University gets $12 million to set up Superfund research program
Posted: Sunday, May 28, 2006
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) -- The University of Iowa has received a $12 million grant to establish a research program for the federal Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund program.
The money will be used by a team of 15 campus researchers from the colleges of public health, medicine, engineering and pharmacy. The team will study the consequences of atmospheric sources and exposure to hazardous chemicals, such as PCBs, linked to contaminated water sources, abandoned industrial sites and how the pollutants circulate through the atmosphere.
The Superfund program was created by Congress in 1980 to address the nation's growing number of hazardous waste sites and their effect on public health. There are 16 similar Superfund research teams at universities across the nation.
The four-year grant for Iowa is funded by the National Institutes of Health.
"The research addresses issues that are often overlooked, namely the volatilization of ... pollutants, their movement and effects," said Larry Roberson, Superfund director and professor of occupational health.
"While the abilities of these pollutants to accumulate, especially in fatty tissues, and move through the food web are well known, air transport or semi-volatile pollutants, and the impacts of those processes on human health are not well understood. This grant fills those needs," Roberson said.
The money will be used by a team of 15 campus researchers from the colleges of public health, medicine, engineering and pharmacy. The team will study the consequences of atmospheric sources and exposure to hazardous chemicals, such as PCBs, linked to contaminated water sources, abandoned industrial sites and how the pollutants circulate through the atmosphere.
The Superfund program was created by Congress in 1980 to address the nation's growing number of hazardous waste sites and their effect on public health. There are 16 similar Superfund research teams at universities across the nation.
The four-year grant for Iowa is funded by the National Institutes of Health.
"The research addresses issues that are often overlooked, namely the volatilization of ... pollutants, their movement and effects," said Larry Roberson, Superfund director and professor of occupational health.
"While the abilities of these pollutants to accumulate, especially in fatty tissues, and move through the food web are well known, air transport or semi-volatile pollutants, and the impacts of those processes on human health are not well understood. This grant fills those needs," Roberson said.
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