The war exposome: Environmental, chemical, and psychosocial determinants of health

Armed conflict doesn't just cause immediate injury — it fundamentally reshapes the environment people live in, creating a toxic mixture of chemical pollutants, physical hazards, and psychological trauma that scientists are only beginning to measure. In this episode, we explore the concept of the "war exposome," a framework for understanding how the totality of wartime exposures — from contaminated drinking water and particulate matter to chronic stress and displacement — converge on human biology in ways traditional environmental health research hasn't fully captured. We walk through three interacting domains of war-related exposures, examine how they might amplify each other's effects through shared biological pathways, and discuss the scientific and ethical challenges of actually studying health impacts in active conflict zones. Drawing on evidence from Ukraine and other war-affected regions, this episode reveals why treating war's environmental and psychological consequences as separate problems misses the bigger biological picture.