EPA awards biomonitoring research grants

WASHINGTON, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the awarding of $4 million in grants Tuesday to five institutions for biomonitoring research.

Biomonitoring is the measurement of toxins in people by testing specimens such as blood and urine. Officials said biomonitoring is critical to tracking public health and establishing public health and environmental policies.

"Protecting public health is an important part of this research and EPA's mission," said George Gray, assistant administrator for the EPA's Office of Research and Development. "Biomarkers can help us understand the connections between human exposure, dose and health effects, and the work EPA is funding will help improve our understanding of how the agency can use biomarkers to protect human health and the environment."

The five research grants will be used to develop computer models that can match biomarkers with exposure and/or dose for many chemicals including chlorpyrifos, diazinon, parathion, carbaryl, perfluorooctanoate and perfluorooctanesulfonate, the EPA said.

The grants were awarded to the Hamner Institutes, Research Triangle Park, N.C., $750,000; Clark University, Worcester, Mass., $677,499; Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colo., $748,582; The LifeLine Group Inc., Annandale, Va., $749,991; and The University at Buffalo, $749,612.