Knowledge Warding Against Toxin Levels

Sitka Tribe Of Alaska, Sitka AK

Investigators

Abstract

The tribally led Knowledge Warding Against Toxin Levels Center for Oceans and Human Health is a five-year effort aimed at addressing key unknowns surrounding paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP), which the Fourth National Climate Assessment called a “public health emergency.” In addition to being a global health challenge, paralytic shellfish poisoning is also a major health disparity in the United States, with Alaska Natives at higher risk than non-Native white members of the same communities. The Center will be directed by a Tribal government’s Resource Protection Division Director and Co-Directed by a public health academic. The Administrative Core will be run by the government of Sitka Tribe of Alaska, a federally recognized tribe. Its purpose will be to provide oversight, guidance, and direction to all research projects and cross-center activities. The Center will conduct three projects. The questions posed by the projects are related, and information from each project enhances the utility of the others for the subsistence harvest community. Project 1 asks, “When and where is it safe to harvest shellfish, and how does environmental change alter that picture?” Project 2 asks, “Which toxins are contributing to the health risks?” Project 3 asks, “What is peoples’ relationship to shellfish? What do people prefer to eat, and what is most contaminated with toxins?” A Facility research core, run by the Sitka Tribe of Alaska Environmental Research Lab (STA-ERL) will provide a centralized location for the processing of all samples. The Community Engagement Core, led by the Kodiak Area Native Association, will support community and tribal participation and assessment, create K-12 curriculum materials, and support workforce development for tribal youth and students in rural communities. The Center is jointly supported by NSF’s Division of Ocean Sciences and by the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). Project 1 of the Knowledge Warding Against Toxin Levels Center will be run by the Southeast Alaska Tribal Ocean Research (SEATOR) network and the Kodiak Area Native Association (KANA). The purpose of Project 1 will be to understand the impacts of climate change on shellfish toxin exposure using multiple approaches including model-based forecasting and laboratory-based experiments on subsistence species. Specifically, Project 1 will (1) build and test annual forecasts for shellfish toxins (RBA and individual congeners) using community samples and forecasted climate outputs; (2) combine sources of ocean acidification (OA) data across the Gulf of Alaska and determine spatial and temporal trends of OA and its impacts on shellfish toxins; and (3) examine changes in pCO2 and temperature on toxicokinetics of PSP toxins in subsistence species in laboratory conditions. Project 2, run by the Sitka Tribe of Alaska Environmental Research Lab (STA-ERL), will evaluate the toxicity of shellfish samples. Specifically, Project 2 will (1) Compare predictions of shellfish saxitoxin-related toxicity using a bioassay (RBA) measuring total toxicity with estimates based on measurement of individual saxitoxin congeners (via HPLC) plus Toxic Equivalency Factors (TEF) from FAO/WHO; (2) test whether saxitoxin congeners adequately predict RBA using the TEF model; and (3) improve TEF estimates by regressing RBA against saxitoxin congener concentrations using new mixtures methods. Project 3, run by the Sitka Tribe of Alaska Environmental Research Lab (STA-ERL), will evaluate community shellfish harvesting, consumption patterns, and risk perceptions around PSP to develop community-specific risk profiles. Specifically, Project 3 will (1) determine knowledge of local and regional health risks experienced or perceived by communities in southeast Alaska with respect to PSP; (2) analyze existing state-level data (AK Dept. of Fish and Game) collected intermittently for the last few decades on subsistence shellfish harvesting and consumption to look for patterns which can inform this project and for possible changes that might reflect recent changes in climate and marine conditions; and (3) develop and execute probabilistic health risk models based on shellfish and consumption distributions to better inform communities as to the possible risk profiles in areas where subsistence harvesting and consumption is common, especially outside of commercial sites. 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.