SAN FRANCISCO - The E.P.A. has awarded a Science to Achieve Results (STAR) grant of $799,723 to the University of California Santa Barbara to develop a model to better understand and predict the biological and ecological consequences of exposures to chemicals in the environment.
"The STAR plan ensures that our next generation of scientists and engineers will be ready to meet future environmental challenges," said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA's Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. "We are pleased to support UC Santa Barbara for its scientific efforts and innovative ideas."
The project-titled 'Dynamical Systems Models Based on Energy Budgets for Ecotoxicological Impact Assessment'-is expected to enhance our understanding of the effects of exposures to chemicals. New mathematical models will be developed to predict patterns of exposure to metals, nanoparticles and certain flame retardants in industrial and consumer products that could impair human health or the environment.
UC Santa Barbara is among 6 universities nationwide given almost $4 million in backing to study the ecological impacts of manufactured chemicals, leading to better chemical risk assessments and decisions for protecting the environment.
The other grantees are:
· Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.: To demonstrate how existing data and models can be integrated in a framework that links an initiating event to a regulatory outcome of interest.
· Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich.: To develop an adverse outcome pathway for neurological function in fish that can be used to predict effects of chemicals.
· University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Wilmington, N.C.: To develop an estuarine and marine model for measuring ecological impacts of endocrine disrupting chemicals.
· Oregon State University, Corvallis, Ore.: To develop an approach to define adverse outcome pathways for flame retardants.
· Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas: To develop an approach to understand and predict individual-to-community level ecological effects of chemicals.
The STAR grants are part of EPA's Chemical Safety for Sustainability research program's efforts to develop new methods to enhance chemical evaluation and support environmental sustainability.
To learn more about these awards, please visit:
http://www.epa.gov/ncer/2014ecoimpacts
For more information on CSS research, please visit:
http://www2.epa.gov/chemical-research
