Project 1: Liquid Crystal Monomers, Emerging One Health Contaminants

PI - Dr. Christopher Kassotis, Pharmacology

Background: The majority of LCMs, essential components of liquid crystal display (LCD) panels in production, have been predicted to be highly persistent and bioaccumulative, raising concerns for significant contamination of the environment, animals, and ultimately humans.

Hypothesis: Our overall hypothesis is that LCMs are emerging persistent pollutants, resulting in chronic exposures and health effects for both humans and animals.

Topical areas: emerging contaminants, determining environmental exposure pathways, vertebrate fish models

Project 2: Pesticides in residential lawns in metro Detroit: One health and environmental equity

PI - Dr. Zhijiang Lu, Dept. of Environmental Science and Geology

Background: Homeowners use up to 10 times more chemical pesticides per acre in the urban environment than the application rate in agricultural fields. Sixteen pesticides were consistently detected in urban streams across five regions in the United States, and 65% of the medium/high urbanization sites had one or more pesticides exceeding the invertebrate benchmark.

Hypothesis: Our hypothesis is that socio-economically disadvantaged communities are getting exposed to higher amounts of pesticides via lawn soil and surrounding surface water.

Topical Areas: pesticides, urban water, urban chemistry

Project 3: Identifying human health ecosystem services of urban human-engineered aquatic habitats

PI- Dr. Adrian Vasquez, School of Medicine

Background: The current lack of knowledge on the ecosystem services of rain gardens leaves us ill-equipped to have the most beneficial design that prevents potential dangers, such as new breeding grounds for dangerous pests like mosquitoes.

Hypothesis: Our central hypothesis is that without healthy biodiversity, rain gardens provide a habitat for mosquitoes   to proliferate

Topical Areas: green stormwater infrastructure, mosquitoes, biodiversity