Assessing Contaminant-Related Health Risks for Tribal Communities: Developing Exposure Scenarios, Exposure Pathways, and Exposure Factors for Tribal Risk Assessments

This presentation was delivered as part of the Tribal Lands and Environment Forum: Virtual Gathering in August 2021 by Raymond Martinez, Timothy Martinez, and Michael Chacon with Pueblo de San Ildefonso, and Michelle Krasnec, Molly McLaughlin, and Kaylene Ritter with Abt Associates.

Tribal lifeway practices often result in the disproportionate exposure of Tribal communities to contamination, and thus need to be incorporated into Tribal risk assessments. In this session, we will focus on how to develop exposure scenarios, exposure pathways, and exposure factors for Tribal risk assessments that incorporate Tribal lifeway practices. We will present our strategy for developing a Tribal risk assessment for the Pueblo de San Ildefonso. Attendees will learn how we identified hazards and characterized exposure parameters for members of the Pueblo. The goal of this session is to provide attendees with the tools to develop Tribal risk assessments that are representative of their traditional lifeways. Tribal risk assessments can ultimately be used to inform decisions that prioritize clean-up efforts and restoration practices that best mitigate risk.