Project 2 Abstract People and animals can be unintentionally exposed to complex mixtures of hazardous chemicals following natural and man-made disasters. A major challenge associated with these emergencies is the protection of: 1) vulnerable communities and neighborhoods located near the site of impact, 2) first responders, and 3) those involved in management and cleanup of the site. Of immediate concern during hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, fires, acts of terrorism, and chemical spills is the associated re-distribution of contaminated sediment and soil and its impact on the safety of the municipal water supply and food being consumed near the site. Potable water can be rapidly depleted and food can become contaminated during these events, increasing the risk of unintended exposure to hazardous substances. Thus, the ability to minimize human and animal exposures to complex chemical mixtures during disaster events is an attractive option. Our Aims in Project 2 focus on developing and testing the efficacy of broad-acting enterosorbent materials for prioritized Superfund chemicals and chemical mixtures from several sites where hazardous substances may be mobilized and contaminate food and water during disaster events, such as the Galveston Bay/Houston Ship Channel area. We will also characterize the thermodynamics and fundamental mechanisms involved in the resulting chemical/surface interactions between these sorbent materials and chemicals. We will develop sorbents with high affinity, capacity, and enthalpy for complex mixtures of commonly occurring polychlorinated aromatic hydrocarbons, PCBs, dioxins/furans, high use industrial solvents, plasticizers, pesticides and metals. We will also use a Cnidarian model system (Hydra vulgaris) to predict the toxicity and efficacy of sorbents at the whole animal level against reconstituted (“design”) and “real-life” chemical mixtures. Hydra possess a very low tolerance for environmental chemicals (including PAHs, organic solvents, plasticizers, pesticides and metals) and their aquatic nature makes them ideal for assessing the toxicity of contaminated water. The long-term goal of this work is to deploy the novel enterosorbent materials developed in this project in communities at risk of unintended exposure to hazardous substances during disasters, in order to decrease the bioavailability of toxic environmental contaminants in the gastrointestinal tract and reduce the adverse health effects of exposure during disaster emergencies. We anticipate that the optimal sorbents developed in Project 2 can be included in food (such as snacks), condiments, and flavored water, or delivered by sachet or capsule. Project 2 will work closely with the Community Engagement Core and Research Translation Core to gauge interest within at-risk populations and the feasibility of using enterosorbent materials to minimize the health hazards posed by unintentional exposures from water and food during chemical emergencies.