æCLUSTER: VULNERABLE POPULATIONS IN THE ARCTIC Indications of decreasing human PTS concentrations in North West Russia

• Main Authors: Charlotta Ryl, Torkjel M. S, Natalya Petrenya, Alexei Konoplev, Evgeny Bojko, Jon Øyvind Odl
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Arctic; Izhma; Usinsk; North-West Russia
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.288.5731

Background: The Russian Arctic covers an enormous landmass with diverse environments. It inhabits more than 20 different ethnic groups, all of them with various living conditions and food traditions. Indigenous populations with a traditional way of living are exposed to a large number of anthropogenic pollutants, such as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and toxic metals, mainly through the diet. Human monitoring of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and heavy metals in the Russian Arctic has only been performed on irregular intervals over the past 15 years, thus, there is still a lack of baseline data from many ethnic groups and geographical regions. The aim of the current study was to investigate concentrations of POPs and toxic metals in three groups of indigenous people from the Russian Arctic. Plasma concentrations of POPs were measured in one of the locations (Nelmin-Nos) in 2001 2003 which gave the unique opportunity to compare concentrations over time in a small Russian arctic community. Methods: During 2009 and early 2010, 209 blood samples were collected from three different study sites in North West Russia; Nelmin-Nos, Izhma and Usinsk. The three study sites are geographically separated and the inhabitants are expected to have different dietary habits and living conditions. All blood samples were analyzed for POPs and toxic metals. Results: PCB 153 was present in highest concentrations of the 18 PCBs analyzed. p, p?-DDE and HCB were