SUPERFUND RESEARCH PROGRAM
Tribal-University Evaluation of Chemical Exposures
to Improve Community Health
2015
Community Engagement Core Leadership
The purpose of the Community Engagement Core (CEC) is
to evaluate chemical exposures that are a concern for Native
American Tribes. To accomplish this goal, the CEC works to
build scientific capacity in Tribal communities and cultural
capacity within the university research community. This
mission was developed by Dr Anna Harding based on her
expertise and partnership with Tribes in the Pacific
Northwest. Dr Harding is the founding director of the CEC
has served as its Director since 2009 but after 26 years of
service to Oregon State University, she has announced her
intention to retire. Dr Molly Kile, who has been a co-leader
in the CEC for the past four years, transitioned into the
directorship in November, 2015. To insure a smooth
leadership transition, Anna will continue to work with the
CEC until June 2016.
Trained as an environmental epidemiologist, Molly Kile is an
assistant professor in the College of Public Health and Human
Sciences at Oregon State University. She has a great deal of
experience in community engagement activities and working with
communities that are disproportionately impacted by
environmental contaminants. In addition to her engagement
activities with our tribal partners, she works with communities that
are impacted by arsenic-contaminated drinking water in the United
States and Bangladesh. As the new director, Molly is looking
forward to continuing the mission of the CEC and partner with
Tribal communities that experience environmental injustice.
Through these partnerships, the CEC seeks to translate knowledge
into effective and culturally appropriate risk reduction strategies
that will reduce exposure to environmental pollution and contribute
knowledge for self-protection and remediation.
Anna Harding
(top), Molly Kile
(bottom)
2 PAH metabolism study
3 Tracing air pollution
4 Tribal collaborations
In this issue
PAHs: New Technologies and
Emerging Health Risks
The Oregon State University Superfund
Research Center (SRP) brings together a
multidisciplinary team to identify
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
(PAHs) in the environment, to
characterize their toxicity, and to
determine the potential for those
exposures to influence human health.
PAHs are re-emerging as an
environmental pollutant of concern.
PAHs are formed during the burning of
carbon-based materials, and are
commonly found at Superfund sites and
urban settings. This work is supported
by the Superfund Amendment and
Reauthorization Act of 1986 and is
funded by the National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences.

2 Tribal—University Partnership Current Projects
Background
Traditionally smoked salmon is a
staple and valued food for Native
American Tribes in the Pacific
Northwest. The meat is preserved by
cooking at 90 - 120°C for up to 36
hours over smoldering wood inside a
tipi or a smoke shed. In 2012, Tribal
partners expressed concern that this
process could increase polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the
preserved fish. A study was conducted
with the Department of Science and
Engineering (DOSE) at the
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla
Indian Reservation (CTUIR) that
showed that PAH levels in traditionally
smoked salmon were much higher
than PAH levels found in cold smoked
salmon (Forsberg et al. 2012). This led
Tribal members to question how PAHs
found in traditionally smoked salmon
are absorbed, processed, and
eliminated by the body.
The Project
Our tribal partners recruited 9 CTUIR
members to participate in a
metabolism study where they ate a
small portion of traditionally smoked
salmon and provided 5 urine samples
before and after this meal. Samples
were analyzed at Oregon State
University. Overall, 4 PAHs and 10 PAH
metabolites were detected in the
urine of participants after eating 50
grams of traditionally smoked salmon.
After 24 hours, the body excreted
almost all of the PAHs and returned to
baseline which reflected PAH levels
before the volunteers ate the smoked
salmon. These results underwent
scientific peer review and were
published in Science of the Total
Environment.
Reporting Results
All participants wanted to see their
results. Guided by best practices in
reporting research data, reports were
created that let each person see how
their PAH levels compared to the
group’s average (Figure 1). This
approach was needed because of the
uniqueness of the data—no one had
measured PAH levels in Tribal
members after eating smoked salmon
before—and to protect volunteer’s
privacy. Each report also contained
information that would help people
make choices that would reduce their
exposure to PAHs while still enjoying
the nutritional and cultural benefits
Traditionally Smoked Salmon Metabolism Study
Reporting PAH biomonitoring results to participants
After Tribal volunteers ate a small
portion of traditionally smoked salmon,
the concentration of PAHs and their
metabolites rapidly increased in urine.
This shows that PAHs were absorbed by
the body. After 24 hours almost all PAH
levels returned to background levels
showing that they are quickly excreted.
People who were more hydrated
eliminated the PAHs more rapidly.
Eating fresh, frozen, canned, or air dried
salmon would reduce exposure to
PAHs. Since pregnant women and
children are more vulnerable to PAH
toxicity, they may want to limit the
amount of smoked salmon and enjoy it
prepared in these other ways.
Figure 1. This is an example of the
data included in the participant’s
reports. Each line in the figure
represents the total amount of 4
PAHs that were not metabolized in
the body and what those levels were
at 5 different time points. The
individual’s data is indicated by the
orange line and the black lines
represent the data from the other 8
participants.
The data shows that all participants
had some PAHs in their urine prior to
eating 50 grams of smoked salmon
(baseline). PAH levels rose rapidly in
the urine of all participants after
eating the traditionally smoked
salmon. While each person excreted
PAHs at a different rates, everyone
associated with smoked salmon (below).
Forsberg et al. 2012. Effect of Native American fish
smoking methods on dietary exposure to polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons and possible risks to human
health. J Ag Food Chem. 60: 6899-6906.
Motorykin et al. 2015. Metabolism and excretion rates of
parent and hydroxyl-PAHs in urine collected after
consumption of traditionally smoked salmon for Native
American volunteers. Sci. Tot. Environ. 514: 170-177.
had a similar pattern of excretion and almost all PAH
levels returned to baseline after 24 hours. One reason
people had different excretion rates was their hydration
status which was measured using urinary creatinine.

