INSTITUTE OF OCCUPATIONAL MEDICINE . Edinburgh . UK www.iom-world.org
Convergence of Occupational and Environmental Exposure
Science: the Whole Picture
John Cherrie
ISES 2014: Exposure Science Integration to Protect Ecological Systems, Human Well-Being, and Occupational Health
“”
A situation in which people
or things gradually become the
same or very similar.
Summary…
• Coal and coal workers pneumoconiosis• 60 years is a long time!• The advent of personal exposure monitoring• Modern approaches to exposure assessment• Things just keep getting better• The exposome• The occupational exposome• The HEALS project
Past exposure to dust…
• In British coal mines in the 1940s dust levels could be very high
Bedford and Warner (1943) Chronic pulmonary disease in South Wales coalminers – II Environmental studies. London: HMSO.
Total (mg/m3)
Respirable (mg/m3)
Longwall stalls 394 14
Narrow places 215 20
Exposures decreased over time
Lead poisoning in Britain…
Our streets were polluted…
Black smoke in London…
Sampling was not easy…
Nor in the workplace…
The advent of personal sampling
Cherrie, J. (2003). The beginning of the science underpinning occupational hygiene. The Annals of Occupational Hygiene, 47(3), 179–185.
Sherwood and Greenhalgh (1960)
Environment affects exposure
Cherrie, J. (2003). The beginning of the science underpinning occupational hygiene. The Annals of Occupational Hygiene, 47(3), 179–185.
Personal monitoring
SCOPUS search term: ( TITLE-ABS-KEY ( ”personal monitoring" exposure ) AND TITLE-ABS-KEY ( occupational OR work ) )
Papers on biological monitoring
SCOPUS search term: ( TITLE-ABS-KEY ( "biological monitoring" exposure ) AND TITLE-ABS-KEY ( occupational OR work ) )
Personal monitoring
Modeling exposure
Omics
ISES papers
Conclusion…
Assessment methods are converging
towards measurement or modeling of
personal exposure:
• Biological monitoring
• Personal sampling / monitoring
• Models
• “omics” assessment
Work exposures decrease…
Creely KS et al. (2007) Trends in inhalation exposure--a review of the data in the published scientific literature. Ann Occup Hyg.; 51(8): 665-678.
And in the environment…
Laden et al. (2006). Reduction in Fine Particulate Air Pollution and Mortality. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 173(6), 667–672.
And we can go back in time!
Conclusion…
Exposure levels in workplace
and non-workplace
environments are decreasing
(converging?)
Regulations…
• In Europe, the REACH regulations bring some coherence to supplied chemicals• Companies are responsible for collecting
information on the properties and the uses of substances (>1 tonne per yr)
• Make an assessment of the hazards and potential risks presented by the substance
• Environmental protection and public health• Worker protection and work-related public
health• Consumer protection
Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation & restriction of CHemicals (REACH)
REACH and models• Heavy reliance on exposure modeling, but…
• Models generally imprecise and inaccurate• No consistent approach either within or
between exposure contexts
• ART and dART• Based on a source-receptor
conceptual model• Bayesian process to combine
measurements and model
• Eteam project• Initiative to benchmark
screening models
E-team project…
http://www.baua.de/en/Topics-from-A-to-Z/Hazardous-Substances/Workshops/ETEAM-2014/ETEAM-2014.html
ART, the Advanced REACH Tool
Respiratory tract
Personal behaviour
Inhalation boundary
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Example from pharmaceutical industry
0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100 1000 10000 1000000.001
0.01
0.1
1
10
100
1000
10000
100000
AS
Mean measured concentration (mg/m3)
Est
imat
ed c
on
cen
trat
ion
(m
g/m
3)
1:1 line
Cherrie et al. (2009). Modelling exposure to pharmaceutical agents (Vol. 151). Presented at the Journal of Physics: Conference Series.
Conclusion…
There will probably be increasing
regulatory convergence for
environment, consumer and
worker exposure assessment
Scientific convergence…
Convergence means a broad rethinking of how all scientific research can be conducted, so that we can capitalize on a range of knowledge bases, from microbiology to computer science to engineering design. In other words, the convergence revolution does not rest on a particular scientific advance but on a new integrated approach for achieving advances.
The Third Revolution: The Convergence of the Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Engineering, MIT 2011
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”
Scientific convergence…
Convergence means a broad rethinking of how all scientific research can be conducted, so that we can capitalize on a range of knowledge bases, from microbiology to computer science to engineering design. In other words, the convergence revolution does not rest on a particular scientific advance but on a new integrated approach for achieving advances.
The Third Revolution: The Convergence of the Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Engineering, MIT 2011
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The Exposome…
The exposome is composed of every exposure to which an individual is subjected from conception to death.
• It comprises:• processes internal to the body such as
metabolism, gut microflora, inflammation… • external exposures including infectious agents,
chemical contaminants, diet…• social, economic and psychological
influences.
Wild, C. P. (2012). The exposome: from concept to utility. International Journal of Epidemiology, 41(1), 24–32.
HEALS
• Health and Environment-wide Associations based on Large population Surveys
• 29 collaborating institutes throughout Europe
• Main outcome to provide guidelines and procedures for a larger EU environment and health survey
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement No 603946
HEALS presentations also: Th-O-A1-04 and Th-P-26
The HEALS paradigm…
Exposure modelling
Systems Effects / Individual exposome
CommunityEffects / Cohorts
GI tract – portal vein
Liver
Heart
Brain
MusclesSkin
KidneysAdiposeBones
Breast
Uterus - gonads
Lungs
GI tract – portal vein
Liver
Heart
Brain
MusclesSkin
KidneysAdiposeBones
Breast
Uterus - gonads
Lungs
metaboliteformation
Arterial blood
Venous blood
Arterial blood
Venous blood
Cellular/tissue effects
Molecular initiating events
Transcriptomics
Ubiquitous personal sensors
Environmental sensors
Environmental modeling / data management
Remote sensing
Environmental analysis
Human biosampling
Agent based modelling
Metabolomics
Fluxomics(dynamic flux
balance analysis)Pathway analysisBioinformatics /
systems biology
EWAS
Epigenetics
EXHES: A transgenerational study
• Women with twins• Women with a
singleton born in the same day, of the same sex as the twins
• Women with singletons
“This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Programme for research, technological development and
demonstration under grant agreement N°603946”
Exposome in birth cohorts
“This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Programme for research, technological development and
demonstration under grant agreement N°603946”
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“This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Programme for research, technological development and
demonstration under grant agreement N°603946”
EXHES exposome data…
• Data collected post-partum and periodically over the following 3-years
• Cord blood, cord tissue, pieces of placenta, colostrum/meconium and mother’s and father’s hair and urine
• Data on location and activity and environmental measurements – used for modeling personal external exposure
• Questionnaires, e.g. diet, home etc.
The occupational exposome
Convergence challenges…
• We need a common theoretical paradigm for exposure science to progress
• This needs to integrate internal and external exposure assessment within the exposome paradigm
• We should promote population and workplace cohorts that track individuals and biobank material
Questions…
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement No 603946