Superfund Research Program

Research Translation Core

Project Leader: Eric M. Suuberg
Grant Number: P42ES013660
Funding Period: 2005-2021

Project-Specific Links

Final Progress Reports

Year:   2020  2014  2008 

Brown’s SBRP Research Translation Core (RTC) activities for this past year can be divided into four categories: training; relationship building; technology transfer; and research-related efforts.

Training Efforts: A summary of the training efforts that were to be completed during this fiscal year is included as Table 1.

Table 1. Summary of Training Efforts for 2007/08 FY

Description	Audience	Notes
Vapor Intrusion Mitigation Workshop – September 2008 Co-sponsor: Northeast Waste Management Officials Association (NEWMOA).	Regulatory Staff and Environmental Professionals	Pennell/Suuberg (RTC/ Vapor Pressures And Thermodynamic Properties Of Complex Organic Containing Mixtures project) presented. The audience was restricted due to venue constraints; therefore, even though there was a high attendance number (150) it was not possible to accommodate everyone on the waitlist. The high level of interest in the training speaks to the timeliness of the topic. Individuals from EPA, industry and Brown’s SBRP presented at the workshop.
Green Technology: Science, Innovation & Enterprise – February 2008 Hosted by Brown Forum for Enterprise	Business Professionals (100)	Pennell (RTC), Boekelheide (Testicular Sensitization and Co-Exposure Synergy project) and Gray (RTC-RIDEM) organized a roundtable on "Greening Brownfield Redevelopment"
National Conference on Health Communication, Marketing and Media Atlanta, Georgia( - August 2008	Health Care Industry	A presentation by Pennell/Suuberg (RTC), Brown (COC), and Boekelheide (Testicular Sensitization and Co-Exposure Synergy project) was included in a Roundtable on Academic-Community-State Partnerships to Enhance Community Knowledge of Environmental Health Issues
2nd Annual Toxicology/Remediation Workshop and Site Tour – Sept. 2008 Part of the Metcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Reporting Diversity Fellowship Program	Environmental Journalists	Boekelheide (Testicular Sensitization and Co-Exposure Synergy project) and Pennell (RTC) presented. Fellows that attended the training are currently working for the following media outlets: CNN–Atlanta Next American City-Philadelphia The Seattle Times-Seattle The American Prospect-DC The Boston Globe-Boston
Nanotech: A Forum on Health, Safety and Environmental Impact of Nanomaterials	State Agencies and Health professionals	Kane (Genotoxic Potential Of Mixed Dust Exposures poject)/Hurt (Mechanisms Of Hg Adsorption From Mixed Pollutant Streams project) presented. This workshop was organized by SBRP’s contacts at the Rhode Island Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (RICOSH)

Relationship Building:

• The results from collaboration with individuals at the EPA National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory-Atlantic Ecology Division (EPA NHEERL-AED) were accepted as a research article (PMID: 18717615) in the Journal of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.
  Burgess RM, Perron MM, Friedman CL, Suuberg EM, Pennell KG, Cantwell MG, Pelletier MC, Ho KT, Serbst JR, Ryba SA . “Evaluation of the Effects of Coal Fly Ash Amendments on the Toxicity of a Contaminated Marine Sediment.” Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, Accepted August 2008.
• Continued interaction with the Northeast Waste Management Officials’ Association (NEWMOA) resulted in co-sponsoring a 2nd vapor intrusion workshop in September 2008.  A future co-sponsored workshop is being planned for June 2009.
• To continue the Core’s involvement promoting accurate scientific reporting, they have begun interacting with the Metcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Reporting.  As mentioned in Table 1, the Core has organized training events for journalists.  In addition, they are planning future ways to continue their involvement with journalist training.
• Interactions related to vapor intrusion have taken place with various regulators, including Ray Cody (USEPA Region 1), Henry Schuver (EPA OSWER) and Helen Dawson (EPA Region 8).

Technology Innovation:

• Last year, an internal technology transfer grant competition was conducted within Brown’s SBRP. One of the grants was awarded for the development of mercury capture techniques, which are being investigated though the Mechanisms Of Hg Adsorption From Mixed Pollutant Streams project (Hurt).  Hurt and his team have filed a provisional patent.  The patent filing describes the capture of mercury vapor by nanomaterial sorbents and the use of these sorbents for managing mercury in fluorescent lamps.
• In addition, to the above, there was technology that was developed under the Metals Removal Via Spouted Bed Electrolytic Reactors project that was the subject of a business development activity as part of an undergraduate course. The students developed a business plan (which won an awards at the state-level) centered on using the technology for heavy metals recovery from contaminated land.

Research-related Efforts:

• Brown’s SBRP (Genotoxic Potential Of Mixed Dust Exposures project and Mechanisms Of Hg Adsorption From Mixed Pollutant Streams project) hosted a symposium titled “Environmental and Human Health Impacts of Nanomaterials” at the American Chemical Society national Meeting in Philadelphia, PA in August 2008.  Prof. Robert Hurt (Mechanisms Of Hg Adsorption From Mixed Pollutant Streams project), and Prof. Agnes Kane (Genotoxic Potential Of Mixed Dust Exposures project) were the co-chairs for the symposium. 
• Since much of the vapor intrusion research being conducted by the SBRP is currently supported through the RTC, publications related to vapor intrusion are listed below.  Publications related to other SBRP research projects are included in the appropriate sections of this report, but are not included below.

Pennell, K. G., Bozkurt, O., Suuberg, E. M. “Development and Application of a 3-D Finite Element Vapor Intrusion Model”  Journal of the Air and Waste Management Association, Accepted, September 2008.

Bozkurt, O., Pennell, K.G., Suuberg, E. M. “Simulation of the Vapor Intrusion Process for Non-Homogeneous Soils Using a Three- Dimensional Numerical Model” Groundwater Monitoring and Remediation. Accepted November 2008