First, a quick note about how pollution and free radicals are linked. Ever since the Industrial Revolution, the amount of pollution has been growing in the atmosphere. Lots of these pollutants—like smog, cigarette smoke, metal ions, radiation, and even the chemicals in your household cleaners—generate free radicals that exist in the atmosphere alongside the polluted air.

Related: 11 Dermatologists Share Their Best Advice For Gorgeous Skin. The free radicals in the air are on the hunt for other electrons to reach a more stable state, so they snatch them from other atoms—like the ones in human cells.

Your body is also naturally prepared to take on pollution with antioxidants that you get from your diet. Antioxidants like vitamins A, C, and E protect your cells by offering up electrons to satisfy free radicals' needs.

Foods like blueberries, green tea, and walnuts can provide your skin with the necessary antioxidants to fight off the aging effects of pollution internally. You can also add antioxidants to your beauty routine to prevent damage from environmental stressors.

Exfoliating helps remove the pollution particles from your skin and an antioxidant serum creates a layer of protection against pollution. Related: 11 Bad Beauty Habits to Break ASAP.

There are a lot serums on the market that are packed with antioxidants like vitamin A, C, and E. Shamban also recommends using retinoid creams to prevent damage. I would say layer it underneath a sunscreen or use a sunscreen that already has antioxidants built in.

Unlike sun damage where you get a tan, there's no immediate sign you've encountered environmental pollution. However the effects on your skin could appear later in life. Heard DE , Carpenter LJ , Creasey DJ et al. High levels of the hydroxyl radical in the winter urban troposphere.

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Search Menu. Article Navigation. Close mobile search navigation Article Navigation. Volume 6. Article Contents Abstract. GAS-PHASE OXIDATION AND NEW PARTICLE FORMATION. Journal Article.

Exploring atmospheric free-radical chemistry in China: the self-cleansing capacity and the formation of secondary air pollution. Keding Lu , Keding Lu. State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing , China.

Oxford Academic. Song Guo. Zhaofeng Tan. Haichao Wang. Dongjie Shang. Yuhan Liu. Xin Li. Zhijun Wu. Min Hu. Corresponding authors. E-mails: minhu pku. Yuanhang Zhang. CAS Center for Excellence in Regional Atmospheric Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen , China.

E-mails: yhzhang pku. Equally contributed to this work. Revision received:. PDF Split View Views. Select Format Select format. ris Mendeley, Papers, Zotero. enw EndNote. bibtex BibTex. txt Medlars, RefWorks Download citation.

Permissions Icon Permissions. Abstract Since , it has been known that the atmospheric free radicals play a pivotal role in maintaining the oxidizing power of the troposphere. atmospheric chemistry , free radicals , new particle formations , OH , NO 3.

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permissions oup. OH, but rather by an iron-oxygen complex. Regardless of the identity of the initiating species, transition metals are required for most of the deleterious reactions of oxygen. Superoxide and certain organic radicals have been found to release iron from ferritin.

Abstract Some chemicals that contaminate our environment exert their toxic effects by virtue of their ability to form free radicals. Publication types Review.

In the presence of transition metals, such as iron, O can be converted to other oxygen radical species, such as the hydroxyl radical. OH , an extremely powerful oxidant capable of cleaving DNA, oxidizing protein, and initiating lipid peroxidation.

Under many conditions, lipid peroxidation appears not to be initiated by. OH, but rather by an iron-oxygen complex.

They are unstable because they contain an uneven number of electrons, leaving something called an unpaired electron. This unpaired electron causes a reactive response in the atom or molecule, causing it to seek other molecules or atoms with unpaired electrons.

When molecules seek other molecules with unpaired electrons, it causes a series of chemical reactions, a process known as oxidation. The presence of molecules called antioxidants helps manage the chemical response because antioxidant molecules can spare an electron without destabilizing.

In fact — free radicals are necessary to ward off infection. When there are too few antioxidant molecules to balance the free radicals, however, oxidative stress occurs.

Oxidative stress can cause changes to your DNA, which can lead to inflammatory diseases, diabetes, hypertension, and even cancer. It is also a major factor in premature aging.

Free radical skin damage has numerous presentations. Dark spots, wrinkles, skin laxity, and fine lines are all common examples of free radical skin damage. We are exposed to free radicals from our environment, but we also create free radicals through normal cellular metabolic processes.

