Hallmarks of Environmental Insults

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Environmental insults impair human health around the world. Air pollution, contaminated water, soil and food, occupational and household settings expose humans of all ages to a plethora of chemicals and environmental stressors. METHODS: The presentation will present the rationales and general introduction into the eight hallmarks of environmental insights and explain their relevance for understanding the mechanisms underlying the impacts of environmental exposures on chronic diseases. RESULTS:We propose eight hallmarks of environmental insults which include oxidative stress and inflammation, genomic alterations and mutations, epigenetic alterations, mitochondrial dysfunction(definition), endocrine disruption, altered intercellular communication, altered microbiome communities, and impaired nervous system function. CONCLUSIONS:They provide a framework to understand why complex mixtures of environmental exposures induce aging and disease even at relatively modest concentrations. They enable understanding of interactions of environmental insults on a cellular and organ level. There is an enormous potential to leverage the contribution of environmental insults on human health and disease to advance individualized prevention and therapy as well as to develop sound policies that protect current and future generations from global threats such as air pollution and climate change. KEYWORDS: Environmental exposures, molecular and cellular mechanisms, ageing