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Health Consequences of Environmental Exposures in Early Life
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Health Consequences of Environmental Exposures in Early Life

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2022) | Viewed by 7730

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Theresa Bastain

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Division of Environmental Health, Health Sciences Campus, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA
Interests: prenatal exposure to air pollution and chemicals; stress; maternal and child health; health disparities; developmental origins of health and disease

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Exposures to environmental chemicals during critical periods including pregnancy and in early life are of critical concern for children’s health. Exposure to air pollutants, pesticides, toxic metals, endocrine-disrupting chemicals, and emerging chemical exposures during these susceptible periods are associated with birth outcomes, cardiometabolic health, neurodevelopment, and respiratory health. However, critical gaps remain in the knowledge base including mechanisms of the effects of these chemical exposures, which populations or groups are most susceptible to the harmful effects of these toxicants, the interplay between psychosocial stressors, community, and societal factors and individual factors with environmental exposures on these health outcomes as well as intervention research to reduce the impacts of harmful chemical exposures on children’s health and development.

This Special Issue of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (IJERPH) focuses on the current state of knowledge on the links between prenatal and early life exposures and health outcomes in children. New research papers, reviews, case reports, and conference papers are welcome for this issue. Other manuscript types accepted include methodological papers, position papers, brief reports, and commentaries.

We will accept manuscripts from different disciplines including exposure assessment science, epidemiology, social sciences, maternal and child health, and health disparities. Here are some examples of topics that could be addressed in this Special Issue:

  1. Prenatal exposures to environmental contaminants and infant and child health
  2. The interplay between stress and environmental exposures on child health outcomes
  3. Biological mechanisms underpinning the effects of exposures in child health
  4. Built, neighborhood, and physical environment effects on children’s health
  5. Environmental mixtures
  6. Changes in environmental and stress exposures due to the COVID-19 pandemic and impacts on child health outcomes
  7. Interventions to reducing environmental exposures in children
  8. Approaches to reduce morbidity associated with environmental exposures in disadvantaged communities

Dr. Theresa Bastain
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • epidemiology
  • maternal and child health
  • prenatal exposure
  • early childhood exposure
  • emerging environmental chemicals
  • air pollution
  • social environment
  • built environment
  • child health
  • health disparities
  • chemical mixtures
  • stress

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 821 KiB  
Article
Association of Breastfeeding Duration with 12-Month Postpartum Blood Lipids in a Predominately Lower-Income Hispanic Pregnancy Cohort in Los Angeles
by Zhongzheng Niu, Christine H. Naya, Lorena Reynaga, Claudia M. Toledo-Corral, Mark Johnson, Tingyu Yang, Brendan Grubbs, Nathana Lurvey, Deborah Lerner, Genevieve F. Dunton, Rima Habre, Carrie V. Breton, Theresa M. Bastain and Shohreh F. Farzan
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(5), 3008; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19053008 - 4 Mar 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 4250
Abstract
Breastfeeding may protect women’s long-term cardiovascular health; however, breastfeeding-related postpartum lipid changes remain unclear. We aim to examine associations of breastfeeding duration with maternal lipids at 12 months postpartum. In a subsample (n = 79) of the Maternal and Developmental Risks from [...] Read more.
Breastfeeding may protect women’s long-term cardiovascular health; however, breastfeeding-related postpartum lipid changes remain unclear. We aim to examine associations of breastfeeding duration with maternal lipids at 12 months postpartum. In a subsample (n = 79) of the Maternal and Developmental Risks from Environmental and Social Stressors (MADRES) cohort, breastfeeding status and duration at 3, 6, and 12 months postpartum were self-reported. Serum levels of lipids, including total cholesterol, triglycerides (TG), high-, low-, and very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C, LDL-C, VLDL-C), were measured from blood samples collected at 12 months postpartum. We used linear regression models to compare lipids by breastfeeding duration, adjusting for potential confounders. Women who were breastfeeding at 12 months had higher HDL-C (mean: 41.74 mg/dL, 95% CI: 37.27–46.74 vs. 35.11 mg/dL, 95% CI: 31.42–39.24), lower TG (80.45 mg/dL, 95% CI: 66.20–97.77 vs. 119.11 mg/dL, 95% CI: 98.36–144.25), and lower VLDL-C (16.31 mg/dL, 95% CI: 13.23, 20.12 vs. 23.09 mg/dL, 95% CI: 18.61–28.65) compared to women who breastfed for <6 months. No lipids were significantly different between women who breastfed for 6–11 months and for <6 months. Each month’s increase in breastfeeding duration was significantly, inversely associated with TG and VLDL-C and positively with HDL-C. Adjusting for fasting status, demographics, pre-pregnancy body mass index, breastfeeding frequency, and pregnancy complications did not appreciably change effect estimates. Breastfeeding at 12 months postpartum and a longer duration of breastfeeding in the first year postpartum were both associated with increased HDL-C and decreased TG and VLDL-C at 12 months postpartum. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Health Consequences of Environmental Exposures in Early Life)
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15 pages, 1058 KiB  
Article
Prenatal Lead and Depression Exposures Jointly Influence Birth Outcomes and NR3C1 DNA Methylation
by Allison A. Appleton, Kevin C. Kiley, Lawrence M. Schell, Elizabeth A. Holdsworth, Anuoluwapo Akinsanya and Catherine Beecher
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(22), 12169; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182212169 - 19 Nov 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2436
Abstract
Many gestational exposures influence birth outcomes, yet the joint contribution of toxicant and psychosocial factors is understudied. Moreover, associated gestational epigenetic mechanisms are unknown. Lead (Pb) and depression independently influence birth outcomes and offspring NR3C1 (glucocorticoid receptor) DNA methylation. We hypothesized that gestational [...] Read more.
Many gestational exposures influence birth outcomes, yet the joint contribution of toxicant and psychosocial factors is understudied. Moreover, associated gestational epigenetic mechanisms are unknown. Lead (Pb) and depression independently influence birth outcomes and offspring NR3C1 (glucocorticoid receptor) DNA methylation. We hypothesized that gestational Pb and depression would jointly influence birth outcomes and NR3C1 methylation. Pregnancy exposure information, DNA methylation, and birth outcome data were collected prospectively from n = 272 mother–infant pairs. Factor analysis was used to reduce the dimensionality of NR3C1. Multivariable linear regressions tested for interaction effects between gestational Pb and depression exposures with birth outcomes and NR3C1. Interaction effects indicated that higher levels of Pb and depression jointly contributed to earlier gestations, smaller infant size at birth, and asymmetric fetal growth. Pb and depression were also jointly associated with the two primary factor scores explaining the most variability in NR3C1 methylation; NR3C1 scores were associated with some infant outcomes, including gestational age and asymmetric fetal growth. Pb and depression can cumulatively influence birth outcomes and epigenetic mechanisms, which may lay the foundation for later health risk. As toxicants and social adversities commonly co-occur, research should consider the life course consequences of these interconnected exposures. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Health Consequences of Environmental Exposures in Early Life)
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