Hazardous air pollutants emitted by United States (U.S) coal-fired power plants have been controlled by the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) since 2012. Sociodemographic disparities in traditional air pollutant exposures from U.S. power plants are known to occur but have not been evaluated for mercury (Hg), a neurotoxicant that bioaccumulates in food webs. Atmospheric Hg deposition from domestic power plants decreased by 91% across the contiguous U.S. from 6.4 Mg in 2010 to 0.55 Mg in 2020. Prior to MATS, populations living within 5 km of power plants ( = 507) included greater proportions of frequent fish consumers, individuals with low annual income and less than a high school education, and limited English-proficiency households compared to the US general population. These results reinforce a lack of distributional justice in plant siting found in prior work. Significantly greater proportions of low-income individuals lived within 5 km of active facilities in 2020 ( = 277) compared to plants that retired after 2010, suggesting that socioeconomic status may have played a role in retirement. Despite large deposition declines, an end-member scenario for remaining exposures from the largest active power plants for individuals consuming self-caught fish suggests they could still exceed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reference dose for methylmercury.
Project 3: Modeling spatial patterns of drinking-water contamination
Sociodemographic Disparities in Mercury Exposure from United States Coal-Fired Power Plants.” Environ Sci Technol Lett, 10, 7, Pp. 589-595. Publisher's VersionAbstract
. 2023. “Mona Dai attends FASEB Capitol Hill Day. Read her blog here!
Mona Dai presents research to University of Liverpool
The Utility of Machine Learning Models for Predicting Chemical Contaminants in Drinking Water: Promise, Challenges, and Opportunities.” Curr Environ Health Rep, 10, 1, Pp. 45-60.Abstract
. 3/2023. “Talking about Tox - An Interview with Mona Dai
You probably have “forever chemicals” in your body. Here’s what that means.
Elsie Sunderland gives keynote 12th International Symposium on Geochemistry of the Earth's Surface
Elsie Sunderland quoted in BBC news article regarding possible breakthrough to destroy harmful 'forever chemicals'
Elsie Sunderland quoted by The Beet. regarding forever chemicals in rainwater
CEC Boston team presents Metals & Environmental Justice summer camp curricula
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
. 10/5/2021. “