Environmental health and justice and the right to research: institutional review board denials of community-based chemical biomonitoring of breast milk

Environmental Health

Commentary

Samarys Seguinot-Medina¹  Pamela Miller¹  Lorraine Eckstein¹  Dvera I. Saxton²  Vi Waghiyi³  Phil Brown⁴  David O. Carpenter⁵ 

[1] Alaska Community Action on Toxics, 505W. Northern Lights; Suite 205, 99503, Anchorage, AK, USA;Department of Anthropology, College of Social Sciences, California State University, Fresno, 5242N. Backer Ave. Peters Business Building M/S 20, 93740, Fresno, CA, USA;Native Village of Savoonga Tribal Member, St. Lawrence Island, AK, USA;Alaska Community Action on Toxics, 505W. Northern Lights; Suite 205, 99503, Anchorage, AK, USA;Northeastern University, Social Science Environmental Health Research Institute, 318 INV, 02115, Boston, MA, USA;University at Albany, Institute for Health and the Environment, 5 University Pl., Rm. A217, 12144, Rensselaer, NY, USA;

关键词: Biomonitoring;    IRBs;    Breastmilk;    Alaska Natives;    Right-to-know;    Environmental justice;    PCBs;    Organochlorine pesticides;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12940-015-0076-x

 received in 2015-06-29, accepted in 2015-11-17,  发布年份 2015

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

Recently, conflicts and challenges have emerged regarding environmental justice and research ethics for some indigenous communities. Alaska Community Action on Toxics (ACAT) responded to community requests for breast milk biomonitoring and conceived the Breast Milk Pilot Study (BMPS). Despite having community support and federal and private funding, the BMPS remains incomplete due to repeated disapprovals by the Alaska Area IRB (Institutional Review Board). In this commentary, we explore the consequences of years of IRB denials, in terms of health inequalities, environmental justice, and research ethics. We highlight the greater significance of this story with respect to research in Alaska Native communities, biomonitoring, and global toxics regulation. We offer suggestions to community-based researchers conducting biomonitoring projects on how to engage with IRBs in order to cultivate reflective, context-based research ethics that better consider the needs and concerns of communities.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Saxton et al. 2015