Two classes of industrial chemicals with endocrine-disrupting capability-the phthalates and the alkylphenols-have become widely dispersed in the urban built environment, and significant levels of phthalates are now nearly ubiquitous in the bodies of Americans. Highest exposures occur in children and in minorities. Infants and children appear especially susceptible to disruptors, because of their disproportionately heavy exposures and the vulnerability of their still forming organs to any disruption of the hormonal signaling that irreversibly shapes early development. Yet little is known, either of children's pathways of exposure, or of the human developmental toxicity of EDs. To address these gaps, the Mount Sinai Center for Children's Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research proposes, 1) to characterize the levels and sources of children's exposures to contemporary-use EDs in the urban built environment; 2) to study relationships between EDs and neurobehavioral development; 3) to study relationships among ED exposures, diet, physical activity, and somatic growth; 4) to characterize previously unexplored enzymatic polymorphisms that may modulate individual susceptibility to EDs; and 5) to develop and deploy culturally appropriate, evidence-based strategies in East Harlem to improve children's diets, increase physical activity, reduce obesity, reduce ED exposures, and promote good health. Project 1, the Community-based Prevention Research Project (CBPR), Growing Up Healthy in East Harlem, is built on a long-standing partnership with the East Harlem community. It will study levels and sources of urban children's exposures to EDs and assess relationships among ED exposures, diet, physical activity, obesity, and use of personal care products. Project 2, an ongoing prospective epidemiological study, will analyze new and previously banked biological samples to examine associations between pre- and postnatal exposures to EDs and growth and development in a cohort study of urban children. This project will also continue to assess the developmental effects in this cohort of early exposures to neurotoxicants-organophosphates, pyrethroids, PCBs, and lead-that have been its focus for the past 5 years. Project 3, a molecular genetic study, will assess gene-environment interactions that may influence individual susceptibility to EDs by identifying and characterizing polymorphisms and variations in expression levels of PON1, lipase, and UGT-glucuronyltransferase enzymes involved in ED metabolism. A new Community Outreach and Translation Core (COTC) will use scientific information from the Center to educate and empower community leaders in East Harlem and to inform policy makers and health professionals regionally and nationally about links between the urban environment and children's health. The Center will contain an Exposure Assessment Core that collaborates with the laboratories of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Center for Environmental Health, a Biostatistics and Data Management Core and an Administration Core. The Center will support two new investigators in children's environmental research.
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