Dartmouth Superfund Research Program (SRP) researchers Margaret Karagas (lead author) and Tracy Punshon are co-authors of the paper Rice Intake and Emerging Concerns on Arsenic in Rice: a Review of the Human Evidence and Methodologic Challenges. The paper, which was published in the journal Current Environmental Health Reports, summarizes “…the state of the epidemiologic evidence on whether rice consumption relates to health outcomes associated with arsenic exposure.” The  article recommends that “further studies are needed to understand the health impacts of arsenic exposure from rice consumption taking into account all sources of rice intake and potential confounding by other dietary constituents or contaminants and arsenic exposure from sources such as water.”

Dartmouth Superfund Research Program Director Celia Chen, former Dartmouth Superfund Research Program Community Engagement Core (CEC) Leaders Shannon Rogers (lead author) and Mark Borsuk, current Research Translation Coordinator Laurie Rardin, and former CEC Coordinator Kathrin Lawlor are co-authors of the paper Communicating Arsenic’s Risks. The study describes “two types of environmental communication efforts that have been undertaken by the Dartmouth Toxic Metals Superfund Research Program (DTMSRP)-the development and evaluation of a comprehensive website, Arsenic and You, and a mental models research approach to better understand the disconnect between expert and community perceptions of arsenic risk.” The paper is published in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

Dartmouth Superfund Research Program researchers Vivien Taylor (lead author) and Kate Buckman are co-authors of the paper Preliminary Investigation of Polymer-Based In Situ Passive Samplers for Mercury and Methylmercury, which was published in Chemosphere.  In their study, the “development of an in situ passive sampler for mercury (Hg), and its toxic form, methylmercury (MeHg), using simple polymer films, was explored for the potential to make an efficient and environmentally relevant monitoring tool for this widespread aquatic pollutant.”

Dartmouth Superfund Research Program researchers Margaret Karagas and Brian Jackson are co-authors of the paper Validity of Retrospective Occupational Exposure Estimates of Lead and Manganese in a Case-Control Study. The study used toenail samples as bioindicators of exposure and “assessed whether work tasks and expert assessments of occupational metal exposure obtained from personal interviews were associated with lead and manganese concentrations”. The paper is published in the journal Occupational & Environmental Medicine.

Dartmouth Superfund Program researchers Celia Chen, Kate Buckman and Vivien Taylor are co-authors of a paper that “examined the individual and combined effects of temperature, sediment organic carbon, and salinity on the bioaccumulation of MeHg in an estuarine amphipod, Leptocheirus plumulosus, when exposed to sediment from two locations in the Gulf of Maine (Kittery and Bass Harbor) that contained different levels of MeHg and organic carbon.” The paper, Effects of Temperature, Salinity, and Sediment Organic Carbon on Methylmercury Bioaccumulation in an Estuarine Amphipod, is published in Science of the Total Environment.

Dartmouth Superfund Program Director and researcher Celia Chen is co-author of the paper, Factors Affecting MeHg Bioaccumulation in Stream Biota: the Role of Dissolved Organic Carbon and Diet. The paper, published in the journal Ecotoxicology, studied the “effects of water chemistry and diet on mercury bioaccumulation in stream biota.”

Dartmouth Superfund Program researcher Brian Jackson is co-author of a study that “…tests the hypothesis that higher levels of exposure to PAHs and PAH-DNA adducts in placenta of women living near Superfund sites contribute to the increased rate of PTBs” (pre term births). The paper, Association Between Elevated Placental Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) and PAH-DNA Adducts from Superfund Sites in Harris County, and Increased Risk of Preterm Birth (PTB), is published in the journal Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications.

Dartmouth Superfund Program researchers Kate Buckman and Vivien Taylor are co-authors of a study that “…demonstrates that vernal pools are important hotspots where amphibians bioaccumulate MeHg, which may then be transferred to terrestrial ecosystems.” The paper, Bioaccumulation of Methylmercury in Wood Frogs and Spotted Salamanders in Vermont Vernal Pools, is published in Ecotoxicology.

Dartmouth Superfund Program researchers Tracy Punshon, Brian Jackson and Margaret Karagas are co-authors of a paper that examines relationships between placental concentrations of cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), mercury (Hg) and lead (Pb) and measures of placental growth and functioning as part of the New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study. Placental Metal Concentrations in Relation to Placental Growth, Efficiency and Birth Weight

K.L. Buckman, E.A. Seelen, R.P. Mason, P. Balcom, V.F. Taylor, J.E. Ward, C.Y. Chen. 2019. Sediment Organic Carbon and Temperature Effects on Methylmercury Concentration: A Mesocosm Experiment. Science of The Total Environment Volume 666, 20 May 2019, Pages 1316-1326.