The Northern Contaminants Program: Opportunities for Collaboration with ArcticNet

Transcription

1 The Northern Contaminants Program: Opportunities for Collaboration with ArcticNet Russel Shearer Chair of NCP and Director of Northern Science and Contaminants Research, INAC 2nd ArcticNet Annual Science Meeting Banff, December 13-16, 2005

2 Outline of Presentation NCP Overview Environmental Trends Human Health Education/Communications International Initiatives - Science to Policy Opportunities for Collaboration with ArcticNet

3 NCP Policy Objectives 2005/06 and Beyond To reduce and, wherever possible, eliminate contaminants from longrange transport sources in traditional / country foods, while providing information that assists individuals and communities in making informed decisions about their food use by:

4 Northern Contaminants Program Sources, Pathways and fate of contaminants Levels and trends in the air and biota Levels, trends and effects in people Communication and education International Action

5 The Contaminants: Heavy Metals mercury, lead, cadmium Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPS) PCBs, DDTs, toxaphene, chlordanes, HCHs New Chemicals e.g. brominated flame retardants, fluorinated organic compounds including current use pesticides

6

7 Northern Contaminants Program Managed by INAC in partnership with Health Canada Environment Canada Fisheries and Oceans Three territorial governments Aboriginal organizations Provinces Quebec and Labrador Universities and research institutes

8 NCP Future Funding Envelopes (2005/06 -) Human Health Education / Commun. Environmental Trends National/Regional/ Aboriginal Partnerships Total $1.8 M $0.9 M $0.8 M $0.9M $4.4 M

9 Environmental Trends of POPs and Metals in Arctic Air and Biota

10 Air monitoring at Alert Continuous measurement of POPs and mercury Project leads: Hayley Hung, Alexandra Steffen, Meteorological Service of Canada

11 AMDERMA DUNAI ALERT NY ALESUND Barrow TAGISH C.DORSET

12 Wildlife monitoring Ringed Seal Beluga Narwhal Walrus Polar Bear Caribou Seabirds Arctic Char Lake trout Burbot

13 Environmental Trends in Biota Temporal Trends annual sampling of key species at select locations Spatial Trends range of species monitored over a broad geographic area over a 5-yr. 5 sampling cycle

14 Ringed Seal Annual sampling Sampling every 5 years 2008/9 Ausuittuq annual Ikaahuk Uluhaktuk 2006/7 annual Qausuittuq Uqsuqtuuq 2008/9 Ikpiarjuk 2009/ /10 Mittimatalik 2005/6 Qikiqtarjuaq Pangnirtung 2006/7 2007/8 Kangiqsualujjuaq Arviat annual Inukjuaq 2008/9 Nunainguk 2005/6

15 Fish

16 Arctic Char Pan-Arctic Survey ( ) Annual sampling Sampling every 5 years Ikaahuk Uluhaktuk Ausuittuq Qausuittuq Mittimatalik Qikiqtarjuaq Paulatuk Ikaluktutiak Uqsuqtuuq Kinngait Pangnirtung Iqauit Arviat Sanikiluaq

17 Contaminants and Arctic Aboriginal Peoples

18 People: top of the food chain

19 Of paramount concern High levels of PCBs and other POPs and mercury measured in blood and breast milk of Inuit

20 What have we learned from the NCP? Exposures are highest among Inuit Yukon N=802 First Nations PTDI Dene Dene N=1012 Nation, NWT Cold, oligotrophic subarctic lakes PTDI and 0 Inuit, Inuit N=1875 Nunavut NWT PTDI Inuit, Nunavut and NWT Inuit N=1875 * Recommended mercury TDI for children and women of child-bearing age. PTDI Mean contaminant intakes (ug/kg/day) of northern Aboriginal peoples (left) compared to provisional tolerable daily intakes (PTDI) from Health Canada (right). Chlordane Toxaphene Mercury

21 PCBs in maternal blood with results from the AMAP circumpolar blood survey

22 Communicating About Contaminants with Aboriginal Communities: Methods, Materials and Processes

23 Resources Are they safe? Yukon has an abundance of wild foods that can be harvested as part of a healthy Northern lifestyle. Eating our wild traditional foods is a wise and safe decision.

24 What is CACAR 2 Provides a summary of all the NCP Research in the Canadian Arctic for the last five years The five reports deal specifically with Where contaminants come from Contaminants in fish and wildlife Human exposure Contaminants education

25 Canadian Arctic Contaminant Assessment Report (CACAR II) Physical Environment Biological Environment Human Health Knowledge in Action Highlights Report

26 Aboriginal Partners: Brought forth community voice Provided advice and represented northern Aboriginal interests to INAC and other NCP government partners Input and direction on research priorities and Directing communication initiatives

27 The NCP and International Policy Initiatives Arctic Council / AMAP UN-ECEConvention LRTAP UNEP Stockholm Convention UNEP Global Mercury N. American CEC / SMOC

28 Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) Established in 1991 to monitor the levels of, and assess the effects of anthropogenic pollutants in all relevant components of the Arctic environment involves 8 Arctic nations (Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Russia, United States) + a few non-arctic nations (The Netherlands, Germany & the United Kingdom) and Permanent Participants

29 NCP Collaboration with ArcticNet Northern Partnerships Communications and Capacity-Building Inuit Research Advisors (IRAs) and Aboriginal Partners Use of protocols and guidelines developed for: QA/QC, archived samples, Guidelines for Responsible Research, Social/Cultural Criteria and Review and Data Management and Sample Agreement

30

31 ACCELERATION OF CLIMATE WARMING IN THE ARCTIC Process Studies: Climate Change Influences