Hur kan man använda epidemiologiska data i riskbedömning av kemikalier
Resultat från observationsdata i epidemiologiska studier används sällan vid riskbedömningar av kemikalier. En anledning till detta är att sådana data oftast inte anses ge tydliga orsakssamband eftersom de inte följer den klassiska standarden för design av randomiserade kontrollstudier. Detta är givetvis sant, men med nya tillvägagångssätt kan miljöepidemiologin bekräfta samband. I detta seminarium kommer professor Carl-Gustaf Bornehag att presentera en vetenskaplig plattform baserad på den svenska SELMA-studien, en graviditetskohort som följde cirka 2 000 mamma-barn-par från tidig graviditet och uppåt i livet tom skolåldern.
SELMA is focusing on early life exposure for risk and resilience factors for health and developmental outcomes in the children. In focus are e.g., exposure for mixtures of chemicals with suspected or proven endocrine disrupting properties (EDCs), maternal diet and nutrition during pregnancy as well as epigenetic mechanisms as potential explanations for the associations between exposure and outcomes. Outcomes in focus are asthma and allergy, metabolism and growth, sexual development, and neurodevelopment including cognitive function and behavioral disorders. Finally, we are introducing new statistical approaches such as g-computation to conduct causal inference with counterfactuals for assumed changes in either EDC exposures or improved nutrition. Evaluation of such a strategy may support decision makers for risk management of EDCs and individual choices for improving dietary nutrition.
Carl-Gustaf Bornehag is Professor in Public Health Sciences and works at the Department of Health Sciences at Karlstad University, and also at the Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.