News From Member Institutions

Site Reports

USM - University of Southern Maine, Portland

11 Feb 08

Rep: Lew Incze

New Research Activities/Highlights: A paper has just been published on intake and genotoxicity of chromium by Right Whales along the US East Coast. The work was done at the Maine Center for Toxicology and Environmental Health at USM.

Wise, Sr. J.P., Wise, S.S, Kraus, S. Shaffiey, F., Grau, M., Li Chen, T., Perkins, C., Thompson, W.D., Zheng, T., Zhang, Y., Romano, T., and O'Hara, T. Hexavalent Chromium Is Cytotoxic and Genotoxic to the North Atlantic Right Whale (Eubalaena glacialis) Lung and Testes Fibroblasts. Mutation Research. In Press.

This paper shows that chromium is genotoxic and cytotoxic to cultured North Atlantic Right whale lung and testes cells in a concentration-dependent manner. These findings are consistent with laboratory animal and human studies showing that chromium is genotoxic and the lung and testes are specific target sites. There are also consistent with a hypothesis that if exposed chromium may present a reproductive hazard to right whales. The paper further shows, based on skin biopsies of free-ranging whales, that the animals are indeed exposed. In fact, the mean whale level was 23-times higher than the mean level of humans without occupational exposure and the range of exposure for the whales overlapped the range found during autopsies of chromium-exposed workers who died of chromium-induced lung cancer. The paper further suggests a hypothesis that because of their large lung capacity, inhalation may be a significant exposure route for whales.

8 Dec 06

Rep: Lew Incze

New Research Activities/Highlights: COML - New web site launch this weekend Other News: GOM ODP - check out their website for '07 plan. They are continuing ther work (22 members) to facilitate open data accessability nad interoperability using federal geospacial data standards. This is an important unerpinning for the developing NERA-COOS.

June 2006

Rep: Lew Incze

Lew Incze outlined research activities at the University of Southern Maine. T. Willis and K Wilson are studying catadromous fish (e.g. shad and blueback herring) migrations into rivers, estuaries and lakes, including a large project to restore the Penobscot River for fish migration. The Census of Marine Life will conduct a workshop in 2007. Research on Platts Bank has discovered dense patches of euphausids probably related to propagation of internal waves, attracting consumers such as herring and whales. The Union of Concerned Scientists is conducting regional climate impact analysis involving expertise at USM.