Could the health decline of prehistoric California indians be related to exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from natural bitumen?

Environmental Health Perspectives

Volumn 119, Issue 9, 2011, Pages 1203-1207

  Wärmländer, Sebastian K T S ^a,b   Sholts, Sabrina B ^a   Erlandson, Jon M ^c   Gjerdrum, Thor ^a   Westerholm, Roger ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

^b STOCKHOLM UNIVERSITY   (Sweden)

^c UNIVERSITY OF OREGON   (United States)

Author keywords

Bioaccumulation; Biomarkers exposure; Bone and cartilage; Cultural practices; Diet and nutrition; Environmental epidemiology; Indigenous peoples; Molecular epidemiology; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Population health

Indexed keywords

ASPHALT; POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBON;

AMERICAN INDIAN; ANTHROPOLOGY; BIOACCUMULATION; CULTURAL FACTOR; DIETARY INTAKE; ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE; FOOD CONTAMINATION; HEALTH HAZARD; HUMAN; NOTE; POPULATION RESEARCH; PREHISTORIC PERIOD; PRIORITY JOURNAL; SKELETON; UNITED STATES;

ADULT; ARCHAEOLOGY; CALIFORNIA; CEPHALOMETRY; FEMALE; FOOD CHAIN; HUMANS; HYDROCARBONS; MALE; POLYCYCLIC HYDROCARBONS, AROMATIC;

EID: 80052322987     PISSN: 00916765     EISSN: 15529924     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1289/ehp.1103478     Document Type: Note

References (63)

