Superfund Contaminants and Reproduction
12:00 pm US Eastern Time
Slides & Resources
Speaker Presentation Slides
Dr. Korrick: Prenatal PCB and Mercury Exposures and Subsequent Neurobehavioral Development
Dr. Aschengrau: Neurotoxic Effects of Early Life Exposure to Trachloroethyene (PCE)-Contaminated Drinking Water
Dr. Lasley: Small Molecules Like Parabens: A New Type EDS?
Additional Resources
EPA: Superfund
NIEHS Superfund Research Program
NIEHS: Celebrating 25 years of the Superfund Research Program
Resources from Dr. Korrick
The Harvard Clinical and Translation Science Center Profiles
McAuliffe ME, Williams PL, Korrick SA, Dadd R, Perry MJ. The association between sperm sex chromosome disomy and semen concentration, motility and morphology. Hum Reprod. 2012 Oct; 27(10):2918-26.
McAuliffe ME, Williams PL, Korrick SA, Altshul LM, Perry MJ. Environmental Exposure to Polychlorinated Biphenyls and p,p´-DDE and Sperm Sex-Chromosome Disomy. Environ Health Perspect. 2012 Apr; 120(4):535-40.
Sagiv SK, Epstein JN, Bellinger DC, Korrick SA. Pre- and postnatal risk factors for ADHD in a nonclinical pediatric population. J AttenDisord. 2013 Jan; 17(1):47-57.
Sagiv SK, Thurston SW, Bellinger DC, Altshul LM, Korrick SA. Neuropsychological Measures of Attention and Impulse Control among 8-Year-Old Children Exposed Prenatally to Organochlorines. Environ Health Perspect. 2012 Jun; 120(6):904-9.
Karagas MR, Choi AL, Oken E, Horvat M, Schoeny R, Kamai E, Cowell W, Grandjean P, Korrick S. Evidence on the human health effects of low-level methylmercury exposure. Environ Health Perspect. 2012 Jun; 120(6):799-806.
Resources from Dr. Aschengrau
Boston University School of Public Health
Janulewicz PA, White RF, Martin BM, Winter MR, Weinberg JM, Vieira V, Aschengrau A. Adult neuropsychological performance following prenatal and early postnatal exposure to tetrachloroethylene (PCE)-contaminated drinking water. NeurotoxicolTeratol. 2012 Apr 12; 34(3):350-359.
Aschengrau A, Weinberg JM, Janulewicz PA, Romano ME, Gallagher LG, Winter MR, Martin BR, Vieira VM, Webster TF, White RF, Ozonoff DM. Occurrence of mental illness following prenatal and early childhood exposure to tetrachloroethylene (PCE)-contaminated drinking water: a retrospective cohort study. Environ Health. 2012 Jan 20; 11(1):2.
Aschengrau A, Weinberg JM, Janulewicz PA, Romano ME, Gallagher LG, Winter MR, Martin BR, Vieira VM, Webster TF, White RF, Ozonoff DM. Affinity for risky behaviors following prenatal and early childhood exposure to tetrachloroethylene (PCE)-contaminated drinking water: a retrospective cohort study. Environ Health. 2011 Dec 2; 10(1):102.
Aschengrau A, Weinberg JM, Janulewicz PA, Gallagher LG, Winter MR, Vieira VM, Webster TF, Ozonoff DM. Prenatal exposure to tetrachloroethylene-contaminated drinking water and the risk of congenital anomalies: a retrospective cohort study. Environ Health. 2009; 8:44.
Resources from Dr. Lasley
University of California Superfund Research Program: Assessing the Adverse Effects of Environmental Hazards on the Reproductive Health in Human Populations
Duleba AJ, Ahmed MI, Sun M, Gao AC, Villanueva J, Conley AJ, Turgeon JL, Benirschke K, Gee NA, Chen J, Green PG, Lasley BL. Effects of triclocarban on intact immature male rat: augmentation of androgen action. Reprod Sci. 2011 Feb;18(2):119-27. doi: 10.1177/1933719110382581
Ahn, K.C., P. Lohstroh, S.J. Gee, N.A. Gee, B. Lasley and B.D. Hammock. 2007. High-throughput automated luminescent magnetic particle-based immunoassay to monitor human exposure to pyrethroid insecticides. Anal. Chem. 79:8883-8890.
Chen J, K.C. Ahn, N.A. Gee, S.J. Gee, B.D. Hammock and B.L. Lasley. 2007. Antiandrogenic properties of parabens and other phenolic containing small molecules in personal care products. Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology 221(3):278-284.
Resources on Prenatal Fish Oil Consumption and Cancer in Offspring
Pogoda JM, Preston-Martin S, Howe G, Lubin F, Mueller BA, Holly EA, Filippini G, Peris-Bonet R, McCredie MR, Cordier S, Choi W. An international case-control study of maternal diet during pregnancy and childhood brain tumor risk: a histology-specific analysis by food group.Ann Epidemiol. 2009 Mar;19(3):148-60. doi: 10.1016/j.annepidem.2008.12.011.PMID: 19216997. Free PMC Article
Aikawa J, Moretto KD, Denes F, Yamazaki RK, Freitas FA, Hirabara SM, Tchaikovski O Jr, Kaelher Mde A, Brito GA, Curi R, Fernandes LC. Glucose metabolism by lymphocytes, macrophages, and tumor cells from Walker 256 tumor-bearing rats supplemented with fish oil for one generation.Cell Biochem Funct. 2008 Dec;26(8):874-80. doi: 10.1002/cbf.1520. PMID:18946876.
