Exposures during gestation and early childhood can have profound impacts on health and development across the lifespan. Among the exposures of concern are environmental chemicals and pollutants which contaminate our food, air, water, soil, and the products we use in our daily lives. As a result, the average pregnant woman has measurable levels of dozens of synthetic chemicals in her body, many of which can cross the placenta to impact the course of pregnancy and foetal development. Alterations of foetal development, such as through endocrine disruption or neurotoxicity, can result in long-lasting or even permanent changes in health and physiology.
While some environmental exposures can be linked to adverse clinical outcomes, more often, impacts are subclinical, with important implications for population level risks by modifying the normal distribution for body mass index, cardiometabolic health, neurodevelopmental delay, asthma and atopy, reproductive health and more.
The goal of this Research Topic is to highlight the tremendous breadth and diversity of current research on prenatal environmental exposures and children’s health. Fuelled by large-scale efforts such as the National Institutes of Health’s Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program, this rapidly expanding field is transforming our understanding of the origins of health and disease. Ultimately, a better understanding of the impact of early environmental exposures on child health has the potential to inform preventive care, early intervention, and policy.
In this Research Topic, we welcome submission of original scientific articles as well as literature reviews examining a variety of topics related to prenatal environmental exposures and birth or child developmental outcomes. We are interested in submissions on well-studied environmental exposures (e.g. air pollution, endocrine disruptors, heavy metals) as well as emerging contaminants (e.g. replacement chemicals, organophosphate flame retardants).
We additionally define child development broadly and welcome submissions considering traditional clinical outcomes as well as biomarkers, intermediate measures, and observational outcomes.
Finally, submissions including an environmental justice and/or social epidemiological lens are encouraged, as are manuscripts that consider key methodological issues and technical advances in the field.
Exposures during gestation and early childhood can have profound impacts on health and development across the lifespan. Among the exposures of concern are environmental chemicals and pollutants which contaminate our food, air, water, soil, and the products we use in our daily lives. As a result, the average pregnant woman has measurable levels of dozens of synthetic chemicals in her body, many of which can cross the placenta to impact the course of pregnancy and foetal development. Alterations of foetal development, such as through endocrine disruption or neurotoxicity, can result in long-lasting or even permanent changes in health and physiology.
While some environmental exposures can be linked to adverse clinical outcomes, more often, impacts are subclinical, with important implications for population level risks by modifying the normal distribution for body mass index, cardiometabolic health, neurodevelopmental delay, asthma and atopy, reproductive health and more.
The goal of this Research Topic is to highlight the tremendous breadth and diversity of current research on prenatal environmental exposures and children’s health. Fuelled by large-scale efforts such as the National Institutes of Health’s Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program, this rapidly expanding field is transforming our understanding of the origins of health and disease. Ultimately, a better understanding of the impact of early environmental exposures on child health has the potential to inform preventive care, early intervention, and policy.
In this Research Topic, we welcome submission of original scientific articles as well as literature reviews examining a variety of topics related to prenatal environmental exposures and birth or child developmental outcomes. We are interested in submissions on well-studied environmental exposures (e.g. air pollution, endocrine disruptors, heavy metals) as well as emerging contaminants (e.g. replacement chemicals, organophosphate flame retardants).
We additionally define child development broadly and welcome submissions considering traditional clinical outcomes as well as biomarkers, intermediate measures, and observational outcomes.
Finally, submissions including an environmental justice and/or social epidemiological lens are encouraged, as are manuscripts that consider key methodological issues and technical advances in the field.