Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute
Clinical Research and Occupational Medicine
Research Highlights
A unique strength of the division's research is it's ability to conduct blinded human exposures to low levels of environmental chemicals in EOHSI's Controlled Exposure Facility (CEF) to validate and then explore mechanisms of toxicity (see figure 1). These experiments are conducted with colleagues from the Exposure Measurement and Assessment Division, and have included exposures to low levels of:
1. Diesel Fuel
2. Methyl-tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE)
3. Hydrogen Sulfide gas
4. Indoor Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC's)
5. Indoor Volatile Organics and their ozone reaction products.
Figure 1. The images above show the entrance to the CEF, our lead technician in the control area monitoring a subject visually and electronically, and a subject performing a neurobehavioral test inside the stainless steel facility which being exposed to indoor air pollutants.
The Division includes particular expertise in neurobehavioral and psychophysiological outcome measurements (see figure 2), and are incorporating measures of local and systemic inflammation into ongoing studies.
