Release Overview
- Latent litigation events centered on the allegation of transgenerational harm, one new Litagion agent profile (diethylstilbestrol), and a new theme summarizing CoMeta content related to transgenerational harm
- Printable Litagion agent summary report, parent company indicator, new navigation pane
- Updated Litagion agent and company profiles impacted by newly published peer-reviewed science and newly gathered company information
New Content
Transgenerational harm
This release of CoMeta adds latent litigation events centered on the allegation of transgenerational harm. Transgenerational harm refers to the hypothesis that harm can manifest in the children, grandchildren, and subsequent descendants of individuals exposed to chemicals and other hazards today. The hypothesis is investigated in the rapidly developing field of epigenetics, which studies how genes are turned on or off to shape biological activity (“gene expression”). We've captured transgenerational harm hypotheses for 11 Litagion agents in the CoMeta library, all of which are under investigation for the possibility that they cause changes in gene expression that persist across generational lines. As this science develops, so does the possibility that future generations ("grandchildren" and "grandchildren of workers") will seek compensation for the exposures suffered by earlier generations.
Themes
- Transgenerational harm. The transgenerational harm theme summarizes the latent litigation events described above.
Litagion agents
- Diethylstilbestrol. Diethylstilbestrol (DES), the "original" endocrine disruptor, is a synthetic estrogen once prescribed to women during pregnancy to prevent miscarriage and premature birth. A landmark study published in 1971 in the New England Journal of Medicine demonstrated that girls exposed prenatally to DES (collectively referred to as the "DES daughters") have a much higher likelihood of developing clear cell adenocarcinoma, a rare form of vaginal and cervical cancer. Later study has shown that DES children and grandchildren have higher rates of breast cancer, pregnancy complications, and, for girls and boys alike, obesity and cardiovascular disease.
New Features
Printable Litagion agent summary report
Users can now export a pdf-formatted Litagion agent summary report from the Litagion agent summary page. The report provides an overview and history of the agent, enumerates latent mass actions and losses, details general causation risk scores, and lists business activities that could be implicated in a mass litigation event centered on the Litagion agent.
Parent company indicator
The company search bar now indicates whether a given company is the global ultimate parent. The global ultimate parent company is also referenced on the company summary page for any child company.
New navigation pane
Navigation to Litagion agent, company, industry, damage, scenario, theme, and blog content is now available in a left-hand side navigation pane. We have implemented this change to CoMeta's navigation to facilitate new workflows that will be introduced to CoMeta in beta form in the coming months.
Updated Litagion agents based on newly published science
All Litagion agent profiles have been updated to reflect the most recently published peer-reviewed science. Notable scientific studies added to CoMeta since the last release include:
- Bisphenol S (BPS): A study demonstrates an association between BPS exposure and obesity using data from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
- Dibutyl phthalate (DBP): A study in China links prenatal DBP concentrations in maternal urine to delayed psychomotor development in children.
In addition, we highlight the following changes to the components of Litagion agent risk resulting from recently published peer-reviewed science:
| Litagion agent | Risk category change | Overall risk change |
| Diethyl phthalate (DEP) | Projected science risk changes from Medium-low (light green) to Medium (yellow) | Change from Medium-low (light green) to Medium (yellow) |
| Vinclozolin | Projected science risk changes from Low (green) to Medium (yellow) | Change from Medium-low (light green) to Medium (yellow) |