Collaborative Research: Sustainable management of human organic pollutant exposure (HOPE) at formerly used defense sites in the changing Arctic

北极受到来自许多来源的持久性有机污染物（POPs）的污染，包括数千个以前使用的国防（FUD）场地。随着气候变暖，一直束缚在北极土壤中的持久性有机污染物变得更具流动性，并进入食物链，最终增加了接触持久性有机污染物对人类健康的风险。研究小组正通过参与性研究方法与乌纳拉斯卡的Qawalangin部落和乌纳拉斯卡市密切合作，以了解乌纳拉斯卡岛上人类接触持久性有机污染物的风险。社区驱动的合作生产方法能够延续文化上重要的自给生活方式，培训居民进行研究和管理技术，并促进积极和可持续的公共卫生风险管理。研究结果将为FUD场址的管理和补救工作提供信息，从而提供知识，以便对当地资源作出知情决定，并尽量减少当地人口面临的健康危害。社区参与的研究包括讲习班、访谈和环境监测学院，以收集社区优先需要的信息和样本。正在举办讲习班和面谈，以确定由社区推动并在系统规模上与基于部落自决的持久性有机污染物的可持续管理有关的研究问题。环境监测学院包括关于维持生计饮食的营养效益、污染物的来源和对健康的影响、环境制图、抽样技术、分析仪器的操作以及适当的质量保证/质量控制程序的课堂教学和实地练习。学生收集和分析环境样本，这对全面了解FUD场地污染至关重要。为了跟踪更广泛的影响，我们在讲习班和学院结束时进行问卷调查，以评估社区在多大程度上获得了解决持久性有机污染物问题的工具和信息。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The Arctic is contaminated by persistent organic pollutants (POPs) from many sources, including thousands of formerly used defense (FUD) sites. As the climate warms, POPs that had been bound in Arctic soils become more mobile and enter the food chain, ultimately increasing human health risks from exposure to POPs. The research team is collaborating closely with the Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska and City of Unalaska through a participatory research approach to understand the risks of human exposure to POPs on Unalaska Island. The community-driven co-production approach enables the continuation of culturally important subsistence lifestyles, trains residents for research and management techniques, and fosters proactive and sustainable public health risk management. The results will inform management and remediation efforts at FUD sites and thereby provide knowledge to make informed decisions about local resources and minimize the health hazards faced by local populations. The community-engaged research includes workshops, interviews, and an environmental monitoring academy to collect the information and samples for priority community needs. Workshops and interviews are being conducted to identify research questions that are community-driven and at a system scale related to sustainable management of POPs grounded in tribal self-determination. The environmental monitoring academy includes classroom sessions and field exercises on nutritional benefits of a subsistence diet, sources and health effects of contaminants, environmental mapping, sampling techniques, operation of analytical instruments, and appropriate quality assurance/quality control procedures. Students collect and analyze environmental samples that are critical for comprehensive understanding of FUD site pollution. To track broader impacts, we are administering questionnaires at the end of workshops and academies to assess the extent to which the community is gaining tools and information to address issues surrounding POPs.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.