Toxic layering and compound extremes: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposure in rural, environmental justice copper mining communities.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are pervasive environmental pollutants with significant impacts on ecosystems and public health. This study aimed to characterize PFAS concentrations in an environmental justice community impacted by active/legacy copper mining, compounded by wildfires and flash floods. Additionally, the study explored the (re)mobilization of PFAS and co-occurrence with metal(loid)s following these events.

Evaluating the portable X-ray fluorescence reliability for metal(loid)s detection and soil contamination status.

Marginalized communities experience barriers that can prevent soil monitoring efforts and knowledge transfer. To address this challenge, this study compared two analytical methods: portable X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (pXRF, less time, cost) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS, "gold standard"). Surface soil samples were collected from residential sites in Arizona, USA (N = 124) and public areas in Troy, New York, USA (N = 33).

The efficacy of hydrogen sulfide (HS) tests for detecting microbial contamination in rooftop-harvested rainwater.

As climate change strains the world's freshwater resources, access to safe and clean water becomes limited. The use of alternative water sources, such as rooftop-harvested rainwater, has become one mechanism to address freshwater scarcity in the American Southwest, particularly when it comes to home gardening. The University of Arizona's Project Harvest, in partnership with the Sonora Environmental Research Institute, Inc.

Evaluating the Portable X-ray Fluorescence Reliability for Metal(loid)s Detection and Soil Contamination Status.

Environmental Justice (EJ) communities may experience barriers that can prevent soil monitoring efforts and knowledge transfer. To address this gap, this study compared two analytical methods: portable X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (pXRF, less time and costs) and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS, "gold standard"). Surface soil samples were collected from yards and gardens in three counties in Arizona, USA (N=124) and public areas in Troy, New York, USA (N=33).

Backyard aerosol pollution monitors: foliar surfaces, dust enrichment, and factors influencing foliar retention.

Air pollution is one of the leading causes of death from noncommunicable diseases globally, and in Arizona, both mining activities and abandoned agriculture can generate erodible dust. This dust is transported via wind and can carry high amounts of toxic pollutants. Industry-adjacent communities, or "fenceline communities," are generally closer to the pollution sources and are disproportionally impacted by pollution, or in this case, dust.

Assessing the impact of rainwater harvesting infrastructure and gardening trends on microbial indicator organism presence in harvested rainwater and garden soils.

Aim: To assess the microbial water quality of harvested rainwater infrastructure used to supplement household water uses for homegrown produce.

Methods And Results: Using a co-created community science methodology, between 2017 and 2020, a total of 587 harvested rainwater samples and 147 garden soil samples irrigated with harvested rainwater were collected from four Arizona communities and analyzed for coliform, Escherichia coli, and/or Salmonella. Participants also completed a home description survey regarding their home and surrounding area, water harvesting infrastructure, and gardening habits.

Patterns of contamination and burden of lead and arsenic in rooftop harvested rainwater collected in Arizona environmental justice communities.

As climate change exacerbates water scarcity, rainwater harvesting for household irrigation and gardening becomes an increasingly common practice. However, the use and quality of harvested rainwater are not well studied, and the potential pollutant exposures associated with its use are generally unknown. There are currently no federal standards in the United States to assess metal(loid)s in harvested rainwater.

Organic micropollutants measured in roof-harvested rainwater from rural and urban environmental justice communities in Arizona.

Due to global water scarcity and population growth, multiple solutions are needed to conserve and collect water, especially in arid and semi-arid regions of the planet. As the practice of harvesting rainwater grows, it is important to assess the quality of roof-harvested rainwater (RHRW). This study measured twelve organic micropollutants (OMPs) in RHRW samples collected between 2017 and 2020 by community scientists, with approximately two hundred RHRW samples and corresponding field blank analyzed annually.

Probabilistic risk assessment of residential exposure to metal(loid)s in a mining impacted community.

The "Gold Country" region of California is impacted by legacy and active gold mines. Concomitantly, Gold Country has an increased rate of female breast cancer relative to the state average. Using community-based participatory research methods, 40 participants completed surveys and collected a total of 354 water, soil, home-grown foods, and dust samples from their homes, which we compared to state, federal, and international contamination standards for arsenic, cadmium, and lead.

