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Analyzer for Monitoring Personal Environmental Exposure to Fluids and Materials
Principal Investigator
Gibson, Walter
Institute Receiving Award
X-Ray Optical Systems,, Inc.
Location
East Greenbush, NY
Grant Number
R43ES016689
Funding Organization
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Award Funding Period
15 May 2008to14 Nov 2009
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The mission of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is "science in pursuit of fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to extend healthy life and reduce the burdens of illness and disability." Pursuant to that mission, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) released the RFP topic stating their objective and mission that "human health and human disease result from three interactive elements: environmental exposure, genetic susceptibility, and age. The mission of NIEHS is to reduce the burden of human disease and dysfunction from environmental causes by understanding each of these components and how they interrelate." The proposed project from X-ray Optical Systems (XOS) will make a significant contribution for both the NIH and NIEHS Missions, as well as meet the needs of the NIEHS research objective. This project involves development and application of a low-power, compact, reliable, easy-to-operate instrument for measurement of trace elements in any liquid, gel, or solid that can be homogenized for individual environmental exposure assessment. The analyzer can be used in the home, place of employment, and recreational settings for patients undergoing study and treatment for major diseases or for individual and occupational health risk assessment. Abnormal levels of bio-essential metals (iron, copper, and zinc) as well as toxic trace elements (mercury, lead, cadmium, and arsenic) are known to be associated with many health disorders such as cancer, cognitive impairment, and neurological symptoms. The presence of metals is well-known in most neurodegenerative pathologies, such as excess serum copper or brain iron accumulation, which are associated with Wilson's, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's disease. In spite of their recognized importance, personal exposure to these metals is not routinely measured or monitored in body fluids and tissues or in materials in personal environments. This is due in large part to the difficulty and expense of trace metal measurements in the field or clinic. The proposed analyzer is based on new, powerful, proprietary, monochromatic doubly curved crystal (DCC) and polychromatic polycapillary x-ray optics technology that greatly increases the efficiency and sensitivity for elemental analysis. This new analyzer has the potential to offer an inexpensive, portable, robust, safe, easy-to-operate elemental analyzer for measurements taken on-site, with little or no sample preparation. Furthermore, this will reduce costs for large scale studies such as the Genes, Environment and Health Initiative (GEI), and the National Children's Study (NCS). The proposed analyzer will facilitate much needed links between genetics & exposure research leading to improvements in quality of life while reducing healthcare costs related to a variety of chronic conditions.
Public Health Relevance: The proposed new, trace-element, portable, personal environmental exposure analyzer will enable researchers to examine individual exposure to toxic and bioessential trace elements in the home or place of employment without having to collect, store, track, ship, dispose, or transfer samples through central laboratories. The fluids and materials analyzer can be used to detect and quantify, in minutes, trace elements in any liquid, gel or solid that can be homogenized by using an inexpensive, compact, safe, reliable, simple-to-use instrument for on-site measurements. This instrument will have a broad, positive impact on public health by accelerating research capabilities, enabling new studies to more rapidly gather information, (i.e. to link the genetic and environmental correlations), reducing study costs by testing onsite without delays, improving research data available for studies of specific patient populations (such as Alzheimer's or Asthma), and facilitating individual exposure measurements for family or occupational health assessment.
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