Superfund Basic Research Program Research Articles

Understanding exposures and latent disease risk within the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Superfund Research Program.

Understanding the health effects of exposures when there is a lag between exposure and the onset of disease is an important and challenging topic in environmental health research. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Superfund Basic Research and Training Program (SRP) is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant program that uses a multidisciplinary approach to support biomedical and environmental science and engineering research. Because of the multidisciplinary nature of the program, SRP grantees are well-positioned to study exposure and latent disease risk across humans, animal models, and various life stages. SRP-funded scientists are working to address the challenge of connecting exposures that occur early in life and prior to conception with diseases that manifest much later, including developing new tools and approaches to predict how chemicals may affect long-term health. Here, we highlight research from the SRP focused on understanding the health effects of exposures with a lag between exposure and the onset of the disease as well as provide future directions for addressing knowledge gaps for this highly complex and challenging topic. Advancing the knowledge of latency to disease will require a multidisciplinary approach to research, the need for data sharing and integration, and new tools and computation approaches to make better predications about the timing of disease onset. A better understanding of exposures that may contribute to later-life diseases is essential to supporting the implementation of prevention and intervention strategies to reduce or modulate exposures to reduce disease burden.

Regulation of transgelin and GST-pi proteins in the tissues of hamsters exposed to sodium arsenite

Regulation of transgelin and GST-pi proteins in the tissues of hamsters exposed to sodium arsenite

Does and duration of exposure time dependent regulation of proteins in the urinary bladder of hamsters exposed to sodium arsenite

Does and duration of exposure time dependent regulation of proteins in the urinary bladder of hamsters exposed to sodium arsenite

Selenium (Se) as well as mercury (Hg) may influence the methylation and toxicity of inorganic arsenic, but further research is needed with combination of Inorg-arsenic, Se, and Hg

Selenium (Se) as well as mercury (Hg) may influence the methylation and toxicity of inorganic arsenic, but further research is needed with combination of Inorg-arsenic, Se, and Hg

Sharing SRP data to reduce environmentally associated disease and promote transdisciplinary research.

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Superfund Basic Research and Training Program (SRP) funds a wide range of projects that span biomedical, environmental sciences, and engineering research and generate a wealth of data resulting from hypothesis-driven research projects. Combining or integrating these diverse data offers an opportunity to uncover new scientific connections that can be used to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the interplay between exposures and health. Integrating and reusing data generated from individual research projects within the program requires harmonization of data workflows, ensuring consistent and robust practices in data stewardship, and embracing data sharing from the onset of data collection and analysis. We describe opportunities to leverage data within the SRP and current SRP efforts to advance data sharing and reuse, including by developing an SRP dataset library and fostering data integration through Data Management and Analysis Cores. We also discuss opportunities to improve public health by identifying parallels in the data captured from health and engineering research, layering data streams for a more comprehensive picture of exposures and disease, and using existing SRP research infrastructure to facilitate and foster data sharing. Importantly, we point out that while the SRP is in a unique position to exploit these opportunities, they can be employed across environmental health research. SRP research teams, which comprise cross-disciplinary scientists focused on similar research questions, are well positioned to use data to leverage previous findings and accelerate the pace of research. Incorporating data streams from different disciplines addressing similar questions can provide a broader understanding and uncover the answers to complex and discrete research questions.

Pharmacokinetics of a potent soluble epoxide hydrolase inhibitor in three formulations

Inhibition of soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEHI) was shown to be potent to reduce the inflammation, lower the blood pressure in hypertension and is being developed for indication of chronic pain treatment. Guiding by in vitro potency screening, pharmacokinetics and in vivo efficacy studies, a potent sEHI (EC5026) is optimized for the followed clinical trials. Besides its own properties, formulation method is an important factor to be considered to reach ideal exposure time span and concentration in vivo, therefore for the efficacy in vivo.Here, we compared three different formulation methods: PEG mixtures, hot melt extrusion (HME), spray‐dried dispersion (SDD) for EC5026 by comparing the pharmacokinetics in Sprague Dawley rats. A sensitive UHPLC/MS/MS method was developed to measure the concentration of EC 5026 in the blood of rats after oral dosing at 3mg/Kg as a single dose. The pharmacokinetics parameters including Cmax, Tmax, AUC were calculated using non‐compartment modeling analysis. The result shows that three different formulations have similar pharmacokinetics properties with the highest Cmax in SDD (1,557 ng/mL) followed by HME (1,432 ng/mL) and PEG mixture (1,329 ng/mL). Tmax are all about the same at 2.5 and 3 hour respectively. The T1/2s are between 75–90 hours.The results above indicates all three formulations are proper for decent exposure of EC5026 with AUC from 6759–8516 ng/mL hr. The similarity among these three formulations allow the translation to the clinical trials using the new formulations (HME/SDD) from the preclinical studies with PEG mixture.Support or Funding InformationSupport or Funding InformationThis work was supported in part by NIEHS grant R35 ES030443, NIEHS Superfund Basic Research Program grant P42 ES04699.

