Utilizing Environmental Analytical Chemistry to Establish Culturally Appropriate Community Partnerships

In the United States, minority communities are disproportionately exposed to environmental contaminants due to a combination of historically discriminatory based racial policies and a lack of social political capital. American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities have additional factors that increase the likelihood of contaminant exposure. Some of these factors include the disparity of social, cultural, and political representation, differences in cultural understandings between AI/AN communities and western populations, and the unique history of tribal sovereignty in the US. Since the 1990s, research from both private and federal organizations have sought to increase research with AI/AN communities. However, although rooted in beneficence, the rift in cultural upbringing can lead to negative outcomes as well as further isolation and misrepresentation of AI/AN communities. Environmental analytical chemistry (EAC) is one approach that provides a means to establish productive and culturally appropriate collaborations with AI/AN populations. EAC is a more holistic approach that incorporates numerous elements and disciplines to understand underlying environmental questions, while allowing direct input from AI/AN communities. Additionally, EAC allows for a myriad of experimental approaches that can be designed for each unique tribal community, to maintain cultural respect and probe individual nuanced questions

The journey travelled – A view of two settings a decade apart

Inclusion is generally recognized as an ongoing, active process which reflects shifts in policies, practice and values as well as political choices made over long periods of time. Although intended as a transformative concept it can also represent a messy compromise between congealed policy positions and contradictory practices. Against this background of compromise and dissatisfaction, this study aims to examine how two schools with clear inclusive aspirations and intentions have weathered the last decade. Drawing upon two research visits ten years apart in which the schools were filmed and members of the school community were interviewed, this study reports on their perception of the journey travelled. Data from the study shows that in both cases there was a shift away from practices which were previously seen as being a route towards greater inclusion. The causes for these shifts were political, economic and social factors underpinned by the pervasive influence of the special education and medical model on the two schools’ practice and principles

Utilizing Environmental Analytical Chemistry to Establish Culturally Appropriate Community Partnerships

In the United States, minority communities are disproportionately exposed to environmental contaminants due to a combination of historically discriminatory based racial policies and a lack of social political capital. Within this demographic, American Indian/Alaskan Native (AI/AN) communities have additional factors that increase the likelihood of contaminant exposure. Some of these factors include the disparity of social, cultural, and political representation, differences in cultural understandings between AI/AN communities and western populations, and the unique history of tribal sovereignty in the US. Research from both private and federal organizations starting in the 1990s led to a change in research agendas that emphasized a push to conduct research with AI/AN communities. However, although many research pursuits may be rooted in beneficence, the rift in cultural upbringing can lead to negative outcomes as well as further isolation and misrepresentation of AI/AN communities. Arguably the most significant example of this breakdown is the Havasupai v Arizona Board of Regents case surrounding the misuse of Havasupai blood samples. The outcome of this case led to many Tribal Nations around the United States increasing their distrust of outsiders, regardless of their organizational affiliation. Despite this sobering example, collaborations with AI/AN communities need not be difficult or tempestuous. However, it does require a change in the existing western scientific approach to both community collaborations as well as how science is viewed. Simply put, researchers must work to overcome the initial distrust many Tribal Nations have towards outsiders, and this attitude must be maintained throughout the duration of the partnership. Some obstacles to collaboration include the amount of time and resource allocation as well as identifying the most culturally appropriate methodology while maintaining scientific rigor. Instead of viewing these hurdles as nuisances, western scientists should view them as challenges and the opportunity to adapt their approaches while still maintaining rigorous and reproducible science. An achievable change in heuristics is to approach these type of collaborations as if one is forging a healthy friendship with another individual. This dissertation exemplifies the benefits of adopting these approaches and outlines four years of effort to secure enough trust with two Tribal Nations, the Cocopah and the Colorado River Indian Tribes, to be allowed to conduct a pilot study within their Tribal lands in full collaboration with their governing body. As part of that four years, in addition to numerous in-person and virtual meetings, preliminary data was gathered to demonstrate the potential harm of environmental contaminants to the Tribal population. It should be noted, although there are similarities in the approved methodologies for the pilot grants with the Tribes, they are distinctly different but still address the underlying concerns of the Tribes. This versatility is one of the hallmark benefits of utilizing environmental analytical chemistry in this capacity. Specifically, it allows researchers numerous modalities to investigate the root causes of the environmental concerns a Tribal Nation may have and can be modified to be unique for each community.Release after 09/15/202

Perspective Developing Successful Collaborative Research Partnerships with AI/AN Communities

In the United States, American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) people are frequently under- or misrepresented in research and health statistics. A principal reason for this disparity is the lack of collaborative partnerships between researchers and tribes. There are hesitations from both academic Western scientists and tribal communities to establish new partnerships due to differences in cultural and scientific understanding, from data ownership and privacy to dissemination and project expansion. An infamous example is the mishandling of samples collected from the Havasupai Tribe by Arizona State University (ASU) scientists, leading to a legal battle between the tribe and ASU and ending in a moratorium of research with the Havasupai people. This paper will explore three successful and positive collaborations with a large and small tribe, including how the partnerships were established and the outcomes of the collaboration. In addition, the paper will provide perspective of what needs to be addressed by Western scientists if productive collaborations with tribal groups are to be established

Quantification of Elemental Contaminants in Unregulated Water across Western Navajo Nation

