Week 2

Hormones

Signalling chemicals (messengers) that regulate the action of cells and organs, secreted in glands and organs, traveling to affect various bodily functions.

Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs)

Exogenous chemicals that interfere with hormone actions, leading to potential health issues.

Toxin

Naturally occurring poisons produced by animals and plants, as well as certain minerals.

Toxicant

Industrial-manufactured poisons that can harm living systems, distinct from naturally occurring toxins.  

• became the term of art for industrially-manufactured poisons

Precautionary Principle

A principle that advocates for precautionary measures to be taken when an activity raises threats to health or the environment, even without full scientific certainty.

DES (Diethylstilbestrol)

A synthetic estrogen once prescribed to pregnant women, later linked to cancer and other health issues in exposed individuals.

Threshold Effect

The concept that a certain level of exposure is required before a substance or agent exerts harmful effects, often not relevant for endocrine disruptors.

Vorsorgeprinzip

A German principle focusing on proactive measures for public health and safety, closely related to the precautionary principle.

Sentinel Species

Organisms that provide early warnings of environmental hazards or health risks due to their sensitivity to changes.

Black Carbon Particles

Soot-like particles from incomplete combustion, harmful to both human health and the environment, found in the lungs and brains of unborn babies.

Causal Link

A relationship in which one event (the cause) directly affects another (the effect), in health and disease contexts.

BPA (Bisphenol A)

A synthetic compound used in plastics, which has been identified as an endocrine disruptor associated with various health impacts.

Fragrance Compounds

Chemicals added to products to produce scent, often not disclosed and potentially harmful to health.

Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)

A U.S. law enacted to regulate the introduction of new or already existing chemicals.

Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act

A 2016 amendment to TSCA aiming to strengthen regulatory requirements for chemicals.

DES Action USA

A national non-profit group representing individuals exposed to the synthetic hormone DES.

Yehuda hypothesis

• Given that Holocaust survivors in her sample have higher cortisol and their children lower cortisol, the latter phenomena could be the result of the intrauterine environment

• 2nf generations bathed in high cortisol in womb may lead to their glucocorticoid sensitivity (and predisposition toward anxiety and psychiatric disorders)

• Klengle (2013) reports lower levels of methylation at 3 loci of intron 7 in persons exposed to high levels of child abuse

  • At one loci, Yehuda finds methylation levels 10% higher but 7.7% lower in their adult offspring compared to controls 

  • Yehuda holds patents for genes associated with PTSD

Dutch Starvation Winter

A period during World War II when the German occupation of the Netherlands led to severe food shortages, causing widespread starvation and health issues among the population.

• Originated to examine relationship between prenatal undernutrition and adult IQ

• 2000: 22yo Dutch men exposed in utero to Dutch Famine, who had birth weight records and military induction records including IQ and mental health measures

  • Finding: no correlation between prenatal nutrition, birth weight, and social distribution of mental competence

• Finding: 18yo male offspring of those whose mothers went through this starvation winter had 50% higher rates of obesity than those who weren’t gestated in teh 1944 famine

• Study period 2003-2005, findings published in 2008

  • 60 individuals conceived during famine → 62 exposed only during late gestation and 122 sibling controls

  • Using whole blood of the now 59yo → measured differential methylation on IGF2 gene

  • Survivors of Dutch Hunger Winter at the time of blood draw had 5.2% loewr methylation across several sites of IGF2