Lab Matters Fall 2017 | Page 16

from the bench

Leveraging Lab Capacity Toward Regional Health Concerns in the Four Corners

by Kim Krisberg , writer
It ’ s also an exercise in optimizing public health lab capacity to measure regional environmental contaminants .
“ I think this is one of the most relevant grant-funded projects we do ,” said Eric Petty , chemistry program manager within the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment ’ s Laboratory Services Division and his state ’ s lead for 4CSBC . “ It produces so much meaningful data and it ’ s pretty unlimited regarding the number of studies we can design . There ’ s so much out there that hasn ’ t been looked at .”
2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid — otherwise known as 2,4-D — is the active ingredient in a variety of weed killers and one of the most common , widely used herbicides in the world . Studies in lab animals have found that high doses of 2,4-D are associated with negative heath effects . Research on human exposure is more of a mixed bag .
According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry , it doesn ’ t appear that contact with small amounts of 2,4-D is harmful to people . Some studies on workers with relatively high exposure rates , such as professional herbicide applicators , have identified a possible link to cancers of the lymphatic system . Other studies found no strong evidence between 2,4-D and cancers . The US Environmental Protection Agency says there ’ s not enough evidence to either refute or support 2,4-D as a human carcinogen , while the International Agency for Research on
Cancer has deemed 2,4-D as “ possibly carcinogenic ” based on “ inadequate evidence in humans and limited evidence in experimental animals .” In other words , we need more research .
One place where research is happening is inside the public health labs of Arizona , Colorado , New Mexico and Utah , where a collaborative known as the Four Corners States Biomonitoring Consortium ( 4CSBC ) hopes to gather new insights into environmental exposures that could impact people ’ s health . With funding from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ’ s ( CDC ’ s ) National Biomonitoring Program , 4CSBC began its work in 2014 , building on the previous efforts of the Rocky Mountain Biomonitoring Consortium , of which all four states had been a member . The collaborative ’ s day-to-day mission is to generate the data on environmental contaminants that can inform protective public health actions .
The consortium is focused on three main studies : heavy metal exposure from private well drinking water ; pesticide , herbicide and phthalates exposure ; and the San Luis Valley ( Colorado ) Children ’ s Study , which assesses hazardous chemical exposure among children ages 3 to 13 . In each state , public health labs partner with environmental health workers and epidemiologists to recruit residents who want to take part , collect water and urine samples for testing , and eventually reconnect with residents to discuss results and any health-protective recommendations . The 4CSBC labs spread out the testing responsibilities according to capacity , so as to not burden any one state . Testing results are interpreted , in part , by using baseline data from CDC ’ s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey .
“ We have similar geological settings , we all have a legacy of mining in heavy metals , we ’ re agricultural states , our populations can be sparse , we have common problems regarding arsenic and pesticides ,” said Sanwat Chaudhuri , PhD , 4CSBC ’ s principal investigator and scientific advisor for chemical and environmental services at the Utah Public Health Laboratory . “ It just makes more sense that we work together to try to solve our problems .”
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LAB MATTERS Fall 2017
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