Assessing the Economic and Societal Benefits of SRP-Funded Research.

Background:The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Superfund Basic Research and Training Program (SRP) funds a wide range of transdisciplinary research projects spanning the biomedical and environmental sciences and engineering, supporting and promoting the application of that research to solving real-world problems.Objectives:We used a case study approach to identify the economic and societal benefits of SRP-funded research, focusing on the use of potentially hazardous substance remediation and site monitoring tools. We also identified successes and challenges involved in translating SRP grantees’ research findings and advances into application.Discussion:We identified remediation and detection research projects supported by the SRP with the most potential for economic and societal benefits and selected 36 for analysis. To examine the benefits of these applied technologies, we interviewed 28 SRP-supported researchers and 41 partners. Five case studies emerged with the most complete information on cost savings—total savings estimated at . Our analysis identified added societal benefits such as creation of small businesses, land and water reuse, sustainable technologies, exposure reduction, and university–industry partnerships.Conclusions:Research funded by the SRP has yielded significant cost savings while providing additional societal benefits. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP3534

Dual Inhibitors of Cyclooxygenase‐2 and Soluble Epoxide Hydrolase: Studies of Binding Modes at the Active Sites and Time‐dependency of Inhibition, and Development of Water‐soluble Prodrugs

In recent years, there has been increasing interest in designing multi‐target agents that improve efficacy and safety compared to their single target counterparts.Cyclooxygenase‐2 (COX‐2) selective inhibitors (coxibs) are effective drugs for treating inflammation, pain, and cancer. However, their mechanism‐based side effects limit their use. Meanwhile, soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) is involved in the metabolism of fatty acid epoxides that are obtained by cytochrome P450 (CYP) from arachidonic acid. These CYP metabolites, epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs), are anti‐hypertensive, anti‐inflammatory, analgesic and organ‐protective. Therefore, co‐inhibition of both enzymes with a combination treatment is synergistic and is maximized by combining both actions into a single molecule, such as PTUPB. These dual inhibitors showed superior efficacy in several rodent models of inflammatory pain, metabolic syndrome, and cancer.We found that they inhibit COX‐2 tightly and in a time‐dependent manner (25‐fold more potent) and EETs moderately inhibit COX‐2. Computational studies of their binding modes at the active site of enzymes using molecular docking confirm these results. In addition to these studies, water‐soluble prodrugs of these dual inhibitors were developed for their use in animal studies.Support or Funding InformationThis work was supported in part by NIEHS grant R01ES02710, NIEHS Superfund Basic Research Program grant P42 ES04699, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) U54 NS079202. NIH 5T32DC008072‐05.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.

Fumio Matsumura – Accomplishments at the University of California, Davis, and in the Sierra Nevada Mountains

Fumio Matsumura joined the University of California, Davis, faculty in 1987 where he served as founding director of the Center for Environmental Health Sciences, associate director of the U.C. Toxic Substances Research and Teaching Program, and chair of the Department of Environmental Toxicology. He was an active affiliate with the NIEHS-funded Superfund Basic Research Program and the NIH Comprehensive Cancer Center. He was in many instances a primary driver or otherwise involved in most activities related to environmental toxicology at Davis, including the education of students in environmental biochemistry and ecotoxicology. A significant part of his broad research program was focused on the long range transport of chemicals such as toxaphene, PCBs and related contaminants used or released in California to the Sierra Nevada mountains, downwind of the urban and agricultural regions of the state. He hypothesized that these chemical residues adversely affected fish and wildlife, and particularly the declining populations of amphibians in Sierra Nevada streams and lakes. Fumio and his students and colleagues found residues of toxaphene and PCBs at higher elevations, an apparent result of atmospheric drift and deposition in the mountains. Fumio and his wife Teruko had personal interests in, and a love of the mountains, as avid skiers, hikers, and outdoor enthusiasts.

