Formerly used defense sites on islands in the Bering Sea: hotspots of contamination and health risks to local communities and wildlife

• Main Author: Jordan Ward, Renee
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: QP Physiology; Arctic; Bering Sea; Lawrence Island; St Lawrence Island; Alaska
• Online Access: https://openknowledge.nau.edu/id/eprint/5889/; https://openknowledge.nau.edu/id/eprint/5889/1/Jordan_Ward_2022_formerly_used_defense_sites_on_islands_bering_sea_hot.pdf

The Arctic is an important indicator region for assessing properties and effects of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). The Arctic is subject to atmospheric deposition of globally distilled POPs, acting as a hemispheric sink for POPs that are transported from lower latitudes. Additionally, the Arctic contains thousands of contaminated formerly used defense (FUD) sites dating from World War II and the Cold War, many of which are co-located with rural communities and remain significant sources of POPs. The Arctic is therefore a repository of persistent chemicals that are readily transported through the atmosphere or that are released from FUD sites. Once POPs enter the Arctic, low temperatures and low intensity sunlight slow their deterioration, which makes them available for long-term incorporation into biological systems, especially in lipid-rich arctic food webs. As a result, concentrations of some POPs, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), in the blood of people in certain arctic regions continue to be higher than in general populations of North America and Europe. The Arctic is the home of many Indigenous peoples who rely on a traditional subsistence diet that includes a high proportion of lipid-rich foods such as fish and marine mammals; thus, they may be chronically exposed to dangerous levels of POPs. Because POPs are often endocrine disruptors, carcinogenic, and/or neurotoxic, exposures present important public health concerns for Arctic Indigenous Peoples. My dissertation research focused on health risks posed by FUD sites on Sivuqaq (St. Lawrence Island) and Unalaska Island, Alaska. These islands were used extensively by the U.S. military during WWII and the Cold War, and FUD sites on the islands may contribute to health disparities reported by residents, including high incidence of cancers, thyroid diseases, and reproductive disorders. My dissertation research on Sivuqaq followed a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach and utilized sentinel fishes living near two FUD sites to ...