On cancer incidence and mortality maps, southern states of the U.S. have some of the highest rates, but whether environmental exposures are contributing to cancer in the region has not been scientifically determined.
People who sign up for an ongoing study can help researchers assess whether environmental factors may be the culprits behind the region’s higher cancer burden. The Southern Environmental Health Study aims to recruit 35,000 participants across 17 states and Washington, D.C. Participants simply need to answer a survey, wear a wristband for seven days — and voluntarily without participation requirement — donate blood, urine or saliva. The data collected will be utilized to analyze the impact of exposures such as air pollution, excessive heat, water pollution and “forever chemicals” as well as behavioral and inherited factors on human health.
The study (sehstudy.org) will provide $20 to those who take the survey then wear the wristband, and another $20 to those who give blood or urine samples. The compensation for a saliva sample is $5. Participants need to be between the ages of 40 and 70 and live in Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia or the District of Columbia.
The wristbands are made of silicone and designed to collect chemicals in the participant’s environment. The researchers will utilize them to measure more than 1,500 chemicals.
“Cancer can make us feel helpless when it sickens a family member or a friend. This is an opportunity to not be helpless, to do something that can possibly provide clarity on why cancer incidence and mortality are often higher in southern states than other regions of the U.S.,” said Martha Shrubsole, co-leader of the Cancer Epidemiology Research Program and Ingram Professor of Cancer Research at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville.
Shrubsole is the co-principal investigator of the study, alongside Wei Zheng, MD, PhD, MPH, Anne Potter Wilson Professor of Medicine and director of the Division of Epidemiology and the Vanderbilt Epidemiology Center.
The study is funded by the National Cancer Institute and Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. It is a long-term cohort investigation, which will follow participants for at least 10 to 20 years.
After enrollment and an initial questionnaire, participants may be asked follow-up questions up to twice a year about their health. The questionnaires should take about 30 minutes to complete. Some participants may be asked to give saliva, urine or blood samples, but this is an optional decision. Study participation does not require travel from home, but participants who agree to give blood or urine samples can do so at a local health center that is participating in the study. The researchers are coordinating with community health centers to collect these samples and provide information about the study.
The study will abide by a privacy and confidentiality protocol which means that no personally identifying information will be shared with other researchers. All data collected from participants will be stored electronically in a password protected database, and only a very limited number of researchers will have access to personally identifying information.
To sign up for the Southern Environmental Health Study, visit https://www.sehstudy.org/jointhestudy.html.