Genetic Determinants for Yeast's Resistance to Copper, Iron and Zinc Overload

The metals iron, copper and zinc, although essential for life, are toxic when present in excess. We have conducted a parallel analysis of yeast deletion mutants under metal overload conditions to simultaneously evaluate the growth phenotype of more than 4700 strains. We established the genetic requirements of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae when grown in the presence of toxic concentrations of iron sulfate, copper sulfate and zinc chloride. These screens identified distinct but overlapping mutant sensitivity profiles. In general, genes encoding proteins involved in intracellular membrane trafficking and vacuole morphogenesis were essential in all three conditions. Highly essential genes included SUR1 and CSG2 in iron, SXM1 in copper and ZRC1 and DAP1 in zinc. YDR186C and YHR045W, encoding putative proteins of unknown function, were identified as potentially novel genes for yeast resistance to zinc overload. Our data suggest that any of these metals, when present in excess, induce secondary metal deficiency, strengthening the connection between iron, copper and zinc metabolism in yeast. In conclusion, our results indicated the requirement of highly‐conserved biological processes in response to iron, copper and zinc toxicity, and identified potentially novel genes that may play a role in metal homeostasis and/or detoxification in yeast. Funded by NIEHS Superfund Basic Research Program [P42 ES004705‐19] and the UC Berkeley Faculty on Research Grant

Community Engagement Benefits Environmental Health Research

ISEE-0336 Background and Objective: Community participation can enhance research through improved participant recruitment and retention; allow community input about relevant environmental health issues; improve trust between researchers and the community; and provide more effective dissemination of research findings. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) supports many research activities through the Partnerships for Environmental Public Health (PEPH) program that effectively engages communities, and in turn, benefits the research process. Methods: In this presentation we will elucidate benefits of community engagement by highlighting approaches, strategies and positive outcomes from several NIEHS-sponsored research programs: Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Centers (BCERC), Environmental Justice (EJ), and Superfund Basic Research Program (SBRP). We also will present research gaps and opportunities identified at a recent NIEHS-sponsored workshop. Results: Community engagement has benefited NIEHS-sponsored research in several ways. Inclusion of community volunteers has helped with participant recruitment and retention in the BCERC program, and the BCERC Community Outreach and Translation Cores have played a vital role in ensuring appropriate dissemination and risk communication when significantly elevated exposure to perfluorochemicals was identified among a subset of participants. The establishment of community-researcher partnerships and research capacity building has improved trust and access to vulnerable populations in the EJ program. Finally, the creation of community advisory boards for research projects in the SBRP program has lead to increased awareness of environmental issues in the community. Major gaps identified include the need to develop evaluation metrics for community-researcher partnership effectiveness, increase training opportunities for researchers and community members on how to engage in researcher-community partnerships, and establish best practices for research dissemination and risk communication in environmental health research in general. Conclusion: The PEPH program demonstrates the NIEHS commitment to coordinate and support both ongoing and future environmental health research activities that actively engage community members in research, dissemination, and evaluation.

Development of a synthetic PCB mixture resembling the average polychlorinated biphenyl profile in Chicago air

Studies of environmental and toxic effects of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are ideally performed with PCB mixtures reflecting the composition of environmental PCB profiles to mimic actual effects and to account for complex interactions among individual PCB congeners. Unfortunately, only a few laboratory studies employing synthetic PCB mixtures have been reported, in part because of the challenges associated with the preparation of complex PCB mixtures containing many individual PCB congeners. The objective of this study was to develop a PCB mixture that resembles the average PCB profile recorded from 1996 to 2002 at a satellite station of the Integrated Atmospheric Deposition Network located at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) in Chicago, Illinois, using commercial PCB mixtures. Initial simulations, using published Aroclor profiles, showed that a mixture containing 65% Aroclor 1242 and 35% Aroclor 1254 was a good approximation of the target profile. A synthetic Chicago air mixture (CAM) was prepared by mixing the respective Aroclors in this ratio, followed by GC/MS/MS analysis. Comparison of the PCB profile of the synthetic mixture with the target profile suggests that the synthetic PCB mixture is a good approximation of the average IIT Chicago air profiles (similarity coefficient cos θ = 0.82; average relative percent difference = 84%). The synthetic CAM was also a reasonable approximation of the average of 184 PCB profiles analyzed in 2007 at 37 sites throughout Chicago as part of the University of Iowa Superfund Basic Research Program (isbrp), with a cos θ of 0.70 and an average relative percent difference of 118%. While the CAM and the two Chicago air profiles contained primarily di- to pentachlorobiphenyls, higher chlorinated congeners, including congeners with seven or eight chlorine atoms, were underrepresented in the synthetic CAM. The calculated TCDD toxic equivalency quotients of the synthetic CAM (2.7 ng/mg PCB) and the IIT Chicago air profile (1.6 ng/mg PCB) were comparable, but lower by two orders of magnitude than the isbrp Chicago air profile (865 ng/mg PCB) due to surprisingly high PCB 126 levels in Chicago air. In contrast, the calculated neurotoxic equivalency quotients of the CAM (0.33 mg/mg PCB) and the two Chicago air profiles (0.44 and 0.30 mg/mg PCB, respectively) were similar. This study demonstrates the challenges and methods of creating and characterizing synthetic, environmental mixtures of PCBs.

