Since 2000, the UK-SRP Community Outreach Core has provided support and guidance through critical information on nutrition and health-related issues to meet the needs of individuals and communities affected by environmental contaminants. This purpose is underscored through its title, Superfund Community Action through Nutrition (SCAN).

During previous funding, SCAN established a close collaboration with a community group in Kentucky, and SCAN programs, endorsed by this community group, provided a new service resource for nutrition and scientific information.

The goal of SCAN is to empower affected individuals and communities to take proactive steps toward their own health by drawing on the strength of the nutrition-related research from UK-SBRP. The specific aims of SCAN are:

1. further develop and present SCAN nutrition and environmental health education programs for a new third site in central Kentucky and the previously established community constituents;

2. further define SCAN's nutrition education message and enhanced recommendations that diets low in fat and high in phytonutrients and fiber may reduce the toxicity of PCBs and related compounds as reported by UK SBRP's biomedical researchers;

3. develop new, tangible qualitative outcome measures of SCAN programs as to improved knowledge and attitudes of health risks associated with exposure to environmental contaminants and the influence of nutrition on these risks with consideration of sensitive issues, such as community characteristics and pending litigation that may impede quantitative measures; and

4. further establish trust with identified community constituents in order to provide advanced SCAN programs, which show changes in nutrition and health-related behaviors and improved nutritional status.

Results of SCAN programs will be used to design new nutrition education and diet strategies for individuals, families, and communities to enable them to optimize their health in the face of exposure to Superfund contaminants.