Tiny quantum electronic vortexes can circulate in superconductors in ways not seen before

Peer-Reviewed Publication

KTH, ROYAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

 

IMAGE: A NEW STUDY BY KTH ROYAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND STANFORD UNIVERSITY REVISES OF OUR UNDERSTANDING OF QUANTUM VORTICES IN SUPERCONDUCTORS. PICTURED, AN ARTIST’S DEPICTION OF QUANTUM VORTICES. (ILLUSTRATION: GREG STEWART, SLAC NATIONAL ACCELERATOR LABORATORY) view more 

CREDIT: GREG STEWART, SLAC NATIONAL ACCELERATOR LABORATORY

Within superconductors little tornadoes of electrons, known as quantum vortices, can occur which have important implications in superconducting applications such as quantum sensors. Now a new kind of superconducting vortex has been found, an international team of researchers reports.

Egor Babaev, professor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, says the study revises the prevailing understanding of how electronic flow can occur in superconductors, based on work about quantum vortices that was recognized in the 2003 Nobel Prize award. The researchers at KTH, together with researchers from Stanford University, TD Lee Institute in Shanghai and AIST in Tsukuba, discovered that the magnetic flux produced by vortices in a superconductor can be divided up into a wider range of values than thought.

That represents a new insight into the fundamentals of superconductivity, and also potentially can be applied in superconducting electronics.

A vortex of magnetic flux happens when an external magnetic field is applied to a superconductor. The magnetic field penetrates the superconductor in the form of quantized magnetic flux tubes which form vortices. Babaev says that originally research held that quantum vortices pass through superconductors each carrying one quantum of magnetic flux. But arbitrary fractions of quantum flux were not a possibility entertained in earlier theories of superconductivity.

Using the Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID) at Stanford University Babaev’s co-authors, research scientist Yusuke Iguchi and Professor Kathryn A. Moler, showed at a microscopic level that quantum vortices can exist in a single electronic band. The team was able to create and move around these fractional quantum vortices, Moler says.

“Professor Babaev has been telling me for years that we could see something like this, but I didn’t believe it until Dr. Iguchi actually saw it and conducted a number of detailed checks,” she says.

The Stanford researchers found the initial observation of this phenomenon “so incredibly uncommon,” says Iguchi, that they repeated the experiment 75 times in at various locations and temperatures.

The work confirms a prediction Babaev published 20 years ago, which held that in certain kinds of crystals, one part of an electron population of a superconducting material can form a clockwise circulating vortex, while other electrons can form a counter-clockwise vortex simultaneously. “These combined quantum tornadoes can carry an arbitrary fraction of flux quantum,” he says.  

“That revises of our understanding of quantum vortices in superconductors,” he says.

Moler affirmed that conclusion. “I have been looking at vortices in novel superconductors for over 25 years, and I have never seen this before,” she says. 

Babaev says that the robustness of quantum vortices and the possibility to control them suggests that quantum vortices could potentially be used as information carriers in superconducting computers.

“The knowledge that we gain, the spectacular methods that were introduced by our colleagues Dr. Iguchi and Professor Moler at Stanford, may in a long run be potentially helpful for certain platforms for quantum computation,” Babaev says.  

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JOURNAL

Science

DOI

10.1126/science.abp9979 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Superconducting vortices carrying a temperature-dependent fraction of the flux quantum

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

1-Jun-2023

Finally solved! The great mystery of quantized vortex motion

Explaining the interaction between quantized vortices and normal fluids

Peer-Reviewed Publication

OSAKA METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: VISUALIZATION OF QUANTIZED VORTEX RING ABOVE THE PLANE (GREEN CURVE), NORMAL-FLUID VORTEX RINGS (REDDISH HALF CIRCLES) view more 

CREDIT: MAKOTO TSUBOTA, OMU

Liquid helium-4, which is in a superfluid state at cryogenic temperatures close to absolute zero (-273°C), has a special vortex called a quantized vortex that originates from quantum mechanical effects. When the temperature is relatively high, the normal fluid exists simultaneously in the superfluid helium, and when the quantized vortex is in motion, mutual friction occurs between it and the normal-fluid. However, it is difficult to explain precisely how a quantized vortex interacts with a normal-fluid in motion. Although several theoretical models have been proposed, it has not been clear which model is correct.

