The Exposome and Human Health

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Learn More CiteCitationCitation and abstractCitation and referencesMore citation options ShareShare onFacebookX (Twitter)WeChatLinkedInRedditEmailJump toExpandCollapse EditorialJanuary 21, 2025The Exposome and Human HealthClick to copy article linkArticle link copied!Pablo Gago-Ferrero*Pablo Gago-FerreroInstitute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research, IDAEA-CSIC, 08034 Barcelona, Spain*[email protected]More by Pablo Gago-Ferrerohttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-5987-0399Ian CousinsIan CousinsStockholm University, Stockholm 114 19, SwedenMore by Ian Cousinshttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-7035-8660Akhgar GhassabianAkhgar GhassabianNYU Langone Health, New York, New York 10016, United StatesMore by Akhgar Ghassabianhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-9551-4706Marja LamoreeMarja LamoreeVrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The NetherlandsMore by Marja LamoreeDaniel SchlenkDaniel SchlenkUniversity of California, Riverside, California 92521, United StatesMore by Daniel SchlenkLeisa-Maree TomsLeisa-Maree TomsQueensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane 4000, AustraliaMore by Leisa-Maree Tomshttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-1444-1638Bin WangBin WangPeking University, Beijing 100871, ChinaMore by Bin Wanghttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-1164-8430Julie ZimmermanJulie ZimmermanYale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, United StatesMore by Julie Zimmermanhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-5392-312XOpen PDFEnvironmental Science & TechnologyCite this: Environ. Sci. Technol. 2025, 59, 2, 991–992Click to copy citationCitation copied!https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.4c13478https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.4c13478Published January 21, 2025 Publication History Received 3 December 2024Published online 21 January 2025Published in issue 21 January 2025editorialCopyright © Published 2025 by American Chemical Society. This publication is available under these Terms of Use. Request reuse permissionsThis publication is licensed for personal use by The American Chemical Society. ACS PublicationsCopyright © Published 2025 by American Chemical SocietySubjectswhat are subjectsArticle subjects are automatically applied from the ACS Subject Taxonomy and describe the scientific concepts and themes of the article.BacteriaEnvironmental pollutionEnvironmental scienceImpuritiesMixturesIt is now well understood that an individual's unique characteristics arise from the intricate interaction between genes and a vast range of nongenetic factors. While only a small fraction of diseases can be solely attributable to genetics, studies of nongenetic factors have been sporadic and mostly focused on a single factor or limited factors. To address this imbalance, the concept of the exposome has emerged, offering a broader perspective on human health. The exposome represents the comprehensive collection of all physical, chemical, biological, and psychosocial factors to which individuals are exposed from conception onward, along with their internal biological responses, which collectively shape health outcomes. (1) Because of remarkable advances in measurement techniques and analytical methods, the exposome has become increasingly prominent in environmental and biomedical research. This paradigm shift has enabled the identification of causal relationships between nongenetic factors and specific health outcomes. For example, exposure to certain chemical mixtures, whether voluntary or involuntary, has been linked to the onset of various diseases and metabolic disorders. (2) Notably, recent exposome-wide association studies (EWAS) on aging and mortality within the UK Biobank, encompassing nearly half a million participants, have demonstrated that all-cause mortality is influenced more by the exposome than by the genome. (3) Despite these advancements, studying the exposome remains highly complex. Its dynamic nature, the wide diversity of exposures, and the continuous variation of these factors over a lifetime present significant challenges. To fully comprehend the exposome's impact on health, a multidisciplinary approach is essential. Integration of expertise from diverse fields, such as analytical chemistry, toxicology, epidemiology, environmental science and engineering, clinical medicine, omic and data science, etc., is necessary. Such a comprehensive framework is key to unraveling the intricate connections between environmental exposures and human health. As we advance the frontiers of environmental and biomedical research, the exposome provides a critical pathway for understanding disease etiology, fostering personalized and preventive healthcare strategies, and offering a holistic view of the profound links between the environment and human health.Research on the exposome is still in its early stages, presenting vast opportunities due to advancements in technology but also raising significant questions. Environmental Science & Technology (ES&T) aims to remain at the forefront of this field. Seminal studies published