We study the impact of exposure to environmental chemicals, such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and endocrine disrupting chemicals on human health, especially among pregnant women, foetuses and children. We use cohort studies to explore the long-term health impacts of exposure to environmental chemicals, particularly during vulnerable stages of development (e.g., effects on the brain, immune, metabolic, and reproductive systems).
Professor Tina Kold Jensen holds an ERC Advanced grant to investigate how PFAS exposure affects lipid metabolism. In addition, we are conducting two biomonitoring studies to assess PFAS levels in young adults and pregnant women. We also investigate the impact of PFAS exposure on child neurodevelopment and puberty.
In our analytical chemistry laboratory, we assess and develop new analytical methods to measure chemicals and study biomarkers of chemical toxicity.
We aim to advise Danish and international authorities and the public about health risks of exposure to environmental chemicals.
About the group leader Tina Kold Jensen
Tina Kold Jensen is a physician and professor of environmental medicine. She leads the research group of Environmental Medicine at Clinical Pharmacology, Pharmacy and Environmental Medicine, a research unit of approximately 60 people. Her research focuses on how environmental chemicals, particularly per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), affect human health, with a special emphasis on pregnant women and children.
PFAS are persistent environmental pollutants found in many consumer products, resulting in widespread human exposure. They accumulate in the food chain, cross the placenta and are excreted in breast milk, exposing the fetus and infant during critical periods of development. She has conducted biomonitoring studies measuring serum PFAS levels in highly exposed populations, including members of a cattle-grazing guild in Korsør and firefighters, as well as in the general population. She is currently assessing PFAS exposure in 1,500 young Danish adults and 300 pregnant and lactating women. She has examined associations between PFAS exposure and neurodevelopment as well as cardiovascular, reproductive and immune function in children, and the incidence of breast and kidney cancer in adults. She currently holds a prestigious ERC Advanced Grant from the European Research Council to investigate the association between PFAS exposure, cholesterol levels and cardiovascular disease in adults and children, and to elucidate the mechanisms by which PFAS affect hepatic cholesterol metabolism. She is also investigating whether pharmaceuticals and dietary supplements can enhance PFAS elimination in highly exposed individuals. She is a member of the Danish National PFAS Research and Knowledge Centre under the Ministry of Environment.
She is the Research Leader of the Odense Child Cohort, a prospective birth cohort that has followed pregnant women and their children in the Municipality of Odense for 15 years. More than 125 peer-reviewed articles have been published from the cohort, 25 PhD students have completed or are currently working on projects using its data, and more than DKK 50 million in external funding has been obtained. Within the cohort, she has studied associations between exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals and child health. These include phthalates, bisphenols and parabens, which are ubiquitous in consumer products such as hard plastics, toys, personal care products and food packaging, as well as certain pharmaceuticals such as paracetamol. Exposure is of particular concern during fetal life and early childhood, the critical windows of organ development. Her research has addressed associations with neuropsychological development (cognitive function, language development, and ADHD and autistic traits), immune function (infections, vaccine responses, and the development of asthma and allergy), bone development, pubertal timing and reproductive hormones, and cardiometabolic outcomes, including adiposity, blood pressure, lipid profile, diabetes and early markers of cardiovascular disease.