Center for the Science, Technology, and Emerging Health Risks of PAHs

Oregon State University, Corvallis OR

Investigators

Linked publications, trials & patents

Abstract

SUMMARY – OVERALL CENTER The mission of the Oregon State University (OSU) SRP Center is to identify polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the environment, to characterize their toxicity, and to specify the environmental concentrations below which they pose no threat to human health. The OSU SRC will study the composition of complex PAH mixtures, the changes in composition after remediation and natural attenuation, and the implications of PAH mixtures for human health. The scientific community does not fully understand the toxicity of structurally diverse, substituted PAHs, nor the toxicity of complex environmental PAH mixtures. We do not fully understand the degree to which typical environmental exposures to PAHs threaten human health, particularly in vulnerable populations. We cannot yet predict the biological effects of complex PAH mixtures. We cannot identify the sources of PAHs. Site managers, being unable to distinguish between PAHs from legacy sources (such as petrochemical plants) and PAHs from contemporary sources (such as wildfires), cannot optimize their remediation plans, nor can they evaluate their remediation efforts. Communities can apply passive sampling devices to determine whether they are being exposed to PAHs, but they do not know the sources of those PAHs and therefore cannot devise effective plans to protect themselves. The OSU SRP Center proposes to answer these scientific questions: What doses of PAHs and a-PAHs (what is that?) can cause cancer and evoke other adverse responses in humans? Do typical environmental exposures to PAHs threaten human health? By what biological mechanisms do PAHs exert adverse effects? How does the toxicity of PAHs depend on their chemical structures? Can long-term zebrafish studies evaluate the carcinogenicity of PAHs? Can we identify gene expression pathways specific to each category of PAHs? Do common genetic polymorphisms alter toxicity and subsequent risk to PAH exposure and thereby allow us to identify susceptible individuals? How does the toxicity of PAHs and PAH mixtures depend on variations in susceptibility caused by stressors? How can we identify the components in a complex PAH mixture that are causing additive, synergistic, or antagonistic toxicity? How do novel and abundant a-PAHs contribute to toxicity in mixtures? Can current remediation techniques reduce human health hazards? How can we develop novel, safe, sustainable systems that treat PAH mixtures while minimizing the formation of hazardous PAH breakdown products? How do PAHs move into, through, and away from Superfund sites? How can we identify the sources of PAHs in ways that not only enable communities to minimize their exposure but also enable remediators to optimize their remediation plans and evaluate their remediation efforts?