scholarly journals Integrating Intersectionality Into the Exposome Paradigm: A Novel Approach to Racial Inequities in Uterine Fibroids

2021 ◽  
Vol 111 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-109
Author(s):  
Ami R. Zota ◽  
Brianna N. VanNoy
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Health ◽  
Clinical Care ◽  
Uterine Fibroids ◽  
Health Inequities ◽  
Environmental Chemicals ◽  
Biological Complexity ◽  
Structural Determinants ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Social Structural ◽  
The Life Course

Intersectionality is a critical theoretical framework that emphasizes the influence of intersecting systems of oppression on the lived experiences of people marginalized by inequity. Although applications of intersectionality are increasing in public health, this framework is absent in environmental health, which has instead focused on the exposome, a paradigm that considers the totality of an individual’s environmental exposures across the life course. Despite advancements in the biological complexity of exposome models, they continue to fall short in addressing health inequities. Therefore, we highlight the need for integrating intersectionality into the exposome. We introduce key concepts and tools for environmental health scientists interested in operationalizing intersectionality in exposome studies and discuss examples of this innovative approach from our work on racial inequities in uterine fibroids. Our case studies illustrate how interlocking systems of racism and sexism may affect Black women’s exposure to environmental chemicals, their epigenetic regulation of uterine fibroids, and their clinical care. Because health relies on biological and social–structural determinants and varies across different intersectional positions, our proposed framework may be a promising approach for understanding environmental health inequities and furthering social justice.

scholarly journals Blood Pressure Trajectories Across the Life Course

2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 234-241
Author(s):  
Norrina B Allen ◽  
Sadiya S Khan
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Measurement Errors ◽  
Clinical Care ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Cumulative Exposure ◽  
Older Adulthood ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
Level Group ◽  
Improve Health

Abstract High blood pressure (BP) is a strong modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Longitudinal BP patterns themselves may reflect the burden of risk and vascular damage due to prolonged cumulative exposure to high BP levels. Current studies have begun to characterize BP patterns as a trajectory over an individual’s lifetime. These BP trajectories take into account the absolute BP levels as well as the slope of BP changes throughout the lifetime thus incorporating longitudinal BP patterns into a single metric. Methodologic issues that need to be considered when examining BP trajectories include individual-level vs. population-level group-based modeling, use of distinct but complementary BP metrics (systolic, diastolic, mean arterial, mid, and pulse pressure), and potential for measurement errors related to varied settings, devices, and number of readings utilized. There appear to be very specific developmental periods during which divergent BP trajectories may emerge, specifically adolescence, the pregnancy period, and older adulthood. Lifetime BP trajectories are impacted by both individual-level and community-level factors and have been associated with incident hypertension, multimorbidity (CVD, renal disease, cognitive impairment), and overall life expectancy. Key unanswered questions remain around the additive predictive value of BP trajectories, intergenerational contributions to BP patterns (in utero BP exposure), and potential genetic drivers of BP patterns. The next phase in understanding BP trajectories needs to focus on how best to incorporate this knowledge into clinical care to reduce the burden of hypertensive-related outcomes and improve health equity.

scholarly journals Gaussian graphical modeling of the serum exposome and metabolome reveals interactions between environmental chemicals and endogenous metabolites

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent Bessonneau ◽  
Roy R. Gerona ◽  
Jessica Trowbridge ◽  
Rachel Grashow ◽  
Thomas Lin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Graphical Models ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Environmental Chemicals ◽  
Gaussian Graphical Models ◽  
Metabolomics Data ◽  
Health And Nutrition ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Disease Causation ◽  
Women Firefighters ◽  
Endogenous Metabolites

AbstractGiven the complex exposures from both exogenous and endogenous sources that an individual experiences during life, exposome-wide association studies that interrogate levels of small molecules in biospecimens have been proposed for discovering causes of chronic diseases. We conducted a study to explore associations between environmental chemicals and endogenous molecules using Gaussian graphical models (GGMs) of non-targeted metabolomics data measured in a cohort of California women firefighters and office workers. GGMs revealed many exposure-metabolite associations, including that exposures to mono-hydroxyisononyl phthalate, ethyl paraben and 4-ethylbenzoic acid were associated with metabolites involved in steroid hormone biosynthesis, and perfluoroalkyl substances were linked to bile acids—hormones that regulate cholesterol and glucose metabolism—and inflammatory signaling molecules. Some hypotheses generated from these findings were confirmed by analysis of data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Taken together, our findings demonstrate a novel approach to discovering associations between chemical exposures and biological processes of potential relevance for disease causation.