However, we can balance them by consuming antioxidants. Foods rich in antioxidants are among our greatest allies in the fight against free radical supremacy.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture USDA , the foods with the highest concentration of antioxidants include:. An antioxidant-rich diet can help reduce your risk of oxidative stress from exposure to environmental free radicals.

However, you can absorb antioxidants topically, too. Antioxidant-rich skin care products can help you fight oxidative stress and free radical damage in your skin.

Here are some of the most effective products for combatting environmental stressors. Your skincare routine starts with a cleanser.

E-cigarettes often contain nicotine, but many e-cigarette users also use cigarettes or other tobacco products, also making this marker not specific enough.

We have found that the free radicals produced by e-cigarettes are distinctly different chemically than those produced by conventional cigarettes. This relates back to the compounds found in the e-cigarette. This makes them a particularly distinct marker for exposure. Our lab has shown that heating is a crucial component in the production of these free radicals.

No heat, no free radicals. The number of free radicals produced by e-cigarettes also depends on the amount of propylene glycol and glycerin in the e-liquid.

Since flavor chemicals differ from e-cigarette to e-cigarette, our research is focused on the two components found in every e-cigarette — propylene glycol and glycerin. With further research, we hope to identify the structures of these free radicals produced by these two chemicals and identify what molecules they interact with in the lung when inhaled, allowing us to develop a marker of exposure dose.

By using free radicals as a potential marker of exposure, we may be able to identify new markers of exposure more quickly and understand the health impacts of new and emerging environmental pollutants better.

This can help us understand a given dose of that pollutant and better understand any negative health effects associated with that exposure. Zachary Bitzer is a faculty member in the Institute of Energy and the Environment and an assistant professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences in Penn State's College of Medicine.

His primary research interest is in environmental toxicology, including how toxins are produced, how they interact with human bodies, and novel biomarkers that could be developed to determine exposure levels.

The first, of which carbon tetrachloride CCl4 is the classic example, is the biotransformation of the chemical to a free radical species. Metabolism of CCl4 to the trichloromethyl radical by the hepatic mixed-function oxidase system results in the initiation of lipid peroxidation, protein-lipid cross linkages, and trichloromethyl adducts with DNA, protein, and lipid.

The second mechanism for forming free radicals involves their reduction to less stable free radical intermediates which are oxidized by molecular oxygen to give superoxide O In the presence of transition metals, such as iron, O can be converted to other oxygen radical species, such as the hydroxyl radical.

OH , an extremely powerful oxidant capable of cleaving DNA, oxidizing protein, and initiating lipid peroxidation. Under many conditions, lipid peroxidation appears not to be initiated by.

OH, but rather by an iron-oxygen complex. However, several reports have shown that the health of the ecosystem and that of the organisms therein particularly human health, may be safe guarded in the face of environmental pollution by mitigating oxidative stress as well as employing the principles of nutritional medicine essentially rooted on the antioxidant hypothesis Halliwell and Gutteridge, ; Nwobi et al.

This report therefore, attempts to draw the attention of the scientific community to the enormity of environmental pollution, attendant oxidative stress and the terrestrial and aquatic contribution as well as far reaching consequences for fauna, flora and human health.

These components will be examined in all perspectives in order to provide a total picture as well as emphasizing the need to treat them as inseparable and not in isolation.

Environmental pollution has been described as the slow and insidious process of destroying the earth by contaminating it with pollutants thereby, killing its ability to support life Vesilind et al.

Most environmental pollutants appear to be ubiquitous as well as have long-term persistence in the aquatic and terrestrial environments with a wide range of toxicities to the inhabiting organisms as well as diverse human health risks.

Increased environmental pollution has been linked substantially to increased industrialization Figure 1 , urbanization and developmental projects as well as various increased anthropogenic activities which involve the improper use, control, management and disposal of these pollutants and products that generate them Beckers and Rinklebe, ; Obeng-Gyasi, ; Raju, FIGURE 1.

The major concerns regarding environmental pollution are basically human health and welfare, the health of other aquatic and terrestrial organisms as well as the preservation of the ecosystem and nature in general.

According to Vesilind et al. On a personal level of detrimental health effect through contaminated water, air or food. Some of the common exposure sources of these pollutants and their health effects are listed in Table 1.

Environmental pollutants from various sources such as air, water and soil, have direct and indirect adverse impacts on aquatic and terrestrial environments as well as the inhabiting organisms.

