Superfund Research Program

Research Translation Core

Project Leader: Celia Y. Chen
Grant Number: P42ES007373
Funding Period: 2005-2021

Project-Specific Links

Final Progress Reports

Year:   2020  2013  2007 

Aims: The Research Translation Core (RTC) communicates the research accomplishments of the Dartmouth Superfund Research Program (SRP) to government partners, non-governmental organizations, health care providers and associations, universities and the lay community, and facilitates the use of the team's science for the protection of public health.

Results: The RTC has successfully conveyed actionable information derived from the Dartmouth SRP's research to a variety of stakeholders in academia, local, state and federal government, NGOs, policymakers, and to the public using workshops, videos, fact sheets, websites and related tools. Highlights of these RTC and selected CEC activities are reported below.

Technology Transfer: Brian Jackson, TEA Core Leader, presented state-of-the-art arsenic speciation technologies to Dupont. Tracy Punshon, of the Bioaccumulation and Trophic Transfer of Mercury in Aquatic Food Webs project: presented as an invited speaker, "Using elemental imaging in ionomics" to the State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry; "Using synchrotron X-ray fluorescence imaging as a tool in metallomics" to the Canadian Society of Chemistry; and "Imaging metals and characterizing genes in plants using synchrotron X-ray fluorescence microscopy" to the International Conference on the Biogeochemistry of Trace Elements. She also presented, "Using SXRF imaging in gene characterization" at the workshop "Biological Applications of X-ray Fluorescence Microscopy" at Northwestern University. Dr. Punshon has collaborated with beamline scientists at National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS II) at Brookhaven National Laboratory since 2001, with the primary aim of overcoming the challenges presented by organic tissue specimens in performing elemental imaging in vivo. As early users of the X-ray Spectroscopy (SRX) beamline Dr. Punshon and Dr. Guerinot will have advanced access to a state-of-the art beamline (scheduled to begin operations in fall of 2014) with a beam size of below 30 nm, a high energy resolution and the option to deliver a lower photon load on the sample, thus allowing collection of data of the highest quality. Dr. Punshon was invited to submit an Early Science Proposal for experimental time at the sub-micron resolution at the NSLS II.

Communicating to Broad Audiences: The RTC and CEC jointly participated in the NH DES Water Festival in Concord, NH as part of the celebration of "Drinking Water Week." They provided an interactive exhibit on arsenic in private well water for 350 4th graders. They were also invited by the NH Food Co-Op to participate in a Gluten-Free Event. The Cores answered questions, provided customers with a fact sheet on arsenic in food and reminded them to test their well water.

The RTC attended the NH Healthy Homes conference and partnered with Pierce Rigrod from the NH DES to present an exhibitor table on arsenic in well water, provide information on our research, convey the message that a healthy home must include safe drinking water, and explain that private well owners are responsible for testing their own wells. Many of the 300 attendees spoke with us and took information about testing for the organizations they represented and for themselves.

The Dartmouth SRP and its NHDES partners have continued to reach out to physicians and recently collaborated on an updated fact sheet to inform families about exposure to arsenic. The CEC prepared the fact sheet and it will be distributed by the researchers' partners in the Winnipesaukee Public Health Region and presented at the regional Healthy Homes meeting. It is also being distributed to the local Medical Committee.

The CEC facilitated the inclusion of students from Gorham High School, located downstream from a Superfund site in Berlin, NH, in a project on bioaccumulation of mercury in watersheds. The project enables students to learn about the history of the superfund site, the mercury biogeochemical cycle, and implications for wildlife and human health. Trainee Kate Buckman of the Bioaccumulation and Trophic Transfer of Mercury in Aquatic Food Webs project, visited the classroom to discuss lab procedures, mercury sources and fate in the ecosystem, and helped students collect dragonfly nymphs from the river. The TEA core analyzed their samples for mercury and the students used the results to complete reports and compare the information with students across New England.

Government Partnerships: RTC Celia Chen, distributed the C-MERC synthesis report and presented a C-MERC poster at the International Negotiating Conference for the Global Mercury Treaty in Geneva Switzerland in January 2013. She also presented on C-MERC and the synthesis report at the International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant in Edinburgh Scotland (ICGMP, July 2013). The theme of the conference was "Science informing global policy," consistent with the focus of the Dartmouth SRP C-MERC efforts to bring marine mercury science policy to the implementation of the new UNEP Convention on Mercury signed in Minimata, Japan in October. Dr. Chen also represented C-MERC in the Fate and Transport Partnership at the UN Environmental Program Partnership meeting for the Minimata Treaty which was also held in Edinburgh. At the ICGMP meeting, trainee Kate Buckman presented two posters on "The influence of epilithophytes on methylmercury bioaccumulation in a contaminated river system, Berlin, NH" and "Methylmercury bioaccumulation in zooplankton and fish from the Mediterranean Sea."

The RTC and CEC jointly hosted a meeting of the New Hampshire Arsenic Consortium in September. Twenty-five Dartmouth researchers and regional professionals, including representatives from the USGS, U.S. EPA, NH DES, NH DHHS, local towns, the medical community, the Dartmouth SRP, and the Dartmouth Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Center, shared information on arsenic as it relates to environmental public health. The group set new priorities, developed an action plan, and presented updates on research and activities relating to arsenic in food and water.

