Environment and Health Program (PROMAS)
The Environment and Health Program (PROMAS) was created in 2012, to develop research, teaching and extension activities, with a transdisciplinary and ecosystem approach, in the area related to Environment and Health, within the Central Region of Argentina.
Globally, health has significantly – and progressively – deteriorated in recent decades. Several large areas of health have been compromised: reproductive (infertility, pregnancy complications, malformations); childhood (respiratory, physical and cognitive development); pubertal (modifications in the development of this stage, advances and delays); senescence (increases in neurodegenerative phenomena, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's); and, different types of cancers at different stages of life. These are effects that are deferred in time, with early environmental impacts that will influence later stages, and that - in some of them - can be transferred to subsequent generations.
Many of these conditions have been linked to environmental changes in rural areas due to the intensive exploitation of the land over the last fifty years, with the application of various agrochemicals and their associated byproducts . Furthermore, the transformation of domestic crops into agro-industrial ones has produced modifications in the ecosystem, which in turn influence human health. Three stages have been identified in the evolution of the agricultural environment and its chemical components: from the 1970s to the mid-1980s, organochlorines, known for their high toxicity and persistence; from then until the late 1990s, organophosphates, also with a high impact; and from the mid-1990s to the present, so-called emerging chemicals, including glyphosate and its adjuvants, which have been added to the previously mentioned chemicals and are still in use.
In this region, the chemical content of the water —primarily arsenic and nitrates—has a significant impact on the health of humans and wildlife. Arsenic, mainly of natural origin, is well-known due to the chronic endemic regional hydroarsenicism (HACRE), described since 1913. This regional disease has been extensively studied for its dermal effects, and its association with other environmentally related illnesses, such as cancer, malformations, and neurodegenerative diseases, is now being expanded. Nitrates, primarily of anthropogenic origin, have become increasingly relevant at the beginning of this century for two reasons: the significant growth in fertilizer use in agriculture and the emergence of intensive animal farming ( feedlots ), which, through their waste (urine), contribute this component, along with other emerging pollutants, to the environment. Nitrates have demonstrated a significant association with various cancers and some congenital anomalies, as well as other pathologies.
The Central Region (Provinces of Córdoba, Entre Ríos and Santa Fe), with around 20% of the total population of the country, concentrates one of the regions with the largest planted areas and, with a very significant percentage of the population consuming water with high contents of the chemicals mentioned above.
Within the framework of Universidad Nacional de Rosario el PROMAS, was founded and developed with the participation of several members of different faculties: Agrarian Sciences (Agr. Engineer Néstor Di Leo, Dr. Sergio Montico); Medical Sciences (Dr. Mirta Fleitas, Mg. Claudio Staffolani); Veterinary Sciences (Med. Vet. Claudia Nigro; Lic. Florencia David); Engineering, Electrical (Eng. Jorge Ronco, Eng. Luis Krapf). In recent years, two new members have joined, with the position of JTP, Dr. Florencia Molinatti in Demography and Lic. Laura De Gracia.
In 2016, the Inter-University Network on Environment and Health of the Central Region (REDINASCE) was founded among the six public universities of the Central Region, with the participation of UNER, UNC, UNL, UNRC, UNR, and UNVM, for the development of collaborative activities in different projects on the territory.
The specific objectives of this Program are broken down into three axes:
- In the area of investigation. development of projects with eco-epidemiological and social orientation, with a transdisciplinary, ecosystemic and community participation approach. In the same way, the situation of wildlife in relation to the environment is addressed.
- In the area of extension, the development of projects for the identification and characterization of environmental and community health conditions, on the present problem. Including advice on the development of public and/or private policies.
- In the area of teaching, collaboration for the development and/or expansion of curricula that allow the debate of the proposed problem, as well as the development of new teaching activities that allow the expansion in other non-academic communities of the present debate.
DEVELOPMENTS IN THE RESEARCH AREA
Between 2013 and 2017, the Research Program (PROMAS I) “Environment and Health (PROMAS). Transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary research portfolio. Eco-epidemiology and synergies ” was developed. CEI-UNR (2REC7). Director: Alejandro Oliva.
