Barbara Harper

Conducting Research with Tribal Communities: Sovereignty, Ethics, and Data-Sharing Issues

Background: When conducting research with American Indian tribes, informed consent beyond conventional institutional review board (IRB) review is needed because of the potential for adverse consequences at a community or governmental level that are unrecognized by academic researchers. Objectives: In this article, we review sovereignty, research ethics, and data-sharing considerations when doing community-based participatory health–related or natural-resource–related research with American Indian nations and present a model material and data-sharing agreement that meets tribal and university requirements. Discussion: Only tribal nations themselves can identify potential adverse outcomes, and they can do this only if they understand the assumptions and methods of the proposed research. Tribes must be truly equal partners in study design, data collection, interpretation, and publication. Advances in protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) are also applicable to IRB reviews, as are principles of sovereignty and indigenous rights, all of which affect data ownership and control. Conclusions: Academic researchers engaged in tribal projects should become familiar with all three areas: sovereignty, ethics and informed consent, and IPR. We recommend developing an agreement with tribal partners that reflects both health-related IRB and natural-resource–related IPR considerations.

Issues in evaluating fish consumption rates for Native American tribes.

The environmental health goals of many Native American tribes are to restore natural resources and ensure that they are safe to harvest and consume in traditional subsistence quantities. Therefore, it is important to tribes to accurately estimate risks incurred through the consumption of subsistence foods. This article explores problems in conventional fish consumption survey methods used in widely cited tribal fish consumption reports. The problems arise because of the following: (1) widely cited reports do not clearly state what they intend to do with the data supporting these reports, (2) data collection methods are incongruent with community norms and protocols, (3) data analysis methods omit or obscure the highest consumer subset of the population, (4) lack of understanding or recognition of tribal health co-risk factors, and (5) restrictive policies that do not allow inclusion of tribal values within state or federal actions. In particular, the data collection and analysis methods in current tribal fish consumption surveys result in the misunderstanding that tribal members are satisfied with eating lower contemporary amounts of fish and shellfish, rather than the subsistence amounts that their cultural heritage and aboriginal rights indicate. A community-based interview method developed in collaboration with and used by the Swinomish Tribe is suggested as a way to gather more accurate information on contemporary consumption rates. For traditional subsistence rates, a multidisciplinary reconstruction method is recommended.

Determination of parent and hydroxy PAHs in personal PM2.5 and urine samples collected during Native American fish smoking activities

A method was developed for the measurement of 19 parent PAHs (PAHs) and 34 hydroxylated PAHs (OH-PAHs) in urine and personal air samples of particulate matter less than 2.5 μm in diameter (PM₂.₅) using GC-MS and validated using NIST SRM 3672 (Organic Contaminants in Smokers Urine) and SRM 3673 (Organic Contaminants in Nonsmokers Urine). The method was used to measure PAHs and OH-PAHs in urine and personal PM₂.₅ samples collected from the operators of two different fish smoking facilities (tipi and smoke shed) burning two different wood types (alder and apple) on the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) while they smoked salmon. Urine samples were spiked with β-glucuronidase/arylsulfatase to hydrolyze the conjugates of OH-PAHs and the PAHs and OH-PAHs were extracted using Plexa and C18 solid phases, in series. The 34 OH-PAHs were derivatized using MTBSTFA, and the mixture was measured by GC-MS. The personal PM₂.₅ samples were extracted using pressurized liquid extraction, derivatized with MTBSTFA and analyzed by GC-MS for PAHs and OH-PAHs. Fourteen isotopically labeled surrogates were added to accurately quantify PAHs and OH-PAHs in the urine and PM₂.₅ samples and three isotopically labeled internal standards were used to calculate the recovery of the surrogates. Estimated detection limits in urine ranged from 6.0 to 181 pg/ml for OH-PAHs and from 3.0 to 90 pg/ml for PAHs, and, in PM₂.₅, they ranged from 5.2 to 155 pg/m(3) for OH-PAHs and from 2.5 to 77 pg/m(3) for PAHs. The results showed an increase in OH-PAH concentrations in urine after 6h of fish smoking and an increase in PAH concentrations in air within each smoking facility. In general, the PAH exposure in the smoke shed was higher than in the tipi and the PAH exposure from burning apple wood was higher than burning alder.

