Researchers Assess the Impacts of Living in a Chemical Soup

Yale Environment 360
Inside Oregon State University’s Sinnhuber Aquatic Research Laboratory are rooms lined with tanks filled with thousands of zebrafish—silver, striped, one-to-two-inch creatures often found in home aquariums. The lab is the domain of Robert Tanguay, professor of molecular toxicology at Oregon State, whose zebrafish are helping to answer one of the most pressing questions in environmental health and toxicology: what are the health effects of chemical mixtures?
Tanguay has pioneered the use of zebrafish in toxicology. His lab is on the leading edge of this research, designing new experimental techniques and equipment that are enabling scientists to assess the impacts of multiple chemical exposures. Using zebrafish, Tanguay and other scientists are zeroing in on why certain chemical components of crude oil spilled by the Exxon Valdez in 1989 continue to adversely affect fish survival in Alaska’s Prince William Sound. With zebrafish, they also are learning why pesticide runoff can impair Pacific Northwest salmon’s ability to navigate and how oil from the ruptured Deepwater Horizon well is affecting marine species’ health in the Gulf of Mexico.
But zebrafish research goes well beyond the impact of chemical exposures on marine life. Zebrafish studies are also being used to assess the potential human health impacts of the chemical stew in U.S. Superfund sites. Tanguay’s lab is conducting research for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), evaluating the toxicity of thousands of chemicals used in countless consumer products. Zebrafish are also proving key to advancing our understanding of how particular chemical compounds affect the expression of individual genes that maintain and influence virtually every body system.
“Some people are still skeptical about how a fish can model human health,” said Tanguay during a tour of his lab earlier this month. “But during early development we are more similar to fish than at any other time in life.” Genes are particularly susceptible to environmental chemicals in early development. What happens then can set the stage for health throughout the rest of life.
The work of Tanguay and colleagues on mixtures is particularly important because, historically, chemicals have been evaluated and regulated one at a time. In reality, however, we are exposed to multiple chemicals daily throughout our lives. Because we now know that environmental chemical exposure can profoundly influence the development of disease, understanding how mixtures may affect human health has taken on an urgency.
“We live in a chemical soup,” says Linda Birnbaum, director of the U.S. National Toxicology Program and the National Institutes of Environmental Health Science (NIEHS).
Zebrafish have been used since the 1990s for genetic modeling and screening, but it was Tanguay, while working as a post-doctoral fellow in 1995, who suggested they might be used in toxicology. Because they are vertebrates, these prolifically reproducing fish turn out to be an extremely useful model for understanding how cells in other vertebrates, including humans, respond to environmental chemicals. Zebrafish, which progress from a translucent egg to a recognizable baby fish in just 24 hours, are ideal for investigating how chemicals may affect biological processes at various stages of development.
Because zebrafish eggs develop outside the mother, they can be manipulated, and Tanguay’s lab has devised equipment and techniques for isolating the eggs to examine the effects of chemicals. In one lab, Tanguay showed me a petri dish containing translucent zebrafish eggs, no bigger than a poppy seed, and the thread-fine, glass needles used to extract genetic material. Tanguay’s researchers use that material to determine which base pair—a rung in the DNA double-helix ladder—is targeted by a particular chemical exposure.
The results of these perturbations will tell the scientists if the exposure prompts any physical or health abnormalities. The zebrafish genome has been sequenced, enabling scientists to identify genes associated with specific diseases. Because many zebrafish genes have human counterparts, what’s learned from these fish can be used to inform human health research.
By figuring out which chemical targets a specific genetic receptor, scientists can begin to connect chemical exposure to health effects. Zebrafish development is readily visible, enabling scientists to identify changes in a fish’s phenotype—its physical characteristics. The zebrafish’s rapid development and short generational cycle make it possible to pinpoint effects that could be difficult to see in other animals. After linking chemical and physical effects, scientists then work to connect the phenotype with the genetic mechanisms that prompt it—or, as Tanguay says, to “connect phenotype with genotype.”
Some of these changes may result in physical abnormalities. Zebrafish exposed to certain dioxins, for example, had deformed vertebrae and skulls. Dioxin exposure also impaired regeneration of wounded fins. Other changes may become apparent in neurological, cognitive and behavioral testing. Still others may be exhibited as abnormalities in reproduction, altered developmental timing or changes in how metabolism and other body systems function.
Zebrafish are instrumental in the research that Nat Scholz, the ecotoxicology program manager at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center, is conducting to investigate the effects of what he calls “cocktails of pollution” on different fish species, including Pacific Northwest salmon and herring. Among the combinations of chemicals he’s studying are those of various fuel oil compounds, particularly polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and pesticides.
Using zebrafish, Scholz and his colleagues have discovered that certain PAHs adversely impact cardiovascular development, leading to a heart failure syndrome that can be lethal to fish larvae and reduce adult fish survival. The work with zebrafish has enabled the scientists to discover why fish that looked normal were dying. By examining how low levels of PAH exposure interfere with genes involved in heart development, they have begun to understand how oil from the Exxon Valdez and Deepwater Horizon spills has impaired the cardiovascular function of fish at a cellular level.
While the PAH exposure prompts changes early in development, these effects may not become apparent until later on, when defects—in how the heart processes potassium and calcium and in heart structure—reduce cardiac function and cause swimming problems. Experiments with zebrafish have helped deduce which enzymes and genetic receptors are affected by which hydrocarbon compounds, something that’s not been possible with fish in the wild.
Tanguay’s lab is also working with the EPA and NIEHS on an ongoing project known as Tox21, which is assessing more than 10,000 commercially produced chemicals for a wide number of health effects. Zebrafish are being used as part of what is called “high-throughput” screening—the rapid testing of lots of chemicals. The goal is to fill the many gaps in toxicity data that exist for these chemicals and identify which chemical compositions or concentrations prompt specific health effects. Results of this screening are expected later this year.
“We call this Robot Row,” said Tanguay, showing me the lab area devoted to robotic machines designed to precisely dose hundreds of zebrafish eggs and genetic material samples. Because zebrafish develop so quickly, lots of variables can be examined concurrently using these machines. Tanguay’s lab uses what look like tiny paint palettes with an array of 96 little wells, each of which gets a zebrafish sample that is then dosed by a machine with a particular chemical at different concentrations. Some experimentally treated eggs are allowed to develop, while others are halted to examine impacts during embryonic development.
Tanguay is also working with Terry Collins, professor of chemistry and director of Carnegie Mellon University’s Institute for Green Science, to assess the toxicity of molecules Collins has invented to clean up environmental contaminants. These compounds, known as TAML activators, can be used to remove dyes and other toxic chemicals from water. The TAML compounds appear to be successful in degrading these hazardous chemicals, but Collins wants to make sure their use doesn’t produce other harmful compounds or effects. Collins’ and Tanguay’s labs have been testing TAML activators on zebrafish to determine any potential toxicity, including on endocrine hormones.
The scientists are examining a complex range of possible outcomes that may result from the chemicals’ interaction with specific genetic receptors at different stages of development. If no abnormal effects are seen after the various TAML exposures, Collins will be closer to determining the safety of his chemical products. If adverse effects are seen, he will have the information he needs to begin redesigning his compounds so they are safe to use.
Tanguay’s lab has also designed equipment to test cognitive and behavioral responses in zebrafish. Similar to tests used with other lab animals, including humans, these experiments reveal how the brain, nervous system and muscles may be affected by certain chemicals, such as organophosphate pesticides, known neurotoxicants that have been linked to adverse neurological effects in children. By using zebrafish, scientists have begun to locate which neurons these chemicals may affect at particular stages of development. These experiments are also being used to test the effects on fish of pesticide-laden water running off fields and roads.
The ultimate goal is to learn which chemical combinations, concentrations and structures alter the normal function of genes and hormones. There is strong evidence, for example, that interference with endocrine system hormones and the genes that regulate them can lead to metabolic disorders such as diabetes and obesity. Research has also shown that endocrine-disrupting chemicals can upset reproductive, developmental, immune system and neurological health. In addition, scientists have discovered that altered gene expression—distinctly different from genetic mutation—can be passed from one generation to another in what are called epigenetic effects. Pinpointing these precursors to disease is key to protecting and improving human health.
The ability to connect specific chemicals in the environment with mechanisms of disease is essential to finding and “eliminating those that are nasty,” explains Tanguay. In a world where manufactured chemicals are ubiquitous, the tiny, fecund zebrafish is playing a big role in discovering how this chemical stew is affecting our health.
Visit EcoWatch’s BIODIVERSITY and HEALTH pages for more related news on this topic.
——–
A rare yellow penguin has been photographed for what is believed to be the first time.
- World-Renowned Photographer Documents Most Remote ... ›
- This Penguin Colony Has Fallen by 77% on Antarctic Islands ... ›
EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
By Stuart Braun
We spend 90% of our time in the buildings where we live and work, shop and conduct business, in the structures that keep us warm in winter and cool in summer.
But immense energy is required to source and manufacture building materials, to power construction sites, to maintain and renew the built environment. In 2019, building operations and construction activities together accounted for 38% of global energy-related CO2 emissions, the highest level ever recorded.
- Could IKEA's New Tiny House Help Fight the Climate Crisis ... ›
- Los Angeles City-Owned Buildings to Go 100% Carbon Free ... ›
- New Jersey Will Be First State to Require Building Permits to ... ›
Trending
By Eric Tate and Christopher Emrich
Disasters stemming from hazards like floods, wildfires, and disease often garner attention because of their extreme conditions and heavy societal impacts. Although the nature of the damage may vary, major disasters are alike in that socially vulnerable populations often experience the worst repercussions. For example, we saw this following Hurricanes Katrina and Harvey, each of which generated widespread physical damage and outsized impacts to low-income and minority survivors.
Mapping Social Vulnerability
<p>Figure 1a is a typical map of social vulnerability across the United States at the census tract level based on the Social Vulnerability Index (SoVI) algorithm of <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1540-6237.8402002" target="_blank"><em>Cutter et al.</em></a> [2003]. Spatial representation of the index depicts high social vulnerability regionally in the Southwest, upper Great Plains, eastern Oklahoma, southern Texas, and southern Appalachia, among other places. With such a map, users can focus attention on select places and identify population characteristics associated with elevated vulnerabilities.</p>Fig. 1. (a) Social vulnerability across the United States at the census tract scale is mapped here following the Social Vulnerability Index (SoVI). Red and pink hues indicate high social vulnerability. (b) This bivariate map depicts social vulnerability (blue hues) and annualized per capita hazard losses (pink hues) for U.S. counties from 2010 to 2019.
<p>Many current indexes in the United States and abroad are direct or conceptual offshoots of SoVI, which has been widely replicated [e.g., <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13753-016-0090-9" target="_blank"><em>de Loyola Hummell et al.</em></a>, 2016]. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) <a href="https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/placeandhealth/svi/index.html" target="_blank">has also developed</a> a commonly used social vulnerability index intended to help local officials identify communities that may need support before, during, and after disasters.</p><p>The first modeling and mapping efforts, starting around the mid-2000s, largely focused on describing spatial distributions of social vulnerability at varying geographic scales. Over time, research in this area came to emphasize spatial comparisons between social vulnerability and physical hazards [<a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-009-9376-1" target="_blank"><em>Wood et al.</em></a>, 2010], modeling population dynamics following disasters [<a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11111-008-0072-y" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Myers et al.</em></a>, 2008], and quantifying the robustness of social vulnerability measures [<a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-012-0152-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Tate</em></a>, 2012].</p><p>More recent work is beginning to dissolve barriers between social vulnerability and environmental justice scholarship [<a href="https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2018.304846" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Chakraborty et al.</em></a>, 2019], which has traditionally focused on root causes of exposure to pollution hazards. Another prominent new research direction involves deeper interrogation of social vulnerability drivers in specific hazard contexts and disaster phases (e.g., before, during, after). Such work has revealed that interactions among drivers are important, but existing case studies are ill suited to guiding development of new indicators [<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2015.09.013" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Rufat et al.</em></a>, 2015].</p><p>Advances in geostatistical analyses have enabled researchers to characterize interactions more accurately among social vulnerability and hazard outcomes. Figure 1b depicts social vulnerability and annualized per capita hazard losses for U.S. counties from 2010 to 2019, facilitating visualization of the spatial coincidence of pre‑event susceptibilities and hazard impacts. Places ranked high in both dimensions may be priority locations for management interventions. Further, such analysis provides invaluable comparisons between places as well as information summarizing state and regional conditions.</p><p>In Figure 2, we take the analysis of interactions a step further, dividing counties into two categories: those experiencing annual per capita losses above or below the national average from 2010 to 2019. The differences among individual race, ethnicity, and poverty variables between the two county groups are small. But expressing race together with poverty (poverty attenuated by race) produces quite different results: Counties with high hazard losses have higher percentages of both impoverished Black populations and impoverished white populations than counties with low hazard losses. These county differences are most pronounced for impoverished Black populations.</p>Fig. 2. Differences in population percentages between counties experiencing annual per capita losses above or below the national average from 2010 to 2019 for individual and compound social vulnerability indicators (race and poverty).