A research group led by Professor Makoto Tsubota and Specially Appointed Assistant Professor Satoshi Yui, from the Graduate School of Science and the Nambu Yoichiro Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics, Osaka Metropolitan University respectively in cooperation with their colleagues from Florida State University and Keio University, investigated numerically the interaction between a quantized vortex and a normal-fluid. Based on the experimental results, researchers decided on the most consistent of several theoretical models. They found that a model that accounts for changes in the normal-fluid and incorporates more theoretically accurate mutual friction is the most compatible with the experimental results.

 “The subject of this study, the interaction between a quantized vortex and a normal-fluid, has been a great mystery since I began my research in this field 40 years ago,” stated Professor Tsubota. “Computational advances have made it possible to handle this problem, and the brilliant visualization experiment by our collaborators at Florida State University has led to a breakthrough. As is often the case in science, subsequent developments in technology have made it possible to elucidate, and this study is a good example of this.”

Their findings were published in Nature Communications.

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About OMU 

Osaka Metropolitan University is the third largest public university in Japan, formed by a merger between Osaka City University and Osaka Prefecture University in 2022. OMU upholds "Convergence of Knowledge" through 11 undergraduate schools, a college, and 15 graduate schools. For more research news visit https://www.omu.ac.jp/en/ or follow us on Twitter: @OsakaMetUniv_en, or Facebook. 

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JOURNAL

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s41467-023-38787-w 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Computational simulation/modeling

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Imaging quantized vortex rings in superfluid helium to evaluate quantum dissipation

CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY

Makers of PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ covered up the dangers

Widely used in clothing, household products and food, they resist breaking down in the environment

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - SAN FRANCISCO

The chemical industry took a page out of the tobacco playbook when they discovered and suppressed their knowledge of health harms caused by exposure to PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), according to an analysis of previously secret industry documents by UC San Francisco (UCSF) researchers.

A new paper published May 31, 2023, in Annals of Global Health, examines documents from DuPont and 3M, the largest manufacturers of PFAS, and analyzes the tactics industry used to delay public awareness of PFAS toxicity and, in turn, delay regulations governing their use. PFAS are widely used chemicals in clothing, household goods, and food products, and are highly resistant to breaking down, giving them the name “forever chemicals.” They are now ubiquitous in people and the environment.

“These documents reveal clear evidence that the chemical industry knew about the dangers of PFAS and failed to let the public, regulators, and even their own employees know the risks,” said Tracey J. Woodruff, PhD, professor and director of the UCSF Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment (PRHE), a former senior scientist and policy advisor at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and senior author of the paper. 

This is the first time these PFAS industry documents have been analyzed by scientists using methods designed to expose tobacco industry tactics. 

Adverse Effects Had Been Known for Decades 

The secret industry documents were discovered in a lawsuit filed by attorney Robert Bilott, who was the first to successfully sue DuPont for PFAS contamination and whose story was featured in the film, “Dark Waters.” Bilott gave the documents, which span 45 years from 1961 to 2006, to producers of the documentary, “The Devil We Know,” who donated them to the UCSF Chemical Industry Documents Library.

“Having access to these documents allows us to see what the manufacturers knew and when, but also how polluting industries keep critical public health information private,” said first author Nadia Gaber, MD, PhD, who led the research as a PRHE fellow and is now an emergency medicine resident. “This research is important to inform policy and move us towards a precautionary rather than reactionary principle of chemical regulation.”

Little was publicly known about the toxicity of PFAS for the first 50 years of their use, the authors stated in the paper, The Devil They Knew: Chemical Documents Analysis of Industry Influence on PFAS Science, despite the fact that “industry had multiple studies showing adverse health effects at least 21 years before they were reported in public findings.” 

The paper states that, “DuPont had evidence of PFAS toxicity from internal animal and occupational studies that they did not publish in the scientific literature and failed to report their findings to EPA as required under TSCA. These documents were all marked as ‘confidential,’ and in some cases, industry executives are explicit that they ‘wanted this memo destroyed.’” 

Suppressing Information to Protect a Product

The paper documents a timeline of what industry knew versus public knowledge and analyzes strategies the chemical industry used to suppress information or protect their harmful products. Examples include:

• As early as 1961, according to a company report, Teflon’s Chief of Toxicology discovered that Teflon materials had “the ability to increase the size of the liver of rats at low doses,” and advised that the chemicals “be handled ‘with extreme care’ and that ‘contact with the skin should be strictly avoided.’”
• According to a 1970 internal memo, DuPont-funded Haskell Laboratory found C8 (one of thousands of PFAS) to be “highly toxic when inhaled and moderately toxic when ingested.” And in a 1979 private report for DuPont, Haskell labs found that dogs who were exposed to a single dose of PFOA “died two days after ingestion.”
• In 1980, DuPont and 3M learned that two of eight pregnant employees who had worked in C8 manufacturing gave birth to children with birth defects. The company did not publish the discovery or tell employees about it, and the following year an internal memo stated, “We know of no evidence of birth defects caused by C-8 at DuPont.”

