Grantee Research Project Results

Final Report: Inner City Toxicants, Child Growth and Development

Objective:

Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):

• We found among children in East Harlem that exposures to multiple known and potential developmental toxicants - a new generation of environmental EDs for which there was little evidence - are ubiquitous. However, while phthalate biomarker levels were universally high (medians > 100 ug/L), bisphenol A levels were low (medians < 3 μg/:L) and other phenols were 20-50 times higher (BP3, parabens, 25DCP).
• We identified sources of these exposures among children and mothers in our cohorts and showed that urinary levels in children are relatively stable over a year's time.
• We characterized elements of the East Harlem neighborhood structure that contribute to disparities in food intake and availabilty as well as physical activity resources.
• We observed modulation of these exposures by metabolizing genes.
• We discovered for the first time that prenatal exposures to EDs have adverse effects on birth outcomes.
• We discovered for the first time that prenatal exposures to EDs have adverse impacts on children's neurodevelopment, from birth to age 7 years.
• We extended previous research on pesticide exposures and child behavior with new findings through age 9.
• We found that EDs are linked to childhood obesity, thus confirming similar, earlier reports in adults linking phthalates to obesity.
• We observed possible modulation by diet and socioeconomic factors of child ED exposures in relation to obesity and possibly metabolic syndrome.
• We discovered previously unrecognized associations between ED exposures and (1) gene dysregulation and (2) disruption of the epigenome.
• We confirmed additional effects of pesticides and PCBs on child development at later ages.
• We demonstrated an association of maternal hormone determinants and child behavior.
• We clarified relationships between exposures and outcomes in both the prenatal and the postnatal  windows of childhood.
• Through the Community Outreach and Translation Core, we built strong links with the community, and fully engaged both the researchers in the Center and community members and participants into current topics of children's environmental health. With our Community Advisory Board, we worked to provide information on exposures, health outcomes, and the built-environment to study participants and the community at large. 

•      Characterize the Urban Built Environment of East Harlem, NY and early childhood ED exposures in a cohort of East Harlem children ages 6-8 years old.
•      Determine whether built environment factors and early childhood ED exposures are associated with childhood obesity.
•      Utilize a community based participatory research framework to guide the overall study design.
•      Communicate study findings to families, the East Harlem community, health care providers and public health officials to inform both clinical and public health interventions.

Conclusions:

The medical and public health significance of the endocrine disruptor (ED) exposures that we have studied is potentially enormous. These chemicals are widespread in the urban environment and are detected at high levels in the body of virtually every mother and child whom we have examined. Both our preliminary data and the published literature indicate that these chemicals have potential to adversely affect human development across a broad range of exposure levels. If, like lead and PCBs, they increase neurodevelopmental dysfunction, and if also they increase risk of obesity, the impacts may be lifelong. Although the biological activity of these chemicals may be lower than their already banned predecessors (i.e., lead, chlorpyrifos, diazinon, PCBs), their public health consequences may in fact be greater given the tremendous magnitude of exposure to them in the general population. Therefore, the aggregate cost to society may be enormous, as was the case two decades ago with widespread exposure of the U.S. population to lead.

Supplemental Keywords:

Biochemistry, Chemicals, childhood development, children's environmental health, Children's Health, children's vulnerablity, endocrine disrupting chemicals, endocrine disruptors, Environmental Chemistry, Environmental Exposure and Risk, environmental health, environmental management, exposure pathways, exposure studies, fast food, Health, Health Risk Assessment, human health, lipase, neurodevelopment, neurodevelopmental toxicity, obesity, paraoxonase, pesticide exposure, pesticides, phthalates, pollutants/toxics, RFA, Risk Assessment, Scientific Discipline , RFA, Health, Scientific Discipline, ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, POLLUTANTS/TOXICS, Environmental Chemistry, Health Risk Assessment, Chemicals, Endocrine Disruptors - Environmental Exposure & Risk, endocrine disruptors, Biochemistry, Children's Health, Endocrine Disruptors - Human Health, Risk Assessment, environmental health, pesticide exposure, childhood development, pesticides, phtalates, endocrine disrupting chemicals, exposure studies, Human Health Risk Assessment, children's vulnerablity, neurodevelopmental toxicity, children's environmental health, exposure pathways

Relevant Websites:

http://www.mssm.edu/research/programs/childrens-environmental-health-and-disease-prevention-research-center Exit

http://www.mountsinai.org/patient-care/service-areas/children/areas-of-care/childrens-environmental-health-center Exit

Progress and Final Reports:

Subprojects under this Center: (EPA does not fund or establish subprojects; EPA awards and manages the overall grant for this center).
R831711C001 Growing Up Healthy in East Harlem (Community-Based Participatory Research)
R831711C002 Pesticides, Endocrine Disruptors, Childhood Growth and Development (Birth Cohort)
R831711C003 Genetics of Phthalate and Bisphenol A Risk in Minority Populations (Individual Susceptibility)