The air pollutants after generating varying degrees of physiological alterations in humans, animals and birds, inadvertently settle on soil and water sources. The contaminated soil looses its fertility, texture and structure, which impacts negatively on plants as they absorb nutrients and water from this contaminated soil for their survival and this ultimately affects the food chain.

The soil is also made inhabitable for the organisms that naturally dwell in it Figure 2. Animals in a polluted environment are not spared from the toxic exposure as they graze on the polluted soil Figure 3. FIGURE 2. The Effect of Soil Pollution on the living Baruah, FIGURE 3.

Contaminants in the soil can also directly enter the human system through contact with the skin or inhalation of polluted soil or dust. In the same vain, water pollution has a negative impact on the viability and sustainability of water resources, as well as the proper growth and development of fish and other aquatic organisms, which are considered as important food sources Figure 4.

These all lead to a state of vicious cycle. Animals consume the contaminated fish and plants as well as drink the contaminated water leading to serious threat to their health and sustainability as well as disruption in the predator—prey interactions.

The pollutants continue to travel up the food chain until they get to humans who eat the food and experience deleterious effects on their health as well their behavior and productivity Chang et al. This was classically manifested in the well-known Minamata disease; an environmental epidemic in Minamata Bay, Japan, caused by methyl-mercury poisoning by residents who ate a considerable amount of fish contaminated with wastewater discharged from a chemical company Murata and Karita, FIGURE 4.

The deleterious effects of environmental pollution are not only on human health, rather on all living things Priyadarshanee et al. The reported forest decline in the United States and Europe for a number of tree species illustrates the effects of environmental disorder on living things other than humans Gawel et al.

Atmospheric pollutants from industrial sources such as oxidants and heavy metals could be at least partly responsible since their deposition patterns were correlated with forest decline Grill, Phytochelatins are oligomers of glutathione found in plants, fungi, nematodes and all kinds of algae including cyanobacteria, which serve as chelators and are thus, vital for heavy metal detoxification.

The concentrations of phytochelatins have been used to show that metals are indeed most likely to be a contributing factor in the decline of forests in the northern United States considering their role specific indicators of metal stress Grill et al.

Phytochelatin concentrations in red spruce, a species in decline are higher than that of balsam fir, a species, that is, not Gawel et al. Concentrations of phytochelatins increase with altitude, as does forest decline. They also increase across the region in forest stands that show increasing levels of tree damage.

The most likely explanation of all available data on the pattern of phytochelatins concentrations and the pattern in tree damage according to species elevation and geographic distribution, is that heavy metals are a contributing cause of forest decline in northern United States Madamanchi et al.

One of the stunning findings of the profound effects of environmental chemicals on the ecosystem about three decades ago, was the incompletely elucidated situation of endocrine disruptive substances.

Endocrine disruptive substances, whose concentrations are magnified through bioaccumulation, interfere with the synthesis, secretion, transport, binding and action or elimination of natural hormones such as reproductive hormones Sirohi et al.

Thus, they have their greatest impact on reproduction not only in humans but also in birds, animals and fish Patisaul, ; Robaire et al. More recent reports confirm these observations and clinical cases are becoming more evident Rahman et al. An intact physiological system is an important requirement for proper reproduction and development in humans, animals and even plants.

One of the key adverse effects of environmental pollution is alteration of reproductive physiology through a number of mechanisms including oxidative stress Ferrante et al. Reproductive organs are essential not only for the life of an organism but also for the survival and development of the species Massányi et al.

The response of reproductive organs to toxic substances differs from that of other target organs. It has been quite evident that our environment has been greatly polluted with resultant steadily increasing reproductive abnormalities such as infertility, decreased libido, low sperm counts as well as cancers of the reproductive tract Canipari et al.

Persistent environmental pollutants such as PCBs exert a variety of toxic effects in animals, including disturbances of sexual development and reproductive function He et al. Reports have shown that ovarian cells exposed to different concentrations of PAHs resulted in ovarian tumor growth and primary ovarian insufficiency Sumanasekera et al.

The effects of cadmium, lead, or mercury on the structure and function of reproductive organs have been reviewed in Massányi et al. The review indicated that the testis and ovary are particularly sensitive to cadmium, lead, and mercury because these organs are characterized by an intense cellular activity, where vital processes of spermatogenesis, oogenesis, and folliculogenesis occur Massányi et al.

