An Epidemiology/Biostatistics Core is proposed to oversee all data collection activities at Akwesasne, to provide outreach to the Mohawk community, and to serve as a resource to the individual research projects of the Program. This will build upon previous work regarding PCBs, exposures, body burdens and health effects among Native Americans residing near a Superfund hazardous waste site.
Working with the Mohawk community and relying upon nearly 10 years of experience at Akwesasne, this Core Unit will study 400 participants from Mohawk families over a 5 year period. Adults over the age of 35 years will be emphasized, given the greater likelihood of exposure. All participants will be administered a core interview to access dietary, residential, and occupational exposures, together with relavant background variables.
The Epidemiology/Biostatistics Core will also assist with data collection for two other human health research projects. In addition, it will serve as a liaison with the Laboratory Services Core, with the responsibility for indoor air monitoring for PCBs and blood sampling for 92 PCB congeners, p,p'-DDE, mirex, hexachlorobenzene, thyroxine, testosterone, B-estradiol, cholesterol, total protein, triglycerides, glucose, GGT, and various electrolytes from all study participants. The core will assess in vivo cytochrome P-450 activity in selected Mohawk adults through a caffeine breath test, a safe and non-invasive procedure that measures the rate at which labelled carbon dioxide is exhaled as an indirect monitor.
Outreach will consist of transmitting the results to study participants, assisting the Mohawk community in developing health education promotion programs and evaluating mortality and morbidity patterns at Akwesasne using vital records, cancer registry reports, hospital discharge data, and the core interview.
The Epidemiology/Biostatistics Core will provide technical expertise to the human health projects and will furnish all students and projects in the Program with statistical support. Using its familiarity with exposure assessment, Geographical Information Systems, epidemiological and statistical methods, and public health, this Core Unit will estimate the past exposure of Mohawk participants to PCBs from all relevant sources, and to determine the relationship of this exposure to body burdens, cytochrome P-450 activity, and alterations in endrocrine hormones. Economy of effort will be achieved by having these functions performed by one central unit. This coordinated approach was recommended by the Mohawk community, and has been endorsed by our Expert Advisory Panel to minimize duplication and disruption.
