Contents
Introduction
Environmental exposures—ranging from air pollution and microplastics to chemical contaminants—are increasingly being recognized as critical determinants of health. However, traditional methods of risk assessment often fall short in capturing the complexity, multiplicity, and life-course impact of these exposures. The emerging field of Exposomics, which aims to map the totality of human environmental exposures (the exposome), is poised to fill this crucial gap by integrating chemical, biological, and social exposures with physiological and genetic factors.
Why Exposomics Matters for Public Health in India
India accounts for nearly 25% of the global environmental disease burden, with environmental and occupational risk factors contributing to over three million deaths annually. However, current disease prevention strategies in India are siloed, with limited scope for complex interactions among pollutants, genetics, and lifestyles. Exposomics offers a transformative approach by:
- Enabling Precision Public Health:: By identifying exposure-wide associations (EWAS), similar to genome-wide association studies (GWAS), exposomics can help predict individual and population-level disease risk with higher accuracy. This is especially vital for non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which account for over 60% of all deaths in India.
- Capturing Complex, Life-Course Exposures: Unlike traditional environmental health models that focus on singular pollutants, exposomics evaluates cumulative, chronic, and combined exposures, including air and water pollution, chemical contaminants, dietary intake, psychosocial stress, and more—factors increasingly prevalent in India’s urbanized, industrialized environment.
- Integrating Climate-Health Linkages: With climate change exacerbating environmental risks such as heatwaves, floods, and vector-borne diseases, exposomics provides a structured framework to assess their compound and synergistic effects on vulnerable populations.
Policy and Scientific Potential
- Evidence-Based Environmental Regulation: Current frameworks like the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) project include only 11 environmental risk categories, excluding hazards like microplastics, noise pollution, and complex chemical mixtures. Exposomics can expand this evidence base, allowing targeted interventions.
- Real-Time Monitoring and Early Warning Systems: Integration of wearable sensors, AI-based analytics, and biomonitoring allows for real-time exposure mapping. Platforms like Organs-on-a-chip simulate organ responses to toxins and can refine regulatory thresholds.
- Boosting India’s Digital Health Ecosystem: Exposomics aligns with India’s Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission and offers synergies with existing epidemiological databases, expanding the reach of precision health interventions.
Challenges and the Way Forward
- Lack of Infrastructure: Limited capacity in exposure analytics, biomonitoring, and computational biology hinders large-scale implementation.
- Data Silos: Fragmented environmental and health data systems need to be harmonized into interoperable, open-access repositories.
- Resource Constraints: Funding and trained workforce for exposomics research are currently inadequate.
Recommendations:
- Establish a National Exposome Mission under the Department of Science and Technology or ICMR.
- Promote public-private-academic partnerships for technology development.
- Integrate exposomic tools in programs like National Health Mission and NCAP (National Clean Air Programme).
Conclusion
Exposomics represents a paradigm shift in understanding the intricate interplay between the environment and human health. By moving beyond reductionist approaches and embracing life-course, multi-exposure models, India can pioneer data-driven, equitable, and sustainable health and environmental governance. As India prepares for future public health challenges, exposomics could well become the cornerstone of a preventive, precision-oriented, and planetary health strategy.
