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Implications of the exposome for exposure science
1School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California 4720, USA. srappaport@berkeley.edu
Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology
|November 18, 2010
Summary
The exposome, or total life exposures, offers a new way to study chronic diseases. By measuring chemicals in blood, scientists can find key environmental causes of illness.
Area of Science:
- Exposure science and environmental health research.
- Investigating the environmental origins of chronic diseases.
Background:
- Historically, exposure science focused on external contaminants, neglecting internal bodily exposures.
- Chronic diseases are largely driven by non-genetic factors, yet most exposures remain unstudied.
- Toxic chemicals impact the body through both external (diet, air) and internal (inflammation, gut flora) sources.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce the exposome concept as a comprehensive framework for understanding disease etiology.
- To propose a top-down biomonitoring approach for exposome research.
- To integrate fragmented research on diseases and risk factors.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing a top-down approach via biomonitoring, specifically blood sampling.
- Analyzing archived blood specimens from critical life stages.
- Measuring key chemical classes including reactive electrophiles, metals, and persistent organic compounds.
Main Results:
- The exposome concept provides an agnostic method to investigate environmental causes of chronic diseases.
- Biomonitoring of the internal chemical environment is a feasible approach to exposome assessment.
- Analysis of blood can reveal a wide range of exposures contributing to disease.
Conclusions:
- The exposome paradigm enables discovery of critical exposures driving chronic diseases.
- Exposure science can significantly advance disease prevention and mitigation by adopting the exposome framework.
- Integrating exposome research can unify disparate fields in health science.
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