SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND COMMUNITY MEDICINE - UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON SPRING - SUMMER, 2001
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| Human Effects | |
| Lead Poisoning in History | |
| Student Research Day | |
| Student Poster Session | |
| Continuing Education | |
| People and Places | |
| Distinguished Faculty | |
| Society of Toxicology | |
| AIH Conference | |
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This
spring, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) released the long-awaited National Report on Human Exposure
to Environmental Chemicals, which measured the exposure of the
US population to 27 environmental chemicals. Department
of Environmental Health researchers have long experience with
biomonitoring and chemical exposures, health effects, and the
complex interaction of genetics and environmental exposure. This
issue of Environmental Health News describes our work with several
of these substances: lead, beryllium, mercury, phthalates, and
pesticides. Findings
contained some good news about childhood lead levels and the exposure
of nonsmokers to secondhand cigarette smoke. Other measures gave
cause for concern. The
CDC described its first National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental
Chemicals as an important research tool. “This new resource
is a significant development in the field of environmental health,”
said Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson. “It
will help us to better track the exposures of Americans to chemicals
in the environment and to measure the effectiveness of our public
health efforts.” The CDC notes that just because people have
an environmental chemical in their blood or urine does not mean
that the chemical causes disease. Researchers at the University
of Washington and other governmental and educational institutions
are working to determine which levels of a chemical may cause
disease and which levels are of negligible health concern. For
some chemicals, such as lead, much is known about the health risks
at various blood levels. For most of the other environmental chemicals,
more research is needed to determine whether exposure to the chemical
at levels found in the study is a cause for health concern. CDC plans to expand the report to provide information about 100 chemicals in the next few years, while continuing to monitor the 27 original substances. In the future, CDC expects to be able to report exposure levels for specific population groups, such as children, minority populations, or women of childbearing age.
The
CDC has monitored children’s blood lead levels since 1976.
Results for 1999 show that average lead levels for children aged
1-5 years have decreased since 1991–1994. These findings
highlight the success of public health efforts to decrease the
exposure of children to lead and remove lead from automobile gasoline.
Nevertheless, special populations of children at high risk for
lead exposure, such as those living in homes containing lead-based
paint or lead-contaminated dust, remain a public health concern. The report provides new data on levels of mercury in blood of children 1 to 5 years old and among women of childbearing age (16-49 years old). Blood mercury levels among children were about 25% of the average of blood mercury levels among women of childbearing age. Compared with an adult, the fetus and child are usually more vulnerable to the effects of metals, and public health officials are particularly careful to protect them. Scientists will use these new data to better estimate health risks for the fetus, children, and women of childbearing age from potential sources of mercury exposure.
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Department
of Environmental Health investigators for decades have researched
the human health effects of several of the target chemicals and
have pioneered biomonitoring techniques. "The department's
strong toxicology research components allow us to look beyond
the exposures to the human significance," department chair
Dave Kalman said.
Graduate
student Hailing Lu in Lucio Costa’s laboratory studied how
lead affects signal transduction pathways in the brain. Lynne
Simmonds, in James Woods’ laboratory, searched for biomarkers
of low-level lead exposure that could serve as a non-invasive
means of testing for lead exposure. In the end, she concluded
that direct blood lead measurement remains the best test. Parents’ occupational exposures to lead can also affect their children. A team that included Harvey Checkoway, Joel Kaufman, and Elaine Faustman has studied the reproductive effects of lead exposure in smelter workers. They found that the risk of a stillbirth or birth defect was elevated for pre-conception employment in a high-lead-exposure job compared with a low-lead-exposure job.
The vast majority of people who are exposed to beryllium do not become sensitized. However, some people’s lungs mount a strong immune reaction to beryllium particles. One known genetic biomarker, Glu-69, has shown a high correlation with incidence of chronic beryllium disease development. Departmental researchers are working to identify other genetic factors involved in the disease.
Women who consume large amounts of fish and seafood during pregnancy are at particular risk; their children can suffer blindness, deafness, and cerebral palsy. The National Academy’s review confirmed more subtle mental deficiencies found at lower doses, which can affect attention, fine-motor function, language, drawing abilities, and verbal memory.
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Did lead poison the Roman Empire?
Lead’s discovery dates back to
3500 BC. Lead artifacts have been found throughout the ancient
world, and some researchers have suggested that lead poisoning
was a major factor in the downfall of the Roman Empire. Well-to-do
Romans painted their walls a rich Pompeian red, which owed its
color to a salt of lead or mercury. Lead was used for water pipes,
cups, toys, statues, cosmetics, coffins, and roofs, but the most
significant source may have been the wine of the wealthy class. S.
Columba Gilfillan proposed a theory for Roman decay in 1965 that
involved “poisons esteemed as delicious by the ancient well-to-do.”
Spoilage was a problem in ancient Rome, and vintners discovered
that wine tasted better and lasted longer if it was mixed with
a concentrated grape syrup called sapa. The best sapa was boiled
in lead pots, allowing lead to leach into the syrup. When sapa
was mixed with wine, it sweetened it and also poisoned the microorganisms
that cause fermentation and souring. Sapa was also used in fruit
and honey drinks, and as a food preservative. Josef
Eisinger estimated a Roman consuming a liter of wine a day would
ingest about 20 mg of lead per day, which he said was more than
enough to produce chronic lead poisoning. A
cultural shift at the height of the Roman Empire made it socially
acceptable for wives to drink wine, to which Gilfillan attributed
a declining birth rate and a low rate of surviving children among
the wealthy. Today, the reproductive effects of lead are well
established, as are the effects on childhood development and learning
disabilities. Gilfillan
hypothesized that the diet of the poor was not so badly poisoned
as that of the rich. Although they drank the same water, they
lacked the luxuries of cosmetics, lead paint, wine, fruit and
honey drinks, or preserved foods. sWhat role did lead play in decline of the Roman Empire? We may never know for certain, but the evidence is intriguing.
Gilfillan
SC. Lead Poisoning and the fall of Rome. Journal of Occupational
Medicine, 1(1965):53-60. Waldron
HA. Lead poisoning in the ancient world. Med. Hist. (Lond)
17(1973):391-399. Steve
Muhlberger, an associate professor of Medieval History at Nipissing
University in Ontario, has compiled a bibliography: |
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Right: Rene Showlund describes her work on skin absorption of pesticides to Terry Kavanagh at the poster session at Student Research Day. The
department used a new format for this year's Student Research
Day, May 24. Four graduate students-one from each program-were
invited to present their research in an hour-long seminar in Hogness
Auditorium. The remaining students presented their work in a poster
session that followed (see page 6). Some of the posters can be
viewed online here.
Abstracts are online here.
The featured presentations were:
Student poster session
Graduate Programs: Industrial Hygiene and Safety (IHS); Environmental Health Technology (Tech); Toxicology (Tox); Occupational Medicine (OccMed). Preceptors also are in parentheses.
Above: Prajakta Ghatpande (left) describes her research on cardiovascular effects of particulate air pollution at the poster session. |
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To confirm this schedule or find more information about these courses, call (206) 543-1069, or visit the Continuing Education Web site at http://depts.washington.edu/ehce. Courses are in Seattle unless noted.
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Center for Occupational Health & Safety
July 2327 Hazardous Substance Summer Institute
Aug 2731 Comprehensive Review of Industrial Hygiene (Vancouver, BC) Sept 2627 Governor's Safety & Health Conference
Oct 13 Managing Hazardous Materials Incidents: Improving Interagency Response (Yakima) Oct 1112 Northwest Occupational Health Conference (Seaside, OR)
Oct
17 A Small Dose of Toxicology: Oct
18 A Larger Dose of Toxicology: Nov 57 Nonionizing Radiation Protection: An Overview Dec
1011 International Mountain Logging
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OSHA
Training Institute Education Center
July 912 & OSHA 600: Collateral Duty for Other Federal Agencies (Portland) July 1618 OSHA 226: Permit-Required Confined Space Entry July 2126 OSHA 225: Principles of Ergonomics (Portland) July 30Aug 2 OSHA 501: Trainer Course for General Industry (Anchorage) Aug 69 OSHA 501: Trainer Course for General Industry Aug 1315 OSHA 222A: Respiratory Protection Aug 2023 OSHA 521: OSHA Guide to Industrial Hygiene Aug 2730 OSHA 510: OSHA Standards for Construction (Portland) Sept 1012 OSHA 503: General Industry Outreach Trainer Update Sept 1720 OSHA 204A: Machinery & Machine Guarding Standards (Portland) Sept 2426 OSHA 502: Construction Industry Trainer Update Oct 14 OSHA 301: Excavation, Trenching & Soil Mechanics (Richland) Oct 1518 OSHA 500: Trainer Course for the Construction Industry (Portland) Oct 29Nov 1 OSHA 311: Fall Arrest Systems (Richland) Nov 57 OSHA 225: Principles of Ergonomics Nov 1316 OSHA 501: Trainer Course for General Industry (Portland) Nov 2729 OSHA 226: Permit-Required Confined Space Entry (Anchorage) Dec 36 OSHA 510: OSHA Standards for Construction Dec 1013 OSHA 521: OSHA Guide to Industrial Hygiene |
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Right: Adrienne Hidy demonstrates PNASH outreach poster Graduate
students Doug Johns and George
Astrakianakis each won $2,000 in this year’s Stockhausen
competition. Astrakianakis
also won a $6,000 TSI Inc./Arthur J. Abrams Endowed Scholarship
from the American Industrial Hygiene Foundation. He is a first
year PhD student in the industrial hygiene program. Adrienne
Hidy, manager of the Pacific Northwest
Agricultural Safety and Health Center, received the Department’s
Distinguished Staff Service Award and was honored at the School
of Public Health convocation. Other nominees for the distinguished
staff award were: Russell Dills,
research scientist; Jennifer Grant,
assistant to the chair; Bill Griffith,
research manager; Shannon Kirkpatrick,
graduate program coordinator; Joel Levin,
computer specialist; Dianne Neil,
research scientist; Rebecca Rooney,
fiscal supervisor; and Jeffry Shirai,
research scientist. Neil was
the department’s nominee for the UW Distinguished Staff Award. The
department’s 2000-2001 outreach awards went to Kathy
Hall, staff, and Matt Keifer,
faculty. Each received $1,000 for travel or equipment. The department’s
Outreach Committee presented the awards at the annual staff appreciation
brunch. Hall was recognized for transforming the department’s
ability to communicate with external and internal audiences through
publications and web sites. Keifer was recognized for his work
with a farmworker clinic in the Yakima Valley. Keifer
presented a keynote speech at the National Occupational Health
Conference in Hanoi, Vietnam, in May. While in Southeast Asia,
he met with the faculty of Burapha University, a partner in the
International Scholars for Occupational Medicine program. Hall,
Kris Freeman, and Adrienne
Hidy presented a panel on communicating risks to nontraditional
audiences at the Society for Technical Communication in Chicago
in May. John
Kissel has been elected president of
the International Society of Exposure Analysis (ISEA). Sally
Liu was elected as a councilor of ISEA. Harvey
Checkoway presented a paper on environmental
and genetic factors in Parkinson’s disease at a workshop
on Department of Defense-sponsored research in Potomac, Maryland,
in March. He presented papers on Parkinson’s disease and
silica exposure at the Symposium on Environmental Health and Occupational
Risk Assessment in Beijing, China, in June. Jason
Griffith gave a talk on ergonomic assessment
strategies at the Puget Sound Chapter–American Society of
Safety Engineers Professional Development Conference in May. Gerald
van Belle is an appointed member of
the Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee,
Food and Drug Administration, which is considering whether mild
cognitive impairment is an identifiable clinical syndrome. Lucio
Costa presented a paper at the International
Neurotoxicology Association meeting in Estoril (Portugal) in June.
Elaine
Faustman taught a course on reproductive
and developmental toxicology in May at the International Union
of Toxicology Continuing Education in Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Faustman presented “Mechanisms underlying children’s
susceptibility to environmental toxicants” in May at the
Medical Research Council of South Africa/NIEHS Children’s
Workshop, also in Stellenbosch. In
April, Dave Eaton presented
a lecture on Toxicology in the Courtroom as part of an American
Law Institute/American Bar Association Continuing Education program
on Scientific Evidence. In May, he participated in the first two
meetings of a National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council
panel appointed at the request of President Bush to review the
scientific basis for EPA’s proposal to lower the current
drinking water standard for arsenic from the current level of
50 ppb to 10 ppb. Mohamed
Kamel, professor of Environmental and
Occupational Medicine at the University of Alexandria, Egypt,
was here as a visiting scientist. He and Tom
Burbacher are working on a study on the exposure of
children in Alexandria to lead. Lianne
Sheppard, Noah
Seixas, Janice Camp,
Peter Johnson, Mike
Yost and Richard Fenske
attended the X2001–Exposure Assessment in Epidemiology and
Practice conference in Göteborg, Sweden, in June. The scientific
conference was organized by the Department of Occupational Medicine
of Göteborg, the Swedish National Institute for Working Life,
and the Scientific Committee of Industrial Hygiene of the International
Commission on Occupational Health. Charles (Chuck) Treser, Carl Osaki and 11 undergraduate students attended the Washington State Environmental Health Association’s Education Conference in April in Yakima.
Above: Kathy Hall |
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Genetics
predict how we respond to toxicants Curt
Omiecinski uses new genetic tools to find answers to basic metabolic
questions, such as why some people easily metabolize their medicines
while others suffer adverse side effects. His research can also
help explain why some people are more prone to pesticide poisoning
than others. Omiecinski,
professor of Environmental Health and director of the Toxicology
program, presented the spring quarter Distinguished Faculty Lecture
for the School of Public Health and Community Medicine. Omiecinski,
whose background is in pharmacology, studies biotransformation
enzymes that help the body detoxify or transform man-made or natural
chemicals. Each person’s ability to detoxify chemicals is
affected by genetics, since each person is born with slightly
different genes for biotransformation enzymes. Omiecinski’s
basic research into the biotransformation of xenobiotic chemicals
(chemical compounds that are foreign to a living organism) may
help scientists develop antidotes to poisons and better ways to
adjust doses of prescription medicines. His speech was entitled:
“Xenobiotic metabolism: Regulation, variation and toxicogenomics.” His
work could lead to individualized dosing of medications. People
who transform medications quickly–and flush them out of their
bodies–might need higher doses that could cause side effects
in others. Individualized dosing could be especially important
for potent pharmaceuticals with side effects. Omiecinski is a pioneer in toxicogenomics, which combines the emerging technologies of genomics and bioinformatics. The toxicogenomics approach grew out of the human genome project. Rather than using animals to study genetic susceptibility to illness, this technology probes human or animal genetic material densely printed on glass slides, called DNA arrays. Eventually, Omiecinski said, toxicogenomics could substitute for animal assays in toxicity testing. |
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40th Annual Meeting Dave
Eaton assumes presidency of Society
An
abstract from Faustman’s lab won awards for best student
presentation from both the Risk Assessment Specialty Division
and the Biological Modeling Specialty Section: Hoeft
JM, Bartell SM, Wong EY, Lewandowski TA, Griffith WC,
and
Faustman EM.
A biologically based dose-response model for ethanol development
neurotoxicity An
abstract by Hailing Lu, a recently graduated PhD student from
the laboratory of Lucio Costa won an award from the Metals Specialty
Section. Lu also won the SOT Travel award to attend the meeting. Lu
H, Guizzetti M, and
Costa LG.
Inorganic lead activates the RAF-MEK-MAPK signaling pathway in
human astrocytoma cells via a PCK-dependent mechanism Other
presentations by DEH-affiliated researchers included: Bammler
TK,
Bellas C, Yang Z, Wong GK, Yu J, Adman ET, Checkoway
H, Eaton DL. Identification and characterization of
a human glutathione S-transferase M2 variant Bekris
LM, Jabbour AJ, Takaro TK, Kavanagh TK, Faustman EM.
PHA stimulation induces elevated gluta-mate-L-cysteine ligase
levels in human peripheral blood lymphocytes: improved flow cytometry
based method for evaluating immune and antioxidant relationships Botta
D, White CC,
Shi S, Ware CB, Ladiges WC, Fausto N, Tsai SY, O’Malley BW,
Kavanagh TJ. Development
of a transgenic mouse model for inducible overexpression of glutamate-cysteine
ligase Caughlan
A, Namgung U, Xia Z.
Arsenite and cholpyrifos-induced apoptosis in cortical neurons
is mediated by MAP kinases Checkoway
H.
Environment, genes, and genomic markers in Parkinson’s disease
(invited platform presentation at a special session on Parkinson’s
disease) Diaz-Lopez
D, White CC, Keener CL, Farin FM, Kavanagh TJ.
Tissue-dependent differential expression of glutamate-L-cysteine
ligase subunits during mouse development Dieguez-Acuna
FJ, Ellis ME, Kushleika J, Woods JS.
Mercuric ion (HG2+) attenuates nuclear factor kB (NF-kB) activation
in kidney epithelial cells by impairing IkB degradation, NF-kB
translocation and NF-kB-DNA binding Ellis
ME, Corral J, Kushleika J, Simmonds PL, Deiguez-Acuna FJ, Woods
JS.
Mercuric ion (HG2+ ) induces nitric oxide synthetase (NOS) independently
of NF-kB activation in rat kidney (NRK52E) cells Evens
C, DeRouen TA, Woods JS, Liang
L, Luis HS, Simmonds PL, Leitao J, Bernado M, Redford M, Martin
MD. Dietary methylmercury exposure in the Casa Pia dental amalgam
study in children Garry,
MR,
Lowney YW, Tsuji JS. A critical analysis of assumptions used when
evaluating intake of metals from homegrown vegetables Jabbour
AJ, Ponce RA, Rosato MT, Kavanagh TJ,
Newman LS, Takaro TK, Faustman EM.
A flow cytometric assay for beryllium sensitization: screening
and mechanistic applications Judd
NL, Faustman EM, Griffith WC,
and
Kalman DA.
A value of information assessment for congener specific analytical
techniques for PCBs: Do they meet risk assessment needs? Lewandowski
TA, Bartell SM, Ponce RA,
and
Faustman EM.
Mechanism-based comparison of in vitro and in vivo data on methylmercury
toxicity in developing rodents Li
WF, Costa LG,
Richter RJ, Hagen T, Shih DM, Tward A, Lusis AJ, Furlong CE. Catalytic
efficiency of substrate hydrolysis determines the in vivo detoxication
of organophosphorus (OP) compounds by human paraoxonase (PON1) Lu
S, Kavanagh T, Faustman E.
Effects of methylmercury on mitochondria in the developing brain Pierce
RH, Krejsa CM, Diaz-Lopez D,
Campbell JS, Fausto N, Kavanagh TJ.
Upregulation of glutamate-cysteine ligase in perinecrotic hepatocytes
in mice exposed to carbon tetrachloride Shao
J, Keener CL, Farin FM,
Tonelli MR, Aitken ML, Kavanagh TJ.
Characterization of GLCL gene polymorphisms in cystic fibrosis Shi
S,
Schriner SE, Ogburn CE, Martin GM, Kavanagh
TJ. Levels of GPX, GRX, and G6PDH in catalase transgenic
mice of different ages Smith
HE, Abel EL, Kelly EJ, Altman GB, Malins DC, Eaton
DL. Expression of polymorphic enzymes of estradiol
metabolism in human endometrium White
CC, Kavanagh TJ.
A sensitive and specific fluorescence assay for glutathione in
microtiter plates using 2,3-napthalene-dicarboxyaldehyde Xia Z, Namgung U. Kinase signaling pathways that regulate neuronal apoptosis Departmental members are highlighted. |
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Conference & Exposition, June 2-7, New Orleans Graduate
student Carolyn Reeb Whitaker
won two awards at the American Industrial Hygiene Association’s
annual conference and exposition for her poster, Accuracy of
construction worker recall of tasks for epidemiological exposure
assessment to noise. She won a $250 award for “best student
poster” from the Occupational Epidemiology Committee and
“best student poster,” awarded by the Graduate Student
Poster Session Review Committee. Hers was selected from among
the 30 submitted to the conference. The DEH’s
Lynn Wilder received this award last year. Carolyn’s
co-authors were Noah Seixas, Lianne Sheppard,
and Rick Neitzel. Seattle
Post-Intelligencer reporters Andrew
Schneider and Carol Smith won
the AIHA Social Concerns Committee’s award for the top investigative
news story of the year on occupational safety and health issues.
The P-I published a series of investigative articles called
“Asbestos: The Forgotten Killer.” Conference
presentations by Department of Environmental Health researchers
included: Carter
S, Seixas N, Morgan M.
Adaptation of existing electrochemical instruments for the real-time
personal monitoring of hydrogen fluoride in the presence of sulfur
dioxide Croteau
G, Flanagan M, Seixas N, Guffey
S. The effect of local exhaust ventilation controls on dust exposures
during masonry activities Ertell
K, Takaro T, Stover B. Use
of risk density mapping to refine risk estimates for beryllium
exposure at Hanford Flanagan
M, Loewenherz C,
Kuhn G. Wet concrete saw cutting inside - How much water is enough? Flanagan
M, Loewenherz C,
Camp. J. Control of silica
exposure for concrete surface grinding–acase
study Hahne
R,
Nason J. Evaluation of total and removable levels of arsenic,
mercury, and lead in natural history museum artifacts as a preface
to preparing guidance for the handling of repatriatedartifacts Hahne
R, Yu J.
A side-by-side study of a replaceable sorbent passive monitor
with a commonly used passive monitor for styrene and acetone Monteith
L,
Wagner W. The status of industrial hygiene programs in China Neitzel
R, Seixas N,
Kujawa S, Thomas K, Brower S. Baseline hearing levels and otoacoustic
emissions in a cohort of construction apprentices and controls Neitzel
R, Seixas N,
Brower S, Thomas K, Sheppard L.
Noise exposure assessment methodology and year one results of
a four-year prospective study of noise-induced hearing loss in
construction apprentices Swan S. Evaluation of hearing conservation practices in an industry with a high rate of workers’ compensation claims for hearing loss Departmental members are highlighted. |
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FALL
2000 WINTER
2001 SPRING
2001 SUMMER
2001 (anticipated) |
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