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Ecotoxicological Methodologies to Evaluate Biomarkers at Different Scales in Neotropical Anurans
Published on: April 28, 2023
Using biomarkers to inform cumulative risk assessment.
P Barry Ryan1, Thomas A Burke, Elaine A Cohen Hubal
1Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, USA. bryan@sph.emory.edu
Environmental Health Perspectives
|May 24, 2007
Summary
Biomarkers help link environmental exposures to health outcomes, but individual susceptibility matters. Combining multiple biomarker types (exposure, susceptibility, effect) improves understanding of disease burden from environmental factors.
Area of Science:
- Environmental health sciences
- Toxicology
- Biomarker research
Background:
- Biomarkers are key for assessing environmental contaminant exposure and health impacts.
- Individual variability in susceptibility complicates direct links between biomarkers and health outcomes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore how differential susceptibility influences the relationship between environmental exposures and health outcomes.
- To determine if biomarkers can enhance understanding and quantification of the population disease burden from environmental exposures.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a case-study approach to demonstrate how biomarkers can disaggregate health effects by risk factor.
- Proposed that a combination of exposure, susceptibility, and effect biomarkers offers the best approach for disaggregation.
- Reviewed ideal biomarker characteristics, current biomarker strengths/weaknesses, and state-of-the-science in specific cases.
Main Results:
- Case studies illustrated biomarker utility in inferring exposure source and magnitude amidst competing factors.
- Biomarker effectiveness is chemical-specific, influenced by ease of collection and persistence.
- Combined biomarker use enhances the disaggregation of source and pathway contributions to health effects.
Conclusions:
- Biomarkers, especially when used in combination, are valuable tools for understanding environmental exposures and their health impacts.
- Further development and application of ideal biomarkers are needed to fully realize their potential in environmental health research.
- Addressing individual susceptibility is crucial for accurate exposure-disease relationship assessments.
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