Human health risk assessment methods have advanced in recent years to more accurately estimate risks associated with exposure during childhood. However, predicting risks related to infant exposures to environmental chemicals in breast milk and formula remains challenging.

Pollution is the largest environmental cause of disease and premature death in the world today. Diseases caused by pollution were responsible for an estimated 9 million premature deaths in 2015—16% of all deaths worldwide— three times more deaths than from AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined and 15 times more than from all wars and other forms of violence. In the most severely affected countries, pollution-related disease is responsible for more than one death in four.

Most studies on breastfeeding over the past few decades have focused on the advantages of breastfeeding and how to get more women to breastfeed their babies. Relatively few women worldwide meet the World Health Organization’s recommendation that infants breastfeed exclusively for the first 6 months of life, with continued breastfeeding combined with appropriate foods thereafter for 2 years or more—even those who intend to do so at the outset.

Persistent environmental pollutants may represent a modifiable risk factor involved in the gene-time-environment hypothesis in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The objective of the study was to evaluate the association of occupational exposures and environmental toxins on the odds of developing ALS in Michigan.

Exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) is known to increase risk of diabetes. The objective of the study was to determine which POPs are most associated with prevalence of diabetes in 601 Akwesasne Native Americans.

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