Reaching across the border with the SBRP.

The border between Mexico and the United States is an artificial line dividing a geographical region that is otherwise ecologically, economically, and culturally integrated. Despite its artificiality, the border between Mexico and the United States strongly affects the way environmental and human health problems are addressed in the region where these two nations meet. Historically, relations between the United States and Mexico have been unbalanced, with the former controlling vastly more monetary resources and technical expertise than the latter. Although Mexico's environmental laws are comparable to those of the United States, they are less consistently enforced. Similarly, the United States has conducted environmental assessments in its border states, but this is yet to be done in the Mexican border states. These imbalances have made it difficult to identify and mitigate existing environmental health problems and prevent new ones from arising in the border zone. Today, international initiatives to address such problems are expanding. Among these are outreach efforts as part of the NIEHS Superfund Basic Research Program (SBRP) to forge ties among researchers and policy makers in both countries. Efforts to strengthen Mexican environmental health expertise along the border are under way within SBRP pro-Although all three programs engage in cross-border projects and conduct basic research on contaminants of concern, the UA SBRP program emphasizes undergraduate, graduate , and community education as well. The border region extends just over 60 miles each way north and south of the boundary line and stretches 2,000 miles from east to west. across the invisible line. The region currently has a population of approximately 12 million, and the bination-al U.S.–Mexico Border Health Commission estimates that number will double by 2025. The border zone has numerous environmental health problems , and these are expected to worsen as its population increases. Arsenic occurs naturally in groundwater throughout the desert region, increasing the risk of diabetes mellitus, reproductive disorders, and bladder, skin, and lung cancers. Mine tailings— some 300,000 acres' worth in Arizona alone, according to A. Jay Gandolfi, a professor in the UA College of Pharmacy and Toxicology—leach metals including lead and mercury into surface waters. As a result, residents are threatened with anemia, convulsions, and learning and motor disabilities in the case of lead, and central nervous system damage (including tremors and confusion) and behavior and memory problems in the case of mercury. In the border zone, agricultural workers are exposed to pesticides such as …