Mercury: Cleanup for Broken CFLs

Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) are about 75% more energy efficient than incandescent light bulbs and last 10 times longer, and thus have quickly become a modern-day environmental icon. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that about 290 million CFLs were sold in 2007. But CFLs do have one dim spot on their otherwise bright green image: the mercury that makes the bulbs’ inner phosphor coating fluoresce and produce light. A new study from a group of researchers at Brown University characterizes for the first time how elemental mercury vapor escapes from broken CFLs and offers a real-world solution for capturing escaping mercury. According to a June 2008 fact sheet issued by the EPA Energy Star program, the use of CFLs results in a net reduction in mercury entering the environment because their lower energy draw means less mercury-emitting coal needs to be burned. The EPA estimates that using a 13-W CFL saves 376 kWh over its 8,000-hour lifespan, preventing 4.5 mg of mercury from being emitted by a coal-burning power plant. Each small, curly tube contains about 3–5 mg of mercury—significantly less than the 500 mg in older thermometers, but enough that environmental and human health concerns remain. The research group headed by Robert Hurt, director of the Institute for Molecular and Nanoscale Innovation, broke a series of new and used CFLs to measure the release of mercury vapor into the air. In the hour immediately after each breakage, the team recorded mercury gas concentrations near the bulb shards between 200–800 μg/m3. For comparison, the average 8-hour occupational exposure limit allowed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is 100 μg/m3. Within 4 days a new 13-W CFL released about 30% of its mercury, with the remainder appearing to remain trapped in the bulb debris; picking up the glass shards after breakage reduced mercury release by 67%. Used bulbs followed similar patterns but with lower rates. The study, which was funded by the NIEHS Superfund Basic Research Program, was reported in the 1 August 2008 issue of Environmental Science & Technology. “The amount of mercury gas coming off [broken CFLs] is over a milligram over a few days. If you put that milligram into a poorly ventilated room, the concentration can be over the recommended limit for children [of 0.2 μg/m3],” says Hurt. “The overall risk is low, but it’s not zero risk, and there is definitely an opportunity to do better.” This kind of information could help regulators provide better information on how to handle broken CFLs. In 2007 the Maine Department of Environmental Protection performed one of the only other studies evaluating mercury exposure from broken CFLs. The EPA’s current recommendation to leave the room for at least 15 minutes immediately after breaking a CFL derives from that study. The EPA also recommends that broken CFL pieces be scooped up and placed in a plastic bag. However, Hurt’s research suggests that the peak for escaping mercury vapor lasts a few hours. The group also found that plastic bags leaked mercury vapor. “This new information may allow for modeling of airborne mercury concentrations following breakage, thus providing the capability to more fully assess the effectiveness of cleanup,” says Roxanne Smith, a press officer for the EPA. Hurt’s group also tested 28 sorbents for their ability to capture the released mercury gas. Because a sorbent’s surface area can affect how well it captures mercury, the team chose to test nanoscale formulations, which provide large surface area. One type of nanoselenium was found to be the most effective, removing 99% of the mercury vapor when impregnated in a cloth that was draped over a broken CFL or sprinkled over the breakage as a powder. When the mercury vapor reacted with nanoselenium, it formed mercury selenides, which are insoluble and metabolically inactive, according to a report in the November 2004 issue of the Seychelles Medical and Dental Journal. These compounds are also believed to be stable under landfill conditions (with the caveat that the environmental disposition and health effects of nanomaterials are still largely unknown). There are CFL recycling programs across the country at major retailers such as The Home Depot, but the Association of Lighting and Mercury Recyclers estimates that 98% of CFLs currently end up in landfills. Hurt’s group has therefore developed prototype packaging and disposal bags that can act as a barrier to prevent mercury from escaping as well as neutralize it. “Development of technology or material to more effectively clean up or capture mercury vapor may potentially minimize worker exposures during transport and disposal and, if readily available to consumers, may potentially minimize future inhalation exposures in residential settings,” says Smith.

