Environmental Health Sciences Research Center

University of Iowa College of Public Health

You are here: Home / Archives for Published Papers

EHSRC Associate Member Snehajyoti Chatterjee leads a PCB study published in Nature

By

Dr. Snehajyoti Chatterjee
Dr. Snehajyoti Chatterjee

EHSRC Associate Member Snehajyoti Chatterjee, an Assistant Professor of Neuroscience and Pharmacology, led a study using spatial transcriptomic profiling to uncover the effects of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) on gene expression related to spatial memory, a relevant factor in cognitive decline. The study, recently published in Molecular Psychiatry, a journal published by the Nature Publishing Group, found that mice exposed to PCBs exhibited deficits in long-term spatial memory.

To examine the molecular effects of PCB on the brain, the team used a spatial transcriptomics technique to analyze gene expression changes in five brain regions: the hippocampus, neocortex, thalamus, caudal putamen, and fiber tracts. Their analysis of spatial gene expression revealed the molecular signatures influenced by PCB in these susceptible brain regions of mice. Network analysis suggested that these changes are associated with higher chlorinated PCBs present in the brain. Additionally, the team showed that PCB exposure disrupts the expression of tight junction proteins, which are crucial for maintaining the integrity of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Thus, the study results offer mechanistic insights into how PCB exposure affects brain function and cognition.

 

Long-term spatial memory assessment of wild-type mice exposed to the HR-PCB mixture.
Long-term spatial memory assessment of wild-type mice exposed to the HR-PCB mixture.

Needs Assessment: Understanding environmental health issues to inform community engagement in the central Midwest

By

Jan. 2026- The Community Engagement Core has published a research paper in Discover Public Health.

View the paper here: Understanding environmental health issues to inform community engagement in the central Midwest (link to journal website).

PDF of article

Citation: McCabe, M.A., Curnick, J., Kuehn, T. et al. Understanding environmental health issues to inform community engagement in the central Midwest. Discov Public Health 23, 21 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12982-025-01323-w

 

Abstract

Context

This report shares the results of a novel environmental health needs assessment designed by the Environmental Health Sciences Research Center in collaboration with our community partners for the four-state region of Iowa (IA), Nebraska (NE), Missouri (MO), and Kansas (KS).

Objective

The goal of the needs assessment was to understand considerations about health and the environment among people living in the central Midwest states of Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri, including their concerns, what they see as solutions, and what and how populations are vulnerable. These findings will inform future community engagement by the Environmental Health Sciences Research Center at the University of Iowa to improve environmental health.

Design

The assessment used a mixed-methods approach which included an online survey that collected quantitative and qualitative data and three focus groups with young adults, older rural adults, and immigrant and communities of color in eastern Iowa.

Setting

University of Iowa Environmental Health Sciences Research Center in collaboration with our community partners for the four-state region of Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri and focus groups in eastern Iowa.

Participants

Over 400 participants from four states.

Main outcome measure(s)

Describing residents’ perceptions of the connections between environment and health in the 4-state area and identifying notable differences between rural, urban, and suburban populations.

Result

Top issues of concern were water quality, outdoor air quality, climate change, chemical contaminants, and natural disasters. Respondents identified better policies, access to medical services, and financial resources as key components of reducing personal risk to environmental health issues. The focus group sessions highlighted concerns about housing, social capital, and the need for trusted sources of information.

Conclusions

These data suggest a holistic approach to environmental health topics, interest in policy interventions in rural communities, and potential for engagement with clinicians.

 

New Environmental Exposures and Health Fact Sheets

By

PFAS and TCE are the two newest fact sheets that have been released by the EHSRC. These resources cover different environmental contaminants and how they affect health (cancer and non-cancer health risks) and what people can do to protect themselves. View all of the fact sheets here on our resources page. The full packet is available as well as each individual contaminant (Arsenic, Atrazine, Glyphosate, Nitrate, PFAS, Radon, and TCE).

 

Environmental Exposures and Health Risks Fact Sheets

By

The Environmental Exposures and Health Risks fact sheets were created by the Environmental Health Sciences Research Center at the University of Iowa. These fact sheets have been made in response to concerns from community members about the connections between environmental contaminants and health outcomes such as cancer and other diseases. The packet contains information about arsenic, nitrate and radon. You can download them as a whole packet complete with an introduction, or as individual fact sheets.  The EHSRC will release a few more fact sheets about other common contaminants in the coming months.

View them here https://ehsrc.public-health.uiowa.edu/communityengagement/resources-information/

 

EHSRC members discuss important issues in The Conversation

By

Check out these important articles featured on the site The Conversation!

