It has become common to perceive man-made things as harmful, and natural things as innately harmless. However, chemicals harmful to our bodies such as the perchlorate, also found on Mars, are produced both commercially and naturally, and identifying the origin and the progression of these chemicals will help derive appropriate solutions. Dr. Todd Anderson, Presidential Research Excellence Professor of Environmental Toxicology at Texas Tech University, studies how fugitive chemicals, or pollutants, behave in the environment. By understanding how these pollutants move in the environment and into organisms, Dr. Anderson hopes to gain insight into their consequences and provide a solid scientific basis for people to make informed and objective decisions for themselves and the environment.

In order to address the risks associated with chemical manufacturing processes and other activities that unfortunately release harmful chemicals in the environment, Dr. Anderson focuses on the fate and transport of fugitive chemicals. His department consists of a team of 14 faculty members, creating a robust, interdisciplinary research team that is very collaborative and interactive. He and his lab of 2-4 graduate students and a postdoctoral fellow also work frequently with faculty colleagues across the university, particularly in Environmental Engineering, to examine the multiple pollutants floating in the various environmental compartments of water, air, and soil, and has even helped small businesses deal with contamination in previous research. At Texas Tech, Dr. Anderson has received the Barnie Rushing Faculty Distinguished Research Award (2018), President’s Excellence in Teaching Award (2003), the Chancellor’s Council Distinguished Research Award (2004), and was named a Provost’s Integrated Scholar in 2014. In addition, he has received the department’s Outstanding Faculty Award (by graduate student vote) nine times. With a strong background in toxicology and leadership, Dr. Anderson continues to seek solutions for the benefit of today’s society.

Current projects include:

• Understanding the Fate and Transport of Chemical Pollutants: Environmental toxicology is comprised of two main goals, to understand exposure and effect. Dr. Anderson is heavily concerned with uncovering where chemicals travel and how they eventually end up in organisms, and which organisms are susceptible to exposure. Some of the effects work includes incorporating wildlife into the research -- rather than laboratory animals -- to understand how chemicals affect these organisms.

• Identifying the Potential Impacts of Pollutants on Organisms: Dr. Anderson works with invertebrates like earthworms and crickets to determine potential risk because they are most intimately in contact with the environment and are often used as food sources for higher (more charismatic) organisms. In some cases, the team would get tissue samples of snakes, lizards, alligators or crocodiles to analyze and characterize their exposure to toxicants. Some research has also been conducted on per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) that are found in water repellents and fire-fighting foams, and neonicotinoid insecticides, to address concerns about impacts on non-target animals such as pollinators and birds. Recently, the team has worked with an endangered lizard in West Texas and cottonmouth snakes in East Texas.

• Researching the Natural Occurrence of Perchlorate in Arid Environments: Perchlorate is an oxidizer that occurs naturally, but is also developed commercially to be used in rocket propellants. Much of perchlorate has ended up in various places in the environment, and perchlorate contamination has been extensively studied as it has negative influence on human health, particularly on the thyroid gland. As the thyroid is critical in human development and growth, the disruption of the thyroid homeostasis can become a detrimental problem. Dr. Anderson is interested in whether the perchlorate in its naturally occurring form or in its man-made has an adverse impact.