Explore the current research projects of the Venier Lab
The Great Lakes have been contaminated with many toxic organic contaminants over the last several decades. Industrial chemicals such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), combustion related pollutants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and many chlorinated pesticides, both banned and currently in use, are some of the pollutants that are problematic for the Great Lakes as a whole.
The atmosphere represents the major pathway by which most of these organic contaminants enter the Great Lakes. To determine the status and trends of atmospheric loadings of toxic organic contaminants, the Integrated Atmospheric Deposition Network (IADN) was established by an agreement between the United States and Canadian governments through the International Joint Commission in response to the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.
IADN collects quality-assured vapor, particulate, and precipitation measurements of several different classes of persistent toxic chemicals including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), flame retardants, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
The goal of IADN is to determine spatial and temporal trends of toxic pollutants in the air and determine the role of atmospheric depotion in delivering pollutants to the lakes.
All data collected within the IADN program can be accessed at the IADN Data Viz website that allows also to plot both temporal trends and spatial trend.
In this project we work in collaboration with The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to address the need to assess the extent of exposure and potential effects of contaminants on Great Lakes fish-eating birds. This project aligns with the USFWS's goal of conserving and restoring natural resources and addressing threats to biodiversity.
The research objective is to quantify PCBs, OCPs, FRs, and PFAS in Herring gull and Caspian Tern egg and Bald Eagle plasma samples collected from colonies in the Laurentian Great Lakes.
In this project we aim at contextualizing primates’ exposure to chemicals in a broader scale by examining how environmental (e.g., rainfall, forest cover) and human drivers (e.g., socioeconomics, perceived pest and crop-raiding pressure, pesticide availability and use) interact in a tropical forest-agricultural system. We measure the influence on both human and wildlife by food production, pesticide exposure, and physiological indices of stress (i.e. cortisol).
We also quantitatively measure pesticide exposure for humans and wildlife from the environment using passive air samplers, silicone wristbands, and primate feces. Susceptibility to pesticides is assessed for primates using fecal cortisol and for humans using anthropometrics, health questionnaires, and salivary cortisol.
In this project we aim to determine the role of in-water dermal absorption of chemical toxicants for Navy divers operating in contaminated waters. Navy divers are exposed to contaminated waters that harm their health and mission / operational readiness. Most waters in the world are contaminated with chemicals, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Routes of chemical entry into the human body include ingestion, inhalation, and dermal absorption. While there are recommended exposure limits for chemicals for some of these exposure routes, there are no exposure limits for in-water dermal absorption of chemical toxicants.
In this project we expose healthy adults to an aqueous solution containing a safe level of a low molecular weight PAH (anthracene) that is commonly encountered in contaminated harbor waters at different temproatures. We then measure anthracene and its metabolic byproduct of 1-hydroxyl-anthracene (1-OH-anth) in urine. We also deploy silicone wristbands to determine if they could be useful in these environments and if they can mimic absorption through the wetsuits. We also quantify NO-mediated cutaneous vasodilation and the modulatory role of oxidative stress.