Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Here’s how you know

Dot gov

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

HTTPS

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( Lock A locked padlock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

  • Environmental Topics
  • Laws & Regulations
  • Report a Violation
  • About EPA
Risk Assessment
Contact Us

‘Omics in environmental epidemiological studies of chemical exposures: A systematic evidence map

On this page:

  • Overview
  • Downloads
Background Systematic evidence maps are increasingly used to develop chemical risk assessments. These maps can provide an overview of available studies and relevant study information to be used for various research objectives and applications. Environmental epidemiological studies that examine the impact of chemical exposures on various ‘omic profiles in human populations provide relevant mechanistic information and can be used for benchmark dose modeling to derive potential human health reference values. Objectives To create a systematic evidence map of environmental epidemiological studies examining environmental contaminant exposures with ‘omics in order to characterize the extent of available studies for future research needs. Methods Systematic review methods were used to search and screen the literature and included the use of machine learning methods to facilitate screening studies. The Populations, Exposures, Comparators and Outcomes (PECO) criteria were developed to identify and screen relevant studies. Studies that met the PECO criteria after full-text review were summarized with information such as study population, study design, sample size, exposure measurement, and ‘omics analysis. Results Over 10,000 studies were identified from scientific databases. Screening processes were used to identify 84 studies considered PECO-relevant after full-text review. Various contaminants (e.g. phthalate, benzene, arsenic, etc.) were investigated in epidemiological studies that used one or more of the four ‘omics of interest: epigenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics . The epidemiological study designs that were used to explore single or integrated ‘omic research questions with contaminant exposures were cohort studies, controlled trials, cross-sectional, and case-control studies. An interactive web-based systematic evidence map was created to display more study-related information. Conclusions This systematic evidence map is a novel tool to visually characterize the available environmental epidemiological studies investigating contaminants and biological effects using ‘omics technology and serves as a resource for investigators and allows for a range of applications in chemical research and risk assessment needs.

Impact/Purpose

‘Omics data have generally been used in chemical risk assessments to provide information about the mode or mechanism of action but are now transitioning to potentially be used to derive human health relevant toxicity values. For example, a recent study using an epidemiological cohort estimated inorganic arsenic doses that corresponded to changes in transcriptomic, proteomic, epigenomic, and integrated multi-‘omic signatures in human cord blood through benchmark dose modeling (Rager et al., 2017). Thus, data integration from ‘omics in population-based studies may provide direct human-relevant reference values to quantify biological effects from chemical exposures. The systematic evidence map presented here identifies the existing evidence that may be used for including ‘omics information from epidemiological studies for quantitative and qualitative risk assessments and also informs where more data may be needed for specific chemical(s).

Citation

Kim, S., H. Hollinger, AND E. Radke-Farabaugh. ‘Omics in environmental epidemiological studies of chemical exposures: A systematic evidence map. Elsevier B.V., Amsterdam, NETHERLANDS, 164:107243, (2022). [DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2022.107243]

Download(s)

DOI: ‘Omics in environmental epidemiological studies of chemical exposures: A systematic evidence map
  • Risk Assessment Home
  • About Risk Assessment
  • Risk Recent Additions
  • Human Health Risk Assessment
  • Ecological Risk Assessment
  • Risk Advanced Search
    • Risk Publications
  • Risk Assessment Guidance
  • Risk Tools and Databases
  • Superfund Risk Assessment
  • Where you live
Contact Us to ask a question, provide feedback, or report a problem.
Last updated on April 10, 2024
United States Environmental Protection Agency

Discover.

  • Accessibility Statement
  • Budget & Performance
  • Contracting
  • EPA www Web Snapshots
  • Grants
  • No FEAR Act Data
  • Privacy
  • Privacy and Security Notice

Connect.

  • Data
  • Inspector General
  • Jobs
  • Newsroom
  • Open Government
  • Regulations.gov
  • Subscribe
  • USA.gov
  • White House

Ask.

  • Contact EPA
  • EPA Disclaimers
  • Hotlines
  • FOIA Requests
  • Frequent Questions

Follow.