Modern water: A biocultural approach to water pollution at the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation.

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 8915029 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1520-6300 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 10420533 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Am J Hum Biol Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: New York, NY : Wiley-Blackwell
Original Publication: New York, NY : Alan R. Liss, Inc., c1989-

Culture* ; Indians, North American*; Environmental Exposure/*adverse effects ; Water Pollution/*adverse effects; Female ; Humans ; Male ; New York

Objectives: The goal of this article is to review a body of research around water contamination conducted in the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation between 1995 and 2016, place these findings in a biocultural context, and consider implications for a human biology of water.
Methods: This review draws on research projects conducted in partnership with the Akwesasne Mohawk Nation living along the St. Lawrence River as well as published research by others on water contamination at Akwesasne. Quantitative and qualitative methods including toxicological and epidemiological methods, surveys, and ethnographic studies are included.
Results: Pollution of a river with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) contaminated local fish, a major, traditional, food source. Following health advisories to avoid consuming local fish, consumption and PCB levels decreased. PCB levels were negatively associated with health outcomes. In adolescents, higher PCB levels were associated with advanced sexual maturation in females, reduced testosterone in males and reduced thyroxine levels in young adults. Avoiding fish consumption altered traditional dietary patterns and social interactions, generational transmission of knowledge, and relations between generations, all of which impacted cultural forms and may have added to the perceived injustices in this Native American community. Items substituted for fish may have contributed to increasing rates of obesity as well.
Conclusions: Water pollution has immediate direct health consequences as well as cultural impacts related to changed food consumption and altered patterns of social interaction.
(© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

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P20 MD003373 United States MD NIMHD NIH HHS; S21 MD010692 United States MD NIMHD NIH HHS

Date Created: 20191113 Date Completed: 20200827 Latest Revision: 20240921

20240921

10.1002/ajhb.23348

31713956