Hurricane Harvey and hazardous exposures

Following a disaster, we tend to be worried about finding food and shelter, reuniting with families and pets, and cleaning up the damage left behind. We don’t tend to think about toxic chemical exposures. With Hurricane Harvey, it’s a different story.

Harvey flooded at least 13 Superfund sites flooded. Millions of pounds of hazardous chemicals were released. In addition, small explosions and chemical spills were reported. The New York Times created maps showing  the magnitude of the disaster. For example, this image from the New York Times shows flooded or damaged Superfund sites, in orange.

Only days after Harvey, OSU SRP researchers partnered with Texas A&M, University of Texas – Houston, and Baylor College of Medicine. The goal of the partnership is to place personal samplers on individuals living in and near hurricane-damaged areas. The passive sampling wristband is the perfect tool.  It doesn’t need batteries or the internet. Additionally, the wristband can detect over 1,500 different chemicals.

Disaster Research Response

Oregon State University has been preparing for disaster research for several years. This year, Oregon State received their first ‘Disaster IRB.’ This allows Oregon State researchers to deploy quickly, with appropriate controls in place to ensure participants are safe and their information is confidential. SRP investigators Drs. Kim Anderson and Rohlman worked carefully with the Oregon State Institutional Review Board to develop this IRB.

The Superfund Research Program is supporting this response effort. In the image below, SRP trainees are preparing wristbands for a September 20th deployment. We hope to enroll several hundred individuals. The results of this study will help us better understand the potentially toxic chemical exposures that could result following natural disasters.

Mary Leonard, PhD
PhD: Chemistry, Oregon State University, 2017
Research focus: transport, transformation and remediation of environmental contaminants.

Mary joined the Simonich laboratory this spring as a post-doctoral research associate. Before beginning her graduate degree, Mary worked in government and industry as an analytical chemist. Mary will be working in the Superfund Research Program to identify certain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in water.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are environmental contaminants generated by the incomplete combustion of organic compounds, such as those found in fossil fuels and cigarette smoke.
 See this infographic to learn more.

Several PAHs are known to cause human health effects, such as cancer, heart disease and respiratory disease. Humans are mostly exposed to PAHs through air, water and food. New research is showing that PAHs can be transformed into different types of chemicals. When this happens, the ‘new’ PAH may be more toxic than the first one. For example, some PAHs can be transformed when exposed to high heat.

Mary’s project will look at known PAHs and their transformation products in environmental water systems. As these new PAHs have a different chemical structure, much of her work will include developing techniques for the detection and identification of these chemicals. For a more complete summary of Mary’s work, please review this technical abstract.

Mary obtained her doctorate in chemistry at Oregon State University in early 2017. Her area of concentration is analytical chemistry, and she is interested in the transport, transformation, and remediation of environmental contaminants. Prior to her graduate studies, she worked in both government and industry performing analysis of small molecules in biological matrices. Mary joined the Simonich laboratory this spring as a post-doctoral research associate. One of her first contributions to the Superfund Research Program will be the development of a high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) method for analysis of hydroxylated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (OHPAHs) in aqueous systems.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are environmental contaminants generated by the incomplete combustion of organic compounds, such as those found in fossil fuels and cigarette smoke. Several PAHs have been identified as mutagens or probable carcinogens, and chronic exposure to these compounds is associated with increased risk of developing lung cancer and peripheral arterial disease. PAHs are metabolized by mammals and some microbes to form hydroxylated PAHs, or OHPAHs. Some OHPAHs are more carcinogenic than their parent compounds, because they can cause oxidative damage to DNA, resulting in cell mutations. Microbial transformation of PAHs to OHPAHs should thus be considered when evaluating the effectiveness of bioremediation strategies. Gas chromatography (GC) is typically used for separation of parent PAHs in complex environmental matrices. Following separation on a GC column, the PAHs can be detected and quantified by mass spectrometry (MS). However, analysis of OHPAHs by GC-MS is not as straightforward. OHPAHs must be chemically modified, or derivatized, prior to separation by GC. Derivatization increases sample processing time, and it can complicate identification and quantification of target compounds. Reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) circumvents the need for derivatization. OHPAHs can be separated and quantified by HPLC-MS without modification, resulting in shorter analysis times and improved separation.