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Mercury risk in seal liver Jeanne Gagnon Northern News Services Published Monday, July 2, 2012
The level of exposure to chemical contaminants Nunavut residents experienced in 2007 and 2008 is the focus of the report released in Iqaluit on June 28. It concludes the benefits of eating country food outweigh the risk of being exposed to contaminants, according to Dr. Geraldine Osborne, Nunavut's chief medical officer. "It is very important we continue to encourage people to eat country foods because they are a fantastic source of essential nutrients," she said. "Most people need not be concerned, given the results. They don't need to be concerned about contaminants in country food." Some of the results, though, warrant moderation in eating parts of some animals. The livers of ringed seal tend to contain high levels of methylmercury, a form of mercury harmful to human health. Women of child-bearing age who are planning to become pregnant or are pregnant should avoid eating it, instead choosing the meat. "Simply cutting ringed seal liver out of the diet will dramatically lower the levels the mercury - halved it, which is pretty amazing," said Osborne. Methylmercury is typically more present in predators and tends to be higher in organs used to filter waste, such as the liver. It is a neurotoxin, which affects the brain development of children and unborn babies, and can be dangerous to adults when consumed. Another finding from the report is Nunavummiut are exposed to high levels of cadmium due to smoking. Cadmium, a heavy metal present in cigarettes, is linked to lung cancer and kidney damage as well as interfering with how the body absorbs calcium. "The most effective way of bringing down cadmium levels is to quit smoking or if people can't quit, to at least cut down," said Osborne. Asked why it took five years to produce a report stemming from 2007 and 2008 data, Laurie Chan, a toxicologist at the University of Ottawa, said logistics takes a long time and funding needed to be secured. "For a study of this scale, you start to hear results five to 10 years on an ongoing basis," he said. Osborne said in general, the picture would be the same if a study was done and released in 2012. "It's a huge study. It involved a lot of people. A lot of organizations were involved in this. It was a lot of data to analyze. So it takes a lot of time but the important thing is we have good information in the end," she said. "It's very solid information. It is as relevant today as it was in 2007 when the data was taken." She added having data specific to Nunavut is important. Fact file Inuit health survey contaminant assessment 1,923 Nunavut residents from all 25 communities participated in the survey Average cadmium blood concentrations for Inuit adults in Nunavut were close to 2 parts per billion, double the population guideline of 1 ppb. Eating 17 grams of ringed seal liver accounts for 49 per cent of the mercury intake for a women of child-bearing age. For Nunavummiut in general, 39 grams of ringed seal liver will contribute to 25 per cent of their mercury intake. Source: Inuit Health Survey 2007 - 2008 - Contaminant Assessment in Nunavut
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