Prenatal air pollution exposure and neurodevelopment: A review and blueprint for a harmonized approach within ECHO.

Background: Air pollution exposure is ubiquitous with demonstrated effects on morbidity and mortality. A growing literature suggests that prenatal air pollution exposure impacts neurodevelopment. We posit that the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program will provide unique opportunities to fill critical knowledge gaps given the wide spatial and temporal variability of ECHO participants.

Metabolomics of childhood exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances: a cross-sectional study.

Introduction: Exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), synthetic and persistent chemicals used in commercial and industrial processes, are associated with cardiometabolic dysfunction and related risk factors including reduced birth weight, excess adiposity, and dyslipidemia. Identifying the metabolic changes induced by PFAS exposure could enhance our understanding of biological pathways underlying PFAS toxicity.

Objective: To identify metabolic alterations associated with serum concentrations of four PFAS in children using a metabolome-wide association study.

Using phenome-wide association studies to examine the effect of environmental exposures on human health.

The field of environmental epidemiology has been using "-omics" technologies, including the exposome, metabolome, and methylome, to understand the potential effects and biological pathways of a number of environmental pollutants. However, the majority of studies have focused on a single disease or phenotype, and have not systematically considered patterns of multimorbidity and whether environmental pollutants have pleiotropic effects. These questions could be addressed by examining the relation between environmental exposures and the phenome - the patterns and profiles of human health that individuals experience from birth to death.

Air pollution, land use, and complications of pregnancy.

Background: Mounting evidence suggests that the natural and built environment can affect human health, but relatively few studies have considered links between features of the residential natural and built environment other than air pollution and complications of pregnancy.

Objectives: To quantify the impact of features of the maternal residential natural and built environments on risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), gestational hypertension and preeclampsia among 61,640 women who delivered at a single hospital in Rhode Island between 2002 and 2012.

Methods: We estimated residential levels of ambient fine particulate matter (PM) and black carbon (BC) using spatiotemporal models, neighborhood green space using remote sensing and proximity to recreational facilities, and neighborhood blue space using distance to coastal and fresh water.

Variability and predictors of serum perfluoroalkyl substance concentrations during pregnancy and early childhood.

Exposure to poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), ubiquitous and persistent environmental contaminants, could be associated with adverse health outcomes, but there are limited longitudinal data assessing patterns and predictors of exposure during childhood. We quantified concentrations of eight different PFAS in sera collected from women during pregnancy and children at delivery and ages 3 and 8 years in 367 mother-child pairs enrolled in a prospective cohort from 2003 to 2006. In general, median childhood PFAS concentrations increased from birth to age 3 and then decreased by age 8.

Maternal residential proximity to major roadways, birth weight, and placental DNA methylation.

Background: Exposure to traffic pollution during fetal development has been associated with reduced fetal growth, and there is evidence to suggest that epigenetic mechanisms in the placenta in the form of variant DNA methylation may be a potential mechanism underlying this effect.

Objectives: To examine the association between residential proximity to nearest major roadway, as a marker of traffic-related pollution, fetal growth and placental DNA methylation.

Methods: We obtained residential addresses, placenta samples, and demographic data from 471 women following delivery of term infants.

Residential proximity to major roadways and incident hypertension in post-menopausal women.

Living near major roadways has been associated with increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, presumably from exposure to elevated levels of traffic-related air and/or noise pollution. This association may potentially be mediated through increased risk of incident hypertension, but results from prior studies are equivocal. Using Cox proportional hazards models we examined residential proximity to major roadways and incident hypertension among 38,360 participants of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) Clinical Trial cohorts free of hypertension at enrollment and followed for a median of 7.

Current and Projected Heat-Related Morbidity and Mortality in Rhode Island.

Background: Climate change is expected to cause increases in heat-related mortality, especially among the elderly and very young. However, additional studies are needed to clarify the effects of heat on morbidity across all age groups and across a wider range of temperatures.

Objectives: We aimed to estimate the impact of current and projected future temperatures on morbidity and mortality in Rhode Island.

Proximity of US schools to major roadways: a nationwide assessment.

Long-term exposure to traffic pollution has been associated with adverse health outcomes in children and adolescents. A significant number of schools may be located near major roadways, potentially exposing millions of children to high levels of traffic pollution, but this hypothesis has not been evaluated nationally. We obtained data on the location and characteristics of 114,644 US public and private schools, grades prekindergarten through 12, and calculated their distance to the nearest major roadway.