Rutgers researchers receive $2M federal grant to study mold-related food contaminant’s effects on pregnancy, child growth
Rutgers Health researchers have received more than $2 million in federal funding to study how a mold-related food contaminant commonly found in everyday foods may affect pregnancy outcomes and children’s growth.
The project, funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, will examine exposure to zearalenone, a toxin produced by certain fungi that can grow on foods such as corn, wheat and cereals and may also be present in some animal products.
Zorimar Rivera-Núñez, an assistant professor at the Rutgers School of Public Health, is helping lead the multi-institutional research effort alongside Emily Barrett, vice chair of the school’s Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology.
Researchers say zearalenone behaves like estrogen in the body and may interfere with normal pregnancy and fetal development.
“This project focuses on zearalenone, a chemical produced by fungi that grow on foods like corn, wheat and cereals as well as in animal products,” Rivera-Núñez said. “Because zearalenone is heat-stable and resistant to common food-processing steps, it contaminates many of the foods Americans eat every day, including ultra-processed foods such as cereal bars, breads and corn products.”
The study will use data and biological samples from The Infant Development Environmental Study, known as TIDES, a long-running national research project that tracks hormone-related outcomes in children.
Scientists will analyze urine samples from study participants to measure levels of zearalenone and related compounds. Those findings will then be compared with health data to explore potential links between exposure and maternal hormone changes, pregnancy weight gain and children’s growth from birth through age 14.
Rivera-Núñez said earlier research has already shown that exposure to mycoestrogens — chemicals produced by molds that mimic estrogen — is relatively common among pregnant women and children in the United States.
“Our team has shown that mycoestrogen exposure is common among pregnant women and children in the U.S.,” she said. “We have seen early signs that these chemicals may shift pregnancy hormones and lead to greater weight gain in pregnancy.”
Preliminary research has also suggested prenatal exposure could influence children’s growth patterns in early school years, sometimes affecting boys and girls differently, researchers said.
The new project will expand on that work by studying a larger group of families and following children into their teenage years.
Researchers say the findings could help public health agencies better understand how foodborne contaminants affect maternal and child health and could lead to improved food safety monitoring and guidance for families.
The project also includes Rutgers faculty members Lauren Aleksunes, Ellen Francis, Brian Buckley and Pamela Ohman-Strickland, and will collaborate with researchers from the University of Washington and Seattle Children’s Research Institute.
Ultimately, researchers hope the work will help identify when exposure poses the greatest risk and inform strategies to reduce harmful contaminants in the food supply.
