This seminar is the first in a three part series that coincides with the Superfund Research Program's 25th Anniversary and the 10th Anniversary of the Superfund Research Program (SRP) Risk e-Learning webinars. The SRP chose this opportunity to highlight the Program's accomplishments in the area of arsenic research. Since its inception, the SRP has funded work to understand the consequences of exposure to arsenic at the molecular and population levels. Equally important, these researchers have developed unique and effective methods to detect arsenic in the environment and to minimize human exposure to arsenic from drinking water and food sources.
In this session Joseph Graziano, Ph.D., will present a historical overview of the global human health issues related to drinking water. His presentation will focus on the sources and prevalence of arsenic exposures and the evolution of our understanding of the spectrum of human health impacts and how arsenic imparts negative effects. Margaret Karagas, Ph.D., will give a brief overview of her epidemiology work that focuses on etiologic mechanisms and prevention of human cancers and other adverse health outcomes. She will discuss recent findings from studies to develop biomarkers of arsenic exposure and susceptibility in a U.S. population that relies heavily on private drinking water systems where over 10% of the wells contain low to moderate levels of arsenic. She will also present information from her research, from her early studies investigating cancer risk to her more recent investigation into sources of arsenic exposure among pregnant women, e.g., via their consumption of rice and tap water, and the research translation activities that help raise awareness of the presence of arsenic in the drinking water supply. A. Eduardo Saez, Ph.D., will focus on his and Co-PI’s (Eric Betterton, Ph.D.) latest research that involves the characterization of windblown dust from mine tailings and will also touch on the University of Arizona SRP’s phytostabilization field study in the southwestern United States that uses native plants to successfully reduce the amount of dust coming off the tailings, thereby reducing potential aerial exposures.
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