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

北极地区受到多种来源的持久性有机污染物(POP)的污染，包括数千个以前使用过的国防(FUD)地点。随着气候变暖，结合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。研究小组正在通过参与性研究方法与乌纳拉斯加州的Qawalangin部落和乌纳拉斯加市密切合作，以了解乌纳拉斯加岛上人类接触持久性有机污染物的风险。社区驱动的联合生产方法能够继续保持具有重要文化意义的生存生活方式，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。结果将为FUD地点的管理和补救工作提供信息，从而提供知识，以做出关于当地资源的知情决定，并将当地人口面临的健康危害降至最低。社区参与的研究包括研讨会、访谈和一个环境监测学院，以收集信息和样本，以满足社区的优先需求。正在举办讲习班和访谈，以确定社区驱动的、与以部落自决为基础的持久性有机污染物可持续管理有关的系统范围内的研究问题。环境监测学院包括关于自给饮食的营养益处、污染物的来源和对健康的影响、环境测绘、采样技术、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课程和实地练习。学生收集和分析环境样本，这些样本对于全面了解FUD现场污染至关重要。为了跟踪更广泛的影响，我们在研讨会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工具和信息来解决围绕POP的问题。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.