Researchers at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) showed that chronic liver inflammation can promote cancer by suppressing one of the body’s natural mechanisms to fight cancer development. The study, funded in part by the Superfund Research Program (SRP), explains the success of some types of cancer immunotherapy and suggests novel targets for new therapies.

Collecting saliva may be a practical alternative to blood for characterizing a person’s exposures, according to new research from the Superfund Research Program (SRP) Center at the University of California (UC), Berkeley. The researchers found that saliva contains a rich set of molecular information that can be used to construct individual exposure histories and discover risk factors for chronic diseases.

Researchers at the University of Tennessee have discovered a crucial compound that helps specific bacteria degrade pollutants like tetrachloroethene (PCE). This compound, called purinyl-cobamide, assists enzymes during degradation reactions.

Breakthroughs from the Michigan State University Superfund Research Program (MSU SRP) Center provide new evidence that activated carbon may be used to reduce health risks resulting from dioxin contamination.

Poplar trees can capture and remove trichloroethylene (TCE) from the soil and degrade it. Now, a method using endophytes, symbiotic microbes that live within a plant, has been successfully shown to boost the speed and effectiveness of this natural degradation process. Researchers led by Edenspace Systems Corporation, a Superfund Research Program (SRP)-funded small business, conducted the first large-scale experiment on a Superfund site using poplar trees fortified with a microbial endophyte to clean up TCE-contaminated groundwater.

New research shows that deletions or duplications of long stretches of DNA, also known as copy number variations (CNVs), that occur in several gene locations are associated with a higher risk of developing arsenic-induced skin lesions. Skin lesions are a hallmark of arsenic toxicity that appear relatively early with chronic arsenic exposure. This newly discovered link may help to explain why some people exposed to arsenic develop skin lesions and get sick while others exposed to the same levels do not.

Researchers at the Boston University Superfund Research Program (BU SRP) Center reported that tributyltin (TBT) may promote aging-related problems in immune health. The team, led by Jennifer Schlezinger, Ph.D., found that TBT impacts bone marrow B cells directly by triggering cell death and indirectly by changing the microenvironment of bone marrow vital for supporting immune health.

Researchers at the Brown University Superfund Research Program (SRP) Center have developed a new 3D liver cell model that can be used to screen chemicals for toxicity in fish. The new model uses fish liver cells cultured to form 3D microtissue, so researchers can assess liver toxicants over time and after single and repeated exposures.

Prenatal exposure to both alcohol and tetrachloroethylene, also known as perchloroethylene or PCE, may increase the risk of using multiple illicit drugs as a teenager, according to a study by Boston University Superfund Research Program (BU SRP) Center researchers. PCE is a solvent frequently used in dry cleaning solutions, adhesives, metal degreasers, and other commercial products.

A newly developed panel of zebrafish genes can be combined with a rapid testing platform to identify chemicals that induce oxidative stress, according to researchers at the University of Washington (UW) Superfund Research Program (SRP) Center. The method, optimized for use on larval zebrafish by UW SRP Center researchers, is cost-effective and can be performed more quickly and with less tissue than conventional methods.