Maternal Exposure to Environmental Contaminants Can Impact Multiple Generations

Professor Andrew Whitehead and his students in the ETOX department are uncovering how brief maternal exposure to crude oil and flame retardants can shape biological outcomes in future generations. Fish exposed to Deepwater Horizon oil exhibited altered neural, cardiac, and skeletal traits in first- and second-generation offspring; in other words, exposure in one generation led to measurable changes in brain, heart, and skeletal development in their descendants. Exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) altered behavior and brain molecular function in fish born to exposed parents, even when raised in clean conditions. The findings, published in Environmental Science & Technology, highlight that short toxic exposures can influence health long after the initial contact and across generations, informing broader environmental risk assessment.