OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
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Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons: New Technologies and Emerging Health Risks
The Oregon State University Superfund Research Center was established in 2008. The FSES laboratory houses the Chemical Mixtures Core and many SRP trainees working on research PAH Fate and Exposure Project The Superfund Research Program is federally funded and administered by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS grant #P42 ES016465), an institute of the National Institutes of Health.
Source and Seasonal Influence on and Source Profiling of Bioavailable Organic Contaminants using Passive Sampling Devices
We propose a pilot study to detect and quantify chemical exposures in companion dogs following the E. Palestine OH train derailment utilizing silicone passive sampling devices (PSD), followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrophotometry (GC-MS). This well-validated method, offered as a core service by the Chemical Exposure Core (CXC) at OSU, will allow us to screen and accurately quantify over 1500 different volatile and semi-volatile organic chemicals and PAH analysis. In parallel, we will pilot the assessment of DNA damage repair capacity and its association with cancer risk in a subset of these dogs using the CometChip assay17–19 in collaboration with Dr. Bevin Engelward at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Future grants will use these data to subsequently focus our analysis of dog tags to the most significant contaminants. Finally, we will leverage partnerships with both local stakeholders, including local veterinary clinic teams and NGOs, as well as our active, online canine community science platform (Darwin’s Ark) for ongoing data collection and longitudinal follow up on health outcomes.
Environmental Preparedness & Resilience Empowering People is a citizen science project which provides resources based on a low cost passive sampling platform. These samplers can be used to evaluate air quality and your personal environmental exposures. By leveraging resources developed for our Citizen Science project, we are recruiting and training citizen scientist to use our passive sampling platform to produce useful data prior to and post environmental disaster.
Researchers at Oregon State University are recruiting citizen scientists to join a network enabling air and water exposure monitoring in their communities. This site will allow scientists to develop a profile, perform online training, request a sampling site, and join in on local events. This site will also manage equipment loans, sample submission, and allow you to view your data. For more information, please visit the Citizen Science website. If you are interested becoming a citizen scientist, please sign up for updates and we will send you a newsletter when we open up registration for online training.
Bioavailable organic contaminants using silicone passive sampling devices in air and water.
If silicone can be used as a passive sampler in aqueous deployments, could it be used to sample the atmosphere?
Americans spend approximately 90% of their time indoors, with vulnerable populations (children, elderly, individuals with chronic illnesses) spending even more of their time inside. Indoor pollutants have been identified at concentrations 2 to 5x higher than outdoors, and are influenced by indoor emission rate, rate of transport from outdoors, and removal via ventilation or filtration. Additionally, shifts in building construction, composition of building materials, and increases in use of consumer products indoors has resulted in increased exposure to volatile (VOCs) and semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs).
Sweet onions are valued for their unique flavor and praised for their health and dietary character. These varietals of onions bring a higher market price. Onion sweetness is perceived as the degree of pungency decreases. Pungency can be quantitatively determined in onions by measuring enzymatically produced pyruvic acid. The onion industry quantifies a sweet onion as one having a enzymatically produced pyruvic acid concentration of <5 μmol/g. Identification of pyruvic acid is accomplished by reacting onion extract with 2, 4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH) to produce a colored adduct that is measured spectrophotometrically (intensity of the color). Based on the laboratory method we have created a validated colorimetric chart-based field test kit that can be used on site, or in any onion packing house. The color produced when using the kit can be compared to a color chart provided (see example below) and sweetness of the onion determined.
Bioavailable organic contaminants using lipid free low density polyethylene passive sampling devices.
Flame retardants (PBDEs, etc) environmental fate and toxicity.