Match Opportunity: Lou and Leslie Grate generously matching all donations, dollar for dollar, up to $200.
We are asking for your help: we need start-up funding for a new research project. Your gift today will provide graduate student research funding and develop and implement an affordable method of determining heavy-metal air contaminants in the environment, especially within the low-income communities of California.
The Problem: Many low-income communities across California are burdened by emissions of toxic substances from various activities in their surroundings—such as industrial emissions from businesses and factories, and car exhaust emissions from nearby freeways. But we don’t know what levels people are being exposed to—because it’s expensive to monitor and therefore infrequently done.
Proposed Solution: We have identified a monitoring methodology that would be inexpensive and allow for extensive testing of suspect environments; it involves utilizing plants and lichens as bioindicators of heavy metal pollution. These bioindicators (lichen, tree bark and leaves) can be found almost everywhere allowing for sampling in the most at-risk communities, and the toxins they accumulate represent a time-averaged measurement on the order of years. This research would allow us to create maps of toxic heavy metal concentrations in bioindicators to estimate exposure to humans living in those communities.
Where to Test: Various low-income communities that fit the target characteristics will be included in the research, with special focus being paid to communities in the East SF Bay where there are heavy industry and large freeways, and also in the Salinas Valley where agriculture is the dominant activity. Additional communities could be added as time and resources allow.
Funding Amount: $9520; pays for one quarter research by one graduate student.
Research Team: This project will be lead by a Master's student in the Environmental Toxicology program at UCSC under my direction. Additionally we will enlist citizen scientists, namely middle and high school students, to collect bioindicators at their schools, to expand the coverage of this study.
Outcome: The results of this study would be communicated to the public and state regulators using a variety of methods, including professional papers, educational outreach, and legislative advising and testimony. We believe this initial research is critically important and if pollution hot spots are found, more resources could be allocated to expanding the research effort and develop mitigation strategies.
Your gift today will help us launch this important study and pave the way for identifying and addressing heavy-metal pollution in low-income communities in California and beyond.
Peter S. Weiss-Penzias
Environmental Researcher,
Microbiology & Environmental Toxicology Department
Rank | State | Gifts |
---|---|---|
1 | CA | 10 |
2 | AA | 0 |
2 | AE | 0 |