Toxicology of Biological Communication: Lessons from Endocrine Disruptors and the Exposome

Communication is vital for biological systems. This book covers how environmental stressors can disrupt these communications leading to adverse outcomes and goes beyond endocrine disruption. Since the endocrine system is primarily a communication system, endocrine disruption is the clearest example of communication toxicology. However, other physiological systems rely heavily on communication and therefore its disruption by toxicants can have considerable impacts. This is illustrated with the effects of toxicants on the nervous and the immune system. The exposome concept has considerably changed the field of toxicology as it tends to integrate different exposures and highlights their interactions. This book discusses how it has also fueled the relevance of communication between different systems to better understand the mechanisms of toxicity. The dialogue between chemicals and the dietary imbalance as well as between chemicals and psycho-social stress is further discussed and integrated into the global communication disruption concept. This book is intended for researchers, scientists, students, NGO experts, and all interested citizens with some biological background.

Robert Barouki - Professor of Biochemistry, Université Paris Cité School of Medicine and head of the thematic institute of public health at Inserm. His research is focused on the impact of environmental contaminants on human health, in particular persistent organic pollutants and endocrine disruptors, and more generally on the links between the exposome and health. He has coordinated or been a partner in several EU projects focused on chemical risk assessment (PARC), exposome and health (Heals, Neurosome, IHEN), setting the research agenda in environment climate and health (HERA), (endocrine disruptor testing (Oberon), and building a European exposome infrastructure (EIRENE). He has also been involved in the networking of French and European research in the field of environment and health as well as in communicating scientific data to citizens.

Xavier Coumoul - Professor of Toxicology and Biochemistry, Université Paris Cité, characterizes the modes of action of environmental contaminants. He heads the Inserm HealthFex research unit and belongs to the METATOX research team, which focuses on various pathologies including metastatic cancer, chronic liver diseases and neurodevelopmental diseases. He has authored over a hundred peer-reviewed articles in the field of cellular and molecular toxicology. He is also an expert on environmental health for the university and INSERM, having taken part in two national expert reports on pesticides, and has appeared in numerous media. He has also held positions of responsibility at the university (board of directors and vice-president), including as cohead of the toxicology-ecotoxicology master program.

Etienne Blanc - Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Toxicology, Université Paris Cité, belongs to the Inserm HealthFex research unit and co-heads the METATOX research team which focuses on the impact of exposure to environmental pollutants on the development of various pathologies (cancer, chronic liver diseases, neurodevelopmental diseases, immunosuppression). His work deals with the study of the mode of action of pollutants, in particular endocrine disruptors, in the metabolic diseases and immune system disruption. He is part of French and European projects in the toxicology field and responsible for a cursus in the Master’s degree program toxicology-ecotoxicology.