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Your Environment. Your Health.

Person Details: Heileen Hsu-Kim

Superfund Research Program

Heileen Hsu-Kim

Duke University
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Box 90287
Durham, North Carolina 27708-0287
Phone: 919-660-5109
Email: hsukim@duke.edu

Projects

Research Briefs

Hazardous Waste Sites

Atlantic Wood Site, Elizabeth River

  • Duke University: Duke University Superfund Research Center - Developmental Co-Exposures: Mechanisms, Outcomes, and Remediation
  • Duke University: Duke University Superfund Research Center - Developmental Co-Exposures: Mechanisms, Outcomes, and Remediation
  • Duke University: Microbial and Photolytic Transformations of Superfund Chemicals
  • Duke University: Nanoparticle Based Strategies for Remediation of Contaminated Sediments: Implications, Synergies, and Antagonistic Effects with Associated Nano-Bioremediation

Berry's Creek

  • Duke University: Biogeochemical Framework to Evaluate Mercury Methylation Potential During in-situ Remediation of Contaminated Sediments

East Fork Poplar Creek

  • Duke University: Biogeochemical Framework to Evaluate Mercury Methylation Potential During in-situ Remediation of Contaminated Sediments

FCX, Inc. (Washington Plant)

  • Duke University: Duke University Superfund Research Center - Developmental Co-Exposures: Mechanisms, Outcomes, and Remediation
  • Duke University: Microbial and Photolytic Transformations of Superfund Chemicals

Georgia-Pacific Corporation Hardwood Sawmill, Washington County

  • Duke University: Developmental Effects of Superfund Hydrocarbon Mixtures in Fundulus heteroclitus
  • Duke University: Duke University Superfund Research Center - Developmental Co-Exposures: Mechanisms, Outcomes, and Remediation

Publications

2024

  • Wadle A, Neal-Walthall N, Ndu U, Hsu-Kim H. 2024. Distribution and homogenization of multiple mercury species input to freshwater wetland mesocosms. Environ Sci Technol doi:10.1021/acs.est.3c07169 PMID:38181227

2023

  • Berky AJ, Weinhouse C, Vissoci J, Rivera NA, Ortiz EJ, Navio S, Miranda JJ, Mallipudi A, Fixen E, Hsu-Kim H, Pan WK. 2023. In utero exposure to metals and birth outcomes in an artisanal and small-scale gold mining birth cohort in Madre de Dios, Peru. Environ Health Perspect 131(9):97008. doi:10.1289/EHP10557 PMID:37747404 PMCID:PMC10519195
  • Lalwani P, King DE, Morton KS, Rivera NA, Huayta J, Hsu-Kim H, Meyer JN. 2023. Increased cytotoxicity of Pb2+ with co-exposures to a mitochondrial uncoupler and mitochondrial calcium uniporter inhibitor. Environ Sci Process Impacts doi:10.1039/d3em00188a PMID:37503664

2022

  • Berky AJ, Robie E, Chipa SN, Ortiz EJ, Palmer EJ, Rivera NA, Avalos AM, Hsu-Kim H, Pan WK. 2022. Risk of lead exposure from wild game consumption from cross-sectional studies in Madre de Dios, Peru. Lancet Regional Health- Americas 12:100266. doi:10.1016/j.lana.2022.100266
  • Mello DF, Maurer LL, Ryde IT, Songr D, Marinakos SM, Jiang C, Wiesner MR, Hsu-Kim H, Meyer JN. 2022. In vivo effects of silver nanoparticles on development, behavior, and mitochondrial function are altered by genetic defects in mitochondrial dynamics. Environ Sci Technol 56:1113-1124. doi:10.1021/acs.est.1c05915 PMID:35038872 PMCID:PMC8802983
  • Neal-Walthall N, Ndu U, Rivera NA, Elias DA, Hsu-Kim H. 2022. Utility of diffusive gradient in thin-film passive samplers for predicting mercury methylation potential and bioaccumulation in freshwater wetlands. Environ Sci Technol 56:doi:10.1021/acs.est.1c06796 PMID:35044747

2021

  • Koenigsmark F, Weinhouse C, Berky AJ, Morales A, Ortiz EJ, Pierce EM, Pan WK, Hsu-Kim H. 2021. Efficacy of hair total mercury content as a biomarker of methylmercury exposure to communities in the area of artisanal and small-scale gold mining in Madre de Dios, Peru. Int J Environ Res Public Health 18(24):doi:10.3390/ijerph182413350 PMID:34948962 PMCID:PMC8707462
  • Pan WK, Weinhouse C, Ortiz EJ, Berky AJ, Fixsen E, Mallipudi A, Feingold BJ, Navio S, Rivera NA, Hsu-Kim H, Miranda JJ. 2021. CoNaMad-Cohorte de Nacimiento de Madre de Dios / Madre de Dios Birth Cohort to Study Effects of in-utero Trace Metals Exposure in the Southern Peruvian Amazon. Ann Glob Health 87:doi:10.5334/aogh.3152 PMID:34327116 PMCID:PMC8300581
  • Wang L, Mello DF, Zucker RM, Rivera NA, Rogers NM, Geitner NK, Boyes W, Wiesner MR, Hsu-Kim H, Meyer JN. 2021. Lack of detectable direct effects of silver and silver nanoparticles on mitochondria in mouse hepatocytes. Environ Sci Technol 11166-11175. doi:10.1021/acs.est.1c02295 PMID:34346225 (ahead of print)