Alleviating Environmental Health Disparities Through Community Science and Data Integration.

Environmental contamination is a fundamental determinant of health and well-being, and when the environment is compromised, vulnerabilities are generated. The complex challenges associated with environmental health and food security are influenced by current and emerging political, social, economic, and environmental contexts. To solve these "wicked" dilemmas, disparate public health surveillance efforts are conducted by local, state, and federal agencies.

Assessing Children's Lead Exposure in an Active Mining Community Using the Integrated Exposure Uptake Biokinetic Model.

Lead exposure has been shown to be harmful to humans in various settings and there are no safe levels of blood lead in children. At an Alternative Superfund site in Hayden-Winkelman, Arizona, with an active copper smelter and concentrator, lead exceedances in air and soil have been measured in the past 20 years. In this work, the U.

Foliar surfaces as dust and aerosol pollution monitors: An assessment by a mining site.

Recent studies in the southwestern United States have shown that smelting processes and mine tailings emit heavy metal(loid)s that are distributed via wind dispersion to nearby communities. With increased attention regarding the effect of air pollution on environmental health, communities have begun to use citizen/community-based monitoring techniques to measure the concentration of metal(loid)s and evaluate their air quality. This study was conducted in a mining community to assess the efficacy of foliar surfaces as compared to an inverted disc (frisbee) to sample aerosol pollutants in ambient air.

Participatory Research for Environmental Justice: A Critical Interpretive Synthesis.

Background: Environmental health risks are disproportionately colocated with communities in poverty and communities of color. In some cases, participatory research projects have effectively addressed structural causes of health risk in environmental justice (EJ) communities. However, many such projects fail to catalyze change at a structural level.

Environmental monitoring and exposure science dataset to calculate ingestion and inhalation of metal(loid)s through preschool gardening.

Metal(loid) contamination may pose an increased risk of exposure to children residing near legacy and active resource extraction sites. Children may be exposed to arsenic, cadmium, and/or lead by ingestion and/or inhalation while engaging in school or home outdoor activities via environmental media including water, soil, dust, and locally grown produce. It is thus critical to collect site-specific data to best assess these risks.

Communicating the environmental health risk assessment process: formative evaluation and increasing comprehension through visual design.

The environmental health risk assessment process informs clean-up activities at hazardous waste sites. Ensuring this process is accessible and transparent to communities is crucial for environmental health literacy initiatives. The goals of this project were to develop plain language and effective visuals that can be used when communicating the risk assessment process and methods used to predict excess cancer risk(s) due to environmental exposures.

Ingestion and inhalation of metal(loid)s through preschool gardening: An exposure and risk assessment in legacy mining communities.

Children residing in mining towns are potentially disproportionately exposed to metal(loid)s via ingestion and dust inhalation, thus, increasing their exposure when engaging in school or home gardening or playing outside. This citizen science study assessed preschool children's potential arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), and lead (Pb) exposure via locally grown produce, water, incidental soil ingestion, and dust inhalation at four sites. Participants were trained to properly collect water, soil, and vegetable samples from their preschools in Nevada County, California.

Understanding the Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations Associated with Community Gardening to Improve Environmental Public Health Prevention and Intervention.

Considering that community members continue to garden in and near environments impacted by pollutants known to negatively impact human health, this paper seeks to characterize the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations of a gardener and elucidate their perception of soil quality and environmental responsibility, awareness of past land use, and gardening behavior. Via semi-structured interviews with community gardeners in the Boston area ( = 17), multifactorial motivations associated with gardening as well as ongoing environmental health challenges were reported. Gardeners are knowledgeable about their garden's historical past and are concerned with soil quality, theft, trash maintenance, animal waste, and loss of produce from foraging animals.

Combating Climate Injustices: An Informal Science and Popular Education Approach to Addressing Environmental Health Disparities.