Despite these and more examples, DuPont reassured its employees in 1980 that C8, “has a lower toxicity, like table salt.” Referring to reports of PFAS groundwater contamination near one of DuPont’s manufacturing plants, a 1991 press release claimed, “C-8 has no known toxic or ill health effects in humans at concentration levels detected.”

As media attention to PFAS contamination increased following lawsuits in 1998 and 2002, DuPont emailed the EPA asking, “We need EPA to quickly (like first thing tomorrow) say the following: That consumer products sold under the Teflon brand are safe and to date there are no human health effects known to be caused by PFOA.”

In 2004, the EPA fined DuPont for not disclosing their findings on PFOA. The $16.45 million settlement was the largest civil penalty obtained under U.S. environmental statutes at the time. But it was still just a small fraction of DuPont’s $1 billion annual revenues from PFOA and C8 in 2005.

“As many countries pursue legal and legislative action to curb PFAS production, we hope they are aided by the timeline of evidence presented in this paper,” said Woodruff. “This timeline reveals serious failures in the way the U.S. currently regulates harmful chemicals.”

About UCSF: The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is exclusively focused on the health sciences and is dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. UCSF Health, which serves as UCSF's primary academic medical center, includes top-ranked specialty hospitals and other clinical programs, and has affiliations throughout the Bay Area. UCSF School of Medicine also has a regional campus in Fresno. Learn more at https://ucsf.edu, or see our Fact Sheet.

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Follow UCSF
ucsf.edu | Facebook.com/ucsf | YouTube.com/ucsf

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JOURNAL

Annals of Global Health

Sandia scientists achieve breakthrough in tackling PFAS contamination

Grant and Award Announcement

DOE/SANDIA NATIONAL LABORATORIES

 

IMAGE: RYAN DAVIS, LEFT, AND ANDREW KNIGHT WORKING AT SANDIA NATIONAL LABORATORIES ON A NEW MATERIAL TO BETTER ABSORB PFAS ON A LARGE AND SMALL SCALE. view more 

CREDIT: CRAIG FRITZ/SANDIA NATIONAL LABORATORIES

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A team at Sandia National Laboratories is developing materials to tackle what has become one of the biggest problems in the world: human exposure to a group of chemicals known as PFAS through contaminated water and other products. Sandia is now investing more money to take their research to the next level.

“It’s in the news constantly. It seems every day we hear of another product that is contaminated. We saw sparkling water with PFAS, toilet paper with PFAS, so it’s not just a groundwater problem; it’s popping up everywhere,” said Andrew Knight, a chemist at Sandia who has a passion for solving PFAS contamination. “It has become clear to the world it is a growing problem. It is a national security issue of a large scale.”

What are PFAS?

PFAS, an abbreviation for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of chemicals used to make fluoropolymer products that resist heat, oil, stains and water. They are also known as “forever chemicals” because they do not break down in the environment but can move through soil and water and build up in wildlife and humans.

While human health effects from low levels of PFAS have yet to be defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, scientists have documented 12 types of PFAS in people tested and four types of PFAS in every human tested, revealing widespread exposure in the U.S. population. Tests on laboratory animals using high levels of PFAS exposure have shown an increased risk of cancer, liver damage and compromised immune systems.

PFAS are found in products including Teflon, fast food packaging, pesticides, eye makeup, cleaning products, dental floss and shampoo. However, one of the biggest contaminations identified in recent years is the groundwater under U.S. Air Force bases, which is a result of the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam.

Creating a unique solution

Knight has been working with Ryan Davis, who specializes in materials science, to create a filter that could not only eliminate PFAS in water on a large scale but also in a household setting. “This could be something that could be deployed for major remediations or could be something that could be kept under your sink. If the initial treatment is already done, what does come through the water treatment facility through your faucet can be filtered by you, prior to end use,” Knight said.

