Clinical Publications
Reproductive Health
- Sutton P, Giudice LC, Woodruff TJ. (2010) Reproductive environmental health. Curr Opin Obstet Gynecol. 2010 Dec. 22(6):517-24. <http://tinyurl.com/24baowk>
- A study with mice finds the reproductive health effects of dioxin last for generations, reducing fertility and increasing the chances of premature delivery. The results support findings from prior animal and human studies that show dioxin can affect fertility, especially if exposures occur at key times of life. This study further shows subsequent generations are at risk, especially from preterm birth, a growing problem for women around the world. 1 December 2010. More...
Perinatal Health
- Prenatal mercury exposure from a mother's fish-rich diet can reduce the beneficial effects fish oil has on brain development, report an international group of researchers. The babies exposed in the womb to higher methyl mercury levels scored lower on skills tests as infants and toddlers than those exposed to lower levels of the pollutant. Of five nutrients tested, only the benefits of the fish oil DHA were affected by the mercury. DHA is one type of healthy oil found in fish. Careful selection of which fish to eat during pregnancy is recommended following this recent analysis. 3 January 2011. More...
Pediatric Health
- Pregnant women living in Texas neighborhoods with higher air levels of benzene – a pollutant often released from oil refineries and traffic exhaust – are more likely to have babies with neural tube defects. Women living in the areas with the highest benzene levels had a two times greater risk for their children to be born with spina bifida. 26 October 2010. More...
Enviromental Justice
- High levels of PCBs in people's blood may contribute to elevated blood pressures – but not just in those at the high end of exposures, as was previously thought. New findings show that PCBs at low levels could increase blood pressure in healthy people, too. The associations between hypertension and PCBs persisted even after accounting for important risk factors such as age, body mass index (BMI), gender, race, smoking and exercise. 6 January 2011. More...
- Children – especially African Americans – who live in disadvantaged neighborhoods have consistently low levels of the stress hormone cortisol, according to a study that examined children in Alabama. Extended periods of low cortisol levels may increase immune responses, leading to inflammation and the risk for some childhood chronic diseases, including asthma. 7 October 2010. More...
