After decades of pollution, Brunswick residents have a new resource for researching the link between area Superfund sites and their health.
A five-year, $15 million grant from the National Institutes of Environmental Health (NIH) has been awarded to Emory University to examine how environmental contaminants affect human health, following a 2023 pilot study involving approximately 100 Glynn County residents, according to the Emory University Rollins School of Public Health.
Emory will lead the research in partnership with university faculty from the University of Georgia, Georgia Institute of Technology, Morehouse School of Medicine, Spelman College, and Texas Tech University.
“By combining cutting-edge exposure science and health research with direct community partnerships, the center will translate complex environmental data into practical information that can support healthier decisions for families, clinicians, and policymakers,” said Dana Barr, a professor of environmental health at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health and director of the new Superfund Research Center.
Glynn County is home to four of Georgia’s 23 Superfund sites, industrial areas that the federal government has designated as highly contaminated and requiring monitoring and ongoing cleanup.
The pilot study examining the potential human health effects of this toxic waste was conducted in 2023 and published in 2025. Researchers found that 40% of the 97 participants had higher concentrations of a toxicant associated with the defunct LCP Chemicals plant than the national average. Twenty percent of participants had higher concentrations of a second chemical used at the Hercules Brunswick Facility than the national average.
Soon after conducting the study, Emory and five other universities submitted an application to NIH to expand the research. Since 1986, NIH has offered federal grants to support studies at universities across the nation to find practical solutions to issues related to human health and the environment.
The five-year research project will include five studies: an expanded “exposure and health” study examining links between toxicant levels and metabolic diseases; a toxicology study to help agencies in regulating toxaphene contaminated sites; an assessment of soil and water around Glynn County to identify human exposure pathways; a modeling study on how floods and storms transport toxicants; and an evaluation of low-impact Superfund site remediation methods in Glynn County’s marshlands and tidal creeks.
In addition to the primary research, the center will pursue other projects that support a variety of community-driven initiatives, such as community engagement programs and educational outreach for local youth. These include refining the accessibility of Healthy Coastal Neighborhoods’ Seafood Smart website, establishing a community advisory group, and providing education opportunities for area health care professionals on how to manage patients who may have high exposures.
“There are generations that have been exposed to these chemicals and didn’t know it. But now we know what. Now we have chemical awareness. The expanded exposure study is needed,” said Victoria Mackey, Brunswick resident.
There will be a community meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 24, at Howard Coffin Park, where Healthy Coastal Neighborhoods and Emory scientists will share updates.
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This story was originally published by The Current and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
