A few of my colleagues in the University of Michigan Environmental Health Sciences Department have just published an interesting paper linking lead exposure to obesity in mice (Faulk et al. Perinatal Lead (Pb) Exposure Results in Sex-Specific Effects on Food Intake, Fat, Weight, and Insulin Response across the Murine Life-Course PLOS One. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0104273).
While the study just considers mice, it shows that the male offspring of mothers that drank water laced with lead before, during and just after pregnancy, were measurably more obese than their lead-free peers later in life. Interestingly, the same effect was not seen in the female offspring.
The research builds on the idea that exposures and conditions experienced early in life – even when developing in the womb – can have long term health impacts (the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease hypothesis, or DOHaD). In this particular instance, there’s more research needed to explore why lead exposure has this effect on mice and what this means for humans. Yet the current research indicates that the health impacts of early development exposure to lead may be greater than previously thought – including the effects on children whose mothers were exposed to the metal.
Interestingly, the Risk Science Center released a report on the economic impacts of lead exposure and Michigan a few weeks ago (although it’s relevant to a much broader geographical region). Focused specifically on the state of Michigan, it indicates that up-front investment in lead remediation can lead to substantial economic returns in the long term.
If the current research leads to a conformed link between lead exposure and obesity in humans, it’s likely that these returns will be even greater.
Paper: Faulk et al. (2014) “Perinatal Lead (Pb) Exposure Results in Sex-Specific Effects on Food Intake, Fat, Weight, and Insulin Response across the Murine Life-Course” PLOS One Published August 8 2014. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0104273
University of Michigan press release