title: Occupational and environmental exposures among Alaska Native and American Indian people living in Alaska and the Southwest United States.
abstract: Most occupational and environmental research describes associations between specific occupational and environmental hazards and health outcomes, with little information available on population-level exposure, especially among unique subpopulations. The authors describe the prevalence of self-reported lifetime exposure to nine occupational and environmental hazards among 11,326 American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) adults enrolled in the Education and Research Towards Health (EARTH) Study in the Southwest U.S. and Alaska. The top three hazards experienced by AI/AN people in Alaska were petroleum products, military chemicals, and asbestos. The top three hazards experienced by AI/AN living in the Southwest U.S. were pesticides, petroleum, and welding/silversmithing. The study described here found that male sex, lower educational attainment, AI/AN language use, and living in the Southwest U.S. (vs. Alaska) were all associated with an increased likelihood of hazard exposure. The authors' study provides baseline data to facilitate future exposure-response analyses. Future studies should measure dose and duration as well as environmental hazards that occur in community settings.
authors.affiliation: Alaska Native Tribal Health Concortium, Anchorage, AK 99508, USA. dredwood@anthc.org
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Redwood
authors.forename: Anne P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Lanier
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brubaker
authors.forename: Laurie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Orell
authors.forename: Lillian
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tom-Orme
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: George
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.forename: Martha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Slattery
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000413:Alaska / Q000453:epidemiology; D001194:Asbestos / Q000506:poisoning; D055884:Chemical Hazard Release / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D015386:Hazardous Substances / Q000506:poisoning*; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010575:Pesticides / Q000506:poisoning; D010578:Petroleum / Q000633:toxicity; D012834:Silver; D015206:Southwestern United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014896:Welding; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015386:Hazardous Substances; D010575:Pesticides; D010578:Petroleum; D001194:Asbestos; D012834:Silver