Butte, Montana, is home to approximately 35,000 residents living adjacent to one of the largest concentrated areas of environmental contamination in the United States. While the decommissioned Berkeley Pit copper mine has garnered national attention as a Superfund site, fewer people are as aware that other open-pit mines continue to operate in close proximity to Butte’s urban population, according to Hailer. At the time of this Cafè Scientifique, most scientific research had focused on assessing water and soil contamination related to past decades of mining. Hailer’s talk instead focused on modern mining operations’ ongoing effects on air pollution and soil contamination and the potential health consequences for local residents.

Dr. Hailer’s presentation covered her research methodology, which included collecting blood and hair samples from Butte residents, using these samples to determine the overall concentration of metals in their bodies, and comparing these readings with samples taken from a control population in Bozeman. Dr. Hailer also discuseds her original findings, which included statistically higher levels of copper, manganese, and molybdenum in Butte residents compared to the control group in Bozeman. She also discussed follow-up research conducted in 2014 and 2015, which revealed elevated levels of copper, manganese, lead, selenium and zinc in hair and blood samples coming from Butte residents. 

Although preliminary, Hailer’s findings are significant because the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, a component of the National Institutes of Health, lists metal exposure as an environmental risk factor linked to neurodegenerative disorders like dementia. The role of metals in neurodegeneration is a rapidly expanding field of scientific research involving contributions from molecular genetics, biochemistry, and biometal imaging. Hailer hopes to conduct further research into how chronic exposure to metal mixtures might play a role in activating dormant genetic medical conditions.

About the Presenter

Dr. Hailer is an associate professor of biochemistry at Montana Tech of the University of Montana. She received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from West Virginia University and a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Montana. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., before teaching at Winona State University from 2007-2009. Hailer joined Montana Tech’s chemistry department in 2010.

 

The Café Scientifique was co-sponsored by Montana INBRE and Montana State University COBRE programs.