Public Health Impacts
Superfund Research Program
One of the primary goals of SRP-funded research is to improve public health. Thus, the Program supports a wide range of research to address the broad public health concerns arising from the release of hazardous substances into the environment. The intent is to provide sound science to those making public policy, regulatory, and risk reduction decisions. SRP-funded research has been successful in this area as studies have improved our understanding and minimizing the health effects associated with exposures to environmental contaminants. The following stories provide information on public health impacts. They are merely highlights and represent the breadth of work SRP researchers undertake. To see older stories, visit our archives page.
Midwest legislators convene at Environmental Health Summit (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/news/newsletter/2013/3/spotlight-midwest/index.htm)
Environmental health topics were the focus of a workshop Jan. 24-25, 2013, co-hosted by the University of Iowa (UI) Superfund Research Program (SRP). The purpose of the Midwest Environmental Health Summit was to inform state legislators about environmental health issues in the region. The legislative workshop in the Midwest was the fourth of its kind convened by the SRP Research Translation Core since 2007. The workshops have attracted state legislators and legislative staff from throughout the Midwest, including legislators from 10 states. Read More... (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/news/newsletter/2013/3/spotlight-midwest/index.htm)
Grantees discuss Superfund pollutants and reproductive health (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/news/newsletter/2013/3/science-srp/index.htm)
Early-life exposure to several common pollutants in food, drinking water, and household products has been associated with neurotoxic effects and other health outcomes, according to NIEHS-funded Superfund Research Program (SRP) presenters on a Fertility and Reproductive Health Working Group call Feb. 7, 2013, hosted by the Collaborative on Health and the Environment (CHE) and Boston University (BU) SRP. The call is the first of many activities to emerge from this collaboration between the BU SRP and CHE. Madeleine Scammell, D.Sc., BU SRP Research Translation Core leader and co-host of the call, worked to form the partnership, to improve application of findings and consolidate resources. Read More... (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/news/newsletter/2013/3/science-srp/index.htm)
SRP Student Highlight: Oleksii Motorykin, Oregon State University
Oleksii Motorykin, a Superfund Research Program (SRP) trainee at Oregon State University (OSU), found for the first time that lung cancer deaths are linked to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emissions that pollute the air, independent of cigarette smoke. As a result of his hard work and discoveries, Motorykin received two prestigious awards from the Division of Environmental Chemistry of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in 2013. Read More...
