Puerto Rico Testsite for Exploring Contamination Threats (PROTECT)

波多黎各探索污染威胁的试验场（PROTECT）

• 批准号: 8884307
• 负责人: Akram N Alshawabkeh
• 金额: $ 1.08万
• 依托单位: NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-04-12 至 2015-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8884307
• 关键词: Accounting; Address; Area; Attention; Awareness; Behavioral; Biological; Biological Markers; Birth; Birth Rate; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.); Chemical Exposure; Chemicals; Childbirth; Chronic; Clinical; Clinical Data; Cohort Studies; Communities; Data; Databases; Decontamination; Development; Developmental Disabilities; Diet; Disadvantaged; Discipline of obstetrics; Endocrine disruption; Enrollment; Environmental Exposure; Environmental Health; Environmental Risk Factor; Epidemiologic Methods; Epidemiology; Exposure to; Future; Gestational Age; Goals; Government; Hazardous Chemicals; Hazardous Waste Sites; Health; Individual; Industry; Infant Mortality; Inflammation; Institute of Medicine (U.S.); Intervention; Investigation; Island; Journals; Knowledge; Lead; Learning; Legal patent; Link; Live Birth; Malawi; Measures; Methods; Mining; Modeling; Molecular; Molecular Epidemiology; Morbidity - disease rate; National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences; Neonatal Mortality; Outcome; Oxidative Stress; Paper; Pathway interactions; Pattern; Play; Policies; Pollution; Population; Positioning Attribute; Pregnancy; Pregnant Women; Premature Birth; Prevention strategy; Process; Public Health; Public Health Practice; Puerto Rico; Questionnaires; Recruitment Activity; Research; Research Infrastructure; Research Personnel; Research Project Grants; Research Support; Research Training; Resources; Risk; Risk Factors; Role; Sampling; Signal Recognition Particle; Site; Solvents; Source; Specimen; Statistical Methods; Stream; Structure; Study Subject; Superfund; System; Techniques; Technology; Time; Tissues; Training; Translational Research; United States; Urinalysis; Urine; Water; Woman; Work; Xenobiotics; data management; data modeling; design; epidemiology study; follow-up; global health; human subject; improved; indexing; infant death; innovation; interest; landfill; multidisciplinary; novel; phthalates; pollutant; pregnant; prevent; prospective; public health relevance; remediation; repository; residence; success; superfund chemical; superfund site; toxicant

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant) Preterm birth, the leading cause of neonatal mortality in the United States, is also associated with a number of chronic health conditions and developmental disabilities that cause lifelong consequences. In Puerto Rico, the preterm birth rate is 17.7% of live births. At 50% above the U.S. average, it is the highest rate of any United States jurisdiction, below only Malawi (18.1%) globally. The researchers investigations suggest that the higher preterm birth rates in Puerto Rico cannot be explained by changes in obstetric practices, and that there is compelling preliminary evidence that exposure to hazardous chemicals contributes to preterm birth. Puerto Rico has 16 active Superfund sites and 200+ hazardous waste sites. Risk of exposure to contamination is high as many of these sites are unlined landfills that overlie Karst aquifers which present highly susceptible pathways for exposure to contamination. PROTECT (Puerto Rico Testsite for Exploring Contamination Threats) brings together multidisciplinary researchers study the transport, exposure, health impact and remediation of contaminants, with particular attention to chlorinated solvents and phthalates commonly found at Superfund sites, as both suspect and model agents in the high to preterm birth rates in Puerto Rico. To do so, PROTECT uses an innovative, holistic, source-to-outcome structure, integrating epidemiological, toxicological, and analytical, fate-transport, and remediation studies along with a unified sampling infrastructure, a centralized, indexed data repository and a data management system. Administrative, research translation, training and community engagement cores engage and inform stakeholders, provide knowledge-transfer activities to the greater SRP and environmental health community, and provide extensive cross-disciplinary training. PROTECT is responsive to NIEHS, EPA and CDC strategic goals, and addresses priority areas identified by the Institute of Medicine Committee on preterm birth. Since the Center's inception in 2010, PROTECT researchers have obtained significant and novel results indicating 1) extensive groundwater contamination in the northern Karst region of Puerto Rico; 2) potential mechanisms by which chemicals can stimulate preterm birth; and, 3) suspect chemicals that are elevated in the women in this study. The investigators have also developed a new environmentally-friendly technique for efficient decontamination of groundwater and an improved large-volume urinalysis technique. Research results have been documented in over 50 journal papers and 2 full patent applications. In addition, over 480 pregnant study subjects have been enrolled (200 of whom have completed their pregnancies), and over 70 trainees have participated in the Center. PROTECT will build on these successes with continued research and training to provide the much needed understanding of the role of hazardous chemicals and other environmental factors in preterm birth, and to develop new methods for contaminant remediation in Puerto Rico and beyond. This work will advance environmental health science in general, and potentially lead to a reduction in preterm birth rates.

描述（由申请人提供） 早产是美国新生儿死亡的主要原因，它还与许多导致终生后果的慢性健康状况和发育障碍有关。在波多黎各，早产率为活产率的 17.7%。该比率比美国平均水平高出 50%，是美国所有司法管辖区中比率最高的，在全球范围内仅低于马拉维（18.1%）。 研究人员的调查表明，波多黎各较高的早产率不能用产科实践的变化来解释，并且有令人信服的初步证据表明接触危险化学品会导致早产。波多黎各有 16 个活跃的超级基金场地和 200 多个危险废物场地。暴露于污染的风险很高，因为许多这些地点都是无衬里的垃圾填埋场，位于喀斯特含水层之上，是暴露于污染的极易受影响的途径。 PROTECT（波多黎各污染威胁探索试验场）汇集了多学科研究人员，研究污染物的运输、暴露、健康影响和补救，特别关注超级基金站点中常见的氯化溶剂和邻苯二甲酸盐，它们是波多黎各高早产率的可疑因素和模型因素。为此，PROTECT 采用创新、整体、从源头到结果的结构，将流行病学、毒理学、分析、命运转移和补救研究与统一的采样基础设施、集中式索引数据存储库和数据管理系统结合起来。 行政、研究翻译、培训和社区参与核心吸引利益相关者并为其提供信息，向更大的 SRP 和环境健康社区提供知识转移活动，并提供广泛的跨学科培训。 PROTECT 响应 NIEHS、EPA 和 CDC 战略目标，并解决医学研究所委员会确定的早产优先领域。 自该中心于 2010 年成立以来，PROTECT 研究人员已获得重要且新颖的结果，表明 1) 波多黎各北部喀斯特地区广泛的地下水污染； 2）化学物质刺激早产的潜在机制； 3) 怀疑本研究中女性体内的化学物质含量升高。研究人员还开发了一种新的环保技术，可有效净化地下水，并改进了大容量尿液分析技术。研究成果已记录在 50 多篇期刊论文和 2 项完整专利申请中。此外，该中心还招募了超过 480 名怀孕研究对象（其中 200 名已完成妊娠），并有超过 70 名学员参加。 PROTECT 将在这些成功的基础上，通过持续的研究和培训，提供对危险化学品和其他环境因素在早产中的作用的急需的了解，并开发波多黎各及其他地区污染物修复的新方法。这项工作将总体上推进环境健康科学，并有可能降低早产率。