Effect of Native American Fish Smoking Methods on Dietary Exposure to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Possible Risks to Human Health

Although it is known that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) can be found in smoked meats, little is known about their prevalence in Native American smoked fish. In this work, the effect of traditional Native American fish smoking methods on dietary exposure to PAHs and possible risks to human health has been assessed. Smoking methods considered smoking structure (tipi or shed) and wood type (apple or alder). Neither smoking structure nor wood type accounted for differences in smoked salmon content of 33 PAHs. Carcinogenic and noncarcinogenic PAH loads in traditionally smoked salmon were 40-430 times higher than those measured in commercial products. Dietary exposure to PAHs could result in excess lifetime cancer risks between 1 × 10(-5) and 1 × 10(-4) at a daily consumption rate of 5 g d(-1) and could approach 1 × 10(-2) at 300 g d(-1). Hazard indexes approached 0.005 at 5 g d(-1), or approximately 0.3 at 300 g d(-1). Levels of PAHs present in smoked salmon prepared using traditional Native American methods may pose elevated cancer risks if consumed at high consumption rates over many years.

The Spokane Tribe's Multipathway Subsistence Exposure Scenario and Screening Level RME

Exposure scenarios are a critical part of risk assessment; however, representative scenarios are not generally available for tribal communities where a traditional subsistence lifestyle and diet are relevant and actively encouraged. This article presents portions of a multipathway exposure scenario developed by AESE, Inc. in conjunction with the Spokane Tribal Cultural Resources Program. The scenario serves as the basis for a screening-level reasonable maximum exposure (RME) developed for the Midnite Uranium Mine Superfund site. The process used in developing this scenario balances the need to characterize exposures without revealing proprietary information. The scenario and resulting RME reflect the subsistence use of original and existing natural resources by a hypothetical but representative family living on the reservation at or near the mine site. The representative family lives in a house in a sparsely populated conifer forest, tends a home garden, partakes in a high rate of subsistence activities (hunting, gathering, fishing), uses a sweat lodge daily, has a regular schedule of other cultural activities, and has members employed in outdoor monitoring of natural and cultural resources. The scenario includes two largely subsistence diets based on fish or game, both of which include native plants and home-grown produce. Data gaps and sources of uncertainty are identified. Additional information that risk assessors and agencies need to understand before doing any kind of risk assessment or public health assessment in tribal situations is presented.

Metabolism and Excretion Rates of Parent and Hydroxy-PAHs in Urine Collected after Consumption of Traditionally Smoked Salmon for Native American Volunteers

Few studies have been published on the excretion rates of parent polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and hydroxy-polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (OH-PAHs) following oral exposure. This study investigated the metabolism and excretion rates of 4 parent PAHs and 10 OH-PAHs after the consumption of smoked salmon. Nine members of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation consumed 50 g of traditionally smoked salmon with breakfast and five urine samples were collected during the following 24 h. The concentrations of OH-PAHs increased from 43.9 μg/g creatinine for 2-OH-Nap to 349 ng/g creatinine for 1-OH-Pyr, 3 to 6 h post-consumption. Despite volunteers following a restricted diet, there appeared to be a secondary source of naphthalene and fluorene, which led to excretion efficiencies greater than 100%. For the parent PAHs that were detected in urine, the excretion efficiencies ranged from 13% for phenanthrene (and its metabolite) to 240% for naphthalene (and its metabolites). The half-lives for PAHs ranged from 1.4 h for retene to 3.3h for pyrene. The half-lives for OH-PAHs were higher and ranged from 1.7 h for 9-OH-fluorene to 7.0 h for 3-OH-fluorene. The concentrations of most parent PAHs, and their metabolites, returned to the background levels 24 h post-consumption.

Relative Influence of Trans-Pacific and Regional Atmospheric Transport of PAHs in the Pacific Northwest, U.S.