2020

  • Weinhouse C, Gallis JA, Ortiz EJ, Berky AJ, Morales A, Diringer SE, Harrington JM, Bullins P, Rogers LA, Hare-Grogg J, Hsu-Kim H, Pan WK. 2020. A population-based mercury exposure assessment near an artisanal and small-scale gold mining site in the Peruvian Amazon. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 11:doi:10.1038/s41370-020-0234-2 PMID:32467625

2019

  • Berky AJ, Ryde IT, Feingold BJ, Ortiz EJ, Wyatt LH, Weinhouse C, Hsu-Kim H, Meyer JN, Pan WK. 2019. Predictors of mitochondrial DNA copy number and damage in a mercury-exposed rural Peruvian population near artisanal and small-scale gold mining: An exploratory study. Environ Mol Mutagen 60(2):197-210. doi:10.1002/em.22244 PMID:30289587 PMCID:PMC6452630
  • Redfern L, Gardner CM, Hodzic E, Ferguson PL, Hsu-Kim H, Gunsch C. 2019. A new framework for approaching precision bioremediation of PAH contaminated soils. J Hazard Mater 378:doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2019.120859 PMID:31327574 PMCID:PMC6833951
  • Rivera NA, Bippus P, Hsu-Kim H. 2019. Relative reactivity and bioavailability of mercury sorbed to or coprecipitated with aged iron sulfides. Environ Sci Technol 53:7391-7399. doi:10.1021/acs.est.9b00768 PMID:31173690
  • Volkoff SJ, Osterberg JS, Jayasundara N, Cooper EM, Hsu-Kim H, Rogers LA, Gehrke GE, Jayaraman S, Di Giulio RT. 2019. Embryonic fundulus heteroclitus responses to sediment extracts from differentially contaminated sites in the Elizabeth River, VA. Ecotoxicology 28:9:1126-1135. doi:10.1007/s10646-019-02116-z PMID:31620948 PMCID:PMC7768734

2018

  • Chen CY, Driscoll CT, Eagles-Smith CA, Eckley CS, Gay DA, Hsu-Kim H, Keane SE, Kirk JL, Mason RP, Obrist D, Selin H, Selin NE, Thompson MR. 2018. A critical time for mercury science to inform global policy. Environ Sci Technol 52(17):9556-9561. doi:10.1021/acs.est.8b02286 PMID:30067020
  • Hsu-Kim H, Eckley CS, Acha D, Feng X, Gilmour CC, Jonsson S. 2018. Challenges and opportunities for managing aquatic mercury pollution in altered landscapes. Ambio 47:141-169. doi:10.1007/s13280-017-1006-7 PMID:29388127 PMCID:PMC5794684
  • Lefevre E, Bossa N, Gardner CM, Gehrke GE, Cooper EM, Stapleton HM, Hsu-Kim H, Gunsch C. 2018. Biochar and activated carbon act as promising amendments for promoting the microbial debromination of tetrabromobisphenol A. Water Res 128:102-110. doi:10.1016/j.watres.2017.09.047 PMID:29091801 PMCID:PMC5796758
  • Ndu U, Christensen GA, Rivera NA, Gionfriddo CM, Deshusses MA, Elias DA, Hsu-Kim H. 2018. Quantification of mercury bioavailability for methylation using diffusive gradient in thin-film samplers. Environ Sci Technol 52:8521-8529. doi:10.1021/acs.est.8b00647 PMID:29920204 PMCID:PMC6085726

2016

  • Wyatt LH, Diringer SE, Rogers LA, Hsu-Kim H, Pan WK, Meyer JN. 2016. Antagonistic growth effects of mercury and selenium in Caenorhabditis elegans are chemical-species-dependent and do not depend on internal Hg/Se ratios. Environ Sci Technol 50(6):3256-3264. doi:10.1021/acs.est.5b06044 PMID:26938845 PMCID:PMC4964607

2015

  • Kucharzyk KH, Deshusses M, Porter KA, Hsu-Kim H. 2015. Relative contributions of mercury bioavailability and microbial growth rate on net methylmercury production by anaerobic mixed cultures. Environ Sci Process Impacts 17(9):1568-1577. doi:10.1039/c5em00174a PMID:26211614 PMCID:PMC4782143
  • Pham AL, Johnson C, Manley D, Hsu-Kim H. 2015. Influence of sulfide nanoparticles on dissolved mercury and zinc quantification by diffusive gradient in thin-film passive samplers. Environ Sci Technol 49(21):12897-12903. doi:10.1021/acs.est.5b02774 PMID:26414810 PMCID:PMC4782790
  • Ticknor JL, Kucharzyk KH, Porter KA, Deshusses M, Hsu-Kim H. 2015. Thiol-based selective extraction assay to comparatively assess bioavailable mercury in sediments. Environ Eng Sci 32(7):564-573. doi:10.1089/ees.2014.0526 PMID:26244001 PMCID:PMC4507306
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Last Reviewed: July 07, 2025