Environmental Exposure and Health

Humans are exposed to a plethora of environmental parameters all the time, all their lives. Examples include the quality of the air we breathe and the water we drink.

In the research group “Environmental Exposure and Health”, we explore how the environment affects our health. We model environmental exposures for the entire population, often with big data from monitoring programs and Geographical Information Systems (GIS), to estimate individuals’ lifetime exposures by linking our data with their residential history.

Using the nationwide renowned Danish health registers, we can carry out large epidemiological studies on the health effects of environmental exposures, including gene environment interactions. Examples of exposures include air pollution and nitrate in drinking water and their effects on health outcomes like NCDs, negative birth outcomes and infections.

Research areas

Our research projects cover the following topics, among others:

Air pollution and family related determinants of NCDs in the population
Nitrate in drinking water and risk of NCDs in the population
Nitrate in drinking water and risk of birth defects, and psychiatric diseases

Recent publications

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Silva, V., Alaoui, A., Schlünssen, V., Vested, A., Graumans, M., van Dael, M., Trevisan, M., Suciu, N., Mol, H., Beekmann, K., Figueiredo, D., Harkes, P., Hofman, J., Kandeler, E., Abrantes, N., Campos, I., Martínez, M. Á., Pereira, J. L., Goossens, D. ... Scheepers, P. T. J. (2021). Collection of human and environmental data on pesticide use in Europe and Argentina: Field study protocol for the SPRINT project. PLOS ONE, 16(11 ), Article e0259748. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0259748

Mikkelsen, S., Dinh, K. M., Boldsen, J. K., Pedersen, O. B., Holst, G. J., Petersen, M. S., Kaspersen, K. A., Møller, B. K., Nielsen, K. R., Paarup, H. M., Rostgaard, K., Hjalgrim, H., Sørensen, E., Handgaard, L. J., Hansen, T. F., Banasik, K., Burgdorf, K. S., Ullum, H., Sigsgaard, T. & Erikstrup, C. (2021). Combinations of self-reported rhinitis, conjunctivitis, and asthma predicts IgE sensitization in more than 25,000 Danes. Clinical and Translational Allergy, 11(1), Article e12013. https://doi.org/10.1002/clt2.12013

Adhikari, T. B., Neupane, D., Karki, A., Drews, A., Cooper, B., Högman, M., Sigsgaard, T. & Kallestrup, P. (2021). Community-based intervention for prevention and management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Nepal (COBIN-P trial): study protocol for a cluster-randomized controlled trial. Trials, 22, Article 474. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-021-05447-7

Lin, Y., Jiang, F., Zhao, J., Zhu, G., He, X., Ma, X., Li, S., Sabel, C. E. & Wang, H. (2021). Corrigendum to “Impacts of O₃ on premature mortality and crop yield loss across China”. Atmospheric Environment, 254, Article 118434. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2021.118434

Lytras, T., Beckmeyer-Borowko, A., Kogevinas, M., Kromhout, H., Carsin, A.-E., Antó, J. M., Bentouhami, H., Weyler, J., Heinrich, J., Nowak, D., Urrutia, I., Martínez-Moratalla, J., Gullón, J. A., Pereira Vega, A., Raherison Semjen, C., Pin, I., Demoly, P., Leynaert, B., Villani, S. ... Zock, J.-P. (2021). Cumulative Occupational Exposures and Lung Function Decline in Two Large General Population Cohorts. Annals of the American Thoracic Society, 18(2), 238–246. https://doi.org/10.1513/AnnalsATS.202002-113OC