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Project 1: Early-life metal exposure and cognitive aging

Mayuri Bhatia, Aaron J Specht, Vallabhuni Ramya, Dahy Sulaiman, Manasa Konda, Prentiss Balcom, Elsie M Sunderland, and Asif Qureshi. 10/5/2021. “Portable X-ray Fluorescence as a Rapid Determination Tool to Detect Parts per Million Levels of Ni, Zn, As, Se, and Pb in Human Toenails: A South India Case Study.” Environ Sci Technol, 55, 19, Pp. 13113-13121. Publisher's VersionAbstract
Chronic exposure to inorganic pollutants adversely affects human health. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is the most common method used for trace metal(loid) analysis of human biomarkers. However, it leads to sample destruction, generation of secondary waste, and significant recurring costs. Portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF) instruments can rapidly and nondestructively determine low concentrations of metal(loid)s. In this work, we evaluated the applicability of portable XRF as a rapid method for analyzing trace metal(loid)s in toenail samples from three populations (n = 97) near the city of Chennai, India. A Passing-Bablok regression analysis of results from both methods revealed that there was no proportional bias among the two methods for nickel (measurement range ∼25 to 420 mg/kg), zinc (10 to 890 mg/kg), and lead (0.29 to 4.47 mg/kg). There was a small absolute bias between the two methods. There was a strong proportional bias (slope = 0.253, 95% CI: 0.027, 0.614) between the two methods for arsenic (below detection to 3.8 mg/kg) and for selenium when the concentrations were lower than 2 mg/kg. Limits of agreement between the two methods using Bland-Altman analysis were derived for nickel, zinc, and lead. Overall, a suitably calibrated and evaluated portable XRF shows promise in making high-throughput assessments at population scales.

The Radiation and Public Health Project

Joe Mangano of the Radiation and Public Health Project is cataloging baby teeth for Project 1. The teeth were originally collected as part of a 1958-1970 study by Washington University in St. Louis, which measured build-up of radioactivity from above-ground atomic bomb test fallout. Project 1 will look at level of metals in the teeth and will re-contact the teeth donors for cognitive evaluation.

Forsyth Institute

Felicitas Bidlack of the Forsyth Institute (leaders in dental and craniofacial research) works with Project 1 on preparation and analysis of the baby teeth samples collected in the 1950s-1970s as part of the St. Louis Baby Tooth study.

McLean Hospital

Laura Germine at McLean Hospital's Laboratory for Brain and Cognitive Health Technology and the McLean Institute for Techology in Psychiatry is developing innovative web-based tools for measuring cognition in Project 1.

Dartmouth College

Project 1's quantification of metals in baby teeth samples are being conducted by Brian Jackson's Trace Element Analysis Core at Dartmouth using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS).

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Our Center is based that the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health where the labs of Marc Weisskopf and David Christiani (Project 1), Quan Lu (Project 2), and Tamarra James-Todd (Community Engagement Core) are located in the Department of Environmental Health. The Research Experience and Training Cordination Core (Susan Korrick) and the Administrative (Quan Lu) and Research Translation Core (Trina von Stackelberg) are also based in the Department of Environmental Health. Brent Coull and Xihong Lin's groups (Data Management and Analysis Core) are in the Department of Biostatistics.

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