in the journal have expanded our understanding of the environmental exposures faced by individuals and the mechanisms linking these exposures to diseases. This new Special Issue, "The Exposome and Human Health", brings together 77 outstanding manuscripts, including 68 research papers, four perspectives, one viewpoint, and four critical reviews, that delve into a diverse array of topics at the forefront of exposomic research, understood as a transdisciplinary field dedicated to a discovery-based understanding of how the exposome influences biology and health. (4) These contributions offer insights into (1) mapping the chemical exposome (defined as the array of chemicals to which individuals may be exposed) using state-of-the-art mass spectrometry techniques, (2) the impact of both important legacy and emerging contaminants, including endocrine disruptors, persistent organic pollutants, toxic metals, and microplastics, on human health, relying on statistical approaches for handling mixture exposure, (3) advancements in the use of biomarkers and exposomic profiling to assess individual and population-level exposures, including the use of wearables for exposure assessment, (4) innovative approaches to studying the link between environmental exposures and health outcomes using in vitro and in vivo models, and (5) the integration of exposomic data with multiomics technologies to unravel molecular mechanisms of disease.It is worth highlighting the extensive review coordinated by G. Miller and 45 co-authors, which surveys the literature on state-of-the-art high-resolution mass spectrometry technologies and offers an up-to-date primer on exposomic approaches for chemists, toxicologists, epidemiologists, healthcare providers, and other stakeholders. (4) This review serves as a key reference point for understanding the current state of the field. Additionally, many articles emphasize methodological advancements in characterizing environmental exposures and their implications for vulnerable populations, particularly pregnant individuals and young children, as well as the long-term health effects of exposure to complex chemical mixtures. A notable theme across these manuscripts is the growing recognition of the importance of a holistic, integrated approach to studying environmental exposures. From assessing the role of contaminants in altering human semen quality and exploring metabolic perturbations linked to exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances to examining the impact of traffic on changes in the gut microbiome, these papers highlight the need to consider the full spectrum of environmental exposures, both biotic and abiotic, and their interactions with genetic, metabolic, and lifestyle factors. By advancing our understanding of how the exposome influences health, this special issue provides critical insights that can inform both public health interventions and regulatory policies aimed at mitigating the risks posed by environmental contaminants.As editors of this Special Issue, we extend our heartfelt thanks to all of the authors for their insightful contributions and to the reviewers for their efforts and constructive feedback. This special issue aims to inspire the research community and encourage the development of comprehensive studies in the field of the exposome that will continue to push the boundaries of our understanding of environmental and human health. It is through this collaborative effort that we hope to build a healthier, more sustainable future, addressing the growing public health challenges posed by increasingly complex environmental exposures and regulatory policies that are, paradoxically, often too restrained to ensure the health of the population.Author InformationClick to copy section linkSection link copied!Corresponding AuthorPablo Gago-Ferrero, Associate Editor ES&T, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research, IDAEA-CSIC, 08034 Barcelona, Spain, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5987-0399, Email: [email protected]AuthorsIan Cousins, Associate Editor ES&T, Stockholm University, Stockholm 114 19, Sweden, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7035-8660Akhgar Ghassabian, Guest Editor, NYU Langone Health, New York, New York 10016, United States, https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9551-4706Marja Lamoree, Guest Editor, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The NetherlandsDaniel Schlenk, Executive Editor ES&T and Associate Editor ES&T Letters, University of California, Riverside, California 92521, United StatesLeisa-Maree Toms, Guest Editor, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane 4000, Australia, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1444-1638Bin Wang, Associate Editor ES&T, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1164-8430Julie Zimmerman, Editor-in-Chief ES&T, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, United States, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5392-312XReferencesClick to copy section linkSection link copied! This article references 4 other publications. 1Wild, C. P. Complementing the genome with an ″exposome″: The outstanding challenge of environmental exposure measurement in molecular epidemiology. Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers 2005, 14 (8), 1847– 1850, DOI: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-05-0456 Google ScholarThere is no corresponding record for this reference.2Vuong, A. M.; Yolton, K.; Braun, J. M.; Lanphear, B. P.; Chen, A. Chemical mixtures and neurobehavior: A review of epidemiologic findings and future directions. Reviews on Environmental Health 2020, 35 (3), 245– 256, DOI: 10.1515/reveh-2020-0010 Google ScholarThere is no corresponding record for this reference.3Argentieri, M. A.; Amin, N.; Nevado-Holgado, A. J.; Sproviero, W.; Collister, J. A.; Keestra, S. M.; Doherty, A.; Hunter, D. J.; Alvergne, A.; Duijn, C. M. v. Integrating the environmental and genetic architectures of mortality and aging. medRxiv 2023, DOI: 10.1101/2023.03.10.23286340 Google ScholarThere is no corresponding record for this reference.4Lai, Y.; Koelmel, J. P.; Walker, D. I.; Price, E. J.; Papazian, S.; Manz, K. E.; Castilla-Fernández, D.; Bowden, J. A.; Nikiforov, V.; David, A.; Bessonneau, V.; Amer, B.; Seethapathy, S.; Hu, X.; Lin, E. Z.; Jbebli, A.; McNeil, B. R.; Barupal, D.; Cerasa, M.; Xie, H.; Kalia, V.; Nandakumar, R.; Singh, R.; Tian, Z.; Gao, P.; Zhao, Y.; Froment, J.; Rostkowski, P.; Dubey, S.; Coufalíková, K.; Seličová, H.; Hecht, H.; Liu, S.; Udhani, H. H.; Restituito, S.; Tchou-Wong, K.-M.; Lu, K.; Martin, J. W.; Warth, B.; Godri Pollitt, K. J.; Klánová, J.; Fiehn, O.; Metz, T. O.; Pennell, K. D.; Jones, D. P.; Miller, G. W. High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry for Human Exposomics: Expanding Chemical Space Coverage. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2024, 58, 12784– 12822, DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.4c01156 Google ScholarThere is no corresponding record for this reference.Cited By Click to copy section linkSection link copied!This article has not yet been cited by other publications.Download PDFFiguresReferences Get e-AlertsGet e-AlertsEnvironmental Science & TechnologyCite this: Environ. Sci. Technol. 2025, 59, 2, 991–992Click to copy citationCitation copied!https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.4c13478Published January 21, 2025 Publication History Received 3 December 2024Published online 21 January 2025Published in issue 21 January 2025Copyright © Published 2025 by American Chemical Society. This publication is available under these Terms of Use. Request reuse permissionsArticle Views-Altmetric-Citations-Learn about these metrics closeArticle Views are the COUNTER-compliant sum of full text article downloads since November 2008 (both PDF and HTML) across all institutions and individuals. These metrics are regularly updated to reflect usage leading up to the last few days.Citations are the number of other articles citing this article, calculated by Crossref and updated daily. Find more information about Crossref citation counts.The Altmetric Attention Score is a quantitative measure of the attention that a research article has received online. Clicking on the donut icon will load a page at altmetric.com with additional details about the score and the social media presence for the given article. Find more information on the Altmetric Attention Score and how the score is calculated.Recommended Articles FiguresReferencesThis publication has no figures.References This article references 4 other publications. 1Wild, C. P. Complementing the genome with an ″exposome″: The outstanding challenge of environmental exposure measurement in molecular epidemiology. Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers 2005, 14 (8), 1847– 1850, DOI: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-05-0456 There is no corresponding record for this reference.2Vuong, A. M.; Yolton, K.; Braun, J. M.; Lanphear, B. P.; Chen, A. Chemical mixtures and neurobehavior: A review of epidemiologic findings and future directions. Reviews on Environmental Health 2020, 35 (3), 245– 256, DOI: 10.1515/reveh-2020-0010 There is no corresponding record for this reference.3Argentieri, M. A.; Amin, N.; Nevado-Holgado, A. J.; Sproviero, W.; Collister, J. A.; Keestra, S. M.; Doherty, A.; Hunter, D. J.; Alvergne, A.; Duijn, C. M. v. Integrating the environmental and genetic architectures of mortality and aging. medRxiv 2023, DOI: 10.1101/2023.03.10.23286340 There is no corresponding record for this reference.4Lai, Y.; Koelmel, J. P.; Walker, D. I.; Price, E. J.; Papazian, S.; Manz, K. E.; Castilla-Fernández, D.; Bowden, J. A.; Nikiforov, V.; David, A.; Bessonneau, V.; Amer, B.; Seethapathy, S.; Hu, X.; Lin, E. Z.; Jbebli, A.; McNeil, B. R.; Barupal, D.; Cerasa, M.; Xie, H.; Kalia, V.; Nandakumar, R.; Singh, R.; Tian, Z.; Gao, P.; Zhao, Y.; Froment, J.; Rostkowski, P.; Dubey, S.; Coufalíková, K.; Seličová, H.; Hecht, H.; Liu, S.; Udhani, H. H.; Restituito, S.; Tchou-Wong, K.-M.; Lu, K.; Martin, J. W.; Warth, B.; Godri Pollitt, K. J.; Klánová, J.; Fiehn, O.; Metz, T. O.; Pennell, K. D.; Jones, D. P.; Miller, G. W. High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry for Human Exposomics: Expanding Chemical Space Coverage. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2024, 58, 12784– 12822, DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.4c01156 There is no corresponding record for this reference.