To do this, the team must approach things differently. PFAS do not degrade on their own because the carbon-fluorine bond is so strong. They are also not the only pollutants present. This results in a sort of competition, during absorption efforts. “We are working to design materials that are more selective in absorbing PFAS. Traditional methods involve ion exchange of resins or granulated activated carbon. While these are effective at absorbing some PFAS, they lack specificity and versatility,” Knight said.

With $100,000 in recently awarded funds from the Sandia Technology Maturation Program, the team hopes to build its data to show how well the materials work. The goal is to commercialize the product to remove 99% of PFAS from water. “Our analytical lab here at Sandia is much better equipped than your average analytical lab, with Andrew’s synthetic capability and our analytical capability. It really is a perfect match,” Davis said.

A different approach inspired by nature

This project is just one of several on which these Sandia researchers are working to tackle PFAS contamination. Joined by geoscientist Mark Rigali and materials scientist Jessica Kustas, they are partnering with a local business to try a different approach that goes beyond just capturing PFAS. “It’s a one-two punch as we are combining two different technologies to develop something more effective than either one individually,” Rigali said.  The materials they are working with are inspired by nature. Rigali is particularly interested in how PFAS behave in the body. He looked to medical literature for guidance and got the idea of creating a material that targets and absorbs PFAS by mimicking its behavior in humans, an approach that appears promising.

Some of their work is being paid for with $150,000 in funding from the New Mexico Technology Readiness Initiative. Through the program, Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories can provide technical assistance to help private companies mature technology. In this case, researchers are working with New Mexico-based Sigma Advanced Technologies, LLC.

The inspiration behind the project

The inspiration for this project also comes from personal experience. Kustas completed her post-doc with the U.S. Army where she tested water at military bases for PFAS. She found that the contamination was widespread, not just in those locations. “It’s a little scary. I saw a figure that this ‘forever chemical’ is in the blood of 97 % of the U.S. population. We consume more plastic than we realize. It used to be just in plastics, but now it’s in water and in all the animals we eat because their bodies don’t know how to break it down,” Kustas said.

For others on the team, it’s about accomplishing what no one else has. “Honestly, I like hard problems, and I like problems that can have very impactful solutions. If we can find a better way to treat PFAS, we can positively impact not only the U.S. but also places around the world,” Rigali said.

This team believes Sandia is the perfect place to accomplish this. “It’s a large-scale problem, and with Sandia’s mission of national security, water security and energy security, it’s important for Sandia to get involved. It’s something Sandia can directly tackle and address,” Knight said.

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Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory operated by National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration. Sandia Labs has major research and development responsibilities in nuclear deterrence, global security, defense, energy technologies and economic competitiveness, with main facilities in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Livermore, California.

Sandia news media contact: Kim Vallez Quintana, kdquint@sandia.gov

Andrew Knight mixes a sample at Sandia National Laboratories while working on the problem of PFAS contamination.

Jessica Kustas, left, and Andre Benally work with a mass spectrometer at Sandia National Laboratories while trying to pair up technologies to go beyond just absorbing PFAS.

CREDIT

Craig Fritz - Sandia National Laboratories

Adolescents are aware of and invested in the potential impacts of abortion restrictions, study says

Bianca A. Allison, MD, MPH, assistant professor of Pediatrics at the UNC School of Medicine, led a qualitative study showing that adolescents know and care about the changing legal landscape of abortion in the United States.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA HEALTH CARE

 

IMAGE: BIANCA A. ALLISON, MD, MPH view more 

CREDIT: UNC DEPARTMENT OF PEDIATRICS

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – On July 1, North Carolina’s new abortion limits go into effect. As restrictions on abortions are being tightened across the United States, adolescents may encounter mounting obstacles that could prevent them from accessing abortion care.

Bianca A. Allison, MD MPH, an assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics, sought to examine the awareness and knowledge that adolescents have about the legal landscape of abortion and how these changes might affect them and their communities.

The study, published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, found that many adolescents – across a diversity of ages, genders, and geographies – are aware of and concerned about the potential impacts of abortion restrictions.

“This research demonstrates adolescents’ capacity to understand and engage in complex current events and their implications for themselves and society,” says Allison. “Understanding and amplifying the voices of adolescents during this critical time is necessary to inform novel access solutions and policy initiatives that center the unique needs of youth.”

Giving Youth a Voice

After Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, researchers noticed that discussions about its effects on younger people were frequently ignored, or it was thought that their needs and opinions were similar to those of the majority, such as those over 18 years of age.

