1438266 (Strand). Home air can contain gaseous carcinogens at levels that exceed health standards for indoor environments. This project will transform a common houseplant with genes normally expressed in mammals, that are involved in the detoxification of air pollutants, including benzene, dichlorobenzene, chloroform, and acrolein, and with bacterial genes for the degradation of formaldehyde. These transgenic houseplants are expected to have the capability to help decrease the levels of carcinogens common in indoor air. The investigators will test the plants' efficacy under ambient conditions and their biosafety. This project will add to the arsenal of methods for decreasing carcinogens in the home, which make up a significant fraction of human exposures to cancer risk. This research will also clarify the widely varying rates observed by labs working on houseplant effects on air borne pollutants.
The project will introduce students and faculty to important techniques that are relatively new to the environmental engineering field. Results will be disseminated by presentations at national and international environmental engineering conferences. A web site will be prepared to showcase the results of the project. Underrepresented groups at the K-12 and undergraduate level will be reached through the minority science and engineering program, MESP, and the mathematics, science, engineering achievement program, MESA, at the University of Washington.
