Identifying Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CECs) Across the Pacific
What are CECs? Hawaiʻi and U.S.-Affiliated Pacific Island (USAPI) coastal communities are vulnerable to a wide range of contaminant risks. Military activity is one particular area of concern with U.S. military bases stationed throughout the Pacific and contaminants from World War II as risks for contamination events. These projects identify six categories of Contaminants of Emerging Concern: heavy metals and trace elements, industrial chemicals, agricultural chemicals, fuels and hydrocarbons, radioactive materials, and explosives.
Affected Geographic Regions: A systematic literature review was conducted to determine what risks exist as a result of military activity and where these contaminants are located throughout Hawaiʻi and the USAPI. A total of 72 relevant articles were identified discussing contaminant risks in American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Guam, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Hawai’i, the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), and Palau. Hawaiʻi had the greatest number of articles published within the last ten years of any region, while Palau had the fewest. Heavy metals and trace elements were the most frequently discussed contaminants in the literature on the CNMI, Guam, and Hawaiʻi; radioactive materials were the most frequently discussed contaminants in the literature on the RMI and Palau; and fuels and hydrocarbons the most frequently discussed contaminants in the literature on American Samoa, and the FSM. Contaminants were more frequently measured in soils, marine sediments, and biota, than freshwater sediment, surface water, groundwater, or air.
Why is this helpful and for whom? Identifying frequencies and volumes of contaminants provides the groundwork for local and regional action to reduce current risks to human and ecosystem health and improve coastal resource management moving forward. Systematic literature reviews also shine light on the gaps in knowledge; focusing monitoring on a single CEC category (e.g. radioactive materials due to historic nuclear bomb testing) creates blind spots to the threats posed by the other categories that are actively present in those localized regions.
Under the direction of Dr. Eileen Nalley and Maya Walton, Grau Fellow Lauryn Hansen focuses on coastal resource management with contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in Hawaiʻi. In this role, she collaborates with government agencies, researchers, and local communities to develop a needs assessment that identifies gaps and opportunities for managing CECs in Hawaiʻi.
