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Full-Text Articles in Environmental Health

Impact Of Gestational Exposure To 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-P-Dioxin On T Lymphocyte Development, Lori S. Ahrenhoerster Dec 2014

Impact Of Gestational Exposure To 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-P-Dioxin On T Lymphocyte Development, Lori S. Ahrenhoerster

Theses and Dissertations

2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) is a ubiquitous environmental contaminant and the best characterized agonist of the arylhydrocarbon receptor (AHR), a transcription factor crucial to the detoxification of numerous xenobiotics. Studies in animals show that TCDD is immunosuppressive in adult exposures, and epidemiological studies have found an association between TCDD exposure and hematologic cancers. Additionally, developmental exposure to TCDD has been shown to increase the likelihood of autoimmunity and to impair immune response to later-life infections. The cells of the immune system are all descended from multipotent hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) that originate in the fetus. This multipotency, defined as the ability to …


Molecular Characterization Of Hemoglobin Protein In Larvae Of 4th Instar Chironomidae For Evaluating Environmental Quality, Jun Taek Oh Nov 2014

Molecular Characterization Of Hemoglobin Protein In Larvae Of 4th Instar Chironomidae For Evaluating Environmental Quality, Jun Taek Oh

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Studying environmental quality is a challenging task. It is a complicated exercise since the environment is constantly influenced by numerous variables such as climate change, anthropogenic activities, and unexpected natural disasters. Traditionally, exposure to chemical pollutants depended on chemical and physical analysis of environmental media. Unfortunately, this approach has not taken into consideration bioavailability of the chemical(s) of interest to exposed organisms and/or modification of the chemical (bioactivation/detoxification) by the organism. Benthic macroinvertebrates (BMIs) have been chosen as bioindicators for numerous environmental biomonitoring programs geared towards the assessment of aquatic ecosystems. Biomonitoring requires a more subtle measure – a biomarker …


Carbon Nanomaterials In Freshwater Ecosystems: An Chronic, Multi-Generational, And Genomic Assessment Of Toxicity To Daphnia Magna, Devrah Anne Arndt May 2014

Carbon Nanomaterials In Freshwater Ecosystems: An Chronic, Multi-Generational, And Genomic Assessment Of Toxicity To Daphnia Magna, Devrah Anne Arndt

Theses and Dissertations

Carbon nanomaterials are synthesized with a variety of core structures and surface chemistries to make them more biocompatible for application in different industries, but variation in core structure and functionalization can change the toxicity of carbon nanomaterials to organisms. In addition, current literature is dominated by data from acute toxicity assays, but meta-data is necessary to improve our understanding of nanomaterial toxicity. This project identifies specific core structures and surface chemistries that make carbon nanomaterials more and less toxic using chronic toxicity assays and multi-generational assays to generate a dataset on the sub-lethal impacts of nanomaterials to Daphnia magna. In …


Subthreshold Toxic Effects Of Atrazine And Three Degradates On Behavior In Procambarus Clarkii, Carol B. Starkey Jan 2014

Subthreshold Toxic Effects Of Atrazine And Three Degradates On Behavior In Procambarus Clarkii, Carol B. Starkey

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Atrazine is among the most heavily applied pesticides worldwide, and recent evidence suggests that it may be unsafe at environmental levels. It is a known endocrine disruptor and a suggested neurotoxin. The US EPA Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) is 3 μg/L for human ingestion and 200 μg/L for limited human exposure. Several environmentally persistent degradates have been identified, including deethylatrazine (DEA), deisopropylatrazine (DIA) and hydroxyatrazine (HA). No MCLs have been established for these degradates, although some are suggested toxins. Thus, there remains concern for the risk associated with the presence of atrazine and its degradates in the environment. Currently little …


Study Of Protective Role Of Cytochrome P450s In Inflammatory Bowel Disease Using Cprlow Mouse Model, Xiaoyu Fan Jan 2014

Study Of Protective Role Of Cytochrome P450s In Inflammatory Bowel Disease Using Cprlow Mouse Model, Xiaoyu Fan

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Glucocorticoids (GCs) are potent regulatory factors for inflammation. The synthesis of GCs involves several cytochrome P450 enzymes, such as mitochondrial CYP11A1, CYP11B1, and microsomal CYP21. Previous studies have indicated that the GCs, including those released from adrenal glands, and those synthesized in extra-adrenal tissues, such as intestine, exert inhibitory effects on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In a previous study using an intestinal epithelium (IE)-specific P450 reductase (CPR) knockout (IE-Cpr-null) mouse model, the results suggested that the intestinal P450s had a protective role in DSS-induced acute colitis. In this study, using a hypomorphic CPR mouse model (Cprlow), which presents a global …


Addressing Public Health Risks Of Persistent Pollutants Through Nutritional Modulation And Biomimetic Nanocomposite Remediation Platforms, Bradley J. Newsome Jan 2014

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 …


The Role Of Surface Chemistry In The Toxicity Of Manufactured Cerium Dioxide Nanomaterials To Caenorhabditis Elegans, Emily Kay Oostveen Jan 2014

The Role Of Surface Chemistry In The Toxicity Of Manufactured Cerium Dioxide Nanomaterials To Caenorhabditis Elegans, Emily Kay Oostveen

Theses and Dissertations--Plant and Soil Sciences

Manufactured CeO2 nanomaterials (CeO2-MNMs) are used for a wide variety of applications including diesel fuel additives and chemical/mechanical planarization media. To test the effects of CeO2-MNM surface coating charge on to model organism Caenorhabditis elegans, we synthesized 4 nm CeO2 with cationic (DEAE-), anionic (CM-), and neutral (DEX) coatings. In L3 nematodes exposed for 24 hours, DEAE-CeO2 induced lethality at lower concentrations than CM- or DEX-CeO2. Feeding slightly decreased CeO2 toxicity, regardless of coating. In L2 nematodes exposed for 48 hours with feeding, DEAE-CeO2 caused lethality at the …