In ovaries, manifestation of toxicity induced by cadmium, lead, or mercury includes decreased follicular growth, occurrence of follicular atresia, degeneration of the corpus luteum and alterations in cycle. In the testes, toxic effects following exposure to cadmium, lead or mercury includes alterations of seminiferous tubules, testicular stroma, decrease of spermatozoa count, motility and viability as well as aberrant spermatozoa morphology Massányi et al.

Our studies in this environment on mothers and newborns revealed a disproportionate number of babies with low birth weight, decreased length and reduced head circumference Ikeh-Tawari et al. Damaging effects of environmental chemicals on reproductive capacity of flora is also well known Tripathy et al.

Free radicals such as reactive oxygen species ROS are extremely reactive and unstable species that are constantly produced because of redox chain reactions or as metabolic byproducts. Under normal physiological conditions and antioxidant concentrations, ROS influence normal physiological functions and are considered as major signaling messengers involved in maintaining cellular homeostasis such as cellular metabolism, growth, development and programed cell death Niki and Noguchi, As a result, in natural conditions, the normal healthy cell maintains a dynamic equilibrium between ROS overproduction and detoxification via antioxidant mechanisms.

However, uncontrolled ROS actions, resulting from excessive ROS generation that overcomes the cellular antioxidant defense mechanisms or by alteration in the functioning of the antioxidant defense system leads to oxidative stress. Simply put, oxidative stress may arise from several avenues such as increased production of damaging reactive species emanating from increased pollutant burden as well as absence or depressed bioavailability of antioxidant defenses.

The significance of oxidative stress mainly rests in the unstable and reactive nature of molecules involved. Unlike in normal situations when the electrons exist in pairs spinning in opposite directions, free radicals have unpaired electrons in their outer orbitals, which render them extremely reactive Figure 5.

Free radicals appear to extract electrons from a neighboring molecule thus inactivating the molecule. These Free radicals, irrespective of the sources, are potentially dangerous and indiscriminately damaging to biological molecules in both terrestrial and aquatic habitats.

If the resulting damage is extensive, this may culminate in cellular damage and attendant organ dysfunction.

However, the damaging cascade of events can be halted or blocked by antioxidants, through a process of neutralization, resulting in innocuous and non-toxic products.

FIGURE 5. Free radical showing an unpaired electron Helmenstine, The magnitude of damage may be contingent upon the bioavailability of scavenging antioxidant molecules as well as the inverse relationship between free radicals and antioxidant capacity. Damage from aberrant reactivity of free radicals could be a combination of a raised environmental derived free radical burden and antioxidant deficit.

It should however be borne in mind that low-level of oxidative stress may be beneficial to the organism especially in signaling in the immune system Pizzino et al. The ensuing or resultant increased oxidative stress can cause oxidative damage to important biomolecules within the cells, which could cause protein oxidation, cellular DNA damage, electrolyte leakage with cell membrane lipid peroxidation and eventually apoptotic cell death and associated numerous pathologic states.

A body of evidence has suggested that oxidative stress operates through multiple mechanisms to adversely affect a number of target organs and systems leading to various disease states. Such diseases include placental diseases Ruano et al.

It is also worthy of note that the degree to which oxidative stress participates in the pathology of diseases varies greatly, such that the effectiveness of increasing antioxidant defence may be limited in some diseases Forman and Zhang, They brought to the fore that Silent Spring was a pivotal catalyst to creating widespread environmental legislation of air and water pollution and endangered species in the terrestrial and aquatic environments.

This created the desired public awareness about environmental disorders emanating from chemical pollution.

It is perhaps time the existence of oxidative stress is considered a gap or challenge which Rachel Carson left for us to fill. This might also be one of the omissions now considered a collateral damage to environment molded life and represents a response to environmental pollution Souder, Global advances in research using diverse approaches have revealed that oxidative stress is currently recognized as a unifying feature underlying toxic events associated with environmental pollution Leni et al.

Virtually all the environmental chemicals in the aquatic or terrestrial environment, elicit oxidative stress, which constitutes a major risk or hazards to inhabitants of polluted environment and which in the absence of appropriate protection mechanisms such as available antioxidant defense system can lead to physiological and biochemical derangement that end up in disease Nwobi et al.