 

Over the last year, the Continuing Education Coordinator, Michael Paul, collaborated with Pierce Rigrod of the NH DES Drinking Water Bureau in several activities including: providing information on well testing and remediation at the NH Local Government Conference and to meetings of the Squam Lakes Association, the NH Healthy Homes Strategic Planning Committee, Local Planning Boards, child care licensors, and physicians. They also assisted a pediatrician in submitting a Community Access to Child Health (CATCH) grant to build a coalition in Franklin to reduce exposure to arsenic, particularly for at-risk families and children. In October, they presented to the NH Health Officers Association Annual Meeting and Workshop to a standing room only group of 75.

NH DES and the CEC also supported Steve Wingate, a member of the CEC Advisory Board and of the Tuftonboro, NH Conservation Commission , in his effort to increase the well testing rate in his town. Steve and other volunteer members of the Conservation Commission held well testing events in 2012 and 2013. In addition to raising awareness about the issue, these events made it easier for people to test their water by distributing test kits and driving samples to the state lab in Concord. In a town with a population less than 2,500, Steve and the Commission prompted more than 275 households to test their wells. At least 77 households discovered their water contained more than 10 parts per billion of arsenic, the maximum contaminant level (MCL) set by EPA under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The Commission was originally motivated by a presentation by the Dartmouth SRP's Dr. Josh Hamilton, who was the keynote speaker at the NH DES 2012 Drinking Water Source Protection Workshop, during which he discussed the potential health effects of long-term exposure to low doses of arsenic.

Selected Investigator-Initiated Research Translation: Dartmouth SRP investigators routinely present at top international scientific conferences and workshops. Here the Research Translation Core highlights those activities focused on delivering information to the public and policy-makers.

Margaret Karagas, Arsenic Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Exposure Assessment of Metals Project: Dr. Karagas is participating on the Committee "Guidance for and Review of EPA's IRIS Toxicological Assessment of Inorganic Arsenic." She presented with Carolyn Murray as part of the Children's Health and Disease Prevention Center at Dartmouth to the NNEPQUIN Fall meeting on "Arsenic Exposure During Pregnancy: What do I Tell My Patients?" at which the RTC and CEC provided materials on arsenic and the Arsenic: In Small Doses video.

Celia Chen, Bioaccumulation and Trophic Transfer of Mercury in Aquatic Food Webs Project: Dr. Chen presented at the APHA Meeting as part of the session, "Our planet's blue heart: The interrelationships among human activity, oceans, seafood, and the public's health." Her talk was titled, "Mercury pollution in marine ecosystems from sources to seafood." She also delivered two keynote speeches this summer: 1) at the North Atlantic Chapter of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (NAC-SETAC) meeting on June 13^th in Fairlee, Vermont, and 2) to students from Woodstock, VT and Claremont, NH and their parents at a celebration of the student's science projects on mercury.

Bruce Stanton, Arsenic and the Ubiquitin Lysosomal Pathway Project: Bruce Stanton spoke to CDC/ATSDR staff in September and presented "Organic Forms of Arsenic Have Untoward Effects on the Pseudomonas aeruginosa Induced Immune Response in Human Bronchial Epithelial Cells." Approximately 100 people attended in-person and others from the NIEHS, EPA and CDC/ATSDR attended by webinar. Dr. Stanton also met with scientists at the CDC/ATSDR and participated in the Public Health Perspective Panel Discussion that followed his presentation. The RTC and CEC followed up on the visit and have spoken with Selene Chou, a Toxics Profile Manager at ATSDR in Atlanta, and Lorraine Backer from the National Center for Environmental Health at CDC, both of whom would like to stay informed about the team's arsenic work and are now on the NH Arsenic Consortium mailing list. Dr. Stanton was featured on NHPR's "The Exchange" a one hour morning talk show that devoted a program to arsenic in October. The other guests were two stakeholder partners, Paul Susca from NH DES and Joe Ayotte from USGS.

Mary Lou Guerinot, Arsenic Uptake, Transport and Storage in Plants Project: Dr. Guerinot presented at the Crop Science Society annual meeting in a symposium entitled, "Limiting Harmful & Enhancing Nutritive Elements in Crops." Dr. Guerinot will also speak at the NIEHS Arsenic Workshop in March 2014 as part of a session tentatively titled "Global Environmental Cycling and Bioavailability of Arsenic."

Brian Jackson, Trace Elements Analysis Core: Dr. Jackson presented at the Food and Nutrition Conference in Houston, Texas in a session entitled: Arsenic in Rice a New Dimension to Food Safety, with Tricia Thompson, MS, RD. He also presented research findings at the American Society for Mass Spectrometry Annual Meeting. Dr. Jackson's lab analyzed samples of food products and found levels of arsenic that could pose health risks.

Significance: The Research Translation Core's overarching goal is to communicate new knowledge to stakeholders and communities so they can make informed and healthy lifestyle decisions. The RTC's research on mercury in fish and arsenic in food and water has important consequences in multiple levels of society. The ways in which the RTC and CEC have conveyed this information to their stakeholders has impacted decision-making for the public and policymakers to improve community health around the world.

Plans: The RTC will begin to conduct studies proposed in the new aims of the renewal application.