Allision and her research team designed this study to “give youth a voice” and to ensure that their priorities, concerns, and preferences are taken into account by those attempting to change abortion policies and practices.

To conduct their study, the researchers used an existing nationwide weekly text message poll of more than 800 adolescents between the ages of 14 and 24 years old called “MyVoice,” run by the University of Michigan. The platform recruited participants through targeted social media advertisements and community events using weighted demographic benchmarks from the American Community Survey to ensure that there was a diverse array of participants.

The questions fielded to MyVoice participants on May 20, 2022 (18 days after the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion on the Dobbs case) were:

• Abortion is a medical procedure that ends a pregnancy. When you think about abortion, what comes to mind?
• Where do people your age get information about accessing abortion?
• The federal government and many state governments may soon change the rules on what abortions are legal. What kind of changes to abortion access have you heard about?
• How do you feel about these potential changes to abortion access? Why?
• What factors do people your age consider when deciding whether or not to have an abortion?

The 654 participants who respondents had a range of emotional reactions to the potential changes to abortion access. The majority expressed mixed or negative emotions – including anger, fear, and sadness – and identified the consequences of restricted access, including negative effects on reproductive autonomy and safety.

Additionally, the participants most frequently talked about money and life circumstances, including their future, age, education, maturity, and emotional stability, when weighing the pros and cons of abortion.

The Role of Social Media

One of the biggest takeaways from the study was that the majority of adolescents and young adults cited the internet and social media as their primary sources of information about abortions — more than talking with their peers, parents, or physicians.

“We thought that that was a really interesting potential point of intervention in terms of how to elevate resources that are rooted in evidence and science,” said Allison. “Relatedly, how can we leverage places that adolescents are already going, like the Internet and social media, for good?”

The results of this study may spark a whole new conversation about the use of websites and social media for abortion information. Allison hopes that more studies will be done to help adolescents and young adults find the most reliable, comprehensive, and current resources – while considering the best strategies for promoting such resources.

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JOURNAL

Journal of Adolescent Health

DOI

10.1016/j.jadohealth.2023.04.008 

ARTICLE TITLE

Adolescent Awareness of the Changing Legal Landscape of Abortion in the United States and Its Implications

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

1-Jun-2023

ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM

New UNC study quantifies disparity among minority communities exposed to traffic-related air pollution across the U.S.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL

Traffic-related air pollution is a pervasive problem across the United States. Vehicle emissions are highest near major roadways with around 19% of the U.S. population living in the vicinity of a major roadway. In more densely populated states, like California, up to 40% live near a major roadway. Exposure to these pollutants, such as fine particulate matter (PM2.5 ) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a byproduct of burning fossil fuel, can lead to a host of health effects including premature death. Minority communities often live along these corridors and experience disproportionate exposures.

A new study by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill estimates minority communities within 100 meters of a major roadway are exposed to up to 15% more PM2.5 and up to 35% more NO2 than white communities from traffic-related air pollution. The study was published today in PLOS ONE.

“This is the first time that a nation-wide estimate of health risk due to both PM2.5 and NO2 is made for every census block in the entire nation using a very sophisticated hybrid modeling approach that accounts for model biases. We use this very high-resolution estimate of health risk to quantify exposure inequalities,” says Saravanan Arunachalam, corresponding author of the study, and research professor and deputy director at the UNC Institute for the Environment.

Using a novel hybrid data fusion model, the research team was able to generate a more accurate assessment of the health risks of these pollutants compared to previous studies at a census block resolution across the more than 11 million census blocks in the United States. Their model estimates 264,516 premature deaths from PM2.5 and 138,550 from NO2 due to all sources in the U.S.

“Our research confirms that all communities residing within 100 meters of major roads experience elevated levels of PM2.5 and NO2. However, our findings also highlight an important disparity in exposure between white communities and minority communities within this proximity. Specifically, vulnerable minority communities face a greater burden of pollutants, resulting in a higher risk for adverse health outcomes,” says Alejandro Valencia, M.S. ’09, Ph.D. ’21, a co-author and former Ph.D. student in the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and former graduate research assistant at the UNC Institute for the Environment.

The hybrid model allowed the research team to assess communities at a high resolution, layered with census and health data, which provided both quantification and visualization of the pervasive and disproportionate exposure of minority communities. They also could see how changes in modeled resolution can contribute to the inequality, providing key insights for developing mitigation strategies.

