Table II.
Comparison of Number of Questions Asked Before (2003) and After (2005) the Amchitka Independent Science Assessment in the Aleut Villages of Nikolski, Atka, and Unalaska
| Questions | Nikolski Elders | Nikolski Youth | Atka Elders | Atka Youth | Unalaska | Totals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contaminants | ||||||
| What is radiation? | 2–0 | 3–1 | 5–1 | |||
| What is mercury? | 2–1 | 2–2 | 4–3 | |||
| What is a contaminant | 1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | |||
| Health Effects | ||||||
| Is mercury bad? | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–4 | |||
| At what level is mercury bad? | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 2–7 | ||
| How is mercury bad for us? | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 3–10 |
| Is radiation bad? for us? | 2–1 | 2–0 | 4–1 | |||
| What levels of radiation are bad? | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 1–6 | ||
| How is radiation bad for us? | 0–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–6 | |
| Is it safe to eat the village foods? | 2–3 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 7–13 |
| Is radiation high enough to hurt us? | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–10 |
| Risk Reduction | ||||||
| How can I reduce the bad effects of mercury? | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 2–8 | |
| How can I lower the bad effects of radiation? | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | |||
| What fish can I eat to have less mercury? | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–8 | |
| What fish or shellfish can I eat that are best for me? Are fish bad for me? | 1–2 | 0–2 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 4–9 |
| Should I tell my pregnant (or to be pregnant) daughter to avoid some fish because of mercury? | 0–2 | 0–4 | 0–2 | 0–8 | ||
| Trust/Credibility: CRESP | ||||||
| Who is CRESP? Who wrote the plan? | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 8–1 |
| Who asked you to do the plan? | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | |||
| Who paid for it? How do I know you are independent? | 4–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 12–2 |
| Will you come back to tell us your results? | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 8–1 | |
| Trust/Credibility: Government or DOE | ||||||
| How can we be sure they will test our foods in future? | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–6 | |
| How can we trust DOE to know if the foods are safe? | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 2–4 | |
| How can we believe what DOE says? | 3–2 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 8–6 | ||
| How can we trust DOE to fund your study? | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | ||
| How do we know DOE will let you tell us if you find radioactivity? | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 8–0 | |
| How can we trust DOE to do a monitoring plan in the future? | 0–3 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–7 | ||
| Why did they do the tests here? Is the government out to get us? | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 7–2 |
| Biological Methods | ||||||
| Why not test foods from here or Adak? | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 4–3 | 12–4 |
| How can you test subsistence foods without Aleuts? | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 10–0 | |
| Will You/Did You Analyze for? | ||||||
| Halibut | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 5–0 |
| Salmon & eggs | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | |||
| Pogies & eggs | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 4–2 | |
| Octopus | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 5–0 | ||
| Sea Lion & liver | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 6–3 |
| Seal | 1–0 | 1–0 | ||||
| Kelp | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 4–3 | ||
| Ducks | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | |||
| Chitons/Katys | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | ||
| Gull eggs | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | |
| Sea Urchin & eggs | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | |||
| Will/Did You Analyze for? | ||||||
| Mercury? | 2–3 | 1–2 | 3–4 | 1–2 | 3–3 | 10–14 |
| Lead? | 1–0 | 1–0 | ||||
| PCBs? | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | |||
| Where did you live? What did you eat? | 0–3 | 1–3 | 1–6 | |||
| How many of this species will/did you collect? | 0–3 | 0–2 | 0–5 | |||
| Ecological | ||||||
| Why Are These Declining? | ||||||
| Ducks | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–6 | |
| Mallards | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–3 | ||
| Sea Urchins | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–3 | |||
| Sea Otters | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–5 | ||
| Puffins | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–5 | ||
| What is trophic level, predators? | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–5 | ||
| The Future | ||||||
| How do we do biomonitoring? | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–4 | 0–10 | |
| Will you do the monitoring for us? | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 0–10 |
| Geophysical | ||||||
| What about earthquakes or volcanoes? | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 3–3 | 8–9 |
| What can be done if it is leaking? | 1–3 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 3–3 | 10–12 |
| What if radiation comes out far/near in the ocean? | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–4 | |
Note: Shown are the number of times people asked each type of question before–after the science assessment.