The relative influences of trans-Pacific and regional atmospheric transport on measured concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), PAH derivatives (nitro- (NPAH) and oxy-(OPAH)), organic carbon (OC), and particulate matter (PM) less than 2.5 μm in diameter (PM2.5) were investigated in the Pacific Northwest, U.S. in 2010–2011. Ambient high volume PM2.5 air samples were collected at two sites in the Pacific Northwest: (1.) Mount Bachelor Observatory (MBO) in the Oregon Cascade Range (2763 m above sea level (asl)) and 2.) Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) in the Columbia River Gorge (CRG) (954 m asl). At MBO, the 1,8-dinitropyrene concentration was significantly positively correlated with the time a sampled air mass spent over Asia, suggesting that this NPAH may be a good marker for trans-Pacific atmospheric transport. At CTUIR, NOx, CO2, and SO2 emissions from a 585 MW coal fired power plant, in Boardman OR, were found to be significantly positively correlated with PAH, OPAH, NPAH, OC, and PM2.5 concentrations. By comparing the Boardman Plant operational time frames when the plant was operating to when it was shut down, the plant was found to contribute a large percentage of the measured PAH (67%), NPAH (91%), OPAH (54%), PM2.5 (39%), and OC (38%) concentrations at CTUIR and the CRG prior to Spring 2011 and likely masked trans-Pacific atmospheric transport events to the CRG. Upgrades installed to the Boardman Plant in the spring of 2011 dramatically reduced the plant’s contribution to PAH and OPAH concentrations (by ∼72% and ∼40%, respectively) at CTUIR and the CRG, but not NPAH, PM2.5 or OC concentrations.

Ecological Information Needs for Environmental Justice

The concept that all peoples should have their voices heard on matters that affect their well-being is at the core of environmental justice (EJ). The inability of some people of small towns, rural areas, minority, and low-income communities, to become involved in environmental decisions is sometimes due to a lack of information. We provide a template for the ecological information that is essential to examine environmental risks to EJ populations within average communities, using case studies from South Carolina (Savannah River, a DOE site with minority impacts), Washington (Hanford, a DOE site with Native American impacts), and New Jersey (nonpoint, urbanized community pollution). While the basic ecological and public health information needs for risk evaluations and assessments are well described, less attention has been focused on standardizing information about EJ communities or EJ populations within larger communities. We suggest that information needed about EJ communities and populations includes demographics, consumptive and nonconsumptive uses of their regional environment (for example, maintenance and cosmetic, medicinal/religious/cultural uses), eco-dependency webs, and eco-cultural attributes. A purely demographics approach might not even identify EJ populations or neighborhoods, much less their spatial relation to the impact source or to each other. Using information from three case studies, we illustrate that some information is readily available (e.g., consumption rates for standard items such as fish), but there is less information about medicinal, cultural, religious, eco-cultural dependency webs, and eco-cultural attributes, all of which depend in some way on intact, functioning, and healthy ecosystems.

Subsistence Exposure Scenarios for Tribal Applications

ABSTRACT The article provides an overview of methods that can be used to develop exposure scenarios for unique tribal natural resource usage patterns. Exposure scenarios are used to evaluate the degree of environmental contact experienced by people with different patterns of lifestyle activities, such as residence, recreation, or work. In 1994, U.S. President Bill Clintons Executive Order 12898 recognized that disproportionately high exposures could be incurred by people with traditional subsistence lifestyles because of their more intensive contact with natural resources. Since then, we have developed several tribal exposure scenarios that reflect tribal-specific traditional lifeways. These scenarios are not necessarily intended to capture contemporary resource patterns, but to describe how the resources were used before contamination or degradation, and will be used once again in fully traditional ways after cleanup and restoration. The direct exposure factors for inhalation and soil ingestion rates are the same in each tribal scenario, but the diets are unique to each tribe and its local ecology, natural foods, and traditional practices. Scenarios, in part or in whole, also have other applications, such as developing environmental standards, evaluating disproportionate exposures, developing sampling plans, planning for climate change, or evaluating service flows as part of natural resource damage assessments.