The goal of the collaborative projects are to support research in the areas of environmental science and environmental toxicology applied to remedial action to improve public health in Mexico and the U.S.-Mexico Border.  The research is directed at solving problems at contaminated sites in Mexico or near the Border in Arizona.  The sites will be used as learning laboratories to develop methodologies for assessment and remediation that can be applied to similar problems. 

 

Long-Term Effects of Heavy Metals on Children’s Health

Many communities at a global level have been impacted by an increase in industrialization. The effects on children’s health of pollutants released by industrial processes into the environment are the focus of this collaborative research project.  Specifically, researchers are interested in the long-term effects of chronic exposure of lead and other elements present near smelters and mines.  Read more.

 

 

 

 

Arsenic and Health: Diabetes

The association between arsenic exposure and diabetes mellitus has been inferred for a number of years.  It has received more attention due to recent epidemiologic reports, which have linked the two through environmental and occupational sources. The high incidence of diabetes in Hispanic and indigenous populations in both the Southwestern U.S. and Northern Mexico could, in part, be explained by their exposure to arsenic via their drinking water.  Read more.

Arsenic and Health: Breast Cancer

Arsenic is a known human carcinogen present in drinking water supplies around the world.  Reproductive, dietary, environmental and genetic characteristics have been linked to breast cancer. This collaborative research project is focused on the simultaneous effects of environmental, dietary, and genetic traits that may be playing a role in the high incidence of this cancer in the Border region.  Read more.

 

Mine Tailings: Phytostabilization and Phytoremediation

Extensive mining activity has occurred in the arid and semi-arid ecosystems of the southwestern U.S. and northern and central Mexico.  As a result, there are large numbers of tailings sites with elevated metal concentrations.  Phytostabilization has been proposed as an economical remediation strategy to stabilize the metal contaminants and prevent human and animal exposure through dust particles or dissolution of metals into ground and surface waters.  Read more.

 

 

 

Landfill Leachate Plumes: Characterization, Natural Attenuation and Bioremediation

Mass urbanization in the Border region has resulted in a large number of uncontrolled or illegal landfills of both municipal and solid waste as well as hazardous waste. Plumes generated from these landfills are threatening already scarce water supplies in arid and semi-arid region. The objectives of this project are to identify xenobiotic hazardous contaminants in landfill leachates from Mexican and Arizonan Border communities, and to characterize processes contributing to their natural attenuation.  Read more.