<p>Our current work focuses on social vulnerability to floods using geostatistical modeling and mapping. The research directions are twofold. The first is to develop hazard-specific indicators of social vulnerability to aid in mitigation planning [<a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-020-04470-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Tate et al.</em></a>, 2021]. Because natural hazards differ in their innate characteristics (e.g., rate of onset, spatial extent), causal processes (e.g., urbanization, meteorology), and programmatic responses by government, manifestations of social vulnerability vary across hazards.</p><p>The second is to assess the degree to which socially vulnerable populations benefit from the leading disaster recovery programs [<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17477891.2019.1675578" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Emrich et al.</em></a>, 2020], such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) <a href="https://www.fema.gov/individual-disaster-assistance" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Individual Assistance</a> program and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) <a href="https://www.hudexchange.info/programs/cdbg-dr/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Disaster Recovery</a> program. Both research directions posit social vulnerability indicators as potential measures of social equity.</p>Social Vulnerability as a Measure of Equity
<p>Given their focus on social marginalization and economic barriers, social vulnerability indicators are attracting growing scientific interest as measures of inequity resulting from disasters. Indeed, social vulnerability and inequity are related concepts. Social vulnerability research explores the differential susceptibilities and capacities of disaster-affected populations, whereas social equity analyses tend to focus on population disparities in the allocation of resources for hazard mitigation and disaster recovery. Interventions with an equity focus emphasize full and equal resource access for all people with unmet disaster needs.</p><p>Yet newer studies of inequity in disaster programs have documented troubling disparities in income, race, and home ownership among those who <a href="https://eos.org/articles/equity-concerns-raised-in-federal-flood-property-buyouts" target="_blank">participate in flood buyout programs</a>, are <a href="https://www.eenews.net/stories/1063477407" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">eligible for postdisaster loans</a>, receive short-term recovery assistance [<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2020.102010" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Drakes et al.</em></a>, 2021], and have <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/08/25/texas-natural-disasters--mental-health/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">access to mental health services</a>. For example, a recent analysis of federal flood buyouts found racial privilege to be infused at multiple program stages and geographic scales, resulting in resources that disproportionately benefit whiter and more urban counties and neighborhoods [<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2378023120905439" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Elliott et al.</em></a>, 2020].</p><p>Investments in disaster risk reduction are largely prioritized on the basis of hazard modeling, historical impacts, and economic risk. Social equity, meanwhile, has been far less integrated into the considerations of public agencies for hazard and disaster management. But this situation may be beginning to shift. Following the adage of "what gets measured gets managed," social equity metrics are increasingly being inserted into disaster management.</p><p>At the national level, FEMA has <a href="https://www.fema.gov/news-release/20200220/fema-releases-affordability-framework-national-flood-insurance-program" target="_blank">developed options</a> to increase the affordability of flood insurance [Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2018]. At the subnational scale, Puerto Rico has integrated social vulnerability into its CDBG Mitigation Action Plan, expanding its considerations of risk beyond only economic factors. At the local level, Harris County, Texas, has begun using social vulnerability indicators alongside traditional measures of flood risk to introduce equity into the prioritization of flood mitigation projects [<a href="https://www.hcfcd.org/Portals/62/Resilience/Bond-Program/Prioritization-Framework/final_prioritization-framework-report_20190827.pdf?ver=2019-09-19-092535-743" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><em>Harris County Flood Control District</em></a>, 2019].</p><p>Unfortunately, many existing measures of disaster equity fall short. They may be unidimensional, using single indicators such as income in places where underlying vulnerability processes suggest that a multidimensional measure like racialized poverty (Figure 2) would be more valid. And criteria presumed to be objective and neutral for determining resource allocation, such as economic loss and cost-benefit ratios, prioritize asset value over social equity. For example, following the <a href="http://www.cedar-rapids.org/discover_cedar_rapids/flood_of_2008/2008_flood_facts.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">2008 flooding</a> in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, cost-benefit criteria supported new flood protections for the city's central business district on the east side of the Cedar River but not for vulnerable populations and workforce housing on the west side.</p><p>Furthermore, many equity measures are aspatial or ahistorical, even though the roots of marginalization may lie in systemic and spatially explicit processes that originated long ago like redlining and urban renewal. More research is thus needed to understand which measures are most suitable for which social equity analyses.</p>Challenges for Disaster Equity Analysis
<p>Across studies that quantify, map, and analyze social vulnerability to natural hazards, modelers have faced recurrent measurement challenges, many of which also apply in measuring disaster equity (Table 1). The first is clearly establishing the purpose of an equity analysis by defining characteristics such as the end user and intended use, the type of hazard, and the disaster stage (i.e., mitigation, response, or recovery). Analyses using generalized indicators like the CDC Social Vulnerability Index may be appropriate for identifying broad areas of concern, whereas more detailed analyses are ideal for high-stakes decisions about budget allocations and project prioritization.</p>Wisconsin will end its controversial wolf hunt early after hunters and trappers killed almost 70 percent of the state's quota in the hunt's first 48 hours.
By Jessica Corbett
Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday was the lone progressive to vote against Tom Vilsack reprising his role as secretary of agriculture, citing concerns that progressive advocacy groups have been raising since even before President Joe Biden officially nominated the former Obama administration appointee.