Developing Toxic Metal Environmental Justice Indices (TM-EJIs) for Arsenic, Cadmium, Lead, and Manganese Contamination in Private Drinking Wells in North Carolina.

Toxic metal exposure via private drinking wells is an environmental health challenge in North Carolina (NC). Policies tainted by environmental racism shape who has access to public water supplies, with Black People, Indigenous People, and People of Color (BIPOC) often excluded from municipal services. Thus, toxic metal exposure via private wells is an environmental justice (EJ) issue, and it is under-studied in NC. In this study, we developed four Toxic Metal Environmental Justice Indices (TM-EJIs) for inorganic arsenic (iAs), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and manganese (Mn) to quantitatively identify areas of environmental injustice in NC. TM-EJIs were calculated at the census tract level (n = 2038) as the product of the following: (1) number of well water tests with concentrations exceeding national standards, (2) percentage of the low-income and minority population, and (3) population density. Mn had the greatest proportion (25.17%) of positive TM-EJIs, which are indicative of socioeconomically disadvantaged groups exposed to toxic metals. Positive TM-EJIs, particularly for Pb and Mn, were primarily located in eastern NC. These results highlight several new counties of concern and can be used by public health professionals and state environmental agencies to prioritize remediation efforts and efforts to reduce environmental injustices.

The placenta epigenome-brain axis: placental epigenomic and transcriptomic responses that preprogram cognitive impairment.

Aim: The placenta-brain axis reflects a developmental linkage where disrupted placental function is associated with impaired neurodevelopment later in life. Placental gene expression and the expression of epigenetic modifiers such as miRNAs may be tied to these impairments and are understudied. Materials & methods: The expression levels of mRNAs (n = 37,268) and their targeting miRNAs (n = 2083) were assessed within placentas collected from the ELGAN study cohort (n = 386). The ELGAN adolescents were assessed for neurocognitive function at age 10 and the association with placental mRNA/miRNAs was determined. Results: Placental mRNAs related to inflammatory and apoptotic processes are under miRNA control and associated with cognitive impairment at age 10. Conclusion: Findings highlight key placenta epigenome-brain relationships that support the developmental origins of health and disease hypothesis.

Children born extremely preterm are at increased risk for neurodevelopmental impairments such as cerebral palsy, intellectual disability and autism. The biological processes that lead to these impairments likely begin before birth and involve altered placental function. In this study, the authors analyzed placental genomic and epigenomic data from children who were born extremely preterm in relation to cognitive assessments at 10 years of age. They examined the differences between the expression of placental genes and molecules that influence the expression of placental genes, comparing children who had impaired cognition at 10 years with children who did not. The results demonstrated elevated expression levels of genes involved in inflammatory processes and molecules that control the expression of these genes within the placentas of children who had impaired cognition at age 10.