Metabolic disrupting potential of unconventional oil and gas operation chemicals and mixtures
Research has shown hormone disruption in mice exposed during pregnancy to a mixture of common fracking chemicals at likely environmentally relevant concentrations. Dr. Chris Kassotis presents his new research demonstrating metabolic disrupting activity in the fracking chemical mixture, fracking wastewater, and in surface water near unconventional oil and gas operations. The study found all mixtures were capable of inducing fat cell development and proliferation at very low concentrations and identifies the likely underlying molecular mechanisms for some of these effects.
Download the slide presentation
Chris Kassotis, PhD is an NRSA Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University. He completed his PhD at the University of Missouri working with Susan Nagel to assess unconventional oil and gas operations as a novel source of endocrine disrupting chemicals in water, and the potential for adverse human and animal health outcomes from exposure. He is now working in Heather Stapleton's lab at Duke to assess the adipogenic activity of complex chemical mixtures present in indoor house dust and other matrices as well as to develop new assays to isolate and characterize novel endocrine disruptors in complex mixtures.