As global warming worsens, addressing environmental health disparities and justice is increasingly important. This necessity is evident in southern metropolitan Tucson, Arizona, an area underserved and disproportionately experiencing the effects of climate change. Including underserved groups in problem solving can spur knowledge generation and the building of community capacity to address and mitigate environmental health challenges posed by climate justice.

Increasing Environmental Health Literacy through Contextual Learning in Communities at Risk.

Environmental health literacy (EHL) has recently been defined as the continuum of environmental health knowledge and awareness, skills and self-efficacy, and community action. In this study, an interdisciplinary team of university scientists, partnering with local organizations, developed and facilitated EHL trainings with special focus on rainwater harvesting and water contamination, in four communities with known environmental health stressors in Arizona, USA. These participatory trainings incorporated participants' prior environmental health risk knowledge and personal experiences to co-create training content.

Analyzing Patterns of Community Interest at a Legacy Mining Waste Site to Assess and Inform Environmental Health Literacy Efforts.

Understanding a community's concerns and informational needs is crucial to conducting and improving environmental health research and literacy initiatives. We hypothesized that analysis of community inquiries over time at a legacy mining site would be an effective method for assessing environmental health literacy efforts and determining whether community concerns were thoroughly addressed. Through a qualitative analysis, we determined community concerns at the time of being listed as a Superfund site.

Improving Environmental Health Literacy and Justice through Environmental Exposure Results Communication.

Understanding the short- and long-term impacts of a biomonitoring and exposure project and reporting personal results back to study participants is critical for guiding future efforts, especially in the context of environmental justice. The purpose of this study was to evaluate learning outcomes from environmental communication efforts and whether environmental health literacy goals were met in an environmental justice community. We conducted 14 interviews with parents who had participated in the University of Arizona's Metals Exposure Study in Homes and analyzed their responses using NVivo, a qualitative data management and analysis program.

Reporting back environmental exposure data and free choice learning.

Reporting data back to study participants is increasingly being integrated into exposure and biomonitoring studies. Informal science learning opportunities are valuable in environmental health literacy efforts and report back efforts are filling an important gap in these efforts. Using the University of Arizona's Metals Exposure Study in Homes, this commentary reflects on how community-engaged exposure assessment studies, partnered with data report back efforts are providing a new informal education setting and stimulating free-choice learning.

Balancing Benefits and Risks of Immortal Data: Participants' Views of Open Consent in the Personal Genome Project.

An individual's health, genetic, or environmental-exposure data, placed in an online repository, creates a valuable shared resource that can accelerate biomedical research and even open opportunities for crowd-sourcing discoveries by members of the public. But these data become "immortalized" in ways that may create lasting risk as well as benefit. Once shared on the Internet, the data are difficult or impossible to redact, and identities may be revealed by a process called data linkage, in which online data sets are matched to each other.

Pollution Prevention through Peer Education: A Community Health Worker and Small and Home-Based Business Initiative on the Arizona-Sonora Border.

Government-led pollution prevention programs tend to focus on large businesses due to their potential to pollute larger quantities, therefore leaving a gap in programs targeting small and home-based businesses. In light of this gap, we set out to determine if a voluntary, peer education approach led by female, Hispanic community health workers (promotoras) can influence small and home-based businesses to implement pollution prevention strategies on-site. This paper describes a partnership between promotoras from a non-profit organization and researchers from a university working together to reach these businesses in a predominately Hispanic area of Tucson, Arizona.

Building a co-created citizen science program with gardeners neighboring a superfund site: The Gardenroots case study.

Unlabelled: A research project that is only expert-driven may ignore the role of local knowledge in research, give low priority to the development of a comprehensive communication strategy to engage the community, and may not deliver the results of the study to the community in an effective way.

Objective: To demonstrate how a research program can respond to a community research need, establish a community-academic partnership, and build a co-created citizen science program.

Methods: A place-based, community-driven project was designed where academics and community members maintained a reciprocal dialogue, and together, we: 1) defined the question for study, 2) gathered information, 3) developed hypotheses, 3) designed data collection methodologies, 4) collected environmental samples (soil, irrigation water, and vegetables), 5) interpreted data, 6) disseminated results and translated results into action, and 7) discussed results and asked new questions.