Centering Equity in the Nation's Weather, Water, and Climate Services.

Water, weather, and climate affect everyone. However, their impacts on various communities can be very different based on who has access to essential services and environmental knowledge. Structural discrimination, including racism and other forms of privileging and exclusion, affects people's lives and health, with ripples across all sectors of society. In the United States, the need to equitably provide weather, water, and climate services is uplifted by the Justice40 Initiative (Executive Order 14008), which mandates 40% of the benefits of certain federal climate and clean energy investments flow to disadvantaged communities. To effectively provide such services while centering equity, systemic reform is required. Reform is imperative given increasing weather-related disasters, public health impacts of climate change, and disparities in infrastructure, vulnerabilities, and outcomes. It is imperative that those with positional authority and resources manifest responsibility through (1) recognition, inclusion, and prioritization of community expertise; (2) the development of a stronger and more representative and equitable workforce; (3) communication about climate risk in equitable, relevant, timely, and culturally responsive ways; and (4) the development and implementation of new models of relationships between communities and the academic sector.

Elemental distribution and source analysis of atmospheric aerosols from Meycauayan, Bulacan, Philippines.

One of the industrialized cities in the Philippines is Meycauayan, Bulacan. This study reports the elemental distribution and source apportionment in eight varying land cover-land use type sampling points located along the Marilao-Meycauayan- Obando Rivers System. Elemental analysis was conducted using a scanning electron microscope coupled with energy dispersive x-ray. Cu, Pb, Zn, Cr, Mn, As, Cd, Co, Fe, Ni, Ti, and V concentrations were determined using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry, and Hg concentrations by Mercury analyzer. Principal component analysis (PCA), hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), and Pearson's r correlation were used to analyze different sources of heavy metals and its corresponding land use-land cover type. The aerosol samples showed the presence of heavy metals Pb and Hg, elements that were also detected in trace amounts in the water measurements. Concentrations of heavy metals such as Cu, Fe, Pb, Zn, V, Ni, and As found in the atmospheric aerosols and urban dusts were attributed to anthropogenic sources such as residential, commercial and industrial wastes. Other source of aerosols in the area were traffic and crustal emissions in Meycauayan. Using HCA, there are 3 clusters observed based on the similar sets of heavy metals: (1) AQS1 (Caingin), AQS2 (Banga), and AQS8 (Malhacan); (2) AQS3(Calvario), AQS4 (Camalig), and AQS5(Langka); (3) AQS1(Sto Nino-Perez), and (AQS7) (Sterling). These groups are related based on different land use setting such as residential/commercial, agricultural, and commercial/industrial areas. Our study recommends the need to address heavy metal pollution in Meycauayan in support to the ongoing implementation of laws and regulations by the local and private sectors.

Systemic racial disparities in funding rates at the National Science Foundation.

Concerns about systemic racism at academic and research institutions have increased over the past decade. Here, we investigate data from the National Science Foundation (NSF), a major funder of research in the United States, and find evidence for pervasive racial disparities. In particular, white principal investigators (PIs) are consistently funded at higher rates than most non-white PIs. Funding rates for white PIs have also been increasing relative to annual overall rates with time. Moreover, disparities occur across all disciplinary directorates within the NSF and are greater for research proposals. The distributions of average external review scores also exhibit systematic offsets based on PI race. Similar patterns have been described in other research funding bodies, suggesting that racial disparities are widespread. The prevalence and persistence of these racial disparities in funding have cascading impacts that perpetuate a cumulative advantage to white PIs across all of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Genome-Targeted Drug Design: Understanding the Netropsin-DNA Interaction.

Knowledge of the sequence of the human genome has provided significant opportunities to exploit DNA as a target in the rational design of therapeutic agents. Among agents that target DNA, netropsin exhibits a strong preference for binding A/T rich regions. In order to investigate the key factors responsible for DNA recognition and binding by netropsin, molecular dynamics simulations were carried out on a DNA-netropsin complex in which two netropsin molecules are bound to each AATT site of the 16-mer d(CTTAATTCGAATTAAG)(2). In this complex, the two netropsins are bound to the DNA minor groove in a head-to-head orientation with the guanidinium-termini of both netropsins pointed toward the center of the DNA. Despite their identical environments, molecular dynamics simulations showed that the two netropsins exhibited differences in their respective RMS behaviors, binding energies, minor groove width fluctuations, and rotations of their structural planes. These observations suggest that DNA recognition and binding by small molecules may be governed by mechanism(s) that are much more complex than initially anticipated and may represent unexpected challenges in genome-targeted drug design.

