About

Bangning Zhang, DrPH, MPH, is an Instructional Assistant Professor in Epidemiology & Biostatistics at the School of Public Health, Texas A&M University. His educational background includes a DrPH in Epidemiology and Environmental Health from Texas A&M University, an MPH in Environmental and Global Health from the University of Florida, and a BS in Biomedical Science Molecular and Biology from Southeast Missouri State University. His research interests focus on environmental epidemiology, maternal and child health epidemiology, and childhood cancer epidemiology. Zhang has been involved in various public health roles, including positions with the Harris County Public Health Medical Reserve Corps, the Florida Department of Health, and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, where he gained experience as an epidemiologist and environmental health specialist. His work has contributed to understanding the carcinogenicity of chemicals in hydraulic fracturing fluids, the potential health risks following environmental incidents such as fertilizer warehouse fires, and the association between hydraulic fracturing activities and birth defects. Zhang is actively engaged in teaching public health data management, epidemiological methods for maternal and childhood health, and holds certifications in environmental regulation, laboratory safety, and research ethics.

Research topics

• Psychology
• Computer science
• Social psychology
• Clinical psychology
• Materials science

Selected publications

• Associations between occurrence of birth defects and hydraulic fracturing activities in Barnett shale region, Texas

  Heliyon · 2023-04-01 · 6 citations

  articleOpen access

  The impacts of hydraulic fracturing (HF) on birth defects have been suggested by previous studies but remain largely inconclusive. In this study, we assessed whether pregnant women who lived in areas with high HF activities had increased risks of giving birth to offspring with overall or specific birth defects, including atrial septal defect (ASD), ventricular septal defect (VSD), patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), microcephaly (MIC), and hydrocephaly without spina bifida (HSB). All live births between 1999 and 2014 among the residents in the four core counties of Denton, Johnson, Tarrant, and Wise in the Barnett Shale region, Texas, were analyzed. Standardized Morbidity Ratio (SMR) and Poisson regressions were applied for statistical analysis. Compared to the statewide risk, the risks of ASD, VSD, and PDA in four selected counties with high HF activities were significantly higher. The Annual Natural Gas Production from HF was significantly correlated with risks of ASD, PDA, MIC, and total birth defect after adjusting for counties and years. No significant associations of HF activities were found with VSD and HSB. This ecological study suggested that hydraulic fracturing might be associated with the increased risk of some birth defects in the Barnett Shale Region, TX, which warrants further investigations due to the limitation of an ecological study design.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Potential Increased Risk of Trisomy 18 Observed After a Fertilizer Warehouse Fire in Brazos County and TX

  International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · 2020-04-08 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  BACKGROUND: In this paper, we aimed to investigate the potential impacts of a fire accident in a fertilizer warehouse on chromosomal anomalies, including Trisomy 21 (T21) and Trisomy (T18) among pregnancies in Brazos County, Texas. We conducted an observational study in Brazos County, TX, with all patients of T18 and T21 cases in the live births in Brazos County between 2005-2014. The prevalence of T18 and T21 before, during, and after the accident in Brazos County were calculated and compared. The Standardized Morbidity Ratio (SMR) was applied to compare the prevalence of T18 and T21 in Brazos County to the statewide prevalence in Texas after adjusting for maternal race and age. Compared with statewide risk, the risk of T18 during the impacted years in Brazos county was found to be significantly higher (SMR = 5.0, 95% Confidence Interval(CI): 2.19-9.89), while there was no significant difference before (SMR = 0.77, 0.13-2.54) and after the accident (SMR = 0.71, 0.12-2.36). However, the prevalence of T21 during the impacted years was not significantly different from those before or after the accident. This study conclusively suggests that this fertilizer fire may be related to the increased prevalence of T18 in Brazos County, though the findings warrant further investigation.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A systematic assessment of carcinogenicity of chemicals in hydraulic-fracturing fluids and flowback water

  Environmental Pollution · 2019-04-06 · 18 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Tianjun Sun

  Kansas State University

  23 shared

• Jing Luo

  15 shared

• Brent W. Roberts

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  8 shared

• Mengyang Cao

  8 shared

• Fritz Drasgow

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  7 shared

• Jian Li

  Beijing Normal University

  7 shared

• Daniel K. Mroczek

  Northwestern University

  6 shared

• Louis Tay

  Purdue University West Lafayette

  5 shared

Awards & honors

• Texas A&M Center for Teaching Excellence Award
• Certificate, Academy for Future Faculty