Skip to main content

Effect of Environmental and Occupational Exposures on Human Telomere Length and Aging: A Review

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Innovations in Bio-Inspired Computing and Applications (IBICA 2019)

Abstract

Today’s hectic and demanding lifestyle leaves no time for anyone to focus on the personal health aspects which in the long run is hazardous to one’s health. Environmental and occupational stresses are found to play a specific role in aging process. The purpose of this review is to highlight the role of telomeres as a possible biomarker of aging and to identify the potential exposures causing telomere length attrition. Better choice of these exposures can further help to increase lifespan. This paper reviews the published data on the effect of various work environment exposures on telomere length attrition. It also discusses future directions for telomere length related research.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Siemiatycki, J., Richardson, L., Straif, K., Latreille, B., Lakhani, R., Campbell, S., Rousseau, M.C., Boffetta, P.: Listing occupational carcinogens. Environ. Health Perspect. 112(15), 1447–1459 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Newman-Taylor, A.J., Coggon, D.: Attribution of disease. In: Baxter, P.J., Aw, T.C., Cockcroft, A., Durrington, P., Harrington, J.M. (eds.) Hunter’s Diseases of Occupations, 10th edn, pp. 89–95. Hodder Arnold, London (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Doll, R., Peto, R.: The causes of cancer: quantitative estimates of avoidable risks of cancer in the United States today. J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 66(6), 1191–1308 (1981)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Frenck, R.W., Blackburn Jr., E.H., Shannon, K.M.: The rate of telomere sequence loss in human leukocytes varies with age. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 95(10), 5607–5610 (1998)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Chan, S.W., Blackburn, E.H.: New ways not to make ends meet: telomerase, DNA damage proteins and heterochromatin. Oncogene 21(4), 553–563 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Shiels, P.G., Mc Glynn, L.M., Mac Intyre, A., Johnson, P.C., Batty, G.D., Burns, H., Cavanagh, J., Deans, K.A., Ford, I., Mc Connachie, A., Mc Ginty, A., Mc Lean, J.S., Millar, K., Sattar, N., Tannahill, C., Velupillai, Y.N., Packard, C.J.: Accelerated telomere attrition is associated with relative household income, diet and inflammation in the p SoBid cohort. PLoS One 6(7), e22521 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Fyhrquist, F., Saijonmaa, O.: Telomere length and cardiovascular aging. Ann. Med. 44(Suppl. 1), S138–S142 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Song, Z., von Figura, G., Liu, Y., Kraus, J.M., Torrice, C., Dillon, P., Rudolph-Watabe, M., Ju, Z., Kestler, H.A., Sanoff, H., Lenhard Rudolph, K.: Lifestyle impacts on the aging-associated expression of biomarkers of DNA damage and telomere dysfunction in human blood. Aging Cell 9(4), 607–615 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Valdes, A.M., Andrew, T., Gardner, J.P., Kimura, M., Oelsner, E., Cherkas, L.F., Aviv, A., Spector, T.D.: Obesity, cigarette smoking, and telomere length in women. Lancet 366(9486), 662–664 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Puterman, E., Epel, E.: An intricate dance: life experience, multisystem resiliency, and rate of telomere decline throughout the lifespan. Soc. Pers. Psychol. Compass 6(11), 807–825 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Adaikalakoteswari, A., Balasubramanyam, M., Mohan, V.: Telomere shortening occurs in Asian Indian type 2 diabetic patients. Diabet. Med. J. Br. Diabet. Assoc. 