EXPOSURE TO PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS IN THE INUIT POPULATION OF NUNAVIK: TEMPORAL TRENDS AND POTENTIAL HEALTH EFFECTS

• Main Authors: Renée Dallaire, Éric Dewailly, Pierre Ayotte, Daria Pereg, Serge Dery, Suzanne Côté, Sylvie Dodin
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: global scale; dioxins; furans; polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs; aldrin; chlordane; DDT; Arctic; Nunavik; inuit
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.632.1163; http://arctic-change2008.com/pdf/posters_2005/dallaire_et_al.pdf

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are characterized by their long-range oceanic and atmospheric transport, limited biodegradation and bioaccumulation along the trophic levels of the food chain [1]. Concentration of POPs in several species of the marine artic food chain can be very high, especially in fat of marine mammals. Consequently, human population in the Arctic that rely mainly on traditional foods, including consumption of marine species, can be exposed to levels of POPs exceeding established national guidelines [2]. The Stockholm Convention, an international agreement concluded in 2001, identified twelve POPs of most health concern at the