Acupuncture for Uterine Fibroids: An Ancient Treatment and a Novel Approach?

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 482-482
Author(s):  
Maria Goryaeva ◽  
Sophia Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Uterine Fibroids ◽  
Novel Approach

Personalizing Pollution

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norah MacKendrick
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Health ◽  
Health Risks ◽  
Precautionary Principle ◽  
Human Exposure ◽  
Environmental Chemicals ◽  
Women's Bodies ◽  
Broad Application ◽  
Health Movement ◽  
Environmental Health Risks ◽  
Temporary Solution

This chapter reveals how the environmental health movement came together to call for a broad application of a strong precautionary principle in environmental regulation, and worked hard to lobby for global and domestic policy change. As the movement presented evidence of widespread human exposure to environmental chemicals, it faced the question of how to help people understand how to contend with this exposure. Precautionary consumption was the answer. Organizations circulated a message that gendered environmental health risks in a way that understands women’s bodies as the primary pathway through which contamination enters fetal and infant bodies. Specifically, it is women’s domestic labor that provides a temporary solution to prevent contamination. Thus, this chapter tells the story of how the environmental health movement came to take a personalized and gendered approach, and why the movement is a significant part of the story behind the rise of precautionary consumption.

Environmental health inequities

2018 ◽  
pp. 37-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Crighton ◽  
Holly Gordon ◽  
Caroline Barakat-Haddad
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Health ◽  
Health Inequities

Informal Recyclers’ Health Inequities in Vancouver, BC

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 321-343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josie Wittmer ◽  
Kate Parizeau
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Health ◽  
Social Determinants Of Health ◽  
Social Determinants ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Health Inequities ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Determinants Of Health ◽  
Access To Health ◽  
Health Related

We explore informal recyclers’ perceptions and experiences of the social determinants of health in Vancouver, Canada, and investigate the factors that contribute to the environmental health inequities they experience. Based on in-depth interviews with 40 informal recyclers and 7 key informants, we used a social determinants of health framework to detail the health threats that informal recyclers associated with their work and the factors that influenced their access to health-related resources and services. Our analysis reveals that the structural factors influencing environmental health inequities included insufficient government resources for low-income urbanites; the potential for stigma, clientization, and discrimination at some health and social service providers; and the legal marginalization of informal recycling and associated activities. We conclude that Vancouver's informal recyclers experience inequitable access to health-related resources and services, and they are knowledgeable observers of the factors that influence their own health and well-being.

scholarly journals Novel insights into the mode of action of 1,4-dioxane using a systems screening approach

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georgia Charkoftaki ◽  
Jaya Prakash Golla ◽  
Alvaro Santos-Neto ◽  
David J. Orlicky ◽  
Rolando Garcia-Milian ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dna Damage ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Immunohistochemical Analysis ◽  
The United States ◽  
Environmental Chemicals ◽  
Dna Double Strand Breaks ◽  
Dna Damage And Repair ◽  
Mechanisms Of Toxicity ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Histopathological Studies

Abstract1,4-Dioxane (1,4-DX) is an environmental contaminant found in drinking water throughout the United States (US). While it is a suspected liver carcinogen, there is no federal or state maximum contaminant level for 1,4-DX in drinking water. Very little is known about the mechanisms by which this chemical elicits liver carcinogenicity. In the present study, female BDF-1 mice were exposed to 1,4-DX (0, 50, 500 and 5,000 mg/L) in their drinking water for one or four weeks, to explore the toxic effects. Histopathological studies and a multi-omics approach (transcriptomics and metabolomics) were performed to investigate potential mechanisms of toxicity. Immunohistochemical analysis of the liver revealed increased H2AXγ-positive hepatocytes (a marker of DNA double strand breaks), and an expansion of precholangiocytes (reflecting both DNA damage and repair mechanisms) after exposure. Liver transcriptomics revealed 1,4-DX-induced perturbations in signaling pathways predicted to impact the oxidative stress response, detoxification, and DNA damage. Liver, kidney, feces and urine metabolomic profiling revealed no effect of 1,4-DX exposure, and bile acid quantification in liver and feces similarly showed no effect of exposure. We speculate that the results may be reflective of DNA damage being counterbalanced by the repair response, with the net result being a null overall effect on the systemic biochemistry of the exposed mice. Our results show a novel approach for the investigation of environmental chemicals that do not elicit cell death but have activated the repair systems in response to 1,4-DX exposure.

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