Uranium in Food Grown in an American Indian Community

美洲印第安人社区种植的食物中含有铀

基本信息

批准号：
8200092
负责人：
Christine Samuel-Nakamura
金额：
$ 3.42万
依托单位：
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
财政年份：
2012
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2012-01-01 至 2013-12-31
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8200092
关键词：
Advocacy Affect Agriculture American Indians Animals Area Awareness Behavior Blood Circulation Botanicals Breathing Cardiovascular system Characteristics Chronic Cohort Studies Communities Comparative Study Consumption Coupled Data Deposition Domestic Sheep Education Educational Intervention Enrollment Environmental Health Evaluation Exposure to Food Food Chain Future Goals Gray unit of radiation dose Harvest Health Heavy Metals Herb Home environment Housing Human Impact evaluation Indian reservation Individual Ingestion Intervention Irrigation Kidney Kilogram Knowledge Leadership Left Life Liver Livestock Mass Spectrum Analysis Melons Military Personnel Mining Monitor Navajo Nervous system structure New Mexico Newsletter Outcomes Research Parents Participant Pathway interactions Plants Plasma Play Poaceae Policy Developments Population Precipitation Prevention Publications Questionnaires Radial Reporting Research Reservations Resources Respondent Risk Risk Factors Route Sampling Shapes Sheep Site Soil Source Squash Statutes and Laws Structure Study Subject Surface Tail Tissues Toxic effect Uranium Water animal data anthropogenesis base bean bone cohort drinking food chain contamination muscular system neighborhood safety response uptake wasting

项目摘要

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The broad, long-term objective of this study is to identify the health risks and impact of uranium (U) contamination on harvested animals and plants on the Dini (formerly known as Navajo) reservation. This study provides a food chain assessment of U exposure in an American Indian (AI) reservation in northwestern New Mexico. The study setting was a prime target of U mining for military purposes from 1945 to 1988. More than 1,100 unreclaimed abandoned U mines and structures remain. These abandoned U mines, structures and tailings contaminate the land and vegetation on which humans and livestock consume. The specific aims of the study are to: (1) describe the dietary behavior in Dini residents specifically related to ingestion of locally harvested animals and plants; (2) compare U levels in locally harvested animals and plants from areas known to have high levels of environmental U contamination to those from areas known to have low levels of U contamination; (3) explore potential routes of U exposure for locally harvested plants and animals; and (4) disseminate study findings to the leadership and community on the Navajo reservation. This is a comparison study examining contamination levels in locally harvested animals and plants from reservation areas known to have high levels of environmental U contamination to those from areas known to have low levels of U contamination. Data obtained from the parent study or the DiNEH (Dini Network for Environmental Health) cohort (N=1,304) will serve as the source from which to identify subjects and samples for the research. Of the DiNEH cohort respondents, those individuals who reported positively to questionnaire responses to harvesting sheep (n=280) and crops (n=180) will be selected into the present study. Animal data U levels will be determined on a scale of micrograms (<g) per kilogram (kg) and plants will be reported at Parts Per Million (PPM). Commonly harvested foodstuffs will be examined in this community. Uranium concentration levels will be derived from harvested Ovis aries or sheep (n=38), botanicals including herbs and forage (n=26), crops (n=98), and soil utilizing Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). The representative animal (O. aries), crops (e.g. corn, squash, beans, melon), and plant materials including local forage grasses and herbs will be collected from sample areas within a two mile (3.2 km) radius from the central part of abandoned U mines, tailings/waste piles, and structures. The study will explore potential routes (e.g. water and soil) of U exposure for locally harvested plants and animals. Environmental assessments of soil will be integrated with the National Uranium Resource Evaluation (NURE) and DiNEH data. This research will determine if locally harvested animals and plants on the Dini Reservation are safe for consumption. Study findings will be disseminated and educational information will be provided to the Dini community via newsletters, community and chapter house forums. Findings of U concentration levels will be valuable for predicting U transfer to harvested food and for conducting future evaluations of the impacts of U mining on critical food chain. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This study will examine the dietary contributory risk factors of anthropogenic uranium exposure in harvested food chain among the Navajo Dini population. This a descriptive comparative study that has the potential to answer scientific questions for various communities that rely heavily on locally grown food exposed to mining contamination; the study will augment further inquiry, prevention efforts, intervention, monitoring, education, support legislation, policy development, and advocacy.

描述（由申请人提供）：本研究的广泛、长期目标是确定铀 (U) 污染对迪尼（以前称为纳瓦霍）保留地收获的动植物的健康风险和影响。本研究对新墨西哥州西北部美洲印第安人 (AI) 保留地的 U 暴露进行了食物链评估。该研究地点是 1945 年至 1988 年间军事用途铀采矿的主要目标。至今仍有 1,100 多个未回收的废弃铀矿和建筑物。这些废弃的铀矿、建筑物和尾矿污染了人类和牲畜赖以生存的土地和植被。该研究的具体目的是：（1）描述迪尼居民的饮食行为，特别是与摄入当地收获的动植物有关； (2) 比较来自已知环境铀污染水平高的地区和已知环境铀污染水平低的地区当地收获的动植物中的铀水平； (3) 探索当地收获的动植物的潜在U暴露途径； (4) 向领导层和社区传播有关纳瓦霍保留地的研究结果。这是一项比较研究，检查来自已知环境铀污染水平较高的保留区与已知环境铀污染水平较低的地区的当地收获的动植物的污染水平。从母研究或 DiNEH（迪尼环境健康网络）队列 (N=1,304) 获得的数据将作为确定研究对象和样本的来源。在 DiNEH 队列受访者中，那些对收获绵羊 (n = 280) 和农作物 (n = 180) 的问卷回答呈阳性的个人将被选入本研究。动物数据 U 水平将以微克 (<g) 每千克 (kg) 为单位确定，植物数据将以百万分率 (PPM) 为单位进行报告。通常收获的食品将在该社区进行检查。铀浓度水平将利用电感耦合等离子体质谱法 (ICP-MS) 从收获的绵羊或绵羊 (n=38)、包括草药和饲料在内的植物 (n=26)、农作物 (n=98) 和土壤中获得。代表性动物（O. aries）、农作物（例如玉米、南瓜、豆类、瓜类）和植物材料（包括当地饲料草和草药）将从距中心部分 2 英里（3.2 公里）半径范围内的样本区域采集。废弃的 U 矿、尾矿/废物堆和建筑物。该研究将探索当地收获的植物和动物暴露于U的潜在途径（例如水和土壤）。土壤环境评估将与国家铀资源评估 (NURE) 和 DiNEH 数据相结合。这项研究将确定迪尼保护区当地收获的动植物是否可以安全食用。研究结果将通过时事通讯、社区和分会论坛向迪尼社区传播和提供教育信息。铀浓度水平的研究结果对于预测铀向收获食物的转移以及未来评估铀开采对关键食物链的影响非常有价值。公共卫生相关性：本研究将调查纳瓦霍迪尼人收获食物链中人为铀暴露的饮食危险因素。这是一项描述性比较研究，有可能为严重依赖受到采矿污染的当地种植食品的各个社区回答科学问题；该研究将加强进一步的调查、预防工作、干预、监测、教育、支持立法、政策制定和宣传。