Convergence of Occupational and Environmental Exposure Science: the Whole Picture

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

29

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

“

”

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

“

”

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”

** *

**

*

**

*

*

“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