1. Allen AA, Schleuter RS, Mikolaj PG. 1970. Natural oil seepage at Coal Oil Point, Santa Barbara, California. Science 170:974-977.
2. Allen H. 1971. Effects of petroleum fractions on the early development of a sea urchin. Marine Pollut Bull 2:138-140.
3. Bergvall C, Westerholm R. 2008. Determination of 252-302 Da and tentative identification of 316-376 Da polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Standard Reference Materials 1649a Urban Dust and 1650b and 2975 Diesel Particulate Matter by accelerated solvent extraction-HPLC-GC-MS. Anal Bioanal Chem 391:2235-2248.
4. Boström C-E, Gerde P, Hanberg A, Jernström B, Johansson C, Kyrklund T, et al. 2002. Cancer risk assessment, indicators, and guidelines for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the ambient air. Environ Health Perspect 110(suppl 3):451-488.
5. Braje TJ, Erlandson JM, Timbrook J. 2005. An asphaltum coiled basket impression, tarring pebbles, and Middle Holocene water bottles from San Miguel Island, California. J Calif Great Basin Anthropol 25:207-213.
6. Buikstra JE, Ubelaker DH, eds. 1994. Standards for Data Collection from Human Skeletal Remains. Fayetteville, AR:Arkansas Archaeological Survey.
7. Choi H, Jedrychowski W, Spengler J, Camann DE, Whyatt RM, Rauh V, et al. 2006. International studies of prenatal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and fetal growth. Environ Health Perspect 114:1744-1750.
8. Connan J. 1999. Use and trade of bitumen in antiquity and prehistory: molecular archaeology reveals secrets of past civilizations. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 354:33-50.
9. Davis PH, Schultz TW, Spies RB. 1981. Toxicity of Santa Barbara seep oil to starfish embryos: Part 2-the growth bioassay. Mar Environ Res 5:287-294.
10. Erlandson JM. 1997. The Middle Holocene on the western Santa Barbara coast. In: Archaeology of the California Coast during the Middle Holocene (Erlandson JM, Glassow MA, eds). Los Angeles, CA:Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California, 91-110.
11. Erlandson JM, Rick TC. 2002. Late Holocene cultural developments along the Santa Barbara coast. In: Catalysts to Complexity: Late Holocene Societies of the California Coast. (Erlandson JM, Jones TL, eds). Los Angeles:Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California, 166-182.
12. Erlandson JM, Rick TC, Braje TJ, Casperson M, Culleton B, Fulfrost B, et al. 2011. Paleoindian seafaring, marine technologies, and coastal foraging on California's Channel Islands. Science 331:1181-1185.
13. Gamble L. 1983. The organization of artifacts, features, and activities at Pitas Point: a coastal Chumash village. J Calif Great Basin Anthropol 5:103-129.
14. Gamble L. 2002. Archaeological evidence for the origin of the plank canoe in North America. Am Antiquity 67:301-315.
15. Gamble L. 2005. Culture and climate: reconsidering the effect of palaeoclimatic variability among southern California hunter-gatherer societies. World Archaeol 37:92-108.
16. Glassow MA. 1993. Changes in subsistence on marine resources through 7,000 years of prehistory on Santa Cruz Island. In: Archaeology of the Northern Channel Islands of California-Studies of Subsistence, Economics, and Social Organization, (Glassow MA, ed). Salinas:Coyote Press, 75-94.
17. Glassow MA, Gamble LH, Perry JE, Russell GS. 2007. Prehistory of the Northern California Bight and the adjacent Transverse Ranges. In: California Prehistory: Colonization, Culture, and Complexity (Jones TL, Klar KA, eds). Lanham, MD:AltaMira Press, 191-214.
18. Gutman TE. 1979. The use of asphaltum sourcing in archaeology. J New World Archaeol 3:32-43.
19. Harrell JA, Lewan MD. 2002. Sources of mummy bitumen in ancient Egypt and Palestine. Archaeometry 44:285-293.
20. Hernberg S. 2000. Lead poisoning in a historical perspective. Am J Ind Med 38:244-254.
21. Hicken CE, Linbo TL, Baldwin DH, Willis ML, Myers MS, Holland L, et al. 2011. Sublethal exposure to crude oil during embryonic development alters cardiac morphology and reduces aerobic capacity in adult fish. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 108:7086-7090.
22. Hostettler FD, Rosenbauer RJ, Lorenson TD, Dougherty J. 2004. Geochemical characterization of tarballs on beaches along the California coast. Part I-shallow seepage impacting the Santa Barbara Channel Islands, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, and San Miguel. Org Geochem 35:725-746.
23. Howells WW. 1973. Cranial Variation in Man: A Study by Multivariate Analysis of Patterns of Difference among Recent Human Populations. Cambridge, MA:Harvard University Press.
24. Hudson T, Timbrook J, Rempe M, eds. 1978. Tomol: Chumash Watercraft as Described in the Ethnographic Notes of John P. Harrington. Santa Barbara, CA:Ballena Press.
25. Iscan MY. 2005. Forensic anthropology of sex and body size. Forensic Sci Int 147:107-112.
26. Kennett DJ. 2005. The Island Chumash: Behavioral Ecology of a Maritime Society. Berkeley, CA:University of California Press.
27. Kennett DJ, Kennett JP. 2000. Competitive and cooperative responses to climatic instability in coastal southern California. Am Antiquity 65:379-395.
28. King CD. 1990. Evolution of Chumash society: A Comparative Study of Artifacts Used for Social System Maintenance in the Santa Barbara Channel Region before A.D. 1804. New York:Garland Publishing, Inc.
29. Lambert PM. 1993. Health in prehistoric populations of the Santa Barbara Channel Islands. Am Antiquity 58:509-522.
30. Lambert PM. 1994. War and Peace on the Western Front: A Study of Violent Conflict and Its Correlates in Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherer Societies of Coastal Southern California [doctoral dissertation]. Santa Barbara, CA:University of California.
31. Lambert PM. 2004. Health in prehistoric populations of the Santa Barbara Channel Islands. In: Prehistoric California: Archaeology and the Myth of Paradise (Raab ML, Jones TL, eds). Salt Lake City, UT:University of Utah Press, 99-106.
32. Li T, Molenti A, Latkovich P, Castellani W, Baybutt RC. 2003. Vitamin A depletion induced by cigarette smoke is associated with the development of emphysema in rats. J Nutr 133:2629-2634.
