Investigators and Program Directors
Patrick W. O'Keefe
Research Scientist, Wadsworth Center, Organic and Analytical Chemistry
Associate Professor, School of Public Health, Environmental Health Sciences
Ph.D., Food Science Technology, Oregon State University (1971)
Postdoctoral Training: Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA (1974 - 1979)
E-mail: okeefe@wadsworth.org
Research Interests
Organic pollutants entering the aquatic environment can bioaccumulate through food chains, ultimately leading to the presence of persistent compounds in the human population. Research in our laboratory is focused on monitoring the concentrations and environmental fate of two groups of compounds, (1) pharmaceuticals, including personal care products such as such sunscreen agents and antimicrobials (PPCPs) and (2) polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs)/polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and related persistent organohalogen compounds.
Research is currently underway to develop methods to analyze PPCPs in biological specimens, including fish tissue and human serum. We are also developing methods to analyze the PPCPs in water samples and sediments and these methods will be used in a project to determine the fate of selected PPCPs in waters which receive effluents from wastewater treatment plants. In previous studies we showed that PCDDs/PCDFs together with PCBs could bioaccumulate to high levels in liver tissue of wild ducks collected from PCB-contaminated locations and also that Cytochrome P450 enzyme levels were elevated in liver microsomes from these ducks. In other projects we found that PCDDs/PCDFs dissolved in water can be rapidly photodegraded by sunlight and the photodegradation rates are sensitized by natural substances in the water column (humic acids, phenols, aromatic amino acids and algal chloroplasts).
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are another class of organic compounds widely distributed in the aquatic environment and certain PAHs are toxic to biota, including humans. We found in laboratory studies that aquatic insect larvae (Chironomus tentans) selectively bioaccumulate PAH compounds from sediments collected outside aluminum processing plants and oxidized PAHs in the sediments enhance the toxicity of the parent PAH compounds when brine shrimp (Artemia salina) are exposed to extracts from the sediments.
Contact Information
Phone: (518) 473-3378
Fax: (518) 486-2685
E-mail: okeefe@wadsworth.org.