Meeting Report: Methylmercury in Marine Ecosystems—From Sources to Seafood Consumers

Mercury and other contaminants in coastal and open-ocean ecosystems are an issue of great concern globally and in the United States, where consumption of marine fish and shellfish is a major route of human exposure to methylmercury (MeHg). A recent National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences–Superfund Basic Research Program workshop titled “Fate and Bioavailability of Mercury in Aquatic Ecosystems and Effects on Human Exposure,” convened by the Dartmouth Toxic Metals Research Program on 15–16 November 2006 in Durham, New Hampshire, brought together human health experts, marine scientists, and ecotoxicologists to encourage cross-disciplinary discussion between ecosystem and human health scientists and to articulate research and monitoring priorities to better understand how marine food webs have become contaminated with MeHg. Although human health effects of Hg contamination were a major theme, the workshop also explored effects on marine biota. The workgroup focused on three major topics: a) the biogeochemical cycling of Hg in marine ecosystems, b) the trophic transfer and bioaccumulation of MeHg in marine food webs, and c) human exposure to Hg from marine fish and shellfish consumption. The group concluded that current understanding of Hg in marine ecosystems across a range of habitats, chemical conditions, and ocean basins is severely data limited. An integrated research and monitoring program is needed to link the processes and mechanisms of MeHg production, bioaccumulation, and transfer with MeHg exposure in humans.

Brown Superfund Basic Research Program: A Multistakeholder Partnership Addresses Real-World Problems in Contaminated Communities

The NIEHS funds several basic and applied research programs, many of which also require research translation or outreach. This paper reports on a project by the Brown University Superfund Basic Research Program (SBRP), in which outreach and research translation teams collaborated with state regulatory agency personnel and community activists on a legislative initiative to mitigate the financial impacts of living in a contaminated community. The Environmentally Compromised Home Ownership (ECHO) program makes home equity loans of up to $25,000 available to qualified applicants. This collaboration provides a case study in community engagement and demonstrates how research translation and outreach activities that are clearly differentiated yet well-integrated can improve a suite of basic and applied research. Although engaging diverse constituencies can be difficult community-engaged translation and outreach have the potential to make research findings more useful to communities, address some of the social impacts of contamination, and empower stakeholders to pursue their individual and collectively held goals for remediation. The NIEHS has recently renewed its commitment to community-engaged research and advocacy, making this an optimal time to reflect on how basic research programs that engage stakeholders through research translation and outreach can add value to the overall research enterprise.