“Our results reveal that significant exposure inequities can occur within areas as small as a county, or even within a census tract,” says co-author Marc Serre, an associate professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering in UNC’s Gillings School of Global Public Health. “Detecting these small areas, and visualizing their exposure inequities, provides critical new insight to inform and prioritize remediation strategies.”

The research team is hopeful this new approach can help in identifying vulnerable populations, quantifying exposure and preventing misclassification of exposures going forward.

“Most of the air pollution related health risk studies focus on PM2.5. Our novel analytical approach adds new estimates for NO2 to the health burden and supports additional motivation to move away from fossil fuel-based combustion sources of air pollution to protect public health,” says Arunachalam.

 

About the UNC Institute for the Environment

The UNC Institute for the Environment (IE) develops multidisciplinary collaborations to understand major environmental issues and engage myriad academic disciplines, public and private partners, and an informed and committed community. Through IE’s air and water research centers, its public service and outreach, sustainability initiatives, and field sites and experiential education programs, the IE provides interdisciplinary forums for faculty, students and community partners to meet pressing environmental challenges. 

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JOURNAL

PLoS ONE

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0286406 

ARTICLE TITLE

A hyperlocal hybrid data fusion near-road PM2.5 and NO2 annual risk and environmental justice assessment across the United States

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

1-Jun-2023

Salton Sea environment detrimental to

respiratory health of local children

UC Riverside-led study focuses on caregivers’ take on how the sea affects their children’s health

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - RIVERSIDE

 

IMAGE: ANN CHENEY (RIGHT) IS SEEN HERE WITH COAUTHOR MARÍA POZAR. view more 

CREDIT: CHENEY LAB, UC RIVERSIDE.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- In the United States, low-income immigrant and minority children often live in environments that have highly polluted air. A study led by researchers at the University of California, Riverside, demonstrates this among the Latinx and Purépecha immigrant children and caregivers living along Inland Southern California’s Salton Sea, a highly saline drying lakebed surrounded by agricultural fields. The Purépecha community is an Indigenous group from the Mexican state of Michoacán.

“Children of Latinx and Indigenous Mexican immigrant families living near the Salton Sea are especially vulnerable to the sea’s environmental impact on chronic health conditions,” said Ann Marie Cheney, an associate professor of social medicine, population, and public health in the School of Medicine and the lead author of the study. “Our study uniquely focuses on caregivers’ understanding of the Salton Sea’s impact on the health of children diagnosed with asthma or chronic respiratory health problems.”

According to Cheney, caregivers offer a unique perspective of Salton Sea impacts on children’s health conditions as they pay attention to the environment and climatic changes, anticipating how they will affect child health. 

“While they intimately understand children’s vulnerabilities to environmental and climatic conditions, they often do not have a platform to advocate for their children,” she said. “Through research, we can elevate their voices, what they understand in terms of the effects of the environment on health, and advocate for change to public health policy.”

Cheney and her team engaged with 36 people who participated in either focus groups or one-on-one interviews. Participants lived in the northern part of the Salton Sea and were Latinx and Indigenous Mexican caregivers of children with asthma and respiratory problems. The study, which used principles of community-based participatory research, was from fall 2019 to spring 2021.

Participants characterized the Salton Sea’s environment as toxic. They said it included sulfuric smells, dust storms, chemicals, and fires, which contribute to children’s chronic health conditions, including respiratory illnesses such as asthma, bronchitis, and pneumonia.

In the interviews, participants 

• shared that during the hot summer months, the Salton Sea emits sulfuric smells, affecting children’s health
• noted that dust storms are pronounced during the hot summer months and increase respiratory symptoms and allergies, such as irritated and watery eyes, in children
• expressed concern about children’s exposure to agricultural chemicals from the nearby agricultural fields
• worried about local agricultural practices in which growers dump chemicals into the Salton Sea
• talked about the burning of garbage on nearby tribal lands and its effects on air quality
• explained how daily exposure to the Salton Sea environment contributed also to allergies and nosebleeds
• noted that when they remove their children from the Salton Sea’s environment, their symptoms improve.

“Our study has important public health implications for vulnerable child populations,” Cheney said. “The Salton Sea and its effects on the children and families living along its border offer a preview into what is to come in the next several decades because of climate change. Without intervention, children, such as those in our study, will be especially vulnerable to respiratory health consequences of climate change and the effects of poor air quality on health.”