“North America’s summer of wildfire smoke: 2023 was only the beginning” by  Dr. Charles Stanier, Dr. Gregory Carmichael, and Dr. Peter Thorne

 

Commuters waiting for a train on a train platform wear masks to protect their lungs from haze from a nearby wildfire

“Chlorine is a highly useful chemical that’s also extremely dangerous- here’s what to know about staying safe around it” – Dr. Aliasger K Salem 

 

People waiting for a morning train wear masks to protect themselves from wildfire smoke

Community Engagement Core publishes paper about science cafe knowledge transfer

By

Dr. Brandi Janssen and Jackie Curnick have published a project report in the Science Education & Civic Engagement International Journal. The paper titled, “Evaluating Knowledge Transfer after a Science Cafe: A Qualitative Approach for Rural Settings,” was included in the Winter 2022 edition of the journal.

View the article pdf by clicking the image below

Evaluating Knowledge Transfer after a Science Cafe

Dr. Mangalam’s work featured as a NIEHS Paper of the Month

By

A recent publication by EHSRC member Dr. Ashutosh Mangalam’s group was featured as an E-Factor Paper of the Month NIEHS Environmental Factor Newsletter as a Paper of the Month! The E-Factor Papers of the Month highlight the highest impact and most innovative research funded by NIEHS. Congratulations to the authors!

Citation: Jensen SN, Cady NM, Shahi SK, Peterson SR, Gupta A, Gibson-Corley KN, Mangalam AK. 2021. Isoflavone diet ameliorates experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis through modulation of gut bacteria depleted in patients with multiple sclerosis. Sci Adv 7(28):eabd4595.

As written in Environmental Factor Newsletter:

Combination of a plant-based diet and specific gut microbes may protect against multiple sclerosis

A new NIEHS-funded study in mice showed that a diet rich in the plant-based compound isoflavone may protect against multiple sclerosis (MS). The isoflavone diet was only protective when the mice had gut microbes capable of breaking down isoflavones. MS is a disease in which the immune system attacks nerves in the brain and spinal cord, resulting in muscle weakness and loss of balance or coordination.

The researchers fed mice with MS characteristics an isoflavone-rich or isoflavone-free diet for six weeks. They measured levels of inflammatory cells in the brain and spinal cord, a hallmark of MS, and characterized the makeup of the gut microbiome.

Mice fed an isoflavone-free diet had more severe disease, with greater numbers of inflammatory cells in the brain and spinal cord, than mice fed isoflavone-rich diets. Isoflavone-free mice lacked isoflavone-metabolizing gut bacteria, which were abundant in mice fed the plant-based compounds. When the researchers fed mice isoflavones but removed isoflavone-metabolizing bacteria, the diet no longer protected against MS-like symptoms. When the bacteria were restored, the protective effect of the isoflavone diet returned. Furthermore, the researchers showed that isoflavone-free mice given equol, a metabolite produced when gut bacteria breakdown isoflavone, were also protected against MS.

Results suggest that the development and severity of MS is influenced by both diet and the makeup of the gut microbiome. According to the authors, results can inform therapies for patients with MS.

New framework helps researchers return results to participants

By

Dr. Brandi Janssen, Director of the EHSRC Community Engagement Core, collaborated with colleagues at Emory, University of North Carolina, and University of New Mexico to publish a paper about reporting back to communities. It was featured as a paper of the month on the NIEHS Environmental Factor newsletter.  See write up below:

NIEHS grantees developed a framework and set of recommendations to help environmental health researchers return research results to study participants, a process called result report-back. According to the authors, report-back has the potential to improve environmental health education and communication and overall public health. Despite strong recommendations for report-back, researchers share results with study participants infrequently and inconsistently, the authors said.

To create the framework, the researchers used feedback from 35 community engagement practitioners who participated in a workshop at the 2018 NIEHS Partnerships for Environmental Public Health Annual Meeting. Workshop attendees responded to the prompt: “What are some specific issues that are relevant to reporting back research results to individuals or the larger community?” Participants then grouped similar responses and rated groups by importance to successful result report-back. The researchers used qualitative and quantitative methods to create a framework, called a concept map, to visualize relationships between responses.

Five themes emerged from this process. Listed from most to least important, the themes were: effective communication strategies, community knowledge and concerns, uncertainty, empowering action, and institutional review and oversight. Engaging community partners in the process of result report-back emerged as a unifying global theme. The researchers further examined responses and made recommendations to address challenges within and across themes.

Environmental health researchers and practitioners should address these five specific themes when planning and implementing their result report-back activities, say the authors.

Citation: Lebow-Skelley E, Yelton S, Janssen B, Erdei E, Pearson MA. 2020. Identifying issues and priorities in reporting back environmental health data. Int J Environ Res Public Health 17(18):6742.

Paper: Inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 and Diverse RNA and DNA Viruses on 3D Printed Surgical Mask Materials

By

Researchers for the Pulmonary Toxicology Facility and the Exposure Science Facility contributed to a paper in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology entitled, “Inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 and Diverse RNA and DNA Viruses on 3D Printed Surgical Mask Materials”.

View the paper here:

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/infection-control-and-hospital-epidemiology/article/inactivation-of-sarscov2-and-diverse-rna-and-dna-viruses-on-3d-printed-surgical-mask-materials/6A2318DF87290A7D0801E2AE70E51D83

EHSRC Member publishes study about potential link between cardiovascular death and pesticides

By

Article by Tom Snee, University of Iowa published here

A new study from the University of Iowa suggests that people who have higher levels of a chemical in their body that indicates exposure to commonly used insecticides die of cardiovascular disease at a significantly higher rate.

Findings from the study, published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, suggest those who have high levels of exposure to pyrethroid insecticides are three times more likely to die of cardiovascular disease than people with low or no exposure.

Wei Bao, assistant professor of epidemiology in the University of Iowa College of Public Health and the study’s corresponding author, says the findings come from an analysis of a nationally representative sample of American adults, not just those who work in agriculture. That means the findings have public health relevance to the general population.

He also cautions that as an observational study, the research does not determine if the people in the sample died as a direct result of their exposure to pyrethroids. He says that the results indicate a high likelihood of a link, but more research is needed to replicate the findings and determine the biological mechanisms.

Pyrethroids are among the list of commonly used insecticides with the largest market share and they constitute the majority of commercial household insecticides. They are found in numerous commercial insecticide brands and are used widely in agricultural, public, and residential settings for pest control. Metabolites of pyrethroids, such as 3-phenoxybenzoic acid, can be measured in the urine of people who are exposed to pyrethroids.

Bao and his team of researchers analyzed data on 3-phenoxybenzoic acid levels in urine samples collected from 2,116 adults aged 20 and over who participated in the United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 1999 and 2002. They cross-referenced mortality records to determine how many of those adults in their data sample had died by 2015 and of what cause.

They found that during an average 14 years of observation, those people who had the highest levels of 3-phenoxybenzoic acid in their urine samples were 56% more likely to have died of any cause by 2015 than people with the lowest levels of exposure. Cardiovascular disease was by far the leading cause of death, with a three times greater likelihood.

While Bao’s study did not determine how the subjects became exposed to pyrethroids, he says previous studies show that most exposure to pyrethroids is through food, as people who eat fruits and vegetables that have been sprayed with them ingest the chemical. Residential use of pyrethroids in gardens and homes for pest-control is also a significant source of exposure. Pyrethroids are also present in household dust in homes that apply these pesticides.

Bao notes that the market share of pyrethroid insecticides has increased since the 1999–2002 study period, which makes it likely the rate of cardiovascular disease-related deaths related to its exposure has increased, as well. However, Bao says, further investigation is needed to assess whether this hypothesis holds.

The paper, “Association Between Exposure to Pyrethroid Insecticides and Risk of All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality in the General US Adult Population,” was co-authored by Buyun Liu and Hans-Joachim Lehmler in the UI College of Public Health and Derek Simonsen, a UI graduate student in human toxicology. It was published in the Dec. 30, 2019, issue of JAMA Internal Medicine.

2019 Iowa Climate Statement Released

By

Members of the EHSRC, along with partners from around the state, have released the 2019 Iowa Climate Change Statement, focusing on extreme heat and heatwaves.

View the statement document here 

View all of the Iowa Climate Change Statements from previous years here

Dr. Thorne and Dr. Schnoor at a press conference about Iowa Climate Change Statement
Dr. Peter Thorne (left) and Dr. Jerald Schnoor discuss the Iowa Climate Statement 2019 at a news conference Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2019, in Cedar Rapids. (Photo by James Q. Lynch/Gazette Des Moines Bureau)

 

Press Coverage of the Statement

Cedar Rapids Gazette- Iowa scientists, educators warn time running out to combat climate change

Radio Iowa- https://www.radioiowa.com/2019/09/18/iowa-climate-statement-dangerous-heat-events-will-be-more-frequent-and-severe/

KCRG TV- https://www.kcrg.com/content/news/Iowa-scientists-warn-about-extreme-heat-more-severe-weather-in-coming-decades-560741611.html

Des Moines Register, written by EHSRC Member Dr. Jerry Schnoor –

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/2019/09/16/we-must-act-quickly-minimize-damage-climate-emergency/2346043001/

Quad City Times- https://qctimes.com/muscatine/news/local/iowa-scientists-educators-warn-time-running-out-to-combat-climate/article_22905bd6-5f5b-5b5e-b63e-773eb6c02c9a.html