Elevated contaminants contrasted with potential benefits of ω-3 fatty acids in wild food consumers of two remote first nations communities in northern Ontario, Canada.

• Published in: PLoS ONE
• Main Authors: Timothy A Seabert, Shinjini Pal, Bernard M Pinet, Francois Haman, Michael A Robidoux, Pascal Imbeault, Eva M Krümmel, Linda E Kimpe, Jules M Blais
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2014
• Subjects: Medicine; R; Science; Q; Canada; First Nations
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0090351; https://doaj.org/article/a2d74f930f4f4b4194877b59849128d9

Indigenous communities in Boreal environments rely on locally-harvested wild foods for sustenance. These foods provide many nutritional benefits including higher levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs; such as ω-3) than what is commonly found in store-bought foods. However, wild foods can be a route of exposure to dietary mercury and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Here, we show a strong association between the frequency of wild food consumption in adults (N=72) from two remote First Nations communities of Northern Ontario and environmental contaminants in blood (POPs) and hair (mercury). We observed that POPs and mercury were on average 3.5 times higher among those consuming wild foods more often, with many frequent wild food consumers exceeding Canadian and international health guidelines for PCB and mercury exposures. Contaminants in locally-harvested fish and game from these communities were sufficiently high that many participants exceeded the monthly consumption limits for methylmercury and PCBs. Those consuming more wild foods also had higher proportions of potentially beneficial ω-3 fatty acids including eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). These results show that the benefits of traditional dietary choices in Boreal regions of Canada must be weighed against the inherent risks of contaminant exposure from these foods.