Hallmarks of environmental insults

• Published in: Cell Vol. 184; no. 6; pp. 1455 - 1468
• Main Authors: Peters, Annette, Nawrot, Tim S., Baccarelli, Andrea A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 18-03-2021
• ISSN: 0092-8674; 1097-4172
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.01.043

Environmental insults impair human health around the world. Contaminated air, water, soil, food, and occupational and household settings expose humans of all ages to a plethora of chemicals and environmental stressors. We propose eight hallmarks of environmental insults that jointly underpin the damaging impact of environmental exposures during the lifespan. Specifically, they include oxidative stress and inflammation, genomic alterations and mutations, epigenetic alterations, mitochondrial dysfunction, endocrine disruption, altered intercellular communication, altered microbiome communities, and impaired nervous system function. They provide a framework to understand why complex mixtures of environmental exposures induce severe health effects even at relatively modest concentrations.
The hallmarks of environmental insults comprise eight cellular and molecular processes that jointly underpin the damaging impact of environmental exposures over time, which result in severe health effects and chronic diseases. They include oxidative stress and inflammation, genomic alterations and mutations, epigenetic alterations, mitochondrial dysfunction, endocrine disruption, altered intercellular communication, altered microbiome communities, and impaired nervous system function.