Back to Annual Meeting

Back to Annual Meeting

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Meghan T. Lynch, MPH and Wendy J. Heiger-Bernays, PhD. School of Public Health, Boston University, Department of Environmental Health, 715 Albany Street, Boston, MA 02118, 617 638 4620, megkeaney@yahoo.com

Cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP 2E1), is one of several enzymes involved in the biotransformation of pharmaceuticals and environmental toxicants. There is a growing body of literature showing that the activity of this enzyme is induced in obesity and diabetes, and with alcohol consumption. The USEPA develops reference doses (RfDs) with safety factors built in (a factor of 10) intended to protect sensitive subpopulations from effects of environmental contaminants.

Diabetes and obesity are both on the rise in the US at current rates of 30% and 6.6 % of the adult population, respectively. An additional 5-6% of the population is classified as suffering from alcoholism or problem drinking. These metabolic conditions are not explicitly taken into account when the RfD is developed. We wanted to know whether the current default safety factor is sufficient to protect these subpopulations. Using the International Programme on Chemical Safety guidelines to incorporate information from the pharmaceutical literature, preliminary analysis shows that the RfD may not be protective in all cases, leading to environmental justice issues, considering the growing number of minority individuals suffering from obesity and diabetes.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the default approach to development of reference doses (RfDs)
• Discuss the public health impact of induction of CYP p450 2E1 in diabetic and obese individuals
• Identify the impact of modification of the RfD due to human variability and the need to protect the diabetic and obese populations

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered