Molecular, Genetic, and Biochemical Nutrition Commons^™

Pcb Disruption Of Gut And Host Health: Implications Of Prebiotic Nutritional Intervention, Jessie Baldwin Hoffman

Theses and Dissertations--Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences

Exposure to environmental pollutants poses numerous risk factors for human health, including increasing incidence of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Persistent organic pollutants, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have been strongly linked to the development of these chronic inflammatory diseases and the primary route of exposure is through consumption of contaminated food products. Thus, the gastrointestinal tract is susceptible to the greatest levels of these pollutants and is an important facet to study.

The first two hypotheses of this dissertation tested that exposure to PCBs disrupts gut microbiota directly (in vitro) and within a whole body system. PCB exposure …

Addressing Public Health Risks Of Persistent Pollutants Through Nutritional Modulation And Biomimetic Nanocomposite Remediation Platforms, Bradley J. Newsome

Theses and Dissertations--Chemistry

Due to their relative chemical stability and ubiquity in the environment, chlorinated organic contaminants such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) pose significant health risks and enduring remediation challenges. Engineered nanoparticles (NPs) provide a novel platform for sensing/remediation of these toxicants, in addition to the growing use of NPs in many industrial and biomedical applications, but there remains concern for their potential long-term health effects. Research highlighted herein also represents a transdisciplinary approach to address human health challenges associated with exposure to PCBs and NPs. The objectives of this dissertation research are two-fold, 1) to develop effective methods for capture/sensing and remediation …