2019-2020 Faculty Research Grants
Padma Tadi Uppala, Ryan Hayes, Desmond Murray, Dixon Anjejo (Public Health, Chemistry)
Environmental Determinants of Cardiovascular Disease in Berrien County, Michigan: Exposure Assessment of Lead, Arsenic and Cadmium
Non-communicable diseases such as stroke, heart diseases, cancers and chronic respiratory diseases amount to nearly two-thirds of the total deaths caused by an unhealthy environment. Leading causes of death in Berrien County are heart diseases and cancer, which are higher than the rates in the state of Michigan and the US. Environmental toxic metals such as lead, arsenic, cadmium and pesticides such as DDT have been identified as risk factors for cardiovascular diseases to which residents in Berrien County have been exposed. Michigan ranks 25 out of 56 states nationwide in producing total “Toxic Inventory Releases” per square mile. Eight counties including Berrien County in western Michigan produced ~70% of the state’s apples between 1965 and 1967 near the peak of DDT use, which was about 181 metric tons of DDT. The purpose of this proposal is to conduct a pilot exposure assessment study among the residents of Benton Harbor and Niles who experience high mortality rates and investigate associations between environmental toxic exposures and cardiovascular disease. Specific aims of the proposal are to: (1) Collect exposure assessment data using a validated survey such as the “The National Human Exposure Assessment Survey” (NHEXAS) (2) Biomonitoring of hair and nails on 20 exposed individuals for lead, arsenic and cadmium (3), Test for contaminants in 15 residential well water samples. Our methodology will involve developing exposure assessments questionnaires and biomonitoring of toxic metals in human tissues. We are expecting correlations between heavy meal exposures and cardiovascular diseases.