# Project 1 - Environmental Project 1 - EP1 - Immobilization of U, As, and Co-occurring Metals in Mine Wastes

> **NIH NIH P42** · UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO HEALTH SCIS CTR · 2021 · $255,263

## Abstract

PROJECT 1 – ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECT 1 – EP1 - PROJECT SUMMARY 
Environmental Project 1 will make use of ubiquitous resources both by geochemically customized 
immobilization strategies making use of existing minerals in mine wastes, as well as exploiting bioaccumulation 
patterns from local plant root systems. Biogeochemical and mass transfer interfacial processes will be 
investigated through bench scale experiments using field sediment samples, integrating aqueous chemistry, 
molecular environmental microbiology, mathematical models, advanced microscopy, and spectroscopy tools. 
We hypothesize that ubiquitous mineral phases and plants can be used to immobilize metal mixtures under 
surface oxidizing conditions. 
Environmental Project 1 will have an invaluable impact on the Pueblo and Navajo communities that live in the 
proximity of abandoned mine wastes sites. Through the integration of advanced techniques at the cutting- 
edge of environmental science and engineering, we will investigate reactions and mechanisms at the 
molecular level to understand macro-scale processes. We will engineer phytoremediation strategies using 
biogeochemistry tools and reactive transport modeling, together with Next Generation Sequencing analyses 
(metagenome for rhizosphere experiments). We will use a combination of in-vitro and greenhouse 
experiments to define specific phytoremediation approaches to decrease metal contamination in soils which 
will be tested in pilot studies. The participating Pueblo and Navajo communities and UNM METALS scientists 
will produce new knowledge that can be applied to thousands of other existing abandoned mine waste sites.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10139043
- **Project number:** 5P42ES025589-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO HEALTH SCIS CTR
- **Principal Investigator:** Jose Manuel Cerrato
- **Activity code:** P42 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $255,263
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-08-15 → 2022-09-19

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10139043

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10139043, Project 1 - Environmental Project 1 - EP1 - Immobilization of U, As, and Co-occurring Metals in Mine Wastes (5P42ES025589-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10139043. Licensed CC0.

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