"We should be very careful about overstating what looks like basic science with public health implications," Feinberg said in an interview. "Currently we don't have enough evidence showing that these fungicides are causing common human disease through an epigenetic mechanism. It's research that's well worth doing, but it's clear that that hasn't been shown."

Other studies in epigenetics, a field that investigates the inheritance of cellular changes outside the realm of DNA, have shown chemical exposure can affect fertility. A project by researchers at Washington State University published in PLoS One in February found that when pregnant rats are injected with common environmental toxins, such as chemicals used in insect repellents, plastics and jet fuel, offspring for three generations have reproductive problems.

Japanese scientists are studying whether descendants of atomic bomb survivors have inherited epigenetic changes that make them more susceptible to cancer and heart disease.

"Diseases like autism, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder are not single gene, or even a few genes, they're complex of genes," Crews said. "It also turns out a lot of these genes that we have identified are epigenetically modified."


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