Drinking Water Quality: Lead Particles on Tap

Vol. 116, No. 5 EnvironewsOpen AccessDrinking Water Quality: Lead Particles on Tap Rebecca Renner Rebecca Renner Search for more papers by this author Published:1 May 2008https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.116-a201AboutSectionsPDF ToolsDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail Lead exposure is a serious concern for children’s health. Lead impairs children’s brain development, and many scientists believe no dose is safe. High levels of lead in the paint used on children’s toys resulted in numerous toy recalls in 2007. But some school drinking water may also expose children to high levels of lead, according to environmental engineer Marc Edwards of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.Children’s toys and jewelry are recalled if the accessible lead dose—the amount expected to actually make its way into a child—exceeds 175 μg. In an eight-ounce glass of water, 175 μg lead converts to 700 ppb, according to Edwards, who notes that levels this high have been reported in school drinking fountains in Washington, DC; Seattle, Washington; and communities in Virginia and Massachusetts.In 2007 more than 10% of the Washington, DC, schools Edwards tested had at least one fountain with lead levels greater than 700 ppb. He says the most contaminated sample contained 20,000 ppb lead, equivalent to eating 14 dime-sized pieces of paint containing more than 16 times the Consumer Product Safety Commission limit for lead in paint. Some of this lead is dissolved in the water, but much of it remains in particulate form, originating primarily from old lead solder. Edwards presented these findings at “20 Years of Success and a Vision for the Future,” a December 2007 meeting cosponsored by the NIEHS Superfund Basic Research Program.Elevated blood lead levels in children from North Carolina and Washington, DC, have been traced by local public health authorities back to particles of solder in drinking water. In each case a change in water treatment appears to have exacerbated corrosion of water pipes, releasing more particles from solder into the water. Water filters that are attached to the faucet remove both dissolved and particulate lead, but pitcher-type filters do not, according to NSF International, which certifies water filters.Scientists have considered solder to be a minor source of lead in drinking water because they believed that, over time, mineral films form barriers between the water and the solder. “In fact, just like lead paint ages and creates hazards as it degrades, so too does lead solder,” Edwards says. The presence of particles changes the importance of drinking water as a lead source, says Ralph Scott, community projects director of the Alliance for Healthy Homes, an advocacy group. “In most cases we have assumed and still assume that water is a small part of the problem compared to paint,” he says. “But now we are looking at a dimension of the water problem never considered before.”Lead, covered by the 1991 Lead and Copper Rule, is one of the few drinking water contaminants monitored at the household tap. However, Edwards says that current regulations may miss tap water lead for a number of reasons. These include the current testing method, which he believes does not adequately measure particulate lead. Also, regulations require 90% of tested dwellings to meet the regulatory requirements but say nothing about the upper 10% of dwellings, which can have very high lead levels. Edwards and colleagues described these concerns in the June 2007 Journal of the American Water Works Association.But EPA spokesperson Sakeba Carter-Jenkins says the agency has seen no data indicating its current methods miss particulate lead. “If EPA does receive data showing that these procedures need modification, it can be considered as part of the long-term revisions to the Lead and Copper Rule,” says Carter-Jenkins.The EPA plans to begin reviewing the Lead and Copper Rule next year. Last year, the agency changed the rule so that water providers must report to the state before changing their water treatment regimens. This will allow for more timely monitoring of any changes in water quality at the tap, says Martha Keating, outreach coordinator with the Children’s Environmental Health Initiative at Duke University.FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Vol. 116, No. 5 May 2008Metrics About Article Metrics Publication History Originally published1 May 2008Published in print1 May 2008 Financial disclosures License information EHP is an open-access journal published with support from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health. All content is public domain unless otherwise noted. Note to readers with disabilities EHP strives to ensure that all journal content is accessible to all readers. However, some figures and Supplemental Material published in EHP articles may not conform to 508 standards due to the complexity of the information being presented. If you need assistance accessing journal content, please contact [email protected]. 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Challenges to Superfund community nutrition programs in Kentucky

Since 2000, the University of Kentucky's (UK's) Superfund Basic Research Program (SBRP) Community Outreach Core has provided support and guidance through Superfund Community Action through Nutrition (SCAN) programs, which meet the needs of individuals and communities affected by environmental contaminants. It has been shown that nutrition may modulate the toxicity of Superfund chemicals. SCAN programs integrate nutrition education, nutrition science research, and health communication to increase understanding of health risks associated with residing near Superfund sites. Two critical tasks must be accomplished. SCAN personnel must identify and recruit affected community members, and then, offer meaningful programs. Certain quantitative outcome measures and legal issues presented both challenges and opportunities. Community members preferred qualitative evaluation discussions, which showed increased knowledge and improved attitudes following SCAN programs. SCAN, in full partnership with affected communities, translates safe, effective nutrition information to reduce health risks associated with exposure to Superfund pollutants.

