Acopian Center’s Dr. Natella Mirzoyan and Fulbright Researcher Christopher Markosian Publish a Paper

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The AUA Acopian Center for the Environment is pleased to announce the publication of “Wastewater-based epidemiology as a novel assessment approach for population-level metal exposure” article co-authored by Associate Research Professor at the AUA Acopian Center Dr. Natella Mirzoyan and Fullbright Grantee and AUA Acopian Center researcher Christopher Markossian.

The paper describes a conceptually new approach for using wastewater-based epidemiology to assess population-level exposure to heavy metals and metalloids. Pollution by heavy metals and metalloids are detrimental to human health due to their toxic, genotoxic, and carcinogenic effects. The traditional methods of human biomonitoring for heavy metals—such as hair, blood, and urine sampling—have several limitations as epidemiological tools.

Dr. Mirzoyan’s work tackles these limitations by using precise analytical chemistry methods to detect and quantify the potential biomarkers of metal and metalloid exposure in wastewater. The findings have already generated a new discussion among academic audiences on the use of this approach to generate a fuller    epidemiological picture of population exposure to these environmental pollutants. 

The paper is available in the Science of the Total Environment journal.

The AUA Acopian Center for the Environment, a research center of the American University of Armenia, promotes the protection and restoration of the natural environment through research, education, and community outreach. The AUA Acopian Center’s focus areas include sustainable natural resource management, biodiversity and conservation, greening the built environment, clean energy, and energy efficiency, as well as information technology and the environment.