Sources and Protracted Effects of Early Life Exposure to Arsenic and Mercury

描述（由申请人提供） 目标是开展创新的多学科研究，以确定砷和汞暴露的主要来源，并阐明生命早期接触砷和汞对人类健康的长期影响。美国毒物和疾病登记署已将砷和汞确定为对人类健康造成影响的第一和第三大环境化学品。由于年轻人接触这种物质会增加糖尿病、呼吸道疾病以及生殖和发育障碍的发病率。甲基汞（MeHg）是食品供应中的主要污染物，特别是鱼类。对于胎儿、婴儿和儿童来说，接触甲基汞会对发育中的神经系统产生严重的不利影响，并干扰认知思维和记忆。尽管人们越来越关注砷和汞，研究也越来越多，但仍存在重大的知识差距，特别是在美国接触水平很低的情况下。 因此，达特茅斯战略风险项目致力于获取关于接触极低水平砷和汞的影响的新信息，从而为基于科学的风险评估奠定基础，从而制定更知情、更有效和更全面的公共卫生政策。 具体目标是：（1）阐明水稻吸收和积累砷的方式，并利用这一信息确定吸收砷量较低的新水稻品种;（2）阐明甲基汞在鱼类体内的积累方式，以及温度、盐度和碳含量等环境变化如何影响海洋生态系统中的甲基汞;（3）确定无机砷和有机砷对肺对细菌感染的天然免疫反应的剂量依赖性和相对效应;（4）了解母亲和胎儿砷暴露对母亲和新生儿代谢综合征和炎症发展的影响，这是我们人群中最危险的。该研究将得到培训核心，微量元素分析核心以及研究翻译和社区参与核心的支持，这些核心将分别向我们的利益相关者和社区传达我们的研究结果。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant) The goal is to conduct innovative, multidisciplinary research to identify the major sources of As and Hg exposure and to elucidate the protracted effects of early life exposure to As and Hg on human health. The ATSDR has identified As and Hg as the number one and number three environmental chemicals of concern with regard to human health. As exposure in the young increases the rates of diabetes, respiratory disease, and reproductive and developmental disorders. Methylmercury (MeHg) is a major contaminant in the food supply, particularly fish. For fetuses, infants, and children, exposure to MeHg has severe, adverse effects on the developing nervous system and interferes with cognitive thinking and memory. Despite growing concern and increasing research focus on As and Hg, there are significant knowledge gaps, especially with regard to very low levels of exposure in the US. Accordingly, the Dartmouth SRP is dedicated to obtaining new information on the effects of exposure to very low levels of As and Hg and thereby provide a foundation for science-based risk assessment leading to more informed, effective and comprehensive public health policies. The specific aims are to: (1) Elucidate how As is taken up and accumulated in rice and to use this information to identify new rice cultivars that assimilate lower amounts of arsenic; (2) Elucidate how MeHg accumulates in fish and how environmental changes in temperature, salinity, and carbon content influences MeHg in marine ecosystems; (3) Identify the dose dependent and relative effects of inorganic and organic As on the innate immune response of the lung to bacterial infections; and (4) Understand the effects of maternal and fetal As exposure on the development of metabolic syndrome and inflammation in mothers and newborns, the most at risk in our population. The research will be supported by a Training Core, a Trace Elements Analysis Core, and the Research Translation and Community Engagement Cores that will communicate our research findings to our stakeholders and communities, respectively.