2012 Pacific Basin Consortium for Environment and Health

March 21, 2012

The 2012 Joint International Conference on Pacific Basin Consortium for Environment and Health and Society for Environmental Geochemistry & Health was held April 10-13, 2012, in Gwangju, Korea. The conference was entitled, “The Geochemistry of Hazardous Substances - Human Health and Ecological Health Risk Factors.” Themes included environmental determinants of quality of life, engineered solutions to hazardous waste, contaminants and exposure, risk perception and communication, sustainable urban water quality management, and other environmental quality and human health issues. The conference was attended by over 120 participants representing more than 18 countries.

The University of Arizona Superfund Research Program (SRP) received funding from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) to sponsor travel to the conference for students and young investigators. UA SRP investigator Dr. Robert Arnold, Vice Chair of the Pacific Basin Consortium, acted as moderator for two sessions on Water Management and Treatment, and presented on “The evolution of water supply challenges in the southwestern United States.” Dr. Shane Snyder, of the Arizona Laboratory for Emerging Contaminants (ALEC) was a keynote speaker, discussing “Direct potable water reuse: Implications for health and sustainability.” UA SRP graduate trainees Janae Csavina and Madhumitha Raghav presented their work on “The importance of metals and metalloids in atmospheric dust and aerosols from mining,” and “Long-term stabilization of arsenic-bearing solid residuals under landfill conditions,” respectively, in the student session. UA SRP graduate trainee Sahar Fathordoobadi presented a poster on the “Role of biomineralization in arsenic sequestration under landfill conditions.”  Technical summaries derived from each of the conference sessions will be summarized for publication in a forthcoming issue of Reviews on Environmental Health.

For more information, visit: http://pbcsegh2012.dothome.co.kr/home.