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Homeland security research at the EOHSI Center for Exposure and Risk Modeling (CERM)

Panos G. Georgopoulos and Paul J. Lioy, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, UMDNJ - R.W. Johnson Medical School and Rutgers University

Homeland security related research at the EOHSI Center for Exposure and Risk Modeling (CERM) aims to develop, evaluate and refine computational tools for characterizing population exposures and doses associated with chemical and biological agents released during emergency events.

These computational tools include: (a) predictive environmental and biological models for contaminant release, transport, and fate, based on physicochemical principles, for phenomena taking place over multiple spatial (e.g. regional, urban, local, neighborhood, microenvironmental, personal, organ/tissue) and temporal (e.g. seconds to weeks) scales; (b) integrated exposure information systems that dynamically link the above models with comprehensive databases and Geographic Information Systems characterizing the relevant environments/microenvironments (via e.g. meteorology, hydrogeology, land use and cover, building properties, etc.) and populations (via demographic attributes, activity patterns, etc.).

Examples of currently on-going homeland security relatedprojects at CERM include:

• Evaluation of existing environmental fate/transport models for their applicability and limitations in emergency situations.
• Modeling studies of emergency events (such as fires) at or near nuclear and hazardous waste facilities.
• Development of prototype source-to-dose modeling systems for characterizing multipathway exposures to chemical and biological warfare agents.
• Reconstruction of population exposures to the contaminants released from the fires and collapse of the World Trade Center on 9/11/2001, to provide analyses of lessons learned and to support a variety of health impact studies.
• Development and application of computationally efficient "model/data fusion" techniques for real-time (i) inverse problem solution (source characterization), (ii) Bayesian real-time model “calibration”, and (iii) uncertainty characterization and reduction.
• Analysis and optimization of spatiotemporal contaminant monitoring network designs.
• Development of protocols for hospital personnel response to emergency events involving chemical warfare agents.

Funding for the above activities is provided by USEPA, NIEHS, USDOE, USDOD's ONR through QLI, the VA, and NJDEP.