Superfund Research Program
Exposures, Health Impacts, and Risk for Mine Waste Contamination
Center Director: Xinxin Ding
Grant Number: P42ES004940
Funding Period: 1990-2025
Program Links
News Items List
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Extramural Paper of the Month: Interaction of Toxic Metals in the Digestive System Revealed
Paper of the Month - June 2024
Scientists at the University of Arizona SRP Center examined the effects of arsenic, cadmium, ferrihydrite, and pepsin, an enzyme responsible for protein digestion. Scientists used a simulated gastrointestinal (GI) tract to measure bioaccessibility, or the amount of toxic metals that could be released during digestion and absorbed into the blood stream.
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Community-based Participatory Research for Structural Change
SRP News Page - October 2023
Monica D. Ramirez-Andreotta, Ph.D., at the University of Arizona SRP Center is interviewed by Ashley Ahearn for the NIEHS podcast where she discusses the role and impacts of participatory research.
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Building trust, sharing data: grantee promotes participatory research
Environmental Factor - March 2022
During her Feb. 14 NIEHS Keystone Science Lecture, Monica Ramirez-Andreotta, Ph.D., shared the numerous ways she works with communities to integrate their priorities into environmental health sciences research. The University of Arizona SRP Center researcher directs Gardenroots and Project Harvest, which are citizen science initiatives that engage community members about the health of their soil, water, and plants.
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Engaging Communities to Improve Well-being
SRP News Page - February 2022
Monica Ramirez-Andreotta, Ph.D., from the University of Arizona SRP Center, shared her experience engaging communities in science and her journey from SRP trainee to SRP researcher.
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2021 Papers of the Year: Plant Leaves Work as Reliable Air Monitor in Citizen-Science Study
Paper of the Month - January 2022
Working with citizen-scientists, University of Arizona SRP Center researchers demonstrated that leaves can be used as a low-cost, reliable method to assess the level of metals in airborne dust.
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Plant leaves work as reliable air monitor in citizen-science study
Paper of the Month - January 2022
Working with citizen-scientists, NIEHS-funded researchers demonstrated that leaves can be used as a low-cost, reliable method to assess the level of metals in airborne dust. The method can help assess exposure from former mine sites that emit heavy metals that can be distributed by wind to nearby communities.
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Community-engaged research addresses health concerns on tribal lands
SRP News Page - November 2021
Approximately 500,000 Native Americans live within three miles of a Superfund site. The NIEHS Superfund Research Program (SRP) has long supported community-engaged research with Native American communities to identify strategies to reduce exposures and protect their health. To celebrate Native American Heritage Month, this article recognizes how some SRP researchers address community concerns in Tribal lands.
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Karletta Chief named director of new Indigenous Resilience Center
Environmental Factor - November 2021
NIEHS grantee integrates environmental health science and social science in outreach programs with Native American communities.
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Helping Communities Monitor Air Pollution Using Plants
Research Brief - October 2021
An NIEHS Superfund Research Program (SRP)-funded study revealed that certain plants can be used to effectively monitor metals and other pollutants in air. Community members collected environmental data used in the study as part of the Gardenroots project, which involves residents in research activities to evaluate human and environmental health effects near former and operating mining sites in Arizona. The study was led by University of Arizona SRP Center researcher Monica Ramirez-Andreotta, Ph.D.
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Scientific art competition showcases trainees' research, imagination
Environmental Factor - September 2021
When the COVID-19 pandemic forced university laboratories to shut down or go remote, the NIEHS Superfund Research Program (SRP) created an opportunity for trainees to celebrate their research efforts and the stories behind them. Led by SRP Health Scientist Administrator Danielle Carlin, Ph.D., SRP hosted a scientific art competition for trainees.
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Better risk communication can reduce harmful exposures, experts say
Environmental Factor - July 2021
NIEHS grantees, partners, and colleagues came together to discuss how they have engaged with local groups and communicated potential health risks to reduce exposures and improve health. Hosted by the NIEHS Superfund Research Program (SRP) June 21-22, the online workshop drew more than 200 participants.
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Water contamination on tribal lands focus of webinar series
Environmental Factor - August 2020
NIEHS-funded researchers study how Native Americans' exposure to arsenic, uranium, and other substances affects their health and well-being.
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Oral histories shed light on exposures near Superfund sites
Environmental Factor - March 2020
A new collection of oral histories from people who work and live near two Arizona Superfund sites was posted online in January. The community-driven Voices Unheard project captures video accounts, photos, and descriptions from communities near the Tucson International Airport Area and the Iron King Mine-Humboldt Smelter Superfund sites.