exposome

E1X8P3O1S1O1M3E1

noun

A measure of the effects of life-long environmental exposures on health.

Scrabble 19

Meanings

nounexposome (plural exposomes)

plural exposomes

  1. A measure of the effects of life-long environmental exposures on health.

    At its most complete, the exposome encompasses life-course environmental exposures (including lifestyle factors), from the prenatal period onwards.

    2005 August 15, Christopher Paul Wild, “Complementing the Genome with an 'Exposome': The Outstanding Challenge of Environmental Exposure Measurement in Molecular Epidemiology”, in Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention, volume 14, number 8, pages 1847–1850
    3 more examples

    While the definition of the exposome includes all exposures that occur from conception throughout an individual's lifetime, an emerging concept is the need to also consider exposures prior to conception.

    2015 December 28, Richard A. Stein, “The Naturome Awaits the Nurturome”, in Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News, volume 35, number 21, page 34

    Every time we pant, or press, or swallow, we welcome into not just our delicate biology but into those cherished fables, too, the ecological influence of the exposome.

    2025 August 4, David Wallace-Wells, “You Are Contaminated”, in The New York Times

    The exposome is a measure of all the environmental or external exposures we face over our lifetime and the ways in which these impact our health. It includes everything from diet, lifestyle, education and income to air pollution, chemical exposures, and climate conditions.

    2025 August 14, Olivia Willis, “How does our environment impact our health? Unravelling the exposome”, in ABC News (Australia)

Origin

From expose + -ome, coined by cancer epidemiologist Christopher Paul Wild in 2005, see quotations.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

exposome. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/exposome

MLA

“exposome.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/exposome. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “exposome,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/exposome.

Source: exposome on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.