Abstract
The Gold King Mine Spill (GKMS) disaster resulted in three million gallons of acid mine drainage-containing arsenic and lead being released into a tributary of the San Juan River. The San Juan River flows through the Navajo Nation and the Diné (Navajo) rely on this river for a variety of purposes lending to unique exposure pathways. We administered questionnaires in three Navajo communities in collaboration with the Navajo Nation Community Health Representatives to obtain frequency and duration data on 43 activities (e.g., praying with river water, fishing from the river). These activities were utilized to conduct a community-based probabilistic risk assessment from exposure to arsenic (As) and lead at three different time points (i.e., pre-GKMS, peak-GKMS, and post-GKMS) for four different exposure scenarios: (1) recreational, (2) cultural, (3) dietary, and (4) aggregate. The aggregate scenario combines exposure from engaging in recreational, cultural, and dietary related activities. Utilizing the Lifeline Community-Based Assessment Software ™ distributions were incorporated for different exposure factors (e.g., hand-to-mouth contacts, transfer efficiency) along with Diné-specific activities (e.g., using the sediment as sunscreen) to estimate dose. The estimated lead and arsenic (As) hazard quotients (HQs) for the recreational, cultural, and dietary scenario for all time points were less than one, indicating no excess non-cancer risks. Only the dietary scenario resulted in an excess cancer risk, with less than 1% of the simulated estimates exceeding the 1 × 10–04 cancer risk guideline from exposure to arsenic through the dietary scenario (e.g., consuming fish from the San Juan River) at all time points. This risk assessment is the first to incorporate the unique exposure pathways of the Diné people following the GKMS and highlights the need to incorporate community-specific pathways during the risk analysis process.
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In accordance with Indigenous Sovereignty and agreements with the Navajo Nation Human Research Review Board any data connected with biological samples from members can only be shared with appropriate Indigenous policies and permissions. Researchers who are interested in accessing these data can submit a request directly to the Navajo Nation Human Research Review Board. In 2023, The Lifeline Group donated their exposure and risk assessment tools to the University of Arizona. These tools are freely-available to community groups and exposure science and risk assessment researchers. The University of Arizona LifeLineTM Community Based Assessment Software tools, compendia, tutorials and data are owned and distributed by the University of Arizona and available at: https://swehsc.pharmacy.arizona.edu/facilities/TRSC/irth/lifeline-software
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the participants who opened their homes to the Gold King Mine Spill Dinè Exposure Project (GKMS DEP). We are honored to have the support of the Navajo Nation Department of Health Community Health Representatives and Shiprock, Aneth, and Upper Fruitland communities. We thank the Navajo Nation Human Subjects Review Board for their oversight in IRB protocol NNR-16.234. We appreciate the support of Navajo Nation Department of Health; Navajo Environmental Protection Agency, and Division of Natural Resources. We would also like to thank traditional knowledge holders Duane “Chili” Yazzie and the late Dr. Larry Emerson for guiding us through these efforts. The GKMS-DEP is tremendously grateful to Rachelle Begay, Corinna Sabaque, and Heidi Dugi for their assistance during the household questionnaire administration. We would like to thank Dr. Frank Sage for assisting in the grouping of activities. We are grateful to Dr. Chris Chaisson from The Lifeline Group for providing guidance with the Community Based Assessment Software Tools.
Funding
This work was supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS P50ES026089, EPA R83615, R21ES026948), the University of Arizona Superfund Research Program (NIEHSP42 ES004940), Southwest Environmental Health Sciences Center (NIEHS P30ES006694, T32 ES007091), Center for American Indian Resilience P20MD006872, and the Agnese Nelms Haury Foundation. This publication’s contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
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Van Horne, Y.O., Chief, K., Charley, P.H. et al. A Community-Based Health Risk Assessment Following the Gold King Mine Spill: Results from the Gold King Mine Spill Diné Exposure Project. Expo Health 16, 643–660 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12403-023-00583-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12403-023-00583-8