22(9), 1151–1156 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Benetos, A., Gardner, J.P., Zureik, M., Labat, C., Xiaobin, L., Adamopoulos, C., Temmar, M., Bean, K.E., Thomas, F., Aviv, A.: Short telomeres are associated with increased carotid atherosclerosis in hypertensive subjects. Hypertension 43(2), 182–185 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Getliffe, K.M., Martin Ruiz, C., Passos, J.F., von Zglinicki, T., Nwokolo, C.U.: Extended lifespan and long telomeres in rectal fibroblasts from late-onset ulcerative colitis patients. Euro. J. Gastroenterol. Hepatol. 18(2), 133–141 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Ornish, D., Lin, J., Daubenmier, J., Weidner, G., Epel, E., Kemp, C., Magbanua, M.J., Marlin, R., Yglecias, L., Carroll, P.R., Blackburn, E.H.: Increased telomerase activity and comprehensive lifestyle changes: a pilot study. Lancet Oncol. 9(11), 1048–1057 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. von Zglinicki, T., Martin-Ruiz, C.M.: Telomeres as biomarkers for ageing and age-related diseases. Curr. Mol. Med. 5(2), 197–203 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Sampson, M.J., Winterbone, M.S., Hughes, J.C., Dozio, N., Hughes, D.A.: Monocyte telomere shortening and oxidative DNA damage in type 2 diabetes. Diab. Care 29(2), 283–289 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Southern, E.M.: Detection of specific sequences among DNA fragments separated by gel electrophoresis. J. Mol. Biol. 98(3), 503–517 (1975)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Lengauer, C., Riethman, H., Cremer, T.: Painting of human chromosomes with probes generated from hybrid cell lines by PCR with Alu and L1 primers. Hum. Genet. 86(1), 1–6 (1990)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Lansdorp, P.M., Verwoerd, N.P., van de Rijke, F.M., Dragowska, V., Little, M.T., Dirks, R.W., Raap, A.K., Tanke, H.J.: Heterogeneity in telomere length of human chromosomes. Hum. Mol. Genet. 5(5), 685–691 (1996)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Rufer, N., Dragowska, W., Thornbury, G., Roosnek, E., Lansdorp, P.M.: Telomere length dynamics in human lymphocyte subpopulations measured by flow cytometry. Nat. Biotechnol. 16(8), 743–747 (1998)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Baerlocher, G.M., Lansdorp, P.M.: telomere length measurements in leukocyte subsets by automated multicolor flow-FISH. cytometry. Part A. J. Int. Soc. Anal. Cytol. 55(1), 1–6 (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Baird, D.M., Rowson, J., Wynford-Thomas, D., Kipling, D.: Extensive allelic variation and ultrashort telomeres in senescent human cells. Nat. Genet. 33(2), 203–207 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Cawthon, R.M.: Telomere measurement by quantitative PCR. Nucleic Acids Res. 30(10), e47 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. O’Callaghan, N.J., Fenech, M.: A quantitative PCR method for measuring absolute telomere length. Bio. Proced. Online 13, 3 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Cawthon, R.M.: Telomere length measurement by a novel monochrome multiplex quantitative PCR method. Nucleic Acids Res. 37(3), e21 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Biorad.com (2010). http://www.bio-rad.com/en-in/applications-technologies/droplet-digital-pcr-ddpcr-technology

