The Exposome and Toxicology: A Win-Win Collaboration.

Area of Science:

• Environmental Health Sciences
• Toxicology
• Biomedical Research

Background:

• The exposome concept, encompassing all life course environmental exposures, has significantly influenced environmental and health research.
• A gap exists in integrating the exposome concept with the field of toxicology.
• Bridging this gap is crucial for understanding environmental impacts on health.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the interface between the exposome framework and toxicology.
• To explore how toxicology can advance exposome research by providing mechanistic insights.
• To outline future directions for exposome-informed toxicology.

Main Methods:

• Literature review focusing on the integration of exposome and toxicology.
• Analysis of how toxicological principles can inform exposome research.
• Discussion of mechanistic frameworks like Adverse Outcome Pathways (AOPs).

Main Results:

• Exposome-informed toxicology emphasizes integrating multiple stressors and chemical mixtures.
• Mechanistic frameworks (e.g., AOPs) are key to linking exposures to toxicity outcomes.
• Understanding the environment-DNA interface and ecosystem-human health links is vital.

Conclusions:

• The exposome concept links complex environments to mechanistic toxicology.
• Toxicology offers essential mechanistic understanding and regulatory frameworks for exposome characterization.
• This integration is expected to advance environmental health research, practices, and policies.