Increased oxidative stress is widely recognized as a significant factor in the pathogenesis of a number of chronic diseases caused by environmental pollution. Perhaps in discussing environmental pollution, the associated oxidative stress and attendant altered physiology as a final pathway through which the adverse consequences of pollution are exerted, is borne in mind and given the level of proper consideration.

Pockets of evidence also indicate that the sensitivity to pollution may be related at least in part, to the available antioxidant defense mechanism at the target site Poljšak and Fink, ; Eftekhari et al.

The antioxidant defense mechanisms occur in enzymatic and non-enzymatic forms. Enzymatic antioxidants, which are also known as natural antioxidants or endogenous antioxidants, include superoxide dismutase SOD , catalase CAT , glutathione peroxidase GPx , glutathione reductase GR and Glutathione S-transferase GST Irato and Santovito, On the other hand, the non-enzymatic antioxidants, also known as exogenous antioxidants, are mostly obtained from dietary fruits and vegetables and include micronutrients such as β-carotene vitamin A , vitamin C Ascorbic acid , vitamin E α tocopherol , zinc Zn and selenium Se Lindshield, The production of antioxidants has direct and indirect link to the environment and may indeed be a rescue to inhabitants of polluted environment engulfed by oxidative stress.

Superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase are enzymes that represent the first line of antioxidant defence and are functionally interconnected because the product of the reaction catalyzed by SOD, hydrogen peroxide H 2 O 2 , is the substrate of both CAT and GPx.

Ighodaro and Akinloye, ; Irato and Santovito, Superoxide dismutases are metalloenzymes which are found in the cytosol and the mitochondrial intermembrane Copper, Zinc-SOD , the mitochondrial matrix and inner membrane Manganesse-SOD , and extracellular compartment Copper, Zinc-SOD Rosa et al.

Catalase converts H 2 O 2 to less toxic gaseous oxygen O 2 and water Fujiki and Bassik, On the other hand, GPx transforms H 2 O 2 to O 2 and water Ighodaro and Akinloye, ; Irato and Santovito, Furthermore, GPx promotes the conversion of peroxide radicals to alcohol by oxidizing the reduced glutathione GSH to oxidized glutathione GSSG Ighodaro and Akinloye, Glutathione reductase promotes the conversion of GSSG to GSH in order to replenish the pool of GSH in the living cells Radwan et al.

While GSTs are phase II enzymes that are involved in the conjugation of electrophilic components to glutathione and in the protection from oxidative effects and peroxidative products of lipids or DNA Strange et al.

Vitamin C is a water-soluble micronutrient ,that is, abundant in natural rich sources such as fresh fruits and green leafy vegetables Devaki and Raveendran, Vitamin C is a powerful reducing agent and a broad-spectrum antioxidant that fights a wide range of free radicals, including ROS Malik et al.

Vitamin C is involved in the first line of antioxidant defense acting as an excellent donor of electrons for free radicals that need electrons to regain their stability Zhitkovich, As a result, vitamin C quenches their reactivity and shields the cellular components from free radical-induced cellular damage.

Vitamin C also aids in the regeneration of the antioxidant form of vitamin E by decreasing the tocopheroxyl radicals Shakeri et al. Vitamin C comes from plant, thus if plants are not protected from the ravages of oxidative stress, the biochemical and physiological roles of this pivotal antioxidant may be abrogated with wide range health consequences.

Vitamin E tocopherol is a lipid soluble micronutrient. Natural forms of vitamin E can be obtained from plant seeds, fruits, vegetables and nuts Chun et al. All vitamin E forms are potent antioxidants because they possess similar phenolic moieties; they scavenge lipid peroxyl radicals by donating hydrogen from the phenolic group on the chromanol ring Jiang, ; Niki and Noguchi, Vitamin E functions as a chain-breaking antioxidant that protects cellular membranes against ROS Traber and Jeffrey, If plants are not protected from the effects of oxidative stress, the biochemical and physiological functions of this important antioxidant may be compromised, resulting in a variety of health problems.

Beta-carotene is a fat-soluble natural pigment primarily found in plants where it is abundant in orange and yellow fruits such as carrots and mangoes as well as green leafy vegetables such as pumpkins Durante et al.

Beta-carotene acts as antioxidant by effectively neutralising ROS by reducing their propagation, quenching singlet oxygen and preventing cellular damage thereby, decreasing oxidative stress and oxidative damage to DNA Bahonar et al.

