Periodic Reporting for period 4 - ATHLETE (Advancing Tools for Human Early Lifecourse Exposome Research and Translation)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2024-07-01 do 2025-06-30
Through our environment we are exposed to a cocktail of harmful and beneficial influences on health. The human exposome encompasses this complexity by studying the combination of environmental exposures throughout life. The early stages of life are particularly vulnerable to environmental hazards, with potential lifetime health consequences. Early life is thus a relevant starting point for exposome studies and an important window for disease prevention. ATHLETE aims to better understand and prevent health damage from numerous environmental hazards and their combinations (chemical pollutants, urban environment, lifestyle, socio-economic factors), starting from the earliest stages of life. The project will develop an exposome toolbox that can be used by researchers, policymakers and other stakeholders to evaluate the health effects of a large number of environmental exposures and underpin the development of prevention strategies.
WP1 has built a prospective Europe-wide exposome cohort by bringing existing and new harmonised data from 18 birth cohort studies together in one FAIR data infrastructure. It has also carried out the follow-up of the HELIX cohort into adolescence.
WP2 has developed tools for assessment of exposures in different domains of the exposome. Targeted and untargeted chromatographical methods to assess the chemical exposome have been applied to biosamples. New improved protocols for urban and personal/behavioural exposures have been applied to the cohorts. Socioeconomic position and urbanization have been studied as determinants of the child exposome, showing inequalities from the earliest years of life. An overview of dietary sources of the chemical exposome and possible risk mitigation actions has been made.
WP3 has developed new statistical methodologies and strategies for advanced analysis of exposome data. In addition, it has developed several tools for data analysis as well as educational materials and courses on exposome data analysis.
WP4 has identified molecular events and biological pathways that respond to and interact with the exposome and lead to adverse health. It generated substantive new metabolomics and metagenomics data and developed a greater understanding of the influence of the exposome on epigenetic and aging processes. Finally, it developed new models combining environmental and biological factors for prediction of poor health in early life.
WP5 and WP6 characterized effects of the exposome on health and development from conception through to adolescence. They have published extensively on how different exposome domains, measured preconceptionally, during pregnancy, and during childhood, affects early-organ development and growth, and child and adolescent mental, cardio-metabolic and respiratory health, as well as multiple health outcomes jointly.
WP7 developed and evaluated novel, scalable and acceptable interventions to reduce personal exposures to harmful components of the urban and chemical exposome. The co-produced urban intervention found that feasible implementation and scaling-up requires structural changes to the environment. The co-produced chemical exposome intervention was successful in decreasing internal doses of several chemicals known or suspected to be harmful for health including three parabens, bisphenol A, and one glycol ether. Scoping reviews, a Delphi consensus study and stakeholder workshops were integrated into policy briefing notes. Finally, WP7 produced an intervention toolkit containing information and recommendations for citizens, schools, and policymakers.
WP8 estimated the societal impact of the exposome by calculating economic costs and morbidity impacts. A plausibility database summarizing the health effects of the exposome on children health was published and made available in the ATHLETE toolbox. It also estimated the expected health benefit of an intervention reducing cosmetic use in women.
WP9 developed project communication material, tools and channels used for the dissemination of research findings and insert key messages in policy debates and implementation. It also populated the ATHLETE toolbox with input from all WPs.
WP2 has developed tools for assessment of exposures in different domains of the exposome. Targeted and untargeted chromatographical methods to assess the chemical exposome have been applied to biosamples. New improved protocols for urban and personal/behavioural exposures have been applied to the cohorts. Socioeconomic position and urbanization have been studied as determinants of the child exposome, showing inequalities from the earliest years of life. An overview of dietary sources of the chemical exposome and possible risk mitigation actions has been made.
WP3 has developed new statistical methodologies and strategies for advanced analysis of exposome data. In addition, it has developed several tools for data analysis as well as educational materials and courses on exposome data analysis.
WP4 has identified molecular events and biological pathways that respond to and interact with the exposome and lead to adverse health. It generated substantive new metabolomics and metagenomics data and developed a greater understanding of the influence of the exposome on epigenetic and aging processes. Finally, it developed new models combining environmental and biological factors for prediction of poor health in early life.
WP5 and WP6 characterized effects of the exposome on health and development from conception through to adolescence. They have published extensively on how different exposome domains, measured preconceptionally, during pregnancy, and during childhood, affects early-organ development and growth, and child and adolescent mental, cardio-metabolic and respiratory health, as well as multiple health outcomes jointly.
WP7 developed and evaluated novel, scalable and acceptable interventions to reduce personal exposures to harmful components of the urban and chemical exposome. The co-produced urban intervention found that feasible implementation and scaling-up requires structural changes to the environment. The co-produced chemical exposome intervention was successful in decreasing internal doses of several chemicals known or suspected to be harmful for health including three parabens, bisphenol A, and one glycol ether. Scoping reviews, a Delphi consensus study and stakeholder workshops were integrated into policy briefing notes. Finally, WP7 produced an intervention toolkit containing information and recommendations for citizens, schools, and policymakers.