The Superfund Basic Research Program—Research for the Future

The Superfund Basic Research Program—Research for the Future

1141635485 Genetic stress (IL‐10 deficiency) and toxicant (PCB)‐induced disruption of pregnancy

Several epidemiologic studies have provided evidence that a significant number of pregnant women living within the World Trade Center disaster area experienced a high rate of low birth weight and premature deliveries. Our hypothesis is that these women were predisposed to pregnancy disruption effects of toxicants detected in the dust of the disaster area. We sought to examine the effects of PCB on pregnancy outcome in an IL‐10‐/‐ mouse model. IL‐10‐/‐ or congenic wild type mice of 6–8 weeks age were given i.p injections of Aroclor 1254 (PCB) at doses of 50 or 500 μg/mouse in 100 μL corn oil on gestational day (gd) 1 and 7 or an equivalent (100 μL) amount of corn oil. Mice were sacrificed on gd 13 and uteri and spleen were excised and collected. Uterine mononuclear cells (UMC) and splenic mononuclear cells (SMC) were isolated. These cell populations were subjected to phenotypic and functional characterization. A portion of uterine tissue was either snap frozen for placental PCB contents or for histology. No doses of Aroclor 1254 affected the pregnancy outcome in wild type mice. However, IL‐10‐/‐ mice experienced fetal resorption when injected with high dose (500 μg/mouse) of Aroclor 1254. Local immune dysregulation and placental anomalies including apoptosis and immunocyte infiltration are currently being investigated. Our results strongly suggest that IL‐10 deficiency and PCB‐mediated immunotoxicity lead to adverse pregnancy outcomes.Acknowledgement: Supported by NIEHS Superfund Basic Research Program Award P42ES13660.

Environmental Health Sciences and the Community

Environmental health science investigators train for many years to acquire the in-depth knowledge and expertise critical to successful research. The inherent components of hypothesis generation, study design, methodology, analysis, and interpretation of research which are central to the investigative process take years of dedicated work to develop. Moreover, the very aim of research—getting at the truth—requires an unbiased and impartial approach to answering the questions asked. However, scientists can’t always do patient-oriented research on their own, which is why the community is such an important component of our success at the NIEHS. Community partners can identify environmental exposures that are of concern, encourage the public to participate in research, help to set research priorities, and provide the bridge to developing and implementing effective interventions to reduce exposures and prevent disease. The NIEHS and the broader community have had a distinguished and productive relationship. Under former director Ken Olden’s leadership, the NIEHS pioneered programs in community-based participatory research, health disparities, and environmental justice. Many research programs including the Core Centers, the Superfund Basic Research Program, the Centers for Children’s Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research, the Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Centers, and the Centers for Population Health and Health Disparities each have active, vibrant community-based research or outreach activities that complement and extend the fundamental basic and disease-oriented research supported by the institute. The NIEHS has engaged the public by involving communities affected by environmental hazards in their neighborhoods in the research process. These programs have provided an ideal opportunity for communities to actively partner with scientists to engage in environmental health research, while also identifying the NIEHS as a leader and innovator in this novel approach to patient-oriented research. The NIEHS has created direct channels of communication by holding regular Town Meetings throughout the United States, and by developing the Public Interest Liaison Group (PILG), made up of representatives of community, disease-advocacy, and environmental organizations, that meets regularly with the NIEHS leadership. The NIEHS also took the lead in establishing an Interagency Working Group on Community-Based Participatory Research involving a number of NIH institutes, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Department of Transportation. Some successful outcomes of the NIEHS and community partnerships include: public housing regulations to account for issues related to lead and allergen exposure; working with managed healthcare insurers to include asthma education services through home health aids to reduce reliance on hospital facilities in managing asthma symptoms among urban low-income, minority children; increased understanding and awareness of environmental triggers of asthma in schools and implementation of new cleaning protocols to reduce exposures; mobilization of local residents to raise concerns about pollution that resulted in citation of polluters in neighborhoods with high exposures; involvement of community advisory boards in planning and implementing family intervention studies to reduce asthma triggers and pesticide residue exposures to protect children’s health; and involvement of breast cancer survivor advocates as participants and key partners in facilitating the translation of research findings on the effects of early exposures on mammary gland development. Strong partnerships between researchers and community members will remain critical to the success of the NIEHS in fulfilling our mission of understanding disease and improving public health. While the institute’s community-based activities continue to change and evolve, the commitment that the NIEHS has to community-based research remains strong. As we prioritize areas for growth and development, the needs and health of communities are a specific focus of our vision. Our programs in integrative research, global environmental health, and exposure biology all focus on problems that evolve from and are relevant to the community. In addition, as part of our response to Hurricane Katrina, the NIEHS will develop a community-responsive research program to investigate the potential health effects of mold and microbial contamination of the home and work environment. Recognizing the importance of community input, we have also invited a PILG representative to regularly attend the NIEHS Advisory Council meetings. As we move forward, community-based research programs will be integrated into the overall direction and goals of the NIEHS. We will stand by our prior commitments and ensure that we actively listen to our community stakeholders, involve them in critical research, and look to them for meaningful interventions. Strong partnerships between researchers and community members will remain critical to the success of the NIEHS in fulfilling our mission of understanding disease and improving human health.