A multi-year study conducted by Gina Muckle of Laval University as part of the Canadian Northern Contaminants Program (NCP) has yielded some disturbing results. The study tracks the effects pollutants on infants in northern Quebec whose mothers consume a traditional diet of ‘country food’ — marine mammals and other wildlife that are being increasingly poisoned by industrial toxins.
However, the health board of Nunavik, the largely Inuit region of northern Quebec, has recommended that residents continue to eat a traditional subsistence diet, because the benefits still outweigh the risks. In particular, omega-3 fatty acids, found in great abundance in country food, have been found to diminish the effects of the PCBs also found in traditional foods. In addition, consumption of any other diet would require fuller participation in the cash economy and the subsequent risks of obesity and diabetes, as well as harm to traditional culture and lifestyles. The government is likely to discontinue funding for this research, however, which means future pollution levels and tradeoffs may not be adequately understood.
Water- and airborne pollutants, most notably mercury, lead, and PCBs, have been found in surprising quantities in the Arctic, though they do not originate there. The vast majority of this pollution arrives by air and water currents from great distances, bringing southern industrial toxins to the ‘pollution sink’ of the Arctic. The study offers some of the first solid evidence that pollutants including heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) can travel such great distances and maintain concentrations high enough to cause measurable harm. Among the findings, Dr. Muckle discovered small but significant neurological effects on 11 month-old-infants in Nunavik that affected visual memory and attention, and previous studies have shown that the breast milk of women who eat a traditional diet contains dioxins and other pollutants.
Among the disturbing findings were these figures: 73% of Inuit women were found to have PCB levels up to five times higher than Health Canada’s official guidelines, while half of the Inuit tested had levels of other POPs 20 times the Health Canada limits. Unborn infants in Nunavik face twice as much lead exposure, two to three times as much PCB contamination, and much higher mercury levels than their southern Canadian counterparts.
A striking feature of this study, Dr. Muckle noted, was that it looked at the entire picture of Inuit health, recognizing the importance of traditional lifestyles. The importance of the health benefits of hunting and fishing, as well as the benefits of social cohesion through community feasts and other activities, influenced the health board’s recommendation that, for now, Nunavimmiut continue to eat traditional country food. However, the board did recommend increasing the amount of Arctic char and caribou in a traditional diet instead of muktuk (marine mammal meat), since marine mammals collect high levels of toxins in their fatty tissues. In addition, younger animals are likely to contain lower levels of pollutants, the board noted.
The study was conducted as part of the Northern Contaminants Program, funded for 10 years by the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (DIAND). Unfortunately, DIAND is unlikely to continue funding the program, despite these results and what many see as a great need for subsequent studies. Sheila Watt-Cloutier, chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference, has strongly criticized the plan to cancel funding the program. Watt-Cloutier has stated that Canada will not be able to abide by its international legal obligations under the Stockholm Convention of 2001 governing POP emissions if the Northern Contaminants Program is eliminated. While funding is expected to end by March 31, 2003, aboriginal leaders are currently lobbying hard to continue the program.
