The program identifies water flows and uses, and investigates the transport and fate of contaminants in these waters, in both surface and subsurface environments. Researchers are also developing tools to assess the health effects from exposure to certain chemicals. Researchers have developed a technology, termed mutational spectrometry, to assess mutations induced in human cells. Proposed new work will include study of the local population showing a response in the associated mutational spectrum due to chromate exposure. The project work falls into two broad areas: community assessment and community clean-up. The work in """"""""community assessment"""""""" entailed the assessment of potential health risks to residents in the Aberjona watershed posed by release of hazardous chemicals. Historical reviews, surface sediment samples, and sediment cores from lakes and ponds were used to characterize the nature of the contamination. Lead arsenate, used formerly as an insecticide for flower growing and greenhouses, and chromium, used in former leather tanning operations, were found at high levels at various places in the watershed. Hydrogeologic study of chemicals and surface water and groundwater flows suggest that tens of tons of arsenic have been transported down the Aberjona River and now lie in the sediments of Mystic Lake and the Mystic River. Using hydrogeologic models of chemical movement in river water and groundwater, the team estimated that East Woburn residents were exposed not only to chlorinated solvents but also to toxic metals including chromium. The research team will now be testing metal exposure by analysis of human hair from children in the area where the leukemia cluster was reported. If exposure is confirmed, the mutational spectrometry technique will be used to assess if drinking water, i.e., chromium, was responsible for the genetic damage.
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