might be associated with reduced renal function. OBJECTIVES To investigate the association between household use of different types of fuels and kidney disease-related mortality. METHODS We analyzed data from the Golestan Cohort Study, a population-based

BACKGROUND Ovarian folliculogenesis is crucial for female reproduction. This can be disrupted by various factors, including pollutants with aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) agonistic activity, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. OBJECTIVES Using the herbicide neburon, a moderate AHR agonist among current pesticides, we investigated its effects on ovarian folliculogenesis in zebrafish

BACKGROUND With thousands of chemicals in commerce and the environment, rapid identification of potential hazards is a critical need. Combining broad molecular profiling with targeted in vitro assays, such as high-throughput transcriptomics (HTTr) and receptor screening assays, could improve identification of chemicals that perturb key molecular targets associated with adverse outcomes. OBJECTIVES

BACKGROUND Physiological heat strain induced by extreme temperatures in cities has led to significant heat-related deaths. Although socioeconomic adaptation is suggested to mitigate this issue, its effectiveness is limited. Conversely, there is a lack of comprehensive evaluation on the effectiveness of landscape-level strategies for mitigating heat-related deaths. OBJECTIVES We developed a comprehensive

BACKGROUND Developing human fetuses may be exposed to the chemical compound bisphenol A (BPA), and retinoic acid (RA) has been detected at low levels in water sources. RA signaling regulates key developmental genes and is essential for organ development, including the brain. We previously reported that RA/BPA coexposure of mouse embryonic stem cells potentiates RA signaling, which warrants further

BACKGROUND Burning biomass fuels for cooking is a widespread environmental exposure that may adversely affect child health. We conducted an 18-month randomized field trial comparing a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) stove, continuous fuel delivery, and behavioral messaging intervention starting in pregnancy through infancy with usual cooking practices using biomass fuels in Puno, Peru. A total of 800

BACKGROUND Billions of the world's poorest households are faced with the lack of access to both safe drinking water and clean cooking. One solution to microbiologically contaminated water is boiling, often promoted without acknowledging the additional risks incurred from indoor air degradation from using solid fuels. OBJECTIVES This modeling study explores the trade-off of increased air pollution

BACKGROUND An increasing number of studies have reported noteworthy health risks associated with dermal exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from feminine hygiene products (FHPs). OBJECTIVES This study sought to address the gap in understanding the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion dynamics of dermal exposure to VOCs from FHPs and to identify chemicals and products that

BACKGROUND Plastic-containing medical devices are commonly used in critical care units and other patient care settings. Patients are often exposed to xenobiotic agents that are leached out from plastic-containing medical devices, including bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates. Given the potential health implications, there is an urgent need for a comprehensive understanding of this exposure. OBJECTIVES

BACKGROUND Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been shown to disrupt normal follicular development and ovulation. However, it is unknown which specific PFAS in follicular fluid negatively impact oocyte development and embryo quality or whether any of the metabolites present in the follicular fluid contribute to these adverse effects. OBJECTIVES We conducted a cross-sectional

BACKGROUND Epidemiology studies have reported inconsistent associations of humidity with heat-related health outcomes, despite strong plausibility of such physiological associations. In this regard, there has been a heated debate on which humidity metric to use in epidemiological research. OBJECTIVES This study aimed to compare the role of two common humidity metrics, relative and absolute humidity

BACKGROUND Phthalate exposures are ubiquitous and have been associated with pregnancy complications. Interaction between serum long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n3PUFA) and phthalate biomarkers is biologically plausible because both can bind to human peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs), which are involved in placenta development. However, evidence of this interaction in humans

BACKGROUND Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition with increasing prevalence worldwide. Air pollution may be a major contributor to the rise in ASD cases. This study investigated how the risk of ASD associated with prenatal and early postnatal exposure to specific air pollutants is modified by key sociodemographic factors, exploring vulnerable exposure periods. METHODS

BACKGROUND Despite progress in reducing industrial air pollution, rising wildfire frequency and intensity, driven in part by climate change, pose significant health risks. Accurate estimates of wildfire-generated fine particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter <2.5μm (PM2.5) are needed for advancing health research, policymaking, and environmental protection. OBJECTIVE This review evaluates

BACKGROUND Global and site-specific changes in DNA methylation and gene expression are associated with cardiovascular development, aging, and disease, but how the transcriptome and epigenome of the heart change across the life course in males vs. females and how chemical exposures early in life influence this programming have not yet been investigated. OBJECTIVES We used an established mouse model