Research Center Overview

The Yale Superfund Research Center (YSRC) is dedicated to identifying health risk factors associated with drinking water contaminants and finding solutions that help affected communities resolve contamination issues with drinking water quality. A key threat to the environmental health of drinking water supplies is toxic, persistent, and water-soluble chemicals. This is the case for 1,4-dioxane (1,4-DX).

This chemical has been used as a solvent stabilizer in the manufacture of various industrial and consumer products and is a byproduct in some consumer goods. Past releases into the environment have caused it to be commonly found at Superfund and other hazardous waste sites.

In testing mandated by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2013-2015, 1,4-DX was present in 21% of public water supplies; in a third of these cases, its level exceeded a health-based reference concentration. Extrapolation of these results nationally indicates that millions of public water consumers across the US are drinking 1,4-DX-contaminated water.1,4-DX contamination can also harm private water supplies, such as wells, located near sites of 1,4-DX release.

The mechanism by which 1,4-DX induces cancer remains to be established, leading to differing views regarding what constitutes safe drinking water levels. A comprehensive approach is needed to address the types of exposures and health risk factors associated with 1,4-DX and to develop effective strategies to protect water consumers from any adverse health effects of 1,4-DX.

The YSRC has integrated projects investigating exposure, health risk, environmental monitoring and mitigation, and dynamic administrative and research cores that foster research translation and community engagement.

A critical health effect under investigation is 1,4-DX -induced liver cancer, with a key focus being carcinogenesis's mechanism(s). Such information is an essential input to risk assessment.

Related considerations include understanding how 1,4-DX interacts with other chemicals used with 1,4-DX in industry, e.g., trichloroethylene (TCE), 1,1-dichloroethane (DCA) co-occur with 1,4-DX in drinking water contaminants; importantly, these chemicals can also cause risk of liver cancer.

These investigations will be connected to projects evaluating exposed populations for biomarkers of exposure and health effects, developing sensors that can be widely deployed to detect 1,4-DX in real-time, and technologies to remove 1,4-DX from drinking water supplies. The results of these projects will be used as a foundation for protecting impacted populations and developing 1,4-DX standards in drinking water sources so that drinking water is safe for consumers in affected communities.

Our mission is to create new knowledge related to the potential health effects, exposure detection, and remediation of 1,4-dioxane (1,4-DX) and common mixtures of co-occurring contaminants found at Superfund sites and in water supplies that are of high interest to the Superfund Research Program (SRP) and its stakeholders. We will promote research translation, dissemination, and utilization of the findings from the scientific activities in the YSRC, and integrate efforts with other Superfund Research and Training Programs, the NIEHS, the EPA, and other stakeholders to achieve a greater national and international impact on policy decisions.

1. Elucidate the mechanism(s) associated with 1,4-DX liver toxicity and carcinogenesis in mouse and zebrafish models, exposure assessment, and early biologic responses to 1,4-DX in human populations.
2. Examine the health effects and biomarkers of exposure to 1,4-DX (alone and as a mixture with its co-occurring contaminants) in animals and humans, and (b) develop systems to monitor and mitigate human exposure to 1,4-DX in water.
   
3. Create highly sensitive and selective electrochemical sensors for on-site, real-time detection of 1,4-DX.
   
4. Develop innovative advanced oxidation processes for mitigation technology.