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since 12/15/98 |
| Columns::March 3, 2003 Federal budget supports several university projects ‘Next generation’ debuts: MyUGA lets users customize their Web sites Word of mouth: State’s poets, novelists, writers gather here for Literary Festival Points of views Major fellowships, scholarships are offered to 72 prospective students Ramsey Student Center is named a Red Cross emergency shelter Two university employees named outstanding advisers for 2003 Marsh reality: Researchers look for cause of plague spreading in coastal area International law prof works to help regulate global climate change Administrative Changes Kudos Building the new learning environment Campus News Model behavior Jeff Fisher, head of the environmental health science department in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences,
Columns: Let’s start with the Department of Energy grants. Bruckner: We share a common interest in the toxicology and risk assessment of trichloroethylene, a common solvent. Around hazardous waste sites, it’s the most common chemical found in ground water. We each received a grant as part of a larger research effort through the Medical University of South Carolina. Columns: How is trichloroethylene a problem? Bruckner: The major question is whether low-level exposures cause cancer in people. Fisher: It’s been studied in several different species and we’re working with rats and mice to understand the mechanisms. Bruckner: And whether it’s relevant to humans. Fisher: In the original carcinogenicity studies, mice and rats were given really high doses, so the question we’re funded to study is whether environmental level exposures are a risk or not. There are millions of dollars at stake. Bruckner: Whether you want to spend $100 million to clean up each site. I was just out in California where they’re spending $20 million a year now to pump water with a really low level of trichloroethylene into the San Francisco Bay where there’s a water shortage. Is it necessary? Columns: Could you tell us more about the models you use? Fisher: It’s called physiologically based pharmacokinetic modeling. These are mathematical models of what happens to chemicals in the body: How chemicals metabolize, where they go, how quickly they are excreted or exhaled. We can extrapolate from animals to humans using these mathematical models. The physiological models have been around for 10-15 years but federal agencies have begun to use them to address issues for which they don’t have data, or to extrapolate to low doses in order to make predictions about “what if” exposure scenarios. Columns: And your work is closely connected? Bruckner: I do experiments with animals and Jeff takes my data and human data to construct models. His models predict things, but there must be real laboratory data to see if his simulations are correct. Columns: How about the grant from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry of the CDC? Fisher: For the past few years U.S. EPA and other federal agencies have been concerned about perchlorate, a chemical that is a solid rocket oxidizer used by NASA and by the Air Force for missile launches. It’s also used in air bags, bazookas and fireworks. It’s been used for years, and six years ago a method was perfected in the lab where I worked to detect it. Lo and behold--it’s everywhere. Columns: And that’s bad? Fisher: Perchlorate is known to inhibit uptake of iodine in the thyroid. If you can’t produce thyroid hormones you could have hypothyroidism. We proposed a project working on mixtures of chemicals, including perchlorate and PCBs, and the thyroid. We received a five-year grant, awarded in November, to develop mathematical models to predict the interaction of chemicals or mixtures on the thyroid gland. Bruckner: There’s also some fear that perchlorate might work in the thyroid to cause thyroid cancer. Columns: Grant number four is an EPA grant? Bruckner: After laws were passed in 1996 and 1998 that required federal agencies to address the chemical sensitivities of children, the question arose: how do you do that? How can you give a potentially toxic or carcinogenic substance to a child, for whom there is no benefit, in order to conduct research? The answer is you can use physiological models, where the effects of chemicals are studied on animals of different ages and that information is extrapolated to children. The EPA grant is to examine the pharmacokinetics of pyrethroids, which include about 75 percent of the pesticides you can buy at Home Depot. We were awarded $750,000 over three years to carry out this project. Columns: And a second ATSDR grant? Bruckner: It’s a small grant, $25,000 a year, to look at changes in metabolism of trichloroethylene and methylene chloride from birth to maturity. This is our second year working on this one. Fisher: These are common solvents and groundwater contaminants. We’re investigating whether the risk of cancer is greater when the chemicals are found together. Columns: And finally you received a grant from the U.S. Air Force? Fisher: Yes, it’s $750,000 for three years to test a relatively new jet fuel, called JP-8, used by all the NATO countries. There have been complaints of dermatitis, dizziness and shortness of breath from people exposed to JP-8. It’s made of hundreds of hydrocarbons. There hasn’t been a lot of toxicology work done on these big organic molecules. This is a pharmacokinetic modeling grant, to develop a way to understand the occupational and community health risks. Columns: That’s $4.1 million worth of grants. How are you going to do it all? Fisher: We’ll be very busy. |
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