Novel Biomarker Gauges Environmental Toxins' Effect on Fetus
To gain the most comprehensive understanding of how exposure to environmental toxins can impair intelligence and cause behavioral problems, premature births and hearing loss, Cincinnati Children's is testing the use of novel biomarkers and conducting randomized controlled trials.
Under the leadership of Bruce Lanphear, MD, MPH, of the Division of General and Community Pediatrics at Cincinnati Children's, and Kim Dietrich, PhD, at the University of Cincinnati, researchers focus on the role that environmental factors such as tobacco smoke, lead, mercury, PCBs, alcohol and pesticides play in children's health. One of 12 centers nationwide funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Environmental Protection Agency, it is the only center that is part of a children's hospital.
The HOME (Health Outcomes and Measures of the Environment) study is testing meconium as a biomarker for fetal exposure. Because meconium accumulates over the last two trimesters of pregnancy and is a direct measure of toxins in the fetal compartment, it may provide more meaningful data than measuring toxin exposure in maternal blood, urine or hair.
This study of 400 families, randomly assigned to two groups, also seeks to quantify the impact of low-level fetal and early childhood exposures to environmental toxins on children's health and development. In addition, it is testing the effectiveness of home repairs to control lead hazards and injuries during early childhood. The home is the single most common location for deaths due to unintentional injury in children.
In the Cincinnati Asthma Prevention Study, 240 families with children with asthma are divided into two groups. Half receive two functioning air cleaners that filter indoor pollution; the others receive non-functioning cleaners. The study will determine if the air cleaners help to reduce asthma symptoms, unscheduled visits to a doctor, or behavioral problems. The ultimate goal is to develop asthma prevention strategies and improve the air quality standard in homes.
In other leading-edge research,Robert Kahn, MD, MPH, has found a relationship between hyperactivity and impulsivity in children with prenatal exposure to tobacco smoke in children, but only those with a particular dopamine transporter polymorphism were affected. Kimberly Yolton, PhD, the first graduate of the Children's Environmental Health Research Training Program, found that very low levels of environmental tobacco smoke exposure, measured using serum cotinine, are associated with lower reading and math scores in children.
Long-term, the results of environmental research will help to determine whether environmental chemicals are a factor in learning and behavioral problems that affect 17 percent of children in the United States, and how to use environmental controls to prevent asthma.
