Congratulations to Oregon State University (OSU) Superfund Research Program (SRP) trainee Oleksii Motorykin on winning the American Chemical Society (ACS) 2013 Graduate Student Award in Environmental Chemistry. Motorykin is a graduate student with Staci Simonich, Ph.D., who leads an OSU SRP project to understand the composition, exposure, and mutagenicity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in highly exposed populations.
As part of his graduate research project with Simonich, Motorykin investigated the relationship between lung cancer mortality rates, carcinogenic PAH emissions, and smoking on a global scale. He also assessed the contribution of carcinogenic PAH emissions to lung cancer mortality rates for countries with different socioeconomic groupings.
Motorykin found a positive association between lung cancer deaths and PAH emissions, independent of smoking prevalence, for high income and for the combination of upper middle and high socioeconomic country groups. This study is the first to link PAH emissions with lung cancer on a global scale and shows the need to take air pollution into account when assessing lung cancer risks.
The ACS Division of Environmental Chemistry sponsors up to 25 annual awards to full-time graduate students currently enrolled in a United States educational institution in chemistry, environmental engineering, or other programs emphasizing environmental chemistry. The award is based upon students’ records in course work, evidence of research productivity and on statements from graduate faculty advisers.
For more information about Simonich’s research group, visit the OSU SRP website .
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