Impact of environmental chemicals on lung development

Disruption of fundamental biologic processes and associated signaling events may result in clinically significant alterations in lung development.

Conclusions: Assessment of environmental chemical impacts on the lung requires studies that evaluate specific alterations in structure or function-end points not regularly assessed in standard toxicity tests. Identifying effects on important signaling events may inform protocols of developmental toxicology studies. Such knowledge may enable policies promoting true primary prevention of lung diseases. Evidence of relevant signaling disruption in the absence of adequate developmental toxicology data should influence the size of the uncertainty factors used in risk assessments.

Authors

Mark Miller, MD, MPH Region 9 WSPEHSU Director Emeritus, UCSF