  27. Pinheiro, L.B., Coleman, V.A., Hindson, C.M., Herrmann, J., Hindson, B.J., Bhat, S., Emslie, K.R.: Evaluation of a droplet digital polymerase chain reaction format for DNA copy number quantification. Anal. Chem. 84(2), 1003–1011 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Monaghan, P.: Telomeres and life histories: the long and the short of it. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 1206, 130–142 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Blackburn, E.H.: Telomeres and telomerase: the means to the end (Nobel lecture). Angew. Chem. (Int. Ed. Engl.) 49(41), 7405–7421 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Allsopp, R.C., Harley, C.B.: Evidence for a critical telomere length in senescent human fibroblasts. Exp. Cell Res. 219(1), 130–136 (1995)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Harley, C.B.: Telomere loss: mitotic clock or genetic time bomb? Mutat. Res. 256(2–6), 271–282 (1991)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Butler, R.N., Sprott, R., Warner, H., Bland, J., Feuers, R., Forster, M., Fillit, H., Harman, S.M., Hewitt, M., Hyman, M., Johnson, K., Kligman, E., McClearn, G., Nelson, J., Richardson, A., Sonntag, W., Weindruch, R., Wolf, N.: Biomarkers of aging: from primitive organisms to humans. J. Gerontol. Ser. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci. 59(6), B560–B567 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Olovnikov, A.M.: A theory of Marginotomy. the incomplete copying of template margin in enzymic synthesis of polynucleotide’s and biological significance of the phenomenon. J. Theor. Biol. 41(1), 181–190 (1973)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Farzaneh-Far, R., Cawthon, R.M., Na, B., Browner, W.S., Schiller, N.B., Whooley, M.A.: Prognostic value of leukocyte telomere length in patients with stable coronary artery disease: data from the heart and soul study. Arterioscleriosis Thromb. Vasc. Biol. 28(7), 1379–1384 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Yang, Z., Huang, X., Jiang, H., Zhang, Y., Liu, H., Qin, C., Eisner, G.M., Jose, P.A., Rudolph, L., Ju, Z.: Short telomeres and prognosis of hypertension in a Chinese population. Hypertension 53(4), 639–645 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Benetti, R., García-Cao, M., Blasco, M.A.: Telomere length regulates the epigenetic status of mammalian telomeres and subtelomeres. Nat. Genet. 39(2), 243–250 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Cherkas, L.F., Hunkin, J.L., Kato, B.S., Richards, J.B., Gardner, J.P., Surdulescu, G.L., Kimura, M., Lu, X., Spector, T.D., Aviv, A.: The association between physical activity in leisure time and leukocyte telomere length. Arch. Int. Med. 168(2), 154–158 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Nordfjäll, K., Eliasson, M., Stegmayr, B., Melander, O., Nilsson, P., Roos, G.: Telomere length is associated with obesity parameters but with a gender difference. Obesity (Silver Spring, Md) 16(12), 2682–2689 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Nawrot, T.S., Staessen, J.A., Gardner, J.P., Aviv, A.: Telomere length and possible link to X chromosome. Lancet 363(9408), 507–510 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Fitzpatrick, A.L., Kronmal, R.A., Gardner, J.P., Psaty, B.M., Jenny, N.S., Tracy, R.P., Walston, J., Kimura, M., Aviv, A.: Leukocyte telomere length and cardiovascular disease in the cardiovascular health study. Am. J. Epidemiol. 165(1), 14–21 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Svenson, U., Nordfjäll, K., Baird, D., Roger, L., Osterman, P., et al.: Blood cell telomere length is a dynamic feature. PLoS ONE 6(6), e21485 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Wu, X., Amos, C.I., Zhu, Y., Zhao, H., Grossman, B.H., Shay, J.W., Luo, S., Hong, W.K., Spitz, M.R.: Telomere dysfunction: a potential cancer predisposition factor. J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 95(16), 1211–1218 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. McGrath, M., Wong, J.Y., Michaud, D., Hunter, D.J., De Vivo, I.: Telomere length, cigarette smoking, and bladder cancer risk in men and women. Cancer Epidemiol. Biomark. Prev. 16(4), 815–819 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Valdes, A.M., Richards, J.B., Gardner, J.P., Swaminathan, R., Kimura, M., Xiaobin, L., Aviv, A., Spector, T.D.: Telomere length in leukocytes correlates with bone mineral density and is shorter in women with osteoporosis. Osteoporos. Int. 18(9), 1203–1210 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Zhang, X., Lin, S., Funk, W.E., Hou, L.: Environmental and occupational exposure to chemicals and telomere length in human studies. Occup. Environ. Med. 70(10), 743–749 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Epel, E.S., Blackburn, E.H., Lin, J., Dhabhar, F.S., Adler, N.E., Morrow, J.D., Cawthon, R.M.: Accelerated telomere shortening in response to life stress. