Individuals are rarely affected by single chemical agents in isolation. Over the past ten years, there has been a major expansion of statistical approaches to assess environmental and chemical pollutant (ECP) mixtures. However, the preponderance of current research that focuses on the health effects of mixture exposures only addresses one pollutant domain at a time (e.g., criteria air pollutants, metals, or polychlorinated biphenyls). Few studies have implemented multidomain approaches to understand if multiple chemical classes are jointly or individually associated with specific health endpoints.

We can measure each of the distinct exposure domains, but there is a gap in understanding if there is a biomarker of effects that can be used as an indicator of the body burden experienced by multiple ECPs. Our proposal seeks to explore the utility of urinary prostaglandins (PGs) as markers of adverse health effects from multiple environmental stressors.

This work builds on our agricultural community cohort in California’s Central Valley that we have conducted in partnership with the Central California Environmental Justice Network (CCEJN) since 2018. Our previous work in this agricultural region has demonstrated that community residents are greatly concerned with their exposures to numerous adverse environmental and chemical pollutants, particularly air pollution and pesticides. Participants in this current study will include residents of two agricultural communities in Central California: Cantua Creek and Terra Bella. Both communities have known exposures to ambient air pollution and agricultural pesticides. Terra Bella is a new community for our research team that was identified by our local partner, CCEJN, due to concerns about multiple exposures from a nearby pistachio packing facility, diesel exposure, and agricultural pesticide exposure.