Environmental Health Commons^™

Wastewater-Based Estimation Of Substances Discharged At The Rest Areas Along The State Highways In Kentucky, Katherine E. Gray, Eugene Shin, Tyler Whitt, Andrew Windhorst, Houston Hampton, Chris Delcher, Bikram Subedi

Posters-at-the-Capitol

The availability of licit and illicit stimulants and its adverse consequences on public health has emerged as a major drug threat to communities in the United States. Despite several drug-involved traffic incidents along the interstate highways, this report represents the first comprehensive and quantitative report of drugs discharged at the rest areas along the interstate highways. In this National Institute of Justice-funded study, the amount of several discharged drugs focusing on stimulants but also including opioids and prescription antipsychotics are being measured in raw wastewater collected from five rest areas and a truck servicing facility using a state-of-the-art mass …

Do Environmental Toxins Predict Violent Crimes?, Tyler Stahl

Symposium of Student Scholars

Do chemical pollutants that persistent in the environment and bioaccumulate in the body affect human health and behavior? Could these Persistent, Bioaccumulative, and Toxic (PBT) chemicals play a role in the cause of violent crimes due to deterioration of mental and cognitive functions? In the past, Mercury, a PBT chemical, has been shown in salmon to be associated with aggression. Could similar aggression occur in humans exposed to mercury through a toxic spill? Two sources of data are utilized in this analysis. The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Annual Toxic Release Inventory publishes data on toxic releases into the environment and …

Risk Assessment For Tce Contamination At The Plymouth Tube Sitegila River Indian Reservation, Az, Eric Canteenwala

Creative Activity and Research Day - CARD

Trichloroethylene or TCE is a volatile organic compound and Group A known human carcinogen that has been widely used in a variety of industrial and commercial applications and is one of the most common types of environmental contaminants found at industrial sites. A human health risk assessment was conducted using indoor air, soil vapor and groundwater monitoring well sample data to assess whether historic contamination posed a current risk to workers occupying a factory at the former Plymouth Tube Site in Chandler, Arizona. Sample data was analyzed using US EPA guidance and basic risk assessment calculations to quantify the cancerous …

Consumption Profiles Of Illicit And Neuropsychiatric Drugs In Urban And Rural Communities In Kentucky Using Sewage Epidemiology, Tara Croft, Katelyn Foppe, Rhiannon Huffines, Bikram Subedi

Posters-at-the-Capitol

The drug overdose deaths in the USA increased by ~20% from 2015 to 2016 to the total >63,600 drug overdose deaths in 2016. Kentucky is among the highest rate of drug overdose death states in the USA. The current estimates of the prevalence of substance abuse are based on the self-reported surveys, overdose/toxicological reports, and drug-related crime statistics. Survey-based conventional approaches are not only cost and time-intensive but also underestimate the actual consumption of drugs. As “wastewater never lie,” the drug residues in raw wastewater collected from the centralized wastewater treatment plants were utilized to determine the consumption rate of …

Functions Of Ecosystems: Stream Metabolism As An Efficient And Effective Means To Gage The Health And Understand The Interworking Of Urban Streams In A Watershed Of Rock Island, Il, Ryan Johnson, Dr. Kevin Geedey

Celebration of Learning

Stream metabolism is a critical functional measure of stream health that integrates physical parameters like slope and discharge, with ecosystem functions like photosynthesis and respiration. Stream metabolism is widely studied; however, urban stream metabolism remains poorly understood. Stream metabolism was measured for five streams ranging from 1^st to 5^th orders from October 11^th to October 18^th 2017 and four streams ranging from 1^st to 4^th order from October 22^nd to 25^th 2017 located within an approximately 9.3 square kilometer watershed of Rock Island, IL that has an urban to suburban type of …

A Quantitative Analysis Of The Effects Of Urbanization, Mesophication And Prescribed Burns On Oak Woodlands In The Chicago Metropolitan Area, Chad Populorum

Celebration of Learning

Urban expansion has had devastating impacts on forest ecosystems, especially within the past century. Human attempts to dominate nature have diminished natural disturbance regimes, which have maintained the biodiversity and historic composition of these ecosystems. Fires have been a prominent force in maintaining the structure of oak, hickory and other heliophytic (sun loving and fire-adapted) forest systems. Human induced fire suppression has led to mesophication across North America. Mesophication is the transition from drier conditions with open canopies to wetter conditions with closed canopies. These new conditions decrease the survival rates of these important species and begin to favor mesophytic …

Using Freshwater Mussels As An Indicator For River Water Quality, Joseph Gerland, Will Titone, Ariana Clark, Brad Michael

Undergraduate Research Conference

Using the freshwater mussel to monitor water quality is a practical and advantageous way to use nature’s indicator species. River water quality is an important measurement that is constantly monitored for many purposes. The sampling involved with monitoring can be very costly and time-consuming. Using mussels as indicator species could save money and time. So, this project has been dedicated to exploring the applications and reality of using freshwater mussels to monitor river quality.

The Effects Of Climate Change On Basic Animal Cell Functions, Michelle Fulbright, Andrew Andres

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

Increasing global temperatures during the 21st century may have detrimental effects on basic cell functions within ectothermal animals. This project aims to systematically examine the effects of climate change on secretory cargo localization through the analysis of Rab Proteins found in the model organism Drosophila melanogaster. Rab Proteins play an essential role in vesicular transport within the cell and can be genetically manipulated to monitor the biological consequences of global warming.

The Guacamole Fund Presents...

Native American Forum on Nuclear Issues

Special Bonnie Raitt Benefit Tickets

Fighting Nuclear Waste At Skull Valley, Margene Bullcreek

Native American Forum on Nuclear Issues

Abstract:

-Reasons We Oppose Nuclear Waste

-Sovereignty

-Traditional values must be protected

-Protect sacredness of our culture, plants,

animals, air, and water

-Affects on community health

-Protect reservation and homeland

-To protect the air and water

-To protect future generations

-Environmental Justice