The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences recently awarded University professor and Patrick F. Taylor chair of chemistry Barry Dellinger a $3.6 million grant to support research on hazardous waste disposal and its impact on public health.The grant will help support a Superfund Research Center at the University, the LSU’s Health Science Centers in New Orleans and in Shreveport, Dellinger said.The $3.6 million awarded to the program came from American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which was part of the national stimulus package.The program sponsors interdisciplinary research where chemists and engineers can work with biomedical researchers. There are 16 other research centers in the nation, Dellinger said. The Superfund Research Center studies by-products from burning hazardous waste and the environmental and health impacts, like tumors and birth defects.Toxic combustion by-products have been determined to be responsible for 50,000 deaths each year, according to the chemistry department’s Web site. Dellinger previously assisted with the development of the Environmental Protection Agency’s toxic waste disposal guidelines. William Gehling, chemistry graduate student, studies particles found in cigarette smoke, which can stay in the atmosphere over time. The grant will help advance his research, he said.”It’s a little bit more beyond the scope of the University but more for human health,” Gehling said.Dellinger is concerned with the cutbacks to the research infrastructure from University budget cuts and said the grant will provide funds the University cannot.Although the grant mainly affects chemistry graduate students, graduate and undergraduate students in agronomy and environmental studies will also see the benefits with equipment the grant will provide, he said.Eric Vejerana, chemistry graduate student, said the grant will help progress research because of the high prices and complexity of supplies.”It’s such a specialty field that there’s only a few companies making it, and the chemicals themselves are really expensive,” Gehling said.    –Contact Kristen M’lissa Rowlett at [email protected]