Mar 25 2019
A research presented on March 25th at ENDO 2019, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in New Orleans, LA, revealed that endocrine-disrupting chemicals found in household dust increase the fat cell development in a cell model and could potentially lead to high obesity in children with respect to their age.
This is some of the first research investigating links between exposure to chemical mixtures present in the indoor environment and metabolic health of children living in those homes.
Christopher Kassotis, PhD, Lead Researcher, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University.
Previously, studies have shown that exposure to chemicals could lead to the accumulation of triglycerides—a kind of fat present in the blood—and high obesity in animal models. A number of experimental studies have discovered a relationship between exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals that contribute to increased weight and obesity in individuals.
Kassotis and coworkers, in their study, examined the impact of chemical mixtures emitted from household dust. They collected 194 samples of household dust from households in central North Carolina and then extracted the chemicals from the dust in the laboratory. These extracts were analyzed to determine their potential to advance fat cell development in a cell model.
They discovered that dust extracts at extremely low concentrations had the potential to increase fat cell development and precursor fat cell accumulation. As reported by the EPA, it is predicted that children consume 60–100 mg of dust every day.
We found that two-thirds of dust extracts were able to promote fat cell development and half promote precursor fat cell proliferation at 100 micrograms, or approximately 1,000 times lower levels than what children consume on a daily basis.
Christopher Kassotis, PhD, Lead Researcher, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University.
Later, the scientists estimated >100 different chemicals in the dust and found a relationship between their concentrations and the degree of fat cell development. They found that about 70 chemicals showed a significant positive link with the dust-induced fat cell development and about 40 with precursor fat cell development.
According to Kassotis, “This suggests that mixtures of chemicals occurring in the indoor environment might be driving these effects.”
The scientists discovered that many chemicals were markedly increased in the dust of homes where children were obese or overweight. The researchers continue to investigate these chemicals—a few of them present in common household products like household cleaners, laundry detergents, cosmetics, and paints—to determine which in particular is related to obesity.