33. Mange AP. 1964. Growth and inbreeding of a human isolate. Hum Biol 36:104-133.
34. Mastrangelo G, Fadda E, Marzia V. 1996. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and cancer in man. Environ Health Perspect 104:1166-1170.
35. Nelson GC. 1992. Maxillary canine/third premolar transposition in a prehistoric population from Santa Cruz Island, California. Am J Phys Anthropol 88:135-144.
36. Olivier G. 1969. Practical Anthropology. Springfield, IL:Charles C. Thomas Publishers.
37. Ortner DJ. 2003. Identification of Pathological Conditions in Human Skeletal Remains. San Diego, CA:Academic Press.
38. Perera FP, Whyatt RM, Jedrychowski W, Rauh V, Manchester D, Santella RM, et al. 1998. Recent developments in molecular epidemiology: a study of the effects of environmental polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on birth outcomes in Poland. Am J Epidemiol 147:309-314.
39. Polanska K, Hanke W, Sobala W, Brzeznicki S, Ligocka D. 2010. Exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and newborn biometric indicators. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 23:339-346.
40. Rick TC, Erlandson JM, Vellanoweth RL. 2001. Paleocoastal marine fishing on the pacific coast of the Americas: perspectives from Daisy Cave, California. Am Antiquity 66:595-613.
41. Rogers DB. 1929. Prehistoric Man of the Santa Barbara Coast. Santa Barbara, CA:Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.
42. Roy LA, Steinert S, Bay SM, Greenstein D, Sapozhnikova Y, Bawardi O, et al. 2003. Biochemical effects of petroleum exposure in hornyhead turbot (Pleuronichthys verticalis) exposed to a gradient of sediments collected from a natural petroleum seep in CA, USA. Aquat Toxicol 65:159-169.
43. Ryan I, Bidmos MA. 2007. Skeletal height reconstruction from measurements of the skull in indigenous South Africans. Forensic Sci Int 167:16-21.
44. Schoenherr AA, Feldmeth CR, Emerson MJ. 1999. Natural History of the Islands of California. Berkeley, CA:University of California Press.
45. Shaw WN, Hassler TJ, Moran DP. 1988. Species Profiles: Life Histories and Environmental Requirements of Coastal Fishes and Invertebrates-California Sea Mussel and Bay Mussel. U.S. Fish Wildl Serv Biol Rep 82(11.84). U.S. Army Corps of Engineers TR EL-82-4. Washington, DC:U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service.
46. Sholts SB, Clement AF, Wärmländer SKTS. 2010. Additional cases of maxillary canine-first premolar transposition in several prehistoric skeletal assemblages from the Santa Barbara Channel Islands of California. Am J Phys Anthropol 143:155-160.
47. Sholts SB, Wärmländer SKTS, Flores L, Miller K, Walker PL. 2010. Variation in the measurement of cranial volume and surface area using 3D laser scanning technology. J Forensic Sci 55:871-876.
48. Spies RB, Davis PH. 1982. Toxicity of Santa Barbara seep oil to starfish embryos. Part 3-influence of parental exposure and the effects of other crude oils. Mar Environ Res 6:3-11.
49. Spies RB, Stegeman JJ, Hinton DE, Woodin B, Smolowitz R, Okihiro M, et al. 1996. Biomarkers of hydrocarbon exposure and sublethal effects in embiotocid fishes from a natural petroleum seep in the Santa Barbara Channel. Aquat Toxicol 34:195-219.
50. Stuermer DH, Spies RB, Davis PH. 1981. Toxicity of Santa Barbara seep oil to starfish embryos. Part I-hydrocarbon composition of test solutions and field samples. Mar Environ Res 5:275-286.
51. U.S. EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency). 2009. Appendix A to 40 CFR, Part 423--126 Priority Pollutants. Available: http://www.epa.gov/NE/npdes/permits/generic/prioritypollutants.pdf [accessed 14 July 2010].
52. Vellanoweth RL, Lambright MR, Erlandson JM, Rick T. 2003. Early New World maritime technologies: sea grass cordage, shell beads, and a bone tool from Cave of Chimneys, San Miguel Island, California, USA. J Archaeol Sci 30:1161-1175.
53. Wakefield JC. 2008. HPA Compendium of Chemical Hazards: Naphthalene. Available: http://www.hpa.org.uk/web/HPAwebFile/HPAweb_C/1203084377836 [accessed 14 July 2010].
54. Walker PL. 1986. Porotic hyperostosis in a marine-dependent California Indian population. Am J Phys Anthropol 69:345-354.
55. Walker PL. 1993. Enamel hypoplasia during 5000 years of southern California prehistory. In: Health and Disease in the Prehistoric Southwest II. Albuquerque, NM:University of New Mexico Press.
56. Walker PL, Bathurst RR, Richman R, Gjerdrum T, Andrushko VA. 2009. The causes of porotic hyperostosis and cribra orbitalia: a reappraisal of the iron-deficiency-anemia hypothesis. Am J Phys Anthropol 139:109-125.
57. Walker PL, Erlandson JM. 1986. Dental evidence for prehistoric dietary change on the northern Channel Islands, California. Am Antiq 51:375-383.
58. Walker PL, Hollimon SE. 1989. Changes in osteoarthritis associated with the development of a maritime economy among southern California Indians. Int J Anthropol 4:171-183.
59. Walker PL, Johnson JR, Lambert PM. 1988. Age and sex biases in the preservation of human skeletal remains. Am J Phys Anthropol 76:183-188.
60. Wells PG, Butler JN, Hughes JS, eds. 1995. Exxon Valdez Oil Spill: Fate and Effects in Alaskan Waters. Philadelphia:ASTM International.
61. Wendt CJ, Lu S-T. 2006. Sourcing archaeological bitumen in the Olmec region. J Archaeol Sci 33:89-97.
62. Westerholm R, Alsberg T, Frommelin Å, Strandell M, Rannug U, Winquist L, et al. 1988. Effect of fuel polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon content on the emissions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and other mutagenic substances from a gasoline-fueled automobile. Environ Sci Technol 22:925-930.
63. Westerholm R, Christensen A, Törnqvist M, Ehrenberg L, Rannug U, Sjögren M, et al. 2001. A comparison of exhaust emissions from Swedish environmental classified diesel fuel (MK1) and European Program on Emissions, Fuels and Engine Technologies (EPEFE) reference fuel: a chemical and biological characterisation, with viewpoints on cancer risk. Environ Sci Technol 35:1748-1754.