DEVELOPMENT OF BIOMARKERS TO ASSESS COMMUNITY LEVEL EXPOSURE TO TOXICANTS

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Biomarkers are biological changes that can be detected in blood, urine or other biological specimens. They can provide indications of exposure to toxic agents at the time of exposures and long before the appearance of clinical disease. There is a need to identify biomarkers that are sensitive enough to detect exposure to low levels of pollutant chemicals that are found in communities. The objective of this study to investigate the sensitivity of biomarkers that detect inflammatory and genetic toxicity responses to environmental pollutant exposures. We hypothesize that a population that resides in a community near major point sources of toxic air pollutants will express changes in biological markers that detect inflammatory and/or genotoxic responses in a quantitatively different way than a demographically similar population living in an area more distant from major sources of toxic air pollutants. We will collect the following samples 1) a blood sample 2) a breath condensate sample and 3) a spot urine sample. The biomarkers to be measured in serum will be the pro-inflammatory cytokines, TNF?, Interleukin-6, and Interleukin-8, oxidative stress measured as Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances (TBARS). The anticipated outcome will be to determine whether this approach is sufficiently sensitive to be useful for the assessment of adverse effects from exposure to community level exposure to toxic air pollutants in the context of cumulative risks related to low income and other characteristics of social disadvantage.