Grant Establishes Brown as Superfund Research Center

Focus is on science to protect public health, improve environment

by Wendy Y. Lawton

Slater Mill came first, in 1793, cranking out cotton thread by the banks of the Blackstone River. More mills opened in Pawtucket and nearby Woonsocket, churning out cloth of cotton and wool. Down south, in Providence, metal smiths made brass clocks, silver spoons, and gold baubles for the ladies of Boston and New York.

In the span of a generation, the textile and jewelry industries were booming in Rhode Island. America's Industrial Revolution was born.

The dark legacy of this proud manufacturing past: contamination. Rhode Island is home to thirteen sites on the Superfund National Priorities List. The government considers these sites the most dangerous in the nation. They total 3,181 acres - an area seven times the size of Roger Williams Park. The state is also home to an estimated three hundred brownfields - residential, commercial or industrial properties that may require cleanup before they're reused.

To tackle the health and environmental concerns created by these former mills, factories, landfills, quarries, and military installations, Brown faculty are embarking on a novel research effort. Through a new $11.5- million, four-year grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, or NIEHS, biomedical scientists will identify the health threats posed by asbestos, PCBs, mercury, and other common toxicants. Chemical engineers will investigate how toxicants behave and devise new tools to remove them cheaply and safely.

The grant, one of the largest research awards made to Brown in five years, will establish the University as one of eighteen funded under the Superfund Basic Research Program. The program's premise: Use science to protect public health and improve the environment.

As with many programs at Brown, the Superfund program takes a multi-disciplinary approach. Biologists, toxicologists, and other biomedical scientists identify and evaluate the health effects of exposure to hazardous waste. Geologists and engineers develop innovative technologies for removing this waste. Under the program, scientists have made several advances, ranging from the use of fast-growing plants to reduce groundwater pollutants to a patented tool for detecting dioxin in human cells.

Getting new knowledge to the public is another key component of the Superfund Basic Research Program. Universities work with schools, churches, community groups, and state agencies to raise awareness about the health risks of hazardous waste.

William Suk, director of the Superfund Basic Research Program, said Brown was the only new applicant to the program NIEHS funded this year. Other institutions, such as Harvard, Dartmouth, Columbia, and Duke, have multi-project grants through the $51-million program.

Suk said Brown's request was approved for a few reasons.

"The science is really solid," Suk said. The Brown-led team "is addressing important issues regarding health and environmental contamination, issues relevant not only to Rhode Island but other parts of the county. And Kim really did his homework."

Suk is referring to Kim Boekelheide, a professor of medical science who will oversee the sprawling research project. Boekelheide got the idea to apply to the Superfund program after sitting on an NIEHS committee that reviewed applications. Knowing that the research bench was deep at Brown Medical School and the Division of Engineering - and given Brown's cross-pollinating tradition - he thought: "Brown could do this and do it better."

More than three years ago, Boekelheide started pulling together a team. On the biomedical side: Agnes Kane, Surendra Sharma, and Anatoly Zhitkovich. From engineering: Joe Calo, Bob Hurt, and Eric Suuberg. Kane would oversee training for scientists, students, and government workers. Suuberg would head up translating research into marketable products. David Murray would handle chemical analysis, Mary Hixon would oversee scientific evaluation, and Christina Zarcadoolas would spearhead community outreach.

Boekelheide secured $75,000 in seed funding from Provost Robert Zimmer to conduct preliminary experiments. He brought Suk to Providence to seek his advice, and did the same with a former program review committee chairman.

The result is a project that is scientifically sound and economically smart.

As a toxicologist, Boekelheide knows that people rarely are exposed to harmful substances one at a time. At hazardous waste sites, chemicals, metals or materials are often mixed together - and would enter the body together, too. Boekelheide also knows that factors such as genes or smoking affect the impacts of exposure. That's why three of the seven research projects will test the theory that exposure to a combination of substances will have a multiplier effect, causing more damage together than alone.

Because the Superfund program focuses on moving knowledge off campuses and onto the street, three research projects take a translational approach. One may net a medical test that can assess DNA damage from hexavalent chromium, a toxic metal found in forty percent of Superfund sites nationwide. Another aims to create devices that remove mercury spewing from smokestacks. And another could lead to a system that can extract heavy metals from contaminated water.

The project also takes into account Rhode Island's size: small enough to get academics, government workers, and community leaders working together. That's why Terry Gray from the Department of Environmental Management and Bob Vanderslice from the State Department of Health are participants. Officials at both agencies can serve as advisers, keeping scientists trained on the real-world concerns of hazardous waste cleanup and public health policy. At the same time, researchers can quickly relay their findings to state officials, keeping government decisions grounded in good science.

"It makes sense to come together to tackle the problems," Boekelheide said, "and it makes good economic sense, too. Rhode Island is small and densely populated. If we want to build new homes or new businesses, we have to deal with the burdens of our industrial past. We've got to clean up the land and water that we have, and do it safely."

Photo by Mary Beth Meehan