Review of developmental origins of health and disease publications in environmental epidemiology

Abstract

The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) scientific field investigates the influence of early life environmental stressors on later life health outcomes. Environmental chemical exposures are a particular focus area within this field. Although the DOHaD hypothesis originated in the 1990s, the data evaluating this hypothesis in environmental epidemiology has not been comprehensively summarized. We conducted a scoping literature review to describe the human evidence for the DOHaD hypothesis and to identify, 1) where there may be reasonable data to draw conclusions, and 2) areas warranting further research. Using PubMed and Web of Science we identified 425 publications through 2014 that met our criteria for evaluating the DOHaD hypothesis in environmental epidemiology. These publications covered 60 different chemicals. The majority of publications focused on neurological/cognitive outcomes, followed by cancer, and respiratory outcomes. We note areas ready for more detailed review, those requiring more data and ideas for future directions.

Keywords: Birth cohorts; Developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD); Early life exposures; Endocrine disruptors; Environmental exposures; Epidemiology.