Selenium is another micronutrient whose availability in foods depends largely on Se content in the soil where plants grow Hu et al. Nuts, cereals, grains, cruciferous vegetables, garlic, onions as well as eggs, fish, meat and meat products are very rich in Se Hu et al.

Selenium is involved in antioxidant function Burk and Hill, As a fundamental part of GPX and other enzymes, the main antioxidant role of Se is due to the activities of the seleno-enzymes and avoidance toxicity by selenoproteins Gaetke, ; Burk and Hill, Zinc is an essential micronutrient that has richest food sources as oysters and meat such as beef, veal, pork and lamb Jun and Betts, Zinc has antioxidant properties that are based on a variety of mechanisms Prasad, Zinc also promotes the production of metallothionein, a cysteine-rich protein, that is, an effective ̇OH scavenger.

Zinc protects bio-molecules from oxidation by binding to their sulfhydryl groups, promotes the activation of antioxidant proteins, molecules and enzymes such as GSH, CAT, and SOD, while inhibiting the activity of oxidant-promoting enzymes such inducible nitric acid synthase and NADPH oxidase Prasad, Zinc regulates the activity of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 Nrf2 ; a key transcription factor that controls the gene expression of antioxidant proteins and enzymes such as GSH and SOD, as well as detoxifying enzymes such as GST, by binding to an antioxidant responsive element in the promoter region of the target gene Prasad, Thus, up-regulating Nrf2 activity and down-regulating the generation of ROS Prasad, Environmental pollution from various sources such as air, water and soil, has an overarching effect on human health.

Several studies have discovered a strong link between air pollutants and respiratory diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, bronchitis symptoms and lung cancer Nhung et al.

Air pollutants have also been associated to cardiovascular diseases such as heart failure, myocardial infarction, strokes and arrhythmias as well as increased mortality Shah et al. Exposure to air pollutants has been linked to type 2 diabetes Janghorbani et al.

The leading causes of water pollution include anthropogenic sources such as untreated industrial effluents, inappropriate waste disposal and agricultural run-offs. Consuming polluted water poses a significant health risk such as high incidence of water-borne infections leading to the death of the organism.

For example, contaminating water supplies with pesticides has deleterious impacts on ecosystems as well as humans as these pesticides act as possible mutagens causing DNA alterations Hassaan et al.

About 1,, people are poisoned acutely because of pesticide exposure with a death rate of 0. Paraquat, a hazardous fast-acting herbicide, is a notable example Chang et al. Furthermore, long-term exposure to lower pesticide concentrations has been linked to syndromes encompassing various cancers and neurological disorders Owens et al.

Soil offers a foundation for plants to grow. Soil pollutants such as toxic metals, have a tendency to bio-accumulate in plants tissues altering their normal physiology and growth with negative consequences on the animals and humans who rely on them for food Seiyaboh and Izah, As a result, there is a considerable risk of soil pollutants entering the food chain as toxins.

Food toxins can enter the human body and cause a variety of disorders affecting the reproductive, respiratory, neurological, and digestive systems, as well as poisoning of organs such as the liver and kidney Seiyaboh and Izah, Nutrigenomics refers to the study of the impact of specific nutrients, dietary components or entire diet on gene expression and gene regulation Patil et al.

Although many perspectives of molecular basis of chronic diseases such as metabolomics, nutrigenomics, transcriptomics are emerging and being pursued, nutrigenomics is currently the most important and widely applied Rodrigues-Costa et al.

The fundamental concepts of the field of nutrigenomics are that the progression from a healthy phenotype to a chronic disease phenotype must occur by charges in genes expression or by differences in activities of proteins and enzymes and that dietary chemicals nutrients directly or indirectly regulate the expression of genomic information Kaput and Rodriquez, ; Irimie et al.

Alteration in dietary chemicals from environmental or ecological disturbances can therefore produce altered expression of genomic events, which can lead to a form of chronic disease phenotype.

Nutrigenomics appears to be promising as a significant improvement in the understanding of the molecular basis of chronic diseases including those arising from toxic metals or toxic chemical syndrome from environmental contamination.

Nutrigenomics is closely connected to nutrigenetics, which is an area more concerned with the investigation of how genetic variability affects body response to dietary components Alagawany et al. Nutrigenomics is still an evolving area with a lot of promise in toxicogenomics, environmental toxicology and ecotoxicology.

According to the report of Shakman ; one of the early environmentalists, humans currently live in an environment in which many kinds of pollution and ecological disorders are serious problems and appropriate food supplies are inadequate.

