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University of New Mexico
METALS
Superfund Center
Metals Exposure and Toxicity Assessment on Tribal Lands in the Southwest
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Welcome to our October 2022 Newsletter! |
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RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT
Environmental Science and Engineering
Project ESE-Remediation
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Dr. Jose Cerrato continues to lead one of the two environmental projects within the METALS center. This project aims to develop novel technologies for immobilization of metal mixtures in mine wastes.
Two recent collaborative publications authored by METALS trainees working with Dr. Cerrato inform remediation and increase our understanding of the chemical and biological processes which influence metals movement through soil and water.
The first publication by DeVore et al.1 was published in the journal ACS Earth and Space Chemistry in a special issue honoring Professor Michael. F. Hochella, Jr., a pioneer in the field of environmental nanoscience and PhD mentor of Professor Cerrato. This article reports that when a carbon source such as glucose is added to mine waste sediments, this can trigger microbes to release metals such as As, Fe, and Mn into nearby water. This information can aid in developing strategies to reduce risk and exposure to populations living downstream of mine wastes. The work was conducted in partnership with the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe in South Dakota supported by a collaboration between the Native Environmental Health Equities Center and the UNM METALS (UNM METALS) Superfund Research Center.
The second publication resulted from a partnership between UNM METALS and the University of Iowa Superfund Research Center supported by a K.C. Donnelly Externship Award to trainee Dr. Nabil Shaikh. The article by Shaikh et al.2 was published in the Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering advancing our understanding about uranium uptake onto electrospun polymers. Outcomes from this study contribute new knowledge for technology development based on fibers that can be created and used for detection and treatment of uranium in water. This work was supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Science (NIEHS).
1. DeVore, C.L., Rodriguez-Freire, L., Villa, N., Soleimanifar, M., Gonzalez-Estrella, J., Ali, A.M.S., Lezama-Pacheco, J., Ducheneaux, C., and Cerrato, J.M., 2022. Mobilization of As, Fe, and Mn from Contaminated Sediment in Aerobic and Anaerobic Conditions: Chemical or Microbiological Triggers?. ACS Earth and Space Chemistry. 2022 Jun 28;6(7):1644-54. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsearthspacechem.1c00370
2. Shaikh N, Qian J, Kim S, Phan H, Lezama-Pacheco JS, Ali AM, Cwiertny DM, Forbes TZ, Haes AJ, Cerrato JM. U (VI) Binding onto Electrospun Polymers Functionalized with Phosphonate Surfactants. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering. 2022 Aug 17:108448. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2022.108448
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Southwest artists, including Mallery Quetawki, Artist-In-Residence for the UNM Community Environmental Health Program and METALS, reflect on the use of positivity in their anti-nuclear art in a "Southwest Contemporary" article published in August by Anna Prawdzik Hull.
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Romaisha Rahman, receives the William B. and Roberta V. Castetter Endowed Fellowship award. This is a College of Education and Human Sciences (COEHS) award that is given to only one doctoral student per year who displays exceptional academic and research qualifications and demonstrates the potential to bring about positive change.
Romaisha is a PhD candidate, instructor, and journal editor in the College of Education & Human Sciences, and works as a research assistant (RA) in the College of Pharmacy at UNM. Her prime responsibilities in the Superfund Program as an RA are to revise and publish METALS SRP newsletters and manage the METALS Twitter handle.
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Dr. Lindsay Volk successfully defended her PhD dissertation, "Inhibition of Rad18 by Arsenic" on August 11th, 2022. She has now accepted a post-doc position at MIT in Dr. Bevin Engelward's Lab where she will investigate health effects of NDMA exposures.
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Congrats to Dr. Eliane El Hayek and Dr. Yan Lin for being selected for the 2022 Women in STEM awards at The University of New Mexico
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2022 Mountain West SOT conference
Mountain West Society of Toxicology– 40th annual meeting in Santa Fe, NM. August 29-30.
Poster Presentations
Erica Dashner-Titus, Debra MacKenzie, Chris Shuey, and Laurie Hudson.
Thinking Zinc: A nutritional intervention for metal toxicity
Tamara Anderson, Nicole Thompson, Li Luo, Erica Dashner-Titus, Laurie Hudson, and Debra MacKenzie. Immune dysregulation associated with metal exposure on Navajo Nation
Jodi Schilz, Erica Dashner-Titus, Karen Simmons, and Laurie Hudson.
Normal human kidney cell response to environmental metals.
Charlotte M. McVeigh, Cameron Chock, Sage Templeton, and Alicia Bolt.
Adipokine secretion in the bone niche shifts in response to tungsten exposure in both non-tumor and 4T1 tumor-bearing mice.
Delfina Lozoya, Sage Templeton, and Alicia Bolt. Identifying molecular biomarkers following tungsten particulate exposure in human lung fibroblast cells.
Rachel Speer, Shuvro Nandi, Xixi Zhou, Yan Guo, Laurie Hudson, Ludmil Alexandrov, Ke Jian Liu. Arsenic selectivity alters mutational patterns of UVR exposure.
Laura Santos-Medina, Kaitlin Martin, Zachary Yee, Haikun Zhang, Guaghua Wan, Alicia Bolt, Xixi Zhou, Ke Jian Liu, and Sebastian Medina.
Arsenic biotransformation is a key mediator of hematoxicity in vivo.
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2022 International Particle Toxicology Conference
IPTC meeting in Santa Fe, NM. August 28-31.
METALS Trainee Presentations
Roger Atanga, “Heavy metal-laden particulate exposure induces enteroendocrine expansion in adult human colonoids”.
Aaron Romero, “Exposure to Arsenic and Uranium in Drinking water alters Gastrointestinal Health”.
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COMMUNITY NEWS
The "We are Water" traveling exhibit is now at the Navajo Nation Museum through October 28th! The interactive exhibit creates a place where families can experience, learn, share, and talk about what water means to them.
The We Are Water Project involved METALS team members Nancy Maryboy (co-PI) and David Begay (senior advisor) who gave a tour of the exhibit and lead a METALS-facilitated dialogue at the museum on Oct 4th involving invited Indigenous thought leaders and leadership from universities and colleges along the Rio Grande as well as the Sevilleta Long Term Ecological Research Center, and the state’s National Laboratories (Sandia and LANL) to integrate Indigenous perspectives into a regional initiative on arid land resilience.
Dr. Jose Cerrato has been serving for over one year on the Water Protection Advisory Board (WPAB) for the City of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County
METALS researcher, Chris Shuey, was interviewed regarding uranium mine waste in the August 12th KOB article, “4 Investigates: The toxic legacy of a uranium ghost town.” by Matt Grubs. The investigation focuses on the Homestake Superfund Site in Milan, NM.
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METALS was at the Pueblo of Laguna Feast Days on Monday, Sept 19th and Sunday, Sept 25th, 2022 sharing information and engaging with community partners at our information booth. |
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New Review Article
Schilz JR, Dashner-Titus EJ, Simmons KA, Erdei E, Bolt AM, MacKenzie DA, Hudson LG. The immunotoxicity of natural and depleted uranium: From cells to people. Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology. 2022 Sep 21:116252.
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Read Previous Newsletters
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NIH/NIEHS P42 ES025589 (UNM METALS) This material was developed in part under cited research awards to the University of New Mexico. It has not been formally reviewed by the funding agencies. The views expressed are solely those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of the agencies. The funders do not endorse any products or commercial services mentioned in this presentation.
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