January 19, 2018
Feature

Environmental Health Risks and the Human Microbiome

 

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Brian Thrall

Brian Thrall, who directs PNNL's Biological Systems Science group, was among 18 authors of a report just released online assessing the role of the human microbiome in exposure to environmental chemicals.

"Environmental Chemicals, the Human Microbiome, and Health Risk: A Research Strategy" was sponsored by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Institute of Environmental Health Science.

A lot is known about how the human microbiome interacts with chemicals, said Thrall. But that has more to do with therapeutic drugs than environmental chemicals.

Although the United States has a robust framework for assessing the risks of chemical exposure, that framework does not account for how the human microbiome responds to environmental chemicals or how it modifies, mitigates, or aggravates such exposures.

So far, he said, "the microbiome has not been considered, by itself, a potential component of variation and response to chemical exposures."

The research agenda set out by the report could change that, said Thrall, with PNNL well poised to play an important role. He cited the Lab's strengths in chemical biology, microbiome function, chemical exposure, and multiomics and health.

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Pacific Northwest National Laboratory draws on its distinguishing strengths in chemistry, Earth sciences, biology and data science to advance scientific knowledge and address challenges in sustainable energy and national security. Founded in 1965, PNNL is operated by Battelle for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, which is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. DOE’s Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit https://energy.gov/science. For more information on PNNL, visit PNNL's News Center. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.