Core B: Research Translation
Summary
Presentation: An Overview of the Core B [Public Health Component]
Presentation: An Overview of the Core B [Engineering Component]
The overall goal of the Research Translation Core is to translate research findings and scientific knowledge for government agencies, relevant business interests, and general audiences involved in the remediation of Superfund sites and efforts to protect public health. Specifically the objectives of the core are to:
- Involve stakeholders and project investigators in the development of case studies to demonstrate how measurements from the lab on remediation technologies are scaled to larger, more complex conditions encountered at Superfund sites and how field results can be applied (scaled) to other sites;
- Identify areas of emerging research significant to environmental health practice. The Core reviews key research findings, assesses their implications for policy and practice contexts, and develops a synthesis assessing how emerging research can be applied to identify and support actions to protect public health or improve environmental quality;
- In partnership with government agencies, plan and conduct workshops that examine critical issues in application of environmental health sciences research results in policy contexts relevant to achieving the goals of the Superfund program, involving investigators in disciplines relevant to science and policy as well as government agencies working in areas such as risk assessment and benefits assessment;
- Develop and evaluate communication methods to translate analyses developed through Aims 1 through 3, as well as the most recent research findings, into forms useful for technical audiences and government agencies, including federal and state health and environmental agencies, and the engineering profession, using products including research briefs that describe the context for the research, the questions investigated, the major findings, and the significance of findings from a practice perspective; and,
- Develop and evaluate communication tools to translate analyses developed through Aims 1 through 3, as well as the most recent research findings, into forms useful and understandable for general audiences. These methods may include use of streamed video “short talks” by investigators presenting results in a conversational tone and communications tools such as research and policy briefs and web-based content.
This work better equips government agencies to use the most current knowledge in promoting public health practices. Further, it helps general audiences to better understand the significance of SBRP research and to participate in public policy discussions and it provides specifics on how to use the most current research in practical remediation projects.
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Core Update
Health sciences
The “health” part of 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.
Co-leader Dr. Amy Kyle 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.
Dr. Kyle gave the keynote speech at the founding of a children’s environmental health network for Wyoming. The group agreed to pursue several specific projects to improve children’s health, working in an interdisciplinary fashion. She has continued to participate in the federal Children’s Health Protection Advisory Committee and helped to develop comments related to chemicals policy concerns as they relate to children, providing advice to the US EPA.
Engineering sciences
The engineering component of the Core is exploring how research results are scaled from simple laboratory systems to more complex field sites undergoing remediation. Laboratory studies in beakers can be used to investigate fundamental principles in biology and chemistry, but additional processes must be included when models and experiments are conducted in sand columns, two-dimensional “ant-farms”, and smaller field experiments that include more realistic conditions. This work has examined density driven flow under laboratory and field conditions using observations at field sites to guide laboratory experiments. Core researchers have extensively analyzed data from two groundwater plumes containing chromate in the southeastern corner of California to assess groundwater remediation approaches. The monitoring data are 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. 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. The combination of laboratory studies on contaminant mixing in column reactors with the analysis of long-term monitoring data at field sites has provided complementary data on the importance of brines in the subsurface. These results have demonstrated how field data collected under complex conditions can guide laboratory studies, provide an analysis of remedial approaches, and assist regulatory personnel in hazardous waste site oversight.
Publications
- Richter, Rebecca J., Clement E. Furlong, Brenda Eskenazi, Nina T. Holland, and Karen Huen. 2009. Validation of PON1 enzyme activity assays for longitudinal studies. Clinica Chimica Acta. (http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescr iption.cws_home/506018/description#descriptio n)
402(1-2):67-74. doi:10.1016/j.cca.2008.12.019 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cca.2008.12.019) - Flowers, Tracey C. and James R. Hunt. 2007. Viscous and gravitational contributions to mixing during vertical brine transport in water-saturated porous media. Water Resources Research. (http://www.agu.org/journals/wr/) 43(1):Art.No.W01407.
- Flowers, Tracey C. and James R. Hunt. 2000. Long-term release of perchlorate as a potential source of groundwater contamination. Chapter 14 in: Perchlorate in the Environment. Kluwer/Plenum, NY.