Environmental Toxicants and Cardiovascular Health Trajectories Across Childhood and Adolescence
- National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute
Project Summary
This project leverages extant data from an ongoing, highly engaged pre-birth cohort in eastern Massachusetts (Project Viva) to examine the extent to which environmental exposures in early life influence cardiovascular health across development, as well as identify novel metabolomic signatures underlying decline or maintenance of cardiovascular health trajectories from childhood to adolescence.
Project Details
Early-life exposure to environmental toxicants such as toxic metals, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, and air pollution may be key risk factors for adverse cardiovascular conditions across the life span and accelerate cardiovascular health decline, yet their impact on cardiovascular health trajectories in children remains poorly understood. This study leverages longitudinal data from Project Viva to examine how prenatal and postnatal exposure to environmental toxicants influence cardiovascular health from childhood to adolescence and to identify metabolomic signatures underlying cardiovascular health decline. Findings will advance NHLBI’s strategic priority of primordial prevention by informing early-life interventions and molecular targets to promote life-long cardiovascular health.