| UC Toxics News: Fall 2005
A joint symposium on the ñMechanisms of Air Pollution Toxicityî, and Annual Meeting of the UC TSR&TP Lead Campus on Toxic Mechanisms were held at the Mission Inn, Riverside, California, on October 28th and 29th, 2005. Fifty people attended, including Lead Campus trainees, faculty from the UCLA Molecular Toxicology, and UCR Environmental Toxicology Graduate Program. Dr. John Knezovich, Director of the UCTSR&TP, also attended. Eight internationally recognized leaders in the field of air pollution toxicology each gave 45 minute presentations. These included Professors Alan Buckpitt, Charles Plopper and Kent Pinkerton from UC Davis and the recently established UC TSR&TP Lead Campus on Atmospheric Aerosols and Health; Dr. David DeMarini, US EPA, North Carolina, and President of the International Association of Environmental Mutagen Societies; Dr. Carole Yauk, Health Canada, Ottawa, Canada; Professor Janet Arey, UCR; and Professors Robert Schiestl and Arthur Cho, UCLA. Professor David Eastmond, UCR and Associate Director of the Lead Campus, pointed out that the concentrations of most air pollutants have declined markedly both nationally and in Southern California over the last several decades, and that we should be thankful for the technological developments and governmental actions that have made this possible. Nevertheless, the current levels of air pollutants in many areas are still hazardous. This was illustrated by novel observations reported by Professor Plopper, demonstrating that low levels of ozone are particularly detrimental to the lung as it develops in young animals.
On a related theme, Professor Buckpitt described his experimental studies implicating oxidant stress as an important mediator of air toxicant damage to the lung, and Professor Pinkerton described his experiments suggesting that ultrafine soot and iron particles act synergistically to damage the lung in neonatal rats. Professor Arey described the atmospheric chemistry of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), and the effects of sunlight on their composition. Professor Cho particularly emphasized the role of PAH quinones as causative toxicological agents. Drs. DeMarini, Schiestl and Yauk presented their studies describing how captured air particles can cause point mutations, chromosomal deletions, and epigenetic (non-mutational) damage, thereby probably contributing to the development of cancer and other genetic diseases. Each of the Lead Campus graduate student trainees presented and discussed the progress of their research. Five of the trainees gave oral presentations, and eleven presented posters. While several of the student presentations focused on processes relevant to air pollution, topics varied widely, reflecting the broad spectrum of research interests of the Lead Campus members. Of particular note, active discussions occurred after most if not all presentations, during breaks, and during the poster session, undoubtedly encouraged by the relatively small size of the meeting, the informal atmosphere, and the beauty of the Mission Inn surroundings. There was general agreement that the meeting was a great success.
|
