Project #2 explores the transport and fate of metals from mine wastes (chat) that could potentially lead to adverse exposure in children in communities surrounding the Tar Creek Superfund Site. Although metals in mining waste have been thought by some to be relatively unavailable for geochemical mobilization or biological uptake (due to interactions with reactive sulfides), we hypothesize that reactions releasing metals from the sulfides may make metals from mining waste more bioavailable than expected. They may also favor the release of some metals (such as Zn and Cd) over others (such as Cu and Pb). Thus, the mixture of metals to which children are exposed may be very different from the mixture of metals present in the parent chat. In addition, metals that have mobilized off the chat piles into other exposure media such as soil, water, airborne particulates and indoor dust, may have a higher relative bioavailability when compared to parent waste material. We propose to test this hypothesis, and determine whether the types and bioavailability of metals to which children are exposed can be better understood through a more sophisticated consideration of the underlying geochemistry of metals in mine wastes. Specifically, we will study which metals are enriched in down-gradient exposure media relative to metals in chat, and use sequential extraction techniques (and X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopy) to demonstrate that metals in these down-gradient media have a higher relative bioavailability. In conjunction with Project #1, we will use these data to conduct a nested case-control study to examine the extent that environmental and behavioral factors, including diet and activity patterns, may explain differences in blood levels of Pb and Mn in children from the Tar Creek area with high and low levels of Pb and Mn in their blood. We will use the samples we have collected in this project to supply the animal studies (Projects 3 and 4) with well characterized exposure material with respect to the concentrations and potential bioavailability of metals within each media. Finally, in parallel with the exposure assessment, we will conduct microarray experiments and assess their utility as part of an overall exposure/adverse health outcome assessment.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
Type
Research Program Projects (P01)
Project #
1P01ES012874-01
Application #
6968757
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZES1-LKB-E (CC))
Project Start
2004-06-01
Project End
2009-03-31
Budget Start
2004-06-01
Budget End
2005-03-31
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2004
Total Cost
$60,136
Indirect Cost
Name
Harvard University
Department
Type
DUNS #
149617367
City
Boston
State
MA
Country
United States
Zip Code
02115
Claus Henn, Birgit; Bellinger, David C; Hopkins, Marianne R et al. (2017) Maternal and Cord Blood Manganese Concentrations and Early Childhood Neurodevelopment among Residents near a Mining-Impacted Superfund Site. Environ Health Perspect 125:067020
Chavarro, Jorge E; Watkins, Deborah J; Afeiche, Myriam C et al. (2017) Validity of Self-Assessed Sexual Maturation Against Physician Assessments and Hormone Levels. J Pediatr 186:172-178.e3
Sánchez, Brisa N; Kim, Sehee; Sammel, Mary D (2017) Estimators for longitudinal latent exposure models: examining measurement model assumptions. Stat Med 36:2048-2066
Zota, Ami R; Riederer, Anne M; Ettinger, Adrienne S et al. (2016) Associations between metals in residential environmental media and exposure biomarkers over time in infants living near a mining-impacted site. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 26:510-9
Thomas, Deena B; Basu, Niladri; Martinez-Mier, E Angeles et al. (2016) Urinary and plasma fluoride levels in pregnant women from Mexico City. Environ Res 150:489-495
Xu, Jian; Hu, Howard; Wright, Rosalind et al. (2015) Prenatal Lead Exposure Modifies the Impact of Maternal Self-Esteem on Children's Inattention Behavior. J Pediatr 167:435-41
Tao, Yebin; Sánchez, Brisa N; Mukherjee, Bhramar (2015) Latent variable models for gene-environment interactions in longitudinal studies with multiple correlated exposures. Stat Med 34:1227-41
Schaider, Laurel A; Senn, David B; Estes, Emily R et al. (2014) Sources and fates of heavy metals in a mining-impacted stream: temporal variability and the role of iron oxides. Sci Total Environ 490:456-66
Karwowski, Mateusz P; Just, Allan C; Bellinger, David C et al. (2014) Maternal iron metabolism gene variants modify umbilical cord blood lead levels by gene-environment interaction: a birth cohort study. Environ Health 13:77
Basu, Niladri; Tutino, Rebecca; Zhang, Zhenzhen et al. (2014) Mercury levels in pregnant women, children, and seafood from Mexico City. Environ Res 135:63-9

Showing the most recent 10 out of 38 publications