What is NIEHS Doing ?
NIEHS conducts and funds studies to understand the genetic and environmental contributions to lung disease development , and to identify new ways to prevent and treat lung disease in people .
Air pollution studies – Long-term exposure to air pollutants can affect lung development and increase the chance of developing asthma , emphysema , and other respiratory diseases . Results from the NIEHS-supported Harvard Six Cities Study , the largest available database on the health effects of outdoor and indoor air pollution , show a strong association between exposure to ozone , fine particles , and sulfur dioxide with an increase in breathing problems , reduced lung capacity , and risk of early death .
Lung-on-a-chip – NIEHS supported development of a three-dimensional model of a breathing human lung on a microchip . 3 This model tests the effects of environmental exposures , as well as the safety of new drugs .
Genetics and lung function – By analyzing data from studies around the world , NIEHS researchers and their collaborators identified more than 50 genetic changes that affect the risk of pulmonary disorders in people of European , African , Asian , and Hispanic descent . 4 Several of these changes could affect how some drugs are developed to treat lung function problems .
Risk of respiratory disease – Mutations in a gene called macrophage receptor with collagenous structure , or MARCO , contributed to the severity of respiratory syncytial virus ( RSV ) disease in infants . 5 The findings may help identify people who have a greater chance of developing severe RSV infection and provide treatments to prevent disease .
Hexavalent chromium and lung changes – Drinking water contaminated with hexavalent chromium , an industrial chemical , can lead to genetic changes in human lung cells . These changes included permanent alterations in DNA molecules that carry genetic information , known as chromosomes , as well as problems in DNA repair . 6
Air pollution and COPD – Breathing air pollution can lead to COPD , as shown by a NIEHS-funded study that found diesel exhaust particles , a major source of air pollution , dampened the activity of genes involved stress response in the lung . 7
Lung cancer treatment – Non−small-cell lung cancer is often resistant to chemotherapy . Related to this type of cancer , NIEHS researchers found that silencing a gene called