The Early Life Exposures in Mexico to ENvironmental Toxicants (ELEMENT) Project

Abstract

ELEMENT (Early Life Exposures in Mexico to ENvironmental Toxicants) study was founded in 1994 as a collaboration between Harvard University and the National Institute of Public Health (INSP) in Mexico. ELEMENT is now administered by researchers at the University of Michigan (Karen Peterson) where the biorepository and database reside; fieldwork is conducted by investigators at the INSP (Martha M Téllez-Rojo), and investigators are housed at Michigan, Washington, Indiana, Toronto, York Universities and INSP. Funding from US and Mexico sources has supported data collection efforts over a 26-year period, demonstrating sustained research excellence and productivity. ELEMENT is an award-winning, 26-year longitudinal study comprising 3 epidemiologic birth cohorts sequentially-enrolled over a 10-year period in Mexico City. The original goal was to investigate the influence of lead exposure on fetal and infant development. Through subsequent research, repeat exposures to metal mixtures, fluoride, phenols and phthalates have been characterized as well as cognition, behavior, sexual maturation, dental health, cardio metabolic and obesity-related outcomes, including metabolomics. ELEMENT is an international collaboration with a demonstrated long-term commitment for research excellence; it has provided the basis for many spin-off studies including an ethnographic component, has created a structure for training >50 researchers, and has informed US and international policy guidelines regarding environmental health. The rigorous design of ELEMENT, its follow-up rates, and the multidisciplinary expertise of our team have allowed us to generate more than 100 publications in the international scientific literature.