ACCREDITED AND COMPLETED RESEARCH PROJECTS:
- “Development and validation of a self-management model of environmental risk factors that affect the health of rural populations.” Faculty of Medical Sciences (UNR) – 2013/2016 (1MED364). Director: Claudio Staffolani
- “Eco-epidemiological correlations between electromagnetic exposures and health in the Central area of Argentina.” Faculty of Exact Sciences, Engineering and Surveying (UNR) 2013/2016 (1ING433). Director: Jorge Ronco.
- “Study of the correlations of historical agroindustrial development and environmental epidemiological conditions in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina (1960-2012)”. CEI- UNR 2013/2016 (1REC55). Director: Dr. Mirta Fleitas.
- “Influence of childhood environmental exposures and paternal habits in the reproductive future of male children. CEI-UNR 2013/2016 (1REC54). Director: Alejandro Oliva. This project has been developed collaboratively with the University of Rennes I, Rennes, France.
From 2018 to 2022, a new research program (PROMAS II) was defined: “Transdisciplinary Analysis of Eco-epidemiological Scenarios and Their Social Representations in the Central Region of Argentina . ” This included collaboration with the Inter-University Network on Environment and Health of the Central Region (REDINASCE), with the aim of addressing regional issues from a broader territorial perspective.
All of these projects, already completed, have been financed by the Science and Technology organizations of the UNR, the National Cancer Institute and the National Directorate of Health Research, the last two belonging to the Ministry of Health of the Nation.
DEVELOPMENTS OF THE EXTENSION AREA
Since the beginning of the creation of this Program, regional technological linkage projects have been carried out (Murphy Commune, five Communes of the Ramallo District) that have allowed this University to provide methodology for the identification, characterization and management of environmental problems in relation to population health, facilitating the assembly of Epidemiological and Environmental Prevention Observatories - self-managed - through community participation. All these projects were financed by the corresponding municipal organizations, through specific agreements with this University.
DEVELOPMENTS IN THE TEACHING AREA
From the beginning, collaborations have been developed, through seminars and workshops, with different undergraduate and postgraduate structures of different local and national organizations.
In 2020, the Higher Council of the National University of Rosario (UNR) presented and approved a distance learning undergraduate diploma program aimed at communities and members of civil society, focusing on environmental and health issues. The faculty comprises members from the six universities in the network. The program's framework includes: a regional approach to the issues and their conflicts; a transdisciplinary approach; the translation of facts and their causes—in our region—into something accessible to the general population based on regional research; and the participation of communities in transforming the environmental and health landscape.
RESEARCH PROJECTS (2023/2026 period)
Within the framework of REDINASCE, with the participation of researchers from different Universities, two lines of research are defined:
- ECOEPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDY OF INFANT MORTALITY FROM CANCER IN ARGENTINA AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABLES (UNER, UNL, UNR).
Focusing on this variable in the child population (< 15 years), the situation is different from the general population, in terms of types and prevalence of cancers; in addition, the regional differences are very wide, with the Central Region (CR) showing the highest rates at the national level; even the heterogeneities between departments of the same province have been demonstrated.
The association between environmental variables and childhood mortality from cancer is the underlying hypothesis to be confirmed in this proposal. The general objective is to analyze the possible associations between infant mortality from cancer and the planted areas and the levels of arsenic in drinking water, in the provinces of Argentina, particularizing in the CR, in the period 2000 - 2019.
Future Developments: Once this first stage is completed, progress will be made on two sub-lines: (1) air quality in the departments with the highest risks and, (2) associations with sociodemographic variables.
- ECOEPIDEMIOLOGICAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS, SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC CONDITIONS AND NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES IN ARGENTINA (UNC, UNL, UNR).
Considering the possible origins of Neurodegenerative Diseases (Alzheimer's and Parkinson's) from the environmental point of view, there are different hypotheses. Basically it is considered that there would be an interaction of genetic factors with environmental conditions; As well as from the sociodemographic point of view, associations have been described between the different variables and these pathologies.
The association between environmental, sociodemographic variables and NE is the underlying hypothesis to be confirmed in this proposal. As a general objective, it is to study the possible associations between neurodegenerative diseases and the planted surfaces and the levels of arsenic in drinking water, as well as the sociodemographic characteristics (education and socioeconomic), in the provinces of Argentina, particularizing in the Region Center, in the period 2000 – 2019.
Future Developments: Once this first stage is completed, progress will be made on two sub-lines: (1) air quality in the departments with the highest risks and, (2) the interrelation between the different variables and their possible synergies.
:: CONTACT: aoliva.promas@gmail.com