Biomonitoring in Greenland: human biomarkers

• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Arctic; Greenland; Nuuk; Sisimiut; AMAP; greenlandic
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.616.4876; http://www.rrh.org.au/publishedarticles/article_print_1362.pdf

Context: Since 1997 the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) has produced integrated assessment reports on the status of and trends in environmental persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the Arctic ecosystem. Three reports on biomonitoring POPs and their health risks for Arctic populations were published in 1998, 2002, and 2009. Issue: The present review summarizes data from Greenland on human monitoring of biomarkers of POP exposure and bioaccumulation and the determination of biomarkers for POP effects. The review focuses on hormone disruptive potentials and some genetic sensitivity biomarkers. The overview covers Greenlandic studies from 2000 to 2006. Lessons learned: The Greenland biomonitoring studies showed general geographical and gender differences of bioaccumulated serum POP levels, which were primarily related to diet and lifestyle. A high intake of traditional Greenlandic diet (eg seal, whale, polar bear, and seabirds) together with smoking caused higher blood concentrations of POPs. The highest POP values were found on the east coast of Greenland. The receptor effect studies showed a general inverse relationship between high serum POP concentration and estrogen receptor (ER) and Ah-receptor (AhR) transactivity; in addition for men in the two West Greenlandic districts, Nuuk and Sisimiut, a trend towards increased induced AR activity was found. An observed trend to an opposite direction between the dioxin-like AhR and ER activity supports the perception of that dioxins exert an antiestrogen effect. In conclusion, the © EC Bonefeld-Jorgensen, 2010. A licence to publish this material has been given to ARHEN