Folador A, Hirabara SM, Bonatto SJ, Aikawa J, Yamazaki RK, Curi R, Fernandes LC. Effect of fish oil supplementation for 2 generations on changes in macrophage function induced by Walker 256 cancer cachexia in rats. Int J Cancer. 2007 Jan 15;120(2):344-50.
CHE presents the first in a series of calls featuring the Superfund Research Program
From Love Canal to the Eighteen Mile Creek, more than 1,300 locations have been federally designated as Superfund cleanup sites since the program’s inception in 1980. In 2012, the NIEHS Superfund Research Program celebrated its 25th anniversary of research to protect human health and the environment in communities surrounding Superfund sites.
Among the many health concerns for people exposed to contaminants commonly found at Superfund sites, reduced reproductive capacity, birth defects, and impaired neurodevelopment following prenatal exposures have been identified. This call will explore some of the recent findings from researchers at 3 Superfund Research Programs.
Dr. Susan Korrick from the Harvard School of Public Health and Brigham and Women's Hospital discussed recent findings on PCBs' and other toxicants' effects on child neurobehavioral development. Dr. Ann Aschengrau from the Boston University School of Public Health presented data on PCE exposure, birth defects, and neuropsychological effects. Dr. Bill Lasley from the University of California discussed on-going work at the Center for Health & the Environment on the antimicrobial triclocarban as an endocrine disruptor.
This call, hosted by the CHE Fertility and Reproductive Health Working Group, was moderated by Karin Russ, national coordinator of the group, with special guest discussion leader Dr. Madeleine Scammell, director of the Research Translation and Community Engagement Cores of the Boston University Superfund Research Program.
Featured speakers included:
Dr. Susan Korrick is an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and an assistant professor in environmental health at Harvard School of Public Health. She also practices environmental and occupational medicine as an associate physician in the Department of Medicine, Channing Division of Network Medicine, at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. Dr. Korrick's current research is focused in two areas: 1) developmental and reproductive toxicities of organochlorine compounds and metals; and 2) chronic lead toxicities in middle-aged and elderly adults. For the past 20 years, Dr. Korrick has been the principal investigator of a longitudinal study of the impact of low-level intrauterine exposure to PCBs, pesticides and metals on infant and child development. Dr. Korrick has also served on several national advisory panels, including a National Academy of Sciences panel assessing an ATSDR report on contaminants in the Great Lakes, the EPA Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee Lead Review Panel, the EPA Drinking Water Committee Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), and as an ad hoc member of the EPA Environmental Engineering Committee SAB that advised EPA on its draft Hydraulic Fracturing Research Study Plan.
Dr. Ann Aschengrau is a professor of epidemiology at the Boston University School of Public Health and has conducted epidemiologic research on environmental pollution and the risk of disease for more than 25 years. In particular, she has led investigations on the relationship between drinking water contaminants and abnormal pregnancy outcomes, neurological disorders and cancer, and on the impact of lead hazard reduction measures among inner-city children. She is currently the principal investigator of a case-control study examining the risk of birth defects among women with prenatal exposure to tetrachloroethylene-contaminated drinking water during. In 2003, Dr. Aschengrau published her textbook, Essentials of Epidemiology in Public Health, with coauthor George R. Seage III, professor of epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health. This best-selling book whose third edition will be released in the coming year has been used in more than 100 schools across the United States. Dr. Aschengrau has served as a member of the Institute of Medicine Committee on Gulf War and Health, as a consultant to the Environmental Protection Agency and the Agency for Toxic Substances Disease Registry, and as a jury member for the annual John Heinz Memorial Award honoring an individual whose work has made a significant impact on the environment.
Dr. Bill Lasley is professor emeritus and project leader at the Center for Health & the Environment at the University of California’s Superfund Research Program. Dr. Lasley’s research is focused on gaining a deeper understanding of the role of hormones in women’s health. Dr. Lasley leads studies on reproductive toxicology and is a collaborator in studies relating to embryonic determinants of adult health. He is the Animal Core leader in John Morrison’s Program Project, using a nonhuman primate animal model to investigate the role of estrogen action on the preserving brain structure function in the aging female primate. He holds several leadership roles in the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN), including chairperson of the Laboratory Liaison Committee, and member of the SWAN Repository Organization, Executive and Steering Committees. Dr. Lasley is the author of several dozen reports that deal with women’s reproductive health over the past three decades and previously provided the core laboratory for one of the larger population-based studies on women’s reproductive health (the Semi-Conductor Industry Study of Early Pregnancy Failure) in the 1980s. Dr. Lasley is a reviewer for 12 respected journals and an ad-hoc reviewer for NIH, NIA, NCI, EPA, NSF and other federal or private funding agencies.
Dr. Madeleine Scammell is an assistant professor of environmental health at Boston University School of Public Health. She directs the Research Translation and Community Engagement Cores of the Boston University Superfund Research Program (funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NIH), and the Partnerships and Collaborations Core for the Partners in Health and Housing Prevention Research Center at Boston University (funded by the CDC). Her research is focused primarily on analytic methods for examining the combined effects of social and environmental stressors in epidemiologic studies. Dr. Scammell serves of the Board of Health in the City of Chelsea, Massachusetts, and is also a member of the board of directors of the Science & Environmental Health Network.
