Author Interviews, Cognitive Issues, Environmental Risks, OBGYNE, Pediatrics / 24.10.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Eva Tanner, PhD, MPH, Postdoctoral Researcher Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Carl-Gustaf Bornehag, PhD Professor at Karlstad University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Most prior research on health risks from chemical exposure study one chemical at a time. However, we are exposed to a multitude of chemicals every day in the air we breathe, food and water we consume, and things we touch. This is supported by global biomonitoring data showing that humans in general have a high number of chemicals identified in their bodies, i.e., in blood, urine, breast milk, saliva, etc. Unfortunately, we don’t know how such single chemicals act in complicated mixtures and impact our health, or the health of future generations. We conducted this study to help understand how prenatal exposure to mixtures of proven or suspected endocrine disrupting chemicals - found in common consumer products - during the earliest part of life may impact a child’s brain development and cognition in school age.
Author Interviews, Endocrinology, Toxin Research / 05.02.2015

Dr. Andrea Gore PhD Gustavus & Louise Pfeiffer Professor University of Texas Austin/Div of Pharmacology/ToxicoMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Andrea Gore PhD Gustavus & Louise Pfeiffer Professor University of Texas Austin/Div of Pharmacology/Toxicology MedicalResearch.com Editor’s Note: Dr. Gore, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal Endocrinology, has graciously answered several questions regarding the recent concerns of environmental chemicals linked to both early puberty and early menopause. Medical Research: How can chemicals found inside the home impact onset of menopause? Dr. Gore: It is important to clarify that the cause-and-effect relationship between chemicals and menopause is not established. The timing of menopause in women is due to a variety of factors including genetic traits, nutritional status, and general health or chronic disease. Some research on humans, including the recent study by Grindler et al., also suggests that environmental chemicals may contribute to the timing of earlier menopause. Animal models also suggest an advance in the timing of reproductive failure following earlier life exposures to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs). [See references below]. The question of exactly how chemicals may change the timing of menopause is therefore unresolved, but based on animal studies it is likely that the mechanisms include effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals on the expression of genes and proteins involved in ovarian function that may lead to premature loss of follicles (eggs). Because the control of reproduction involves the brain and the pituitary gland, as well as the ovary, it is possible that endocrine-disrupting chemicals also impair how these organs regulate reproductive hormones.
  1. Gore AC, Walker DM, Zama AM, Armenti AE, Uzumcu M. Early life exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals causes lifelong molecular reprogramming of the hypothalamus and premature reproductive aging. Mol Endocrinol. 2011;25:2157–2168.
  2. Shi Z, Valdez KE, Ting AY, Franczak A,GumSL, Petroff BK. Ovarian endocrine disruption underlies premature reproductive senescence following environmentally relevant chronic exposure to the aryl hydrocarbon receptor agonist 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin. Biol Reprod. 2007;76:198–202.
  3. Akkina J, Reif J, Keefe T, Bachand A. Age at natural menopause and exposure to organochlorine pesticides in Hispanic women. J Toxicol Environ Health A. 2004;67:1407–1422.
  4. Cooper GS, Savitz DA, Millikan R, Chiu Kit T. Organochlorine exposure and age at natural menopause. Epidemiology. 2002;13: 729–733.
  5. Hatch EE, Troisi R, Wise LA, et al. Age at natural menopause in women exposed to diethylstilbestrol in utero. Am J Epidemiol. 2006;164:682–688.
  6. KnoxSS, Jackson T, Javins B, Frisbee SJ, Shankar A, DucatmanAM. Implications of early menopause in women exposed to perfluorocarbons. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2011;96:1747–1753.
  7. Farr SL, Cai J, Savitz DA, Sandler DP, Hoppin JA, Cooper GS. Pesticide exposure and timing of menopause: the Agricultural Health Study. Am J Epidemiol. 2006;163:731–742.
Medical Research: What are the primary sources of exposure to these chemicals? Dr. Gore: Endocrine-disrupting chemicals exposures come from a variety of sources, including plastic containers (e.g. water bottles) and other products, certain foods, personal care products, pesticides, and many others.