Highlight
IGERT Trainees Team to Study Human Exposure to Brominated Flame Retardants in Buildings
Achievement/Results
Jessica Cobarrubia and Scot Waye, doctoral candidates in Toxicology and Mechanical Engineering, respectively, are funded through the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program in Indoor Environmental Science and Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin (UT). They are making substantial contributions toward understanding sources and effects of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) in buildings.
Waye is focused on an improved understanding of the sources, transport and fate of BFRs. He is the first to study the effects of thermal gradients across electronic equipment casing on BFR emissions, and is also determining the contribution of emissions from the external surface of computer casings versus emissions from interior casing and out of an exhaust fan. This distinction is important from the standpoint of BFR exposure of individuals working on computers. Waye is also studying the partitioning of BFRs between indoor air and airborne particles, and the effects of that partitioning on human exposure to BFRs in buildings. He is exploring the effects of particle-size distribution and organic matter content on BFR partitioning, and the role of size distribution on BFR deposition in the human respiratory system.
Cobarrubia’s work involves micro-scale analysis of the effects of selective BFRs on male reproductive cells. She has so far found that one BFR (BDE-99) has adverse effects on reproductive cells, and will continue her work to better understand the nature of these effects and whether the effects differ between BFRs.
Cobarrubia and Waye would not have met had it not been for the IGERT program in Indoor Environmental Science and Engineering at The University of Texas. Their collaborative work will lead to significant advances in knowledge related to the thread of sources, exposure, and effects of/to BFRs, and exemplifies the value of interdisciplinary collaboration in research.
Address Goals
Cobarrubia’s and Waye’s research efforts have already led to several major discoveries, including (1) the role of thermal gradients on BFR emissions from computer casings, (2) the role of interior (inside electronic equipment) versus exterior emissions of BFRs and he effects of such emissions on human exposure, and (3) the effects of one BFR on male reproductive cells. The combination of a toxicology student and mechanical engineer has allowed for each to help educate the other (learning) in an atmosphere made possible by our NSF IGERT program.
The effect of BFRs on male reproductive cells was also demonstrated using a microscope at a major public outreach event, UT Explore, on the UT campus in March of 2008. As such, this research effort has also lead to public educational outreach (learning).