Although He emphasized the consequences of environmental pollution and the ameliorative influence of nutritional factors, which are essentially antioxidant factors, he did not envisage the full dimension of the environmental monster-climate change from unbaiting environmental pollution, that man could be confronted with Shakman, ; Zandalinas et al.

A growing concept of health considers health as an essential component of sustainable development, which can only be achieved through joint efforts by several sectors World Health Organization, ; Anetor et al. A closer partnership between the health, environmental agencies and the agricultural sector is required to reduce the threat resulting from environmental and ecological derangements from aquatic and terrestrial environmental pollution.

In contemporary world which may be considered as a chemical habitat, chemicals including metals, pesticides and PAHs are pervasive, causing a spectrum of toxicity. In the more severe cases of heavy pollutant toxicity, treatment could be nutritional, which works slowly but efficiently and safely.

In this new century, it has become of critical importance for the major sectors: health, environment, and agriculture to evolve creative scientific mechanisms to stem the deleterious effects of environmental pollution on the ecosystem.

The pressing desire for a collaborative intersectoral approach in dealing with contemporary environmental disorders are only being gradually recognized globally, with the developing countries in particular, lagging in several respects.

The vital importance of agriculture and food production as part of environmental development imperative is well known. The role of the agricultural and related sectors is to mitigate the deleterious effects of ecological and environmental disorders that may be aquatic or terrestrial, by modifying food production with a bias for food crops that have counteractive effects on the adverse effects of pollution such as fruits and vegetables, with special attention to areas of environmental pollution and ecological shifts.

This is probably why the Chinese with high incidence of cancer of the oesophagus and other parts of the gastrointestinal tract are currently among the greatest producers and consumers of fruit and vegetables He et al.

This may also be true of the Mediterranean diet in Europe with its health beneficial impact. While the current interest of the health sector is advocating increased consumption Sorenson et al. There has been an increasing awareness of the need to give priority to meeting the basic needs of people with emphasis on food security as well as health and education to enhance capacities for sustainable development.

However, in the last few decades there have been trends that give rise to deep and continuing concern. Globally increasing environmental pollution and ecological disorders Shifts pose newer challenges that in addition to meeting basic food and health needs, the health, agricultural and environmental safety sectors must collaborate to jointly combat the effect of pollution and attendant health problems, which indeed are aspects of meeting health needs underpinned by restoration of altered physiology.

This is probably in line with the early call by the Earth Summit for education for an environmentally sustainable future Smyth, The health sector has a responsibility to facilitate the understanding of the effect of pollution on aquatic and terrestrial components of the environment as well as the consequences on human health and advise the agricultural and environmental policy makers on strategies to ameliorate these attendant disorders.

The progressively stronger scientific and clinical recognition of nutrition and diet to health implies the need for education in different aspects of nutrient Anetor et al.

In the United States, the collaboration between the Agriculture and Health sectors in this regard is worthy of emulation and extrapolation particularly in the developing World.

This kind of partnership may help to curb a number of chronic diseases emanating from environmental pollution affecting both the aquatic and terrestrial components considerably through the pathway of oxidative stress.

There is substantial evidence that environmental pollution increases oxidative stress which affects aquatic and terrestrial organisms with far reaching pathological implications on human health. Pragmatically, mitigating pollutants associated oxidative stress may require a three-prong approach: bioremediation, which involves cleaning a polluted site by using naturally existing or intentionally introduced microbes to absorb and break down environmental contaminants, health education on disciplined environmental behavior as well as employing the principles of nutritional medicine essentially based on antioxidants derived mainly from plants.

Dietary antioxidant supplementation, antioxidant micronutrients and increased consumption of fruit and vegetable may all help to neutralize or buffer the effects of oxidizing pollutants. Understanding of the global picture of oxidative stress as well as integrating both the terrestrial and aquatic effects of environmental pollutants should be considered central to sustainable health of the population.

Integrating this concept with health education and health promotion as a creative intervention, appears unarguably instructive and a worthy strategy that will aid in the prevention of disease and improvement of the quality of human life based on recognition of the pivotal role of oxidative stress and its mitigation by means of antioxidant approaches strongly premised on the antioxidant hypothesis.

All authors listed have made a substantial, direct, and intellectual contribution to the work and approved it for publication. The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers.

Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry ATSDR.

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