Mary Kay O'Rourke

Education: 

• BA, Geology, Alfred University (1972)
• M.S., Geosciences, University of Arizona (1976)
• Ph.D., Geosciences, University of Arizona (1986)

Mary Kay O'Rourke has research experience directing large exposure assessment field surveys and evaluating exposure at the household level for a variety of analytes. From 1986-93, she participated in an EPA funded project with Dr. Michael Lebowitz and others evaluating respiratory response to regional and household level (indoor and outdoor) PM10& 2.5, NOx, pollen, fungi, and house dust mites. From 1993-2000 she was the Co-PI responsible for field implementation of the National Human Exposure Assessment Survey (NHEXAS) in Arizona, and a follow-up project focused on the Arizona side of the US Mexico Border (The Arizona Border Survey). In these exposure assessment studies, extensive multimedia, multipathway collections of indoor and outdoor air, dust, soil, food, beverage, water, dermal wipes, blood and urine were obtained from residents in 265 homes using standardized protocols, and examined for metal, pesticide, VOC and PAH exposures. From 1999-2004 she implemented two EPA funded STAR projects evaluating children’s exposure to pesticide in Yuma County, Arizona. Six hundred children between the ages of 2-6 were screened for urinary pesticide biomarkers and 68 homes were sampled for selected media using portions of the NHEXAS protocol. She was the PI on an ADCRC project where she directed a telephone survey of over 19,000 households and recruited 5,000 people. A nested case-control study of Valley Fever (n = 240) was developed evaluating household parameters and soil exposures. In the NIH BAsES study, working with Drs. Harris and Burgess, among others, she conducted a bounding study of arsenic exposure via drinking water in the states of Arizona and Sonora, Mexico. In recent work with Drs. Kurzius Spencer and Burgess, among others, she has examined arsenic exposure through the dietary pathway. She is currently a Co-Lead on the Hopi Environmental Health Project evaluating indoor air quality and cumulate arsenic exposure on respiratory health and lead of the Exposure Science Core working with various tribes on environmental issues of concern.

Environmental research interests - The impact of ambient and indoor air quality on respiratory health. Multimedia, multipathway exposure assessment. The impact of aggregate and cumulative pollutant exposures on human health.