Seasonal variation of heavy metals in ambient air and precipitation at a single site in Washington, DC.

Atmospheric samples of precipitation and ambient air were collected at a single site in Washington, DC, for 7 months (for ambient air samples) and 1 year (for wet deposition samples) and analyzed for arsenic, cadmium, chromium and lead. The ranges of heavy metal concentrations for 6-day wet deposition samples collected over the 1-year period were 0.20-1.3 microg/l, 0.060-5.1 microg/l, 0.062-4.6 microg/l and 0.11-3.2 microg/l for arsenic, cadmium, chromium and lead, respectively, with a precision better than 5% for more than 95% of the measurements. The ranges of heavy metal concentrations for the 6-day ambient air samples were 0.800-15.7 ng/m(3), 1.50-30.0 ng/m(3), 16.8-112 ng/m(3), and 2.90-137 ng/m(3) for arsenic, cadmium, chromium and lead, respectively, with a precision better than 10%. The spread in the heavy metal concentration over the observation period suggests a high seasonal variability for heavy metal content in both ambient air and wet deposition samples.

Evidence for environmental contamination in residential neighborhoods surrounding the defense depot of Memphis, Tennessee.

An interdisciplinary environmental assessment team from the Howard University Environmental Justice Partnership (HUEJP) conducted a site visit and assessment of the Defense Depot of Memphis, Tennessee in February of 2000. This depot was built in the late 1940's for storage of numerous chemicals and munitions. As the years progressed, many Memphis citizens have grown to believe that the activities and chemical stockpile located at this site have negatively affected the health environment of their residents. There is anecdotal evidence and documentation of numerous cancers and other illnesses in those local territories, and specifically, at the Memphis Depot site. Currently, this depot is closed and in remediation by the local government. Particularly, citizens of the Rozelle community have started a campaign to investigate any signs of exposure pathways to noted health risks. The HUEJP was contacted and asked to investigate the community concerns. Obliging to the request, we aimed to sample at three drainage sites and a residential site, talk to local citizens, and gain any additional information that would be helpful in relieving anxiety in the Rozelle community. Soil, sediment, and water samples were collected and analyzed for total organic carbon, inorganic anions, and heavy metals. These data show that for the four sites sampled, the highest concentrations of organic compounds and heavy metals were located either within a residential area or in an area with a direct transport pathway to the community. Atomic absorption analysis revealed detectable amounts of cadmium, lead and chromium metals at all sites with direct transport pathways into the residential community, with chromium concentrations being far in excess of the EPA standard limits.

Assessment of public health risks associated with atmospheric exposure to PM2.5 in Washington, DC, USA.

In this research, we investigated the public health risks associated with atmospheric exposure to PM2.5 for different subpopulations (black, white, Hispanic, youth, adults, and elderly) in the Washington, DC area. Washington, DC has long been considered a non-healthy place to live according to the American Lung Association due to its poor air quality. This recognition clearly includes the negative PM-related human health effects within the region. Specifically, DC fine particulate matter (PM2.5) [or particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 microm] poses notable health risks to subpopulations having an annual mean value of 16.70 microg/m(3) during the years 1999-2004, exceeding the EPA National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) of 15 microg/m(3). Incessant exposure to significant levels of PM has previously been linked to deleterious health effects, such as heart and lung diseases. The environmental quality and public health statistics of Washington, DC indicate the need for higher-resolution measurements of emissions, both spatially and temporally, and increased analysis of PM-related health effects. Our findings show that there are significant risks of ward-specific pediatric asthma emergency room visits (ERV). Results also illustrate lifetime excess lung cancer risks, exceeding the 1 x 10(-6) threshold for the measured levels of particulate matter and heavy metals (chromium and arsenic) on behalf of numerous subpopulations in the DC selected wards.