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: 8927926
• 负责人: Akram N Alshawabkeh
• 金额: $ 8.92万
• 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 2019-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8927926
• 关键词: Address; Area; Attention; Awareness; Biological; Birth Rate; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.); Chemical Exposure; Chemicals; Childbirth; Chronic; Communities; Data; Databases; Decontamination; Development; Developmental Disabilities; Disadvantaged; Discipline of obstetrics; Enrollment; Environmental Exposure; Environmental Health; Environmental Risk Factor; Epidemiology; Exposure to; Goals; Government; Hazardous Chemicals; Hazardous Waste Sites; Health; Industry; Institute of Medicine (U.S.); Investigation; Journals; Knowledge; Lead; Learning; Legal patent; Link; Live Birth; Malawi; Methods; Mining; Modeling; Molecular Epidemiology; National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences; Neonatal Mortality; Outcome; Oxidative Stress; Paper; Pathway interactions; Pattern; Policies; Pollution; Population; Positioning Attribute; Pregnancy; Pregnant Women; Premature Birth; Process; Public Health Practice; Puerto Rico; Recruitment Activity; Research; Research Infrastructure; Research Personnel; Research Project Grants; Research Support; Research Training; Risk; Risk Factors; Role; Sampling; Signal Recognition Particle; Site; Solvents; Source; Specimen; Stream; Structure; Study Subject; Superfund; System; Techniques; Technology; Tissues; Training; Translational Research; United States; Urinalysis; Woman; Work; Xenobiotics; data management; data modeling; epidemiology study; human subject; improved; indexing; infant death; innovation; landfill; multidisciplinary; novel; phthalates; pregnant; public health relevance; remediation; repository; 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，也与一些慢性健康状况和发育障碍有关，这些疾病会导致终生后果。在波多黎各，早产率占活产儿的17.7%。它比美国平均水平高出50%，是美国所有司法管辖区中最高的，仅次于马拉维(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做法的变化来解释，而且有令人信服的初步证据表明，暴露在危险化学品中会导致早产。波多黎各有16个活跃的超级基金站点和200多个危险废物站点。暴露于污染的风险很高，因为这些地点中的许多都是覆盖在岩溶含水层之上的无衬砌的垃圾填埋场，这些含水层提供了暴露于污染的高度敏感的途径。 Protect(波多黎各探索污染威胁的测试网站)汇集了多学科的研究人员，研究污染物的运输、暴露、对健康的影响和补救，特别关注在超级基金网站上常见的氯化溶剂和邻苯二甲酸盐，作为波多黎各高早产率的可疑和模范代理人。为此，Protect采用了一种创新的、整体的、从源头到结果的结构，将流行病学、毒理学和分析、命运转移和补救研究与统一的抽样基础设施、中央索引数据储存库和数据管理系统结合在一起。行政、研究翻译、培训和社区参与核心吸引和告知利益攸关方，向更广泛的可持续发展方案和环境健康社区提供知识转让活动，并提供广泛的跨学科培训。PROTECT响应NIEHS、EPA和CDC的战略目标，并处理医学研究所委员会确定的关于早产的优先领域。 自2010年该中心成立以来，PROTECT研究人员已取得重大和新的成果，表明1)波多黎各北部喀斯特地区广泛的地下水污染；2)化学品可能导致早产的机制；以及3)本研究中妇女体内的可疑化学品升高。研究人员还开发了一种高效净化地下水的环保新技术和一种改进的大容量尿液分析技术。研究成果已被记录在50多篇期刊论文和2项完整的专利申请中。此外，还招募了480多名怀孕研究对象(其中200人已完成怀孕)，70多名受训人员参加了该中心。Protect将在这些成功的基础上继续进行研究和培训，以提供对危险化学品和其他环境因素在早产中的作用的迫切需要的了解，并为波多黎各及其他地区的污染物补救制定新的方法。这项工作将在总体上推动环境健康科学的发展，并可能导致早产率的降低。