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 101(49), 17312–17315 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  47. Parks, C.G., McCanlies, E.C., Miller, D.B., Cawthon, R.M., DeRoo, L.A., Sandler, D.B.: Telomere length and work schedule characteristics in the NIEHS sister study. Occup. Environ. Med. 64(12), e21 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Hoxha, M., Dioni, L., Bonzini, M., Pesatori, A.C., Fustinoni, S., Cavallo, D., Carugno, M., Albetti, B., Marinelli, B., Schwartz, J., Bertazzi, P.A., Baccarelli, A.: Association between leukocyte telomere shortening and exposure to traffic pollution: a cross-sectional study on traffic officers and indoor office workers. Environ. Health 8(1), 41 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  49. Pavanello, S., Pesatori, A.C., Dioni, L., Hoxha, M., Bollati, V., Siwinska, E., Mielzyńska, D., Bolognesi, C., Bertazzi, P.A., Baccarelli, A.: Shorter telomere length in peripheral blood lymphocytes of workers exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Carcinogenesis 31(2), 216–221 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. Dioni, L., Hoxha, M., Nordio, F., Bonzini, M., Tarantini, L., Albetti, B., Savarese, A., Schwartz, J., Bertazzi, P.A., Apostoli, P., Hou, L., Baccarelli, A.: Effects of short-term exposure to inhalable particulate matter on telomere length, telomerase expression, and telomerase methylation in steel workers. Environ. Health Perspect. 119(5), 622–627 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  51. Li, H., Jönsson, B.A., Lindh, C.H., Albin, M., Broberg, K.: N-nitrosamines are associated with shorter telomere length. Scand. J. Work Environ. Health 37(4), 316–324 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  52. Parks, C.G., DeRoo, L.A., Miller, D.B., McCanlies, E.C., Cawthon, R.M., Sandler, D.P.: Employment and work schedule are related to telomere length in women. Occup. Environ. Med. 68(8), 582–589 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  53. Ahola, K., Sirén, I., Kivimäki, M., Ripatti, S., Aromaa, A., Lönnqvist, J., Hovatta, I.: Work-related exhaustion and telomere length: a population-based study. PLoS ONE 7(7), e40186 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  54. Wu, Y., Liu, Y., Ni, N., Bao, B., Zhang, C., Lu, L.: High lead exposure is associated with telomere length shortening in Chinese battery manufacturing plant workers. Occup. Environ. Med. 69(8), 557–563 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  55. Hou, L., Wang, S., Dou, C., Zhang, X., Yu, Y., Zheng, Y., Avula, U., Hoxha, M., Díaz, A., McCracken, J., Barretta, F., Marinelli, B., Bertazzi, P.A., Schwartz, J., Baccarelli, A.A.: Air pollution exposure and telomere length in highly exposed subjects in Beijing, China: a repeated-measure study. Environ. Int. 48, 71–77 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  56. Hou, L., Andreotti, G., Baccarelli, A.A., Savage, S., Hoppin, J.A., Sandler, D.P., Barker, J., Zhu, Z.Z., Hoxha, M., Dioni, L., Zhang, X., Koutros, S., Freeman, L.E., Alavanja, M.C.: Lifetime pesticide use and telomere shortening among male pesticide applicators in the Agricultural Health Study. Environ. Health Perspect. 121(8), 919–924 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  57. Wong, J.Y., De Vivo, I., Lin, X., Fang, S.C., Christiani, D.C.: The relationship between inflammatory biomarkers and telomere length in an occupational prospective cohort study. PLoS ONE 9(1), e87348 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  58. Reste, J., Zvigule, G., Zvagule, T., Kurjane, N., Eglite, M., Gabruseva, N., Berzina, D., Plonis, J., Miklasevics, E.: Telomere length in Chernobyl accident recovery workers in the late period after the disaster. J. Radiat. Res. 55(6), 1089–1100 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  59. Li, H., Hedmer, M., Wojdacz, T., Hossain, M.B., Lindh, C.H., Tinnerberg, H., Albin, M., Broberg, K.: Oxidative stress, telomere shortening, and DNA methylation in relation to low-to-moderate occupational exposure to welding fumes. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 56(8), 684–693 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  60. Pawlas, N., Płachetka, A., Kozłowska, A., Mikołajczyk, A., Kasperczyk, A., Dobrakowski, M., Kasperczyk, S.: Telomere length, telomerase expression, and oxidative stress in lead smelters. Toxicol. Ind. Health 32(12), 1–10 (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  61. Garrett-Bakelman, F.E., Darshi, M., Green, S.J., Gur, R.C., Lin, L., Macias, B.R., Miles McKenna, M.J., Meydan, C., Mishra, T., Nasrini, J., Piening, B.D., et. al.: The NASA twins study: a multidimensional analysis of a year-long human spaceflight. Science 364(6436), eaau8650 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aau8650

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sanjay Deshmukh .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Chandani, J.K., Gandhi, N., Deshmukh, S. (2021). Effect of Environmental and Occupational Exposures on Human Telomere Length and Aging: A Review. In: Abraham, A., Panda, M., Pradhan, S., Garcia-Hernandez, L., Ma, K. (eds) Innovations in Bio-Inspired Computing and Applications. IBICA 2019. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 1180. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49339-4_13

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics