The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences has renewed a $9 million grant to Dartmouth researchers for the next three years, bringing the total amount of Environmental Health Sciences project funding that the College will receive to $36 million.
This is the second time the grant has been renewed since it was first awarded to College researchers in 1995. The money will help further research on metals found in toxic waste sites as part of Superfund -- the Federal government's program to clean up uncontrolled hazardous waste.
Dartmouth scientists will use the recently awarded $9 million to continue studying the impact of toxic metals like arsenic, mercury and lead on human health and the environment. The Environmental Protection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have designated these three metals as top concerns for human health.
Professor Joshua Hamilton, currently the director of Superfund research at Dartmouth, said that arsenic contamination is particularly troubling in New Hampshire. The state's bedrock hosts the element, and half of New Hampshire residents obtain their water from private wells. About 20 percent of these wells are contaminated with excess arsenic, affecting around 10 percent of the population. Chronic ingestion of arsenic has been associated with increased risk of a host of diseases, including several forms of cancer, diabetes, heart and blood vessel diseases.
Dean of the Faculty Carol Folt said that the $9 million grant would allow her to continue mercury research. Even in seemingly pristine New England lakes, mercury contamination causes a real problem. Research illustrates that lakes with similar mercury exposure produce fish with different levels of metal contamination, which further complicates the situation.
The grant would allow Folt to do the research required to understand why certain lakes produce fish with dangerous metal levels. Eventually she could use this information to develop consumption advisories that are more useful to the public and policy makers.
"Without the long-term and generous support we have received, we could never have brought together the multidisciplinary team needed to tackle these complex problems," Folt said.
Researchers for the Center for Environmental Health Sciences have been awarded over $60 million in external funding for their research, education and outreach activities.
The College has contributed to the research generously as well. Dartmouth's own Center for Environmental Health Sciences was created through funding from the Provost's office in 2000, the first year the Superfund grant was renewed.
The Toxic Metals Research Program has continued to grow since then. The Center for Environmental Health Sciences at Dartmouth is currently comprised of about 40 faculty investigators. Fourteen different departments are represented, including chemistry, biology and earth sciences within the College of Arts and Sciences and pharmacology and toxicology, epidemiology, physiology and biochemistry within the Medical School.
The Toxic Metals Research Program began with a grant from the Superfund Basic Research Program. The late Professor Karen Wetterhahn was largely responsible for bringing the grant to the College and directed the research in its early stages. Hamilton has led the program since 1997.