The research paper, titled “Latinx and Indigenous Mexican Caregivers’ Perspectives of the Salton Sea Environment on Children’s Asthma, Respiratory Health, and Co-Presenting Health Conditions,” appears in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

Cheney was joined in the study by Gabriela Ortiz, Ashley Trinidad, Sophia Rodriguez, Ashley Moran, and Jaír Chavez of UCR; Andrea Gonzalez of UCLA; and María Pozar of Conchita Servicios de la Comunidad in Mecca, California.

The study was funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities of the National Institutes of Health. The content of this article does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

The University of California, Riverside is a doctoral research university, a living laboratory for groundbreaking exploration of issues critical to Inland Southern California, the state and communities around the world. Reflecting California's diverse culture, UCR's enrollment is more than 26,000 students. The campus opened a medical school in 2013 and has reached the heart of the Coachella Valley by way of the UCR Palm Desert Center. The campus has an annual impact of more than $2.7 billion on the U.S. economy. To learn more, visit www.ucr.edu.

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JOURNAL

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

DOI

10.3390/ijerph20116023 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Survey

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Latinx and Indigenous Mexican Caregivers’ Perspectives of the Salton Sea Environment on Children’s Asthma, Respiratory Health, and Co-Presenting Health Conditions

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

1-Jun-2023

Study identifies boat strikes as a growing cause of manatee deaths in Belize

Belize is a stronghold of the Antillean manatee population, but increasing boat traffic poses a growing threat to this endangered relative of the Florida manatee

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - SANTA CRUZ

 

IMAGE: ANTILLEAN MANATEES NEAR CAYE CAULKER ISLAND, BELIZE. view more 

CREDIT: PHOTO BY T. YIFTACH

The endangered Antillean manatee faces a growing threat from boat strikes in Belize, according to a new study that raises concerns about the survival of what had been considered a relatively healthy population.

Belize hosts a population of around 1,000 manatees. With the growth of tourism in recent decades, however, Belize has seen a substantial increase in boat traffic, making boat strikes an increasingly important cause of manatee deaths and injuries.

The new study, published June 1 in Endangered Species Research, used 25 years of data on manatee strandings (dead or injured animals), six aerial surveys of the manatee population, and two decades of boat registration data to quantify the impacts of increasing boat traffic on the manatee population.

First author Celeshia Guy Galves, now at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute in Belize, led the study as a graduate student in the Coastal Science and Policy Program at UC Santa Cruz.

“This work has been shared with policymakers in Belize and will contribute directly to conservation planning, including protecting key areas for manatees such as the Belize River Mouth and the Placencia Lagoon,” Galves said.

Galves found that with more and more boats in the water, the number of manatee strandings caused by boat strikes has increased over time, from 1 to 4 per year in the late 1990s and early 2000s to 10 to 17 per year by the late 2010s. Strandings were more frequent in areas of high boat traffic, high human population density, and mangrove habitats.

“We knew that boat strikes were happening, but this study provides strong quantitative evidence of boat strikes as an increasing source of mortality for manatees in Belize, and it shows the areas where the risk is greatest,” said coauthor Marm Kilpatrick, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UC Santa Cruz. “These findings provide a basis for conservation measures that can be implemented to reduce the risk.”

Conservation efforts should focus on reducing the number of boats and their speed within zones of high manatee use, the authors said. High priorities for conservation interventions include creating more protected areas with restrictions on boat traffic, including areas designated for non-motorized boating or restricted access, as well as speed restrictions in shallow seagrass habitats.

Like the Florida manatee, the Antillean manatee is a subspecies of the West Indian manatee. In addition to boat strikes, threats to the Antillean manatee population include habitat degradation and loss, poaching, pollution, and entanglement in fishing gear.

Celeshia Galves and her husband, coauthor Jamal Galves, both work on manatee conservation at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute in Belize, and Jamal Galvez is a 2023 graduate of the UCSC Coastal Science and Policy Program. Other coauthors include Nicole Auil Gomez at the Wildlife Conservation Society in Belize; Don Croll, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UCSC; and Kelly Zilliacus, a research specialist in Croll’s Conservation Action Lab at UCSC.

This research was supported by the UCSC Coastal Science and Policy Program.

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JOURNAL

Endangered Species Research

DOI

10.3354/esr01247 

ARTICLE TITLE

Increasing mortality of Endangered Antillean manatees Trichechus manatus manatus due to watercraft collisions in Belize

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

1-Jun-2023