HAZARDOUS MATERIALS IN AQUATIC ENVIRONMENTS OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER BASIN

McLachlan, John A.

Tulane University (United States)

关键词: Hydrocarbons;    Aquatic Ecosystems;    Public Health;    Mississippi River;    Toxic Materials;   

DOI  :  10.2172/825678
RP-ID  :  NONE
RP-ID  :  FG21-93EW53023
RP-ID  :  825678

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

In December 1992, the CBR was awarded a five-year grant of $25M from the US Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM) to study pollution in the Mississippi River system. The ''Hazardous Materials in Aquatic Environments of the Mississippi River Basin'' project was an interdisciplinary, collaborative research and education project aimed at elucidating the nature and magnitude of toxic materials that contaminate aquatic environments. This project funded 15 collaborative cluster multi-year projects and 41 one-year initiation projects out of 165 submitted research proposals. This project was carried out by 134 research and technical support faculty from Xavier University (School of Arts and Sciences, and College of Pharmacy) and Tulane University (Schools of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Engineering, Medicine, and Public Health and Tropical Medicine), and 173 publications and 140 presentations were produced. More than 100 graduate and undergraduate students were trained through these collaborative cluster and initiation research projects. Nineteen Tulane graduate students received partial funding to conduct their own competitively-chosen research projects, and 28 Xavier undergraduate LIFE Scholars and 30 LIFE Interns were supported with DOE funding to conduct their mentored research projects. Studies in this project have defined: (1) the complex interactions that occur during the transport of contaminants, (2) the actual and potential impact on ecological systems and health, and (3) the mechanisms through which these impacts might be remediated. The bayou and spoil banks of Bayou Trepagnier were mapped and analyzed in terms of risks associated with the levels of hydrocarbons and metals at specific sample sites. Data from contaminated sample sites have been incorporated into a large database and used in GIS analyses to track the fate and transport of heavy metals from spoil banks into the surrounding marsh. These data are crucial to understanding how heavy metals move through wetlands environments. These data, coupled with plume characterization data, indicate that Bayou Trepagnier is a model system for understanding how wetlands populations of fish, amphibians, and plants respond to long-term hydrocarbon and metals contamination. The CBR has fifteen years of experience in developing model aquatic ecosystems for evaluating environmental problems relevant to DOE cleanup activities. Using biotechnology screens and biomarkers of exposure, this project supports other CBR research demonstrating that chemicals in the environment can signal/alter the development of species in aquatic ecosystems, and show detrimental impacts on community, population, and the ecosystem, including human health. CBR studies funded through this grant have resulted in private sector investments, international collaborations, development of new technologies, and substantial new knowledge concerning the effects of hazardous materials on human and ecosystem health. Through the CBR, Tulane and Xavier Universities partnered with DOE-EM to lay groundwork for an effective research agenda that has become part of the DOE long term stewardship science and technology program and institutional management of the DOE complex.