Program Overview
The goals of the UC Berkeley Superfund program are to improve understanding of the relationship between exposure and disease, provide better human and ecological risk assessments, and develop a range of prevention and remediation strategies to improve and protect public health, ecosystems and the environment. The program’s themes are to: a) apply functional genomics, proteomics, transcriptomics, and nanotechnology to better detect arsenic, mercury, benzene, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, trichloroethylene, and other Superfund priority chemicals in the environment; b) to evaluate their effects on human health, especially the health of susceptible populations such as children; c) remediate their presence; and d) reduce their toxicity.
UC Berkeley’s program builds on the strengths of UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in engineering, chemistry, and molecular epidemiology. The program consists of six interrelated projects (three with a biomedical research focus and three with a non-biomedical research focus) and five cores.
The major objectives are to:
- Develop and apply novel biomarkers and exposure assessment tools in epidemiology studies [Project 1] [Project 3] [Project 5]
- Enhance our knowledge of the toxic effects of arsenic, especially in early life [Project 3]
- Determine the role of environmental exposure to benzene and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the development of childhood leukemia [Project 1]
- Identify genes that confer susceptibility to chemical toxicity through the application of functional genomics [Project 2]
- Expand our ability to remediate toxic waste sites at a lower cost using nanotechnology and bioremediation [Project 4] [Project 6]
- Improve our ability to measure chemical species in the environment using nanotechnology [Project 4] [Project 5]
- Promote the exchange of information among scientists, regulators, and other interested parties in order to translate basic research finding into appropriate policies and public health interventions [Core B]
- Move our research findings into application through technology transfer [Core B]
- Provide training that is interdisciplinary and imparts skills in the translation of scientific results to a new generation of scientists in the many disciplines relevant to the Program [Core E]
Program Summary
2006-2011 Program Summary
The University of California-Berkeley Superfund Basic Research Program began in 1987. The goal is “to improve understanding of the relationship between exposure and disease; provide better human and ecological risk assessments; lower cleanup costs; and develop a range of prevention strategies to improve and protect public health, ecosystems and the environment.” The Program builds on the strengths of UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in engineering, chemistry and molecular epidemiology, and consists of six interrelated basic and applied research projects. The overall theme of the program is “The application of functional genomics, proteomics, transcriptomics, and nanotechnology to better detect arsenic, mercury, benzene, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, trichloroethylene and other Superfund priority chemicals in the environment; evaluate their effects on human health, especially the health of susceptible populations such as children; and remediate their presence and reduce their toxicity. Themes of the individual projects include using proteomics and transcriptomics to study the role of chemical exposure in causing childhood leukemia; taking a functional genomic approach to finding susceptibility genes; applying novel biomarkers to study the health effects of arsenic; improving bioremediation of toxic chemicals through the application of -omic technologies and nanotechnology, and developing nano-scale sensors of chemical species in the environment. A toxicogenomics laboratory core and a computational biology core will assist researchers in creating tools for use in epidemiological and risk research. The new research translation core will facilitate intensive discussions between investigators and government audiences, and generate new initiatives to increase understanding of the significance and applicability of emerging areas of research to public health protection through policy, interventions, and individual actions. The training core will prepare graduate and post-doctoral students to conduct multidisciplinary research into the effects of environmental factors on health, and to develop technological solutions to prevent or mitigate the harm resulting from Superfund priority chemicals.
Program Highlights
2008 Program Highlights
Project 2: Functional profiling of susceptibility genes
Leaders: Christopher Vulpe and Luoping Zhang
Many people are exposed to a variety of toxic chemicals present in the environment on a daily basis. However, only some people develop disease (get sick) as a result. An individual’s chances depend in part on subtle differences in the genes which comprise the genetic blueprint for each person. Unfortunately, for most toxic chemicals, we don’t know where to look for these important variations because we don’t which of the tens of thousands of genes are important for dealing with each toxic chemical. In this project, we are figuring out which genes are the important ones to focus on by using baker’s yeast. By using yeast, we have been able to check thousands of genes for their importance in an individual’s vulnerability to Superfund chemicals. In the past year, the research group led by Dr. Chris Vulpe found several genes associated with the packaging of DNA in a cell (the chromatin) as key to sensitivity to arsenic. Dr. Luoping Zhang’s group further demonstrated the importance of one of these genes in human cells. Arsenic is an established cause of bladder cancer in humans and these findings suggest that alterations in the way that DNA is packaged into chromatin may affect arsenic’s toxicity and carcinogenicity. In the next year, we plan to look to see if these variations in these genes play a role in the likelihood that a person will develop bladder cancer or other diseases after being exposed to arsenic. Understanding the genetic determinants of chemical susceptibility in humans can help identify groups of people that could be at increased risk of developing disease following exposure to toxic agents, and to design prevention and intervention strategies with the aim of preserving public health.
Core B: Research translation
Leaders: Amy Kyle and James Hunt
The Research Translation Core focused this past year on informing policy and stakeholder audiences about key scientific information and principles related to chemical assessment and characterization and about children’s environmental health, both key areas of research for the group as a whole. The Core conducted several formal and informal workshops for stakeholder groups in San Francisco, Oakland, and in Sacramento. The program advised legislative staff about key scientific concepts in the development of several pieces of legislation. This resulted in the inclusion of the concept of ‘hazard traits’ in California’s newly passed green chemistry legislation (AB 1879 and SB 509). This is important because including a concept of ‘hazard traits’ means that the chemical traits of health concern can be further defined and elucidated after legislation is passed and adapted as scientific knowledge and methods improve.
The engineering component of the Core analyzed data from two groundwater plumes containing chromate in the southeastern corner of California to assess groundwater remediation approaches. The monitoring data were reported in over a hundred wells during site investigation and remediation efforts over a 20 year period. These data reveal that chromium as a soluble contaminant has been retained in the groundwater aquifer up to 50 years after release. The analysis showed that pumping out groundwater has not been an effective remediation tool because the source of concentrated chromate present in trapped brines continues to slowly release chromate into flowing groundwater. Discussion with the Stakeholders involved is on-going.