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MY 20 YEARS EXPERIENCE IN CONDUCTING ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH STUDIES IN CHINA: (1) STUDIES ON LUNG CANCER AND INDOOR AIR POLLUTION IN YUNNAN AND (2) HEALTH EFFECTS OF ARSENIC EXPOSURE VIA DRINKING WATER IN INNER MONGOLIA
Citation:
Mumford, J. S. MY 20 YEARS EXPERIENCE IN CONDUCTING ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH STUDIES IN CHINA: (1) STUDIES ON LUNG CANCER AND INDOOR AIR POLLUTION IN YUNNAN AND (2) HEALTH EFFECTS OF ARSENIC EXPOSURE VIA DRINKING WATER IN INNER MONGOLIA. Presented at Conf of Chinese American Academic Professional Assoc.(CAPASUS), Atlanta, GA, July 30, 2004.
Description:
As a research health scientist at U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, I have been very fortunate to have opportunities to work as a principal investigator for two major environmental health research projects. The first study was conducted in 1983-1996 under a formal U.S.-China Protocol to investigate lung cancer associated with indoor air pollution. High lung cancer mortality rates in the rural Xuan Wei county in Yunnan Province have been associated with burning of smoky coal in unvented homes. Xuan Wei's stable population, rural setting without the confounding factors of a large city, high exposure to indoor combustion emissions, and wide geographic variation in lung cancer, provide us a unique opportunity to investigate lung cancer and air pollution and also to develop biological markers for assessing lung cancer risk in humans. Another study ongoing is to investigate the health effects of arsenic exposure in Inner Mongolia. The residents of Ba Men, Inner Mongolia have been exposed to a wide range of arsenic concentrations via drinking water and showed health effects. We conducted studies to assess health effects, including carcinogenic, dermal, neurological and cardiovascular effects of arsenic in this population and to identify biomarkers useful for assessing arsenic exposure and health effects for the U.S. population. My presentation will describe these two studies and my experience from working in China. [This is an abstract of a proposed presentation and does not necessarily reflect EPA policy.]