WP8 estimated the societal impact of the exposome by calculating economic costs and morbidity impacts. A plausibility database summarizing the health effects of the exposome on children health was published and made available in the ATHLETE toolbox. It also estimated the expected health benefit of an intervention reducing cosmetic use in women.
WP9 developed project communication material, tools and channels used for the dissemination of research findings and insert key messages in policy debates and implementation. It also populated the ATHLETE toolbox with input from all WPs.
WP1 created an infrastructure that assembles a large, harmonised, prospective exposome cohort to make exposome data FAIR; this infrastructure also makes federated data analysis possible. New data collection has added prospective exposome data to the rich HELIX database with new measurements of exposures, omics, and health outcomes.
WP2 developed and applied novel exposure science tools for complete and accurate assessment of the external, chemical, physical, behavioural, and social exposome, and provided harmonized exposure estimates to the ATHLETE cohorts from preconception through to adolescence. We applied a complementary approach of targeted and untargeted chemical biomonitoring, personal and indoor monitoring, remote sensing and geospatial models, and questionnaires, as well as improved biosampling strategies. Novel tools from social science and toxicology were used to assess drivers and sources of the personal exposome, that are highly relevant for development of policy recommendations.
WP3 developed new data analysis techniques and tools for exposome analysis, not previously available, that allow conducting exposome data analyses covering issues such as federated analysis, longitudinal data, omics integration, mixture effects and outcome-wide analysis.
WP4 generated exposome risk scores and multi-omics signatures of biological aging and child development, which moves exposome research beyond the state of the art and is likely to drive innovation in risk assessment and public health. We generated unique new datasets for elucidation of biological pathways affected by the exposome, including the largest microbiome gene catalogue available for adolescents with matched deep metabolome and telomere data.
The systematic exposome-health outcome association studies conducted in WP5 and 6 provide additional support to highlight the role of early-life environment on child health. They provide insights into which environmental exposures are relevant to the development of mental, cardiometabolic and respiratory health from their earliest origins. This information can be used for tools to prioritise exposures, and feed into risk prediction and development of intervention and prevention strategies.
Impacts from the work carried out in WP7, including the policy briefings and the intervention toolkit, include increased individual and wider-level awareness regarding both the urban and chemical exposome, as well as new knowledge to underpin stricter regulation of chemicals in cosmetics and personal care products, Work carried out with children and schools measuring urban exposures has already contributed to the implementation of new initiatives to reduce air pollution for children (e.g. School Streets, walking buses) as well as for the public (e.g. low traffic neighborhoods) in Bradford.
The plausibility database developed in WP8 is a unique resource that summarizes the current knowledge regarding the health hazards associated with the exposome in children. The calculation of the economic costs and morbidity impacts related to the exposome in children, gives novel estimates of the societal impact of the exposome, and can be used by a wide range of stakeholders.
WP2 developed and applied novel exposure science tools for complete and accurate assessment of the external, chemical, physical, behavioural, and social exposome, and provided harmonized exposure estimates to the ATHLETE cohorts from preconception through to adolescence. We applied a complementary approach of targeted and untargeted chemical biomonitoring, personal and indoor monitoring, remote sensing and geospatial models, and questionnaires, as well as improved biosampling strategies. Novel tools from social science and toxicology were used to assess drivers and sources of the personal exposome, that are highly relevant for development of policy recommendations.
WP3 developed new data analysis techniques and tools for exposome analysis, not previously available, that allow conducting exposome data analyses covering issues such as federated analysis, longitudinal data, omics integration, mixture effects and outcome-wide analysis.
WP4 generated exposome risk scores and multi-omics signatures of biological aging and child development, which moves exposome research beyond the state of the art and is likely to drive innovation in risk assessment and public health. We generated unique new datasets for elucidation of biological pathways affected by the exposome, including the largest microbiome gene catalogue available for adolescents with matched deep metabolome and telomere data.
The systematic exposome-health outcome association studies conducted in WP5 and 6 provide additional support to highlight the role of early-life environment on child health. They provide insights into which environmental exposures are relevant to the development of mental, cardiometabolic and respiratory health from their earliest origins. This information can be used for tools to prioritise exposures, and feed into risk prediction and development of intervention and prevention strategies.
Impacts from the work carried out in WP7, including the policy briefings and the intervention toolkit, include increased individual and wider-level awareness regarding both the urban and chemical exposome, as well as new knowledge to underpin stricter regulation of chemicals in cosmetics and personal care products, Work carried out with children and schools measuring urban exposures has already contributed to the implementation of new initiatives to reduce air pollution for children (e.g. School Streets, walking buses) as well as for the public (e.g. low traffic neighborhoods) in Bradford.
The plausibility database developed in WP8 is a unique resource that summarizes the current knowledge regarding the health hazards associated with the exposome in children. The calculation of the economic costs and morbidity impacts related to the exposome in children, gives novel estimates of the societal impact of the exposome, and can be used by a wide range of stakeholders.