Superfund Research Program
Environmentally Persistent Free Radicals in Contaminated Soils
Project Leader: Robert L. Cook
Grant Number: P42ES013648
Funding Period: 2011-2018
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Year: 2017
Robert Cook, Ph.D., and his research team have focused on
- furthering their understanding of the formation of environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFRs) and the roles of metal centers, biological enzymes, and soil conditions; and
- developing a simple 31P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) in vivo probe of temporal toxicity.
Their work on formation of EPFRs shows that EPFR formation is possible in a wide variety of environmental matrices, emphasizing the importance of water. The researchers have established that their in vivo 31P NMR work can be used for temporal toxicity studies and monitoring of the influence of environmental conditions, and thus is viable and will be further investigated for application in EPFR toxicity studies. Overall, this systematic approach and understanding of EPFR formation is guiding them to a more universal process by which EPFRs are formed and stabilized in soils and the role of environmental factors, establishing the corner stones for remediation strategies, and a better understanding of how widespread EPFRs may be in the environment, including the associated risk of exposure (e.g., are EPFRs near me, and will they harm me?).