2/4/12 CARC -- Northern Perspectives V25 no. 2, Winter 1998, Arctic Contaminants: An Unfinished Agenda 1/8 www.carc.org/pubs/v25no2/w252.htm Canadian Arctic Contaminants Assessment Report: Overview and Summary by Chris M. Furgal and Robbie Keith Introduction In June 1997 The Arctic Environmental Strategy (AES) -Northern Contaminants Program (NCP) issued a report entitled Canadian Arctic Contaminants Assessment Report (CACAR), a culmination of six years of scientific research and more than 100 studies.1 It is the most comprehensive collection and report of data on environmental contamination in the Canadian Arctic to date. Accompanying the report, the NCP also published a less technical volume entitled Highlights of the Canadian Arctic Contaminants Assessment Report: a community reference manual, which was aimed at community health and environment representatives in the North.2 This article summarizes the CA CAR documents and provides an overview of the key elements of the report. Contaminants in the Arctic: Reasons for Concern The Arctic was once considered a pristine environment however, during the last 20 years, scientists have found significant levels of industrial and agricultural chemicals in its ecosystem and in the people who live there. The contaminants include organochlorines [OCs, also referred to as persistent organic pollutants (POPs)], heavy metals, and radionuclides, which originate principally from distant industrial and agricultural regions of the world. There are some local sources such as mines and radar station sites, but their contribution to contaminant loading is far less than that of those originating through long-range transport (table 1). Persistent contaminants have been detected throughout Arctic ecosystems���air, surface seawater, suspended sediments, snow,3 fish, marine mammals, seabirds,4 and terrestrial plants and animals.5 Several of the contaminants of concern in the Arctic are no longer used in Canada and their use has, in many cases, been banned or restricted in most of the developed world. Because they continue to be used in many developing nations, however, reduction of contamination in the Canadian Arctic can be achieved only through global action. The presence of environmental contaminates in the Arctic is especially important because of the specificity of this ecosystem. Many of these chemicals condense in cold environments and the Arctic is such a "cold trap," typified by long- lived, fat-rich organisms that accumulate and concentrate contaminants to the upper levels of the food chain. Unexpectedly high levels of organic contaminants and metals have been detected in some Arctic fish, seals, and whales that are important parts of the diets and nutrition of many Arctic residents. Chemical contamination of these traditional foods provides a critical path of contaminant transfer to human consumers, particularly northern Aboriginal peoples.6 Although the message currently given to northerners is to continue their consumption of country foods, detection of elevated levels of contaminants has generated human health advisories to decrease consumption of or eliminate from the diet certain tissues and species of fish and wildlife in specific areas of Yukon and the Northwest Territories.7 The NCP

2/4/12 CARC -- Northern Perspectives V25 no. 2, Winter 1998, Arctic Contaminants: An Unfinished Agenda 2/8 www.carc.org/pubs/v25no2/w252.htm The Northern Contaminants Program was designed to determine the types and levels of contaminants in the Arctic, the extent to which people are exposed, the effects of such exposure, and the impacts of strategies to reduce or eliminate contamination and human exposure to contaminants. The CACAR documents the current state of contamination in the Canadian Arctic environment, including the status and trends of contaminant levels, and compares findings in the Canadian North with findings from other areas of the world. A multidisciplinary approach was adopted and managed by the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (DIAND) in partnership with five Aboriginal organizations���Inuit Tapirisat of Canada (ITC) Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC) M��tis Nation-NWT Council of Yukon First Nations (CYFN) and the Dene Nation���and several federal and territorial government departments and agencies including the Department of the Environment, Fisheries and Oceans, Health Canada, and GNWT Health (figure 1). Some of the research was carried out by government scientists some in universities across the country and some by the NCP's Aboriginal partners. Inuit Tapirisat of Canada prepared a report entitled "Researcher Guidelines for Planning Communications and Community Participation," which outlines a series of requirements for community participation and communication through all stages of research from proposal development to the reporting of results. These guidelines were endorsed by the NCP science managers in 1994 and issued as part of the application package for all research proposals to the NCP starting in 1994/95. The NCP's findings are of concern because of the potential human health implications for many northern native peoples arising from their dependence on traditionally harvested foods and their position as high food-chain consumers. As many as 91% of native households in the Northwest Territories consume traditionally harvested meat and fish, and 22% have reported that all their meat and fish are obtained through harvest activities. When traditionally harvested foods are reduced or eliminated as a food source, there are serious nutritional, socio-economic, and cultural impacts on northern Aboriginal peoples. What Did We Learn? Contaminants: Sources, Pathways, and Fate Human activities in industrialized and agricultural regions in both developed and developing countries are the main sources of contaminants in the Canadian Arctic. Accurate and complete information is required on the release of these pollutants into the environment to develop effective international strategies to reduce the input of contaminants to the Arctic. It is difficult to determine the proportion of anthropogenic versus natural sources of heavy metals to the total contaminant loading to the Arctic. From an economic perspective, the extraction of base and precious metals has, for many years, been important to the North, where nickel, copper, lead, zinc, silver, and gold are all currently mined. The by-products of the mining industry may result in elevated levels of trace metals and other contaminants within a localized area and may threaten human health and the local environment. In contrast, localized, naturally elevated concentrations of heavy metals in areas undisturbed by human activities may result in elevated concentrations in resident biota but have little consequence for the health of the biota. For example, natural mercury sources occur regionally in parts of the western Arctic, whereas natural cadmium sources are more widespread across the Canadian Arctic. Detectable levels of radioactivity result mostly from the natural radioactive decay of uranium and thorium in minerals of the region. People living in the North are now exposed to greater amounts of naturally occurring radionuclides than to radionuclides from anthropogenic sources. Historically, anthropogenic radionuclides in the Canadian North originated from atmospheric testing of nuclear and thermonuclear weapons between 1955 and 1963 and the radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl accident in 1986. Cesium levels in Arctic biota have generally declined since 1963 and fallout from Chernobyl has imbedded itself in soil and lake sediment. Other possible, yet small, sources of radionuclides include the burning-up of nuclear-powered satellites upon re-entry to the atmosphere, discharges from nuclear power plants and reprocessing plants, and nuclear waste dumping directly into the Arctic Ocean.8 The impact of the ocean disposal of nuclear waste remains unmeasured. Generally, levels of radionuclides in the air, water, or soil of the Canadian Arctic are similar to or lower than levels in more temperate areas. Local sources of pollution within the Canadian Arctic include abandoned radar sites and military installations, northern mining activities, and local garbage dumps. Although these sources are not the principal cause of the widespread distribution of contaminants in the Canadian Arctic, they pose a threat to the health of local ecosystems by emitting a variety of pollutants (including POPs and heavy metals). It is estimated that approximately 0.2% of the Yukon and NWT