Community-based research as a mechanism to reduce environmental health disparities in american Indian and alaska native communities.

Racial and ethnic minority communities, including American Indian and Alaska Natives, have been disproportionately impacted by environmental pollution and contamination. This includes siting and location of point sources of pollution, legacies of contamination of drinking and recreational water, and mining, military and agricultural impacts. As a result, both quantity and quality of culturally important subsistence resources are diminished, contributing to poor nutrition and obesity, and overall reductions in quality of life and life expectancy. Climate change is adding to these impacts on Native American communities, variably causing drought, increased flooding and forced relocation affecting tribal water resources, traditional foods, forests and forest resources, and tribal health. This article will highlight several extramural research projects supported by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Science to Achieve Results (STAR) tribal environmental research grants as a mechanism to address the environmental health inequities and disparities faced by tribal communities. The tribal research portfolio has focused on addressing tribal environmental health risks through community based participatory research. Specifically, the STAR research program was developed under the premise that tribal populations may be at an increased risk for environmentally-induced diseases as a result of unique subsistence and traditional practices of the tribes and Alaska Native villages, community activities, occupations and customs, and/or environmental releases that significantly and disproportionately impact tribal lands. Through a series of case studies, this article will demonstrate how grantees-tribal community leaders and members and academic collaborators-have been addressing these complex environmental concerns by developing capacity, expertise and tools through community-engaged research.

Viewing marine bacteria, their activity and response to environmental drivers from orbit: satellite remote sensing of bacteria.

Satellite-based remote sensing of marine microorganisms has become a useful tool in predicting human health risks associated with these microscopic targets. Early applications were focused on harmful algal blooms, but more recently methods have been developed to interrogate the ocean for bacteria. As satellite-based sensors have become more sophisticated and our ability to interpret information derived from these sensors has advanced, we have progressed from merely making fascinating pictures from space to developing process models with predictive capability. Our understanding of the role of marine microorganisms in primary production and global elemental cycles has been vastly improved as has our ability to use the combination of remote sensing data and models to provide early warning systems for disease outbreaks. This manuscript will discuss current approaches to monitoring cyanobacteria and vibrios, their activity and response to environmental drivers, and will also suggest future directions.

Community-based participatory research in Indian country: improving health through water quality research and awareness.

Water has always been held in high respect by the Apsaálooke (Crow) people of Montana. Tribal members questioned the health of the rivers and well water because of visible water quality deterioration and potential connections to illnesses in the community. Community members initiated collaboration among local organizations, the tribe, and academic partners, resulting in genuine community-based participatory research. The article shares what we have learned as tribal members and researchers about working together to examine surface and groundwater contaminants, assess routes of exposure, and use our data to bring about improved health of our people and our waters.

Differentiating copper and arsenic toxicity using biochemical biomarkers in Asellus aquaticus and Dreissena polymorpha.

Biomarkers of metal exposure are well known, but how a suite of such biomarkers will respond if the metal is also an oxidizing agent or causes oxidative stress is unclear. This study compares the effects of copper and arsenic, two metals with different oxidizing potential, on freshwater invertebrates. Dreissena polymorpha and Asellus aquaticus were exposed to nominal concentrations of copper (100 microg/L) or arsenic (80 microg/L) over 7 days, and physiological stress was examined by measuring metallothionein (MT) induction, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), and Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase activity. Both species showed increased levels of MT during 7-day Cu exposure tests and transient changes in lipid peroxidation (TBARS) which decreased to control levels by day 7. Arsenic had no effect on TBARS and only a transitory effect on MT in D. polymorpha over 7 days, although it initially induced lipid peroxidation in A. aquaticus on day 3. No inhibition of the Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase enzyme was observed for exposed organisms, and baseline values reported here, for A. aquaticus, 1.1 micromol Pi/mg/h, and for D. polymorpha, 0.38 micromol Pi/mg/h, are probably the first reported for these species.

U.S. drinking water challenges in the twenty-first century.

The access of almost all 270 million U.S. residents to reliable, safe drinking water distinguishes the United States in the twentieth century from that of the nineteenth century. The United States is a relatively water-abundant country with moderate population growth; nonetheless, current trends are sufficient to strain water resources over time, especially on a regional basis. We have examined the areas of public water infrastructure, global climate effects, waterborne disease (including emerging and resurging pathogens), land use, groundwater, surface water, and the U.S. regulatory history and its horizon. These issues are integrally interrelated and cross all levels of public and private jurisdictions. We conclude that U.S. public drinking water supplies will face challenges in these areas in the next century and that solutions to at least some of them will require institutional changes.