Strategic Plan for Arsenic Research in Kids (SPARK)
Program Description
Background:
In the year 2000, The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences awarded a grant to Columbia University for a period of six years to study the how arsenic and manganese in groundwater effect people in Bangladesh, where the concentrations of these elements are extremely high. That grant was renewed for another five years—through 2011—and has expanded to New Hampshire. SPARK examines the link between arsenic exposure and childhood intelligence.
New Hampshire's Role:
Past research by geologists at the U.S. Geologic Survey has identified several regions in New Hampshire as having relatively high levels of arsenic in bedrock well water . The SPARK project will study 500 New Hampshire fourth-graders and their mothers in an effort to replicate the findings in Bangladesh. This has important implications for New Hampshire families using well water . This project will help determine whether the slightly elevated concentrations of arsenic (and at times manganese) in New Hampshire well water pose health hazards to children.
Researchers:
Columbia University has partnered with the University of New Hampshire to bring SPARK to New Hampshire. Families and school personnel will be able to contact local project staff with any questions or concerns. The staff is located in UNH's Hewitt Hall in room 202 and can be reached by telephone at (603) 862-2493.
Plan:
This packet of information is the first step in our recruitment process. If you and your family are interested in participating in this public health study, the first thing to do is to complete and return the enclosed reply card. Once it is received, project staff will contact you to schedule a home visit. This home visit will be with the child's mother and will take about one hour. The child does not need to be present. During this time, project staff will take some water samples and ask you a series of questions. Following the home visit, a 90 minutes school visit will be scheduled with your child. During the school visit, our staff will administer a brief intelligence assessment and collect toe nail and urine samples. All of the samples taken through visits with you and your child will be analyzed by project staff. You will receive a report on your child's intelligence assessment a few weeks after the school visits. The other reports take longer.
Visit the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences at:
http://www-apps.niehs.nih.gov/sbrp/programs/Program_detail.cfm?Project_ID=P42ES103490004