Skip Navigation
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Your Environment. Your Health.

Melissa Gonzalez and Joseph Hoover Present at PEPH Webinar

Gonzalez (left) leads the Community Engagement and Dissemination Core at the Center for Native American Environmental Health Equity. Hoover (right) is co-director of the Center.
Gonzalez (left) leads the Community Engagement and Dissemination Core at the Center for Native American Environmental Health Equity. Hoover (right) is co-director of the Center.

Melissa Gonzalez, Ph.D., and Joseph Hoover, Ph.D., project leaders at the University of New Mexico (UNM) Center for Native American Environmental Health Equity Research, presented at the Partnerships for Environmental Public Health (PEPH) Plastic and Human Health webinar. Their work with the center focuses on engaging tribal communities to assess exposure to environmental pollutants.

According to their presentation, many tribal communities in the rural southwestern United States lack adequate collection, treatment, and disposal of trash. Open dumping and burning solid waste are common practices that could increase exposure to metals for communities already burdened by environmental health disparities.

The center’s Community Engagement and Dissemination Core team worked with community partners to identify sampling sites. They prioritized dumping areas that were closer to homes, burned more frequently, and impacted a wider array of environmental media such as soil, water, and plants.

The team is currently working to analyze data and report results back to communities. They are also collaborating with the UNM Superfund Research Center to investigate plant uptake of microplastics as a remediation strategy.

Back
to Top