Superfund Research Program

Outreach Core

Project Leader: Sandra S. Bastin
Grant Number: P42ES007380
Funding Period: 2000 - 2005

Project-Specific Links

Final Progress Reports

Year:   2004 

The purpose of the University of Kentucky Superfund Outreach Program is to emphasize partnerships with public and private sectors by providing educational outreach through nutrition and scientific information.  The program began by establishing communication with the individuals and families that work at or live in close proximity to the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, the largest United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Superfund site in the state of Kentucky.  Recruitment procedures used to identify these groups included flyers, newspaper articles, community town meetings, and science seminars.  There were three community groups in the area, the most active of which has been Active Citizens for Truth (ACT).  Interactions with these community groups taught the investigators that it was most important to build trust and listen to community priorities.  Early in 2004, an interactive meeting with ACT board members determined the current outreach priorities.  A major concern involved medical issues and illnesses related to exposure to environmental contaminants. Thus, the possibility of individual consultations with medical personnel at the University of Kentucky Medical Center could be included as part of the team’s outreach to interested community members.  Another concern was nutrition, and ACT members requested economical ways to increase intake of foods high in antioxidants.  This request led to a graduate student in nutrition designing a community nutrition project on economical and time-saving ways to include antioxidants in the diet.  This project will be presented to the community groups at the next Science Seminar.  As a third concern, some members requested information on contamination of garden produce grown near the plant.  The gardening request resulted in an extensive literature search and collection of research based data.  This information will be analyzed and published through UK’s Cooperative Extension Service (CES) to promote fuller scientific knowledge and understanding of garden produce contamination.  This will also be a topic discussed at the next Science Seminar.

The Outreach Program examined quality control issues and presented a poster on this topic at the SBRP Annual Meeting in Seattle.  A model was developed which relies on Registered Dietitians and UK’s CES to provide safe and effective translation of nutrition information to Superfund individuals and communities.