Kim A. Anderson Laboratory

Current Projects

Background and Bioavailable Metals in Oregon Agricultural Soils, Plants, and Waters

• Finding total concentrations of heavy metals/compounds in soils and water is less important than determining their bioavailability in that it is the latter that is relevant to ecological and human health risk. Using new testing methods, this project seeks to determine the fate of repeated heavy-metal-rich fertilizer applications on Oregon soils, that is, when the metal has become bioavailable and is uptaken by biota.
  

Bioavailable Contaminants in a Compromised System, the Willamette River/Portland Harbor

• The Portland Harbor of the lower Willamette River was placed on the National Prioritites Listing Superfund list. This project is currently updating (1) site data on PBCs, organochlorine pesticide, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and heavy metals, and (2) its human health risk assessment. It is also evaluating the temporal persistence of these environmental contaminants, while new techniques are capturing the bioavailability of the contaminants instead of their concentrations.
  

• Research on determining geographic origins of food commodities is of increasing and timely importance. Using trace element stable isotope and statistical analyses, geographic origins for samples of potatoes, apples, and coffee beans have been determined with a high degree of accuracy. Current work is with Oregon strawberries, blueberries and pears, and California pistachios.

Food Safety and Environmental Stewardship Program

• The Food Safety and Environmental Stewardship Program provides high-quality analytical laboratory support of food quality assurance, environmental integrity preservation, and agricultural production enhancement, as well as disseminating research findings. One example is providing information from pesticide residue studies that supports pesticide registration of pesticides for Oregon’s “minor” crops.

 

Past Projects

• Having found skeletal deformities in fish only in the Newberg pool area of the Willamette River, a multidisciplinary team was formed to find the cause(s). The quality of the water in that area is being tested and compared with other sites along the river.

• This project is testing shikimic acid levels as a chemical marker for crop plant exposure to the herbicide glyphosate. Tests on wheat show that analysis of the plant's shikimic acid level is a promising and economic means of determining exposure to glyphosate. ALS inhibitor herbicides are also being investigated on potatoes. Like shikimic acid, these allow sub-lethal exposures to be determined.