3EVALUATION OF CHEMICAL EXPOSURES TO IMPROVE COMMUNITY HEALTH
Background
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are
formed when organic material or fossil
fuels are burned. PAHs attach
themselves to very fine particulate
matter that can travel thousands of
miles in the air before falling to Earth.
By measuring PAHs, their degradation
products, and accounting for wind
speed and direction, sources of air
pollution can be identified, both
regionally and from across the Pacific
Ocean in Asia (Figure 2).
The Project
Beginning in 2010, CTUIR partnered
with OSU SRP to evaluate the impacts
of regional airborne contamination to
their reservation. Working with the air
quality technician at DOSE, one high
volume air monitor was installed on
Cabbage Hill at CTUIR. For comparison,
a second monitor was placed in the
Mount Bachelor Observatory (Bend,
OR) (Figure 2). Tribal air quality staff
were trained to operate the monitors
and replaced filters in the air samplers
every 24 hours. Samples were collected
on 83 days over the one year study
period (2010—2011). The samples
were used to measure fine particulate
matter, organic and black carbon, 32
PAHs, and 37 PAH degradation products
(nitro-PAHs and oxy-PAHs).
By gathering this data , the researchers
hoped to identify the contribution of
trans-Pacific transport of pollution to
Oregon air quality. However, no such
events were identified at Cabbage Hill.
Instead, the researchers identified a
large regional source of PAHs, coming
from the nearby coal-fired power plant
located in Boardman, OR.
The data showed that the average
levels of PAH, nitro-PAH, and oxy-PAH
levels were higher when the power
plant was operating compared to when
it was offline. This suggested that the
power plant was a regional source of
PAHs. Interestingly, the levels of PAHs
dropped in spring of 2011 when the
power plant upgraded its air pollution
scrubbers to meet the Environmental
Protection Agency’s new mercury
emission standards. This upgrade had
the unexpected benefit of substantially
reducing PAH emissions measured at
Cabbage Hill by 72% and oxy-PAH
degradation byproducts by 40%.
Although no changes in fine particulate
matter, nitro-PAH, or organic carbon
were observed, the improvements to the
power plant improved air quality in the
region. This was reviewed by scientists
and published in Environmental Science
and Technology.
Lafontaine et al. 2015. Relative Influence of Trans-Pacific
and Regional Atmospheric Transport of PAHs in the
Pacific Northwest, U.S. Environ Sci Technol, 49(23):13807-
13816.
The Unexpected Benefit of a Mercury Scrubber on PAH Emissions
Tracing the source of air pollution in the Pacific Northwest
Figure 2. Installing air monitor on Cabbage Hill (upper left ). Map showing the location of air
monitors at Cabbage Hill (CTUIR) and Mt Bachelor and their proximity to Boardman (upper
right). Illustration of tracking transport of air pollution from Asia to the Pacific Northwest
(bottom).
“Boardman was a major source of
PAH in the Columbia River Gorge,
and now it is not. That’s a good
thing ... for people living in the
Gorge”- Dr. Staci Simonich, Confederated Umatil-
la Journal, September 2015.

On December 2nd
, the CEC and an
OSU Financial Aid advisor went to
the Confederated Tribes of Siletz
Indians and talked to students at
the Siletz Valley Early College
Academy. The trip was organized
by Greta Frey (CEC trainee), who is a member of the Confederated
Tribes of Siletz. She was joined by Mitra Geier, another SRP trainee.
The team answered questions regarding college applications, schol-
arships and research opportunities at Oregon State University. SRP
trainees were also able to share their own college experiences with
If you have any questions, please contact
Molly Kile, Assistant Professor
Oregon State University
College of Public Health and Human Sciences
15 Milam Hall, Corvallis, OR 97331
Telephone: (541) 737-1443
Email: Molly.Kile@oregonstate.edu
Visit our website to learn about projects supported by
OSU’s Superfund Community Engagement Core:
http://superfund.oregonstate.edu/outreach
This project is funded by the National Institute of Environmental
Health Sciences Superfund Research Program grant P42 ESO16465
Confederated Tribes of Siletz
Reaching out to the next generation of Tribal students
4
Core Personnel
Molly Kile, Sc.D., Core Leader
Oregon State University
Barbara Harper, Ph.D., Co-Leader
Oregon State University
Anna Harding, Ph.D., Co-Leader
Oregon State University
Jamie Donatuto, Ph.D., Community Liaison
Swinomish Indian Tribal Community
Greta Frey, Superfund Trainee
Oregon State University
Confederated Tribes of Siletz and Aleut Corporation
Diana Rohlman, Ph.D., Program Coordinator
Oregon State University
Stuart Harris, B.S., Tribal Liaison
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
All studies referenced in this newsletter are available online
or by contacting Dr. Molly Kile.
Swinomish Indian Tribal Community
Upcoming research collaborations
The CEC will begin working on new projects with the Swinomish
Indian Tribal Community (La Conner, WA). These projects will focus
on monitoring air quality on the reservation which is in close
proximity to several oil refineries. Another project will use passive
sampling wristband technology to look at personal exposure to
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (see
photo) . To learn more about using
wristbands for personal exposure
monitoring , go to:
http://ehsc.oregonstate.edu/passive-wristband-samplers
Resources for Tribal Partnerships
Tribal partnership resources online
Working with Tribal partners, OSU SRP Center has created an online
library of resources for conducting research with Tribal
communities. This includes a link to the Traditional Tribal
Subsistence Exposure Scenario and Risk Assessment Guidance
Manual. This document captures many unique Tribal exposure
scenarios that can be used in risk assessment calculations. To learn
more, go to:
http://superfund.oregonstate.edu/conducting-research-tribal-communities