The geologic profile of the western United States lends itself to naturally elevated levels of arsenic and uranium in groundwater and can be exacerbated by mining enterprises. The Navajo Nation, located in the American Southwest, is the largest contiguous Native American Nation and has over a 100-year legacy of hard rock mining. This study has two objectives, quantify the arsenic and uranium concentrations in water systems in the Arizona and Utah side of the Navajo Nation compared to the New Mexico side and to determine if there are other elements of concern. Between 2014 and 2017, 294 water samples were collected across the Arizona and Utah side of the Navajo Nation and analyzed for 21 elements. Of these, 14 elements had at least one instance of a concentration greater than a national regulatory limit, and six of these (V, Ca, As, Mn, Li, and U) had the highest incidence of exceedances and were of concern to various communities on the Navajo Nation. Our findings are similar to other studies conducted in Arizona and on the Navajo Nation and demonstrate that other elements may be a concern for public health beyond arsenic and uranium.National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences/Center for Indigenous Environmental Health Research [P50ES026089]; National Cancer Institute/Native American Cancer Prevention [U54CA143925]; Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board NARCH 10 - National Institutes of Health [1S06GM127164]; Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board NARCH 7 - Indian Health Service [U261IHS0074-01-01]; National Institutes of HealthOpen access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Uranium and arsenic unregulated water issues on Navajo lands

The geologic profile of the western United States lends itself to naturally elevated levels of arsenic and uranium in the groundwater and can be aggravated by mining. The Navajo Nation, located in the American Southwest, is the largest contiguous Native American Nation and has over a 100-year legacy of hard rock mining. Concentrations of uranium and arsenic above drinking water standards in unregulated water sources pose various human-health risks to the Navajo Nation due to the lack of public water infrastructure that exists. Although high natural background concentrations may occur in some environments, anthropogenic contamination concerns are especially troublesome for the Navajo Nation, where past uranium mining activity and natural sources affect unregulated water supplies. Community engaged research on uranium and arsenic present in unregulated water wells in the western portion of the Navajo Nation has been a focus of the Ingram laboratory since 2003. These studies have provided important information, particularly for uranium and arsenic, to the communities and the Navajo tribal leaders.12 month embargo; published online: 20 March 2020This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Sample preparation method for metal(loid) contaminant quantitation in rodent hair collected in Yuma County, Arizona

Yuma County, Arizona, is a large agricultural hub of the USA located in the southwestern corner of Arizona on the USA-Mexico border. Year-round use of agrichemicals at a massive scale along with the influx of aquatic contaminants in the Colorado River led to significant levels of environmental pollution and hence exposure risks for people and wildlife. Although hair is a recognized biomarker for metal exposure, there is no universal hair preparation protocol. This study evaluated two digestion methods for metal quantitation using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and three methods for mercury quantitation using cold vapor-atomic absorption spectroscopy (CV-AAS), both employing certified reference materials. The “overnight” and “heating” digestion methods were suitable for ICP-MS, while only the heating method was suitable for CV-AAS. These validated methods will be useful for a variety of human and wildlife assessments of toxic metal(loid) exposure.Flinn FoundationOpen access articleThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

High-k dielectric Al2O3 nanowire and nanoplate field effect sensors for improved pH sensing

Over the last decade, field-effect transistors (FETs) with nanoscale dimensions have emerged as possible label-free biological and chemical sensors capable of highly sensitive detection of various entities and processes. While significant progress has been made towards improving their sensitivity, much is yet to be explored in the study of various critical parameters, such as the choice of a sensing dielectric, the choice of applied front and back gate biases, the design of the device dimensions, and many others. In this work, we present a process to fabricate nanowire and nanoplate FETs with Al2O3 gate dielectrics and we compare these devices with FETs with SiO2 gate dielectrics. The use of a high-k dielectric such as Al2O3 allows for the physical thickness of the gate dielectric to be thicker without losing sensitivity to charge, which then reduces leakage currents and results in devices that are highly robust in fluid. This optimized process results in devices stable for up to 8 h in fluidic environments. Using pH sensing as a benchmark, we show the importance of optimizing the device bias, particularly the back gate bias which modulates the effective channel thickness. We also demonstrate that devices with Al2O3 gate dielectrics exhibit superior sensitivity to pH when compared to devices with SiO2 gate dielectrics. Finally, we show that when the effective electrical silicon channel thickness is on the order of the Debye length, device response to pH is virtually independent of device width. These silicon FET sensors could become integral components of future silicon based Lab on Chip systems

Label-free electrical detection of pyrophosphate generated from DNA polymerase reactions on field-effect devices

We introduce a label-free approach for sensing polymerase reactions on deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) using a chelator-modified silicon-on-insulator field-effect transistor (SOI-FET) that exhibits selective and reversible electrical response to pyrophosphate anions. The chemical modification of the sensor surface was designed to include rolling-circle amplification (RCA) DNA colonies for locally enhanced pyrophosphate (PPi) signal generation and sensors with immobilized chelators for capture and surface-sensitive detection of diffusible reaction by-products. While detecting arrays of enzymatic base incorporation reactions is typically accomplished using optical fluorescence or chemiluminescence techniques, our results suggest that it is possible to develop scalable and portable PPi-specific sensors and platforms for broad biomedical applications such as DNA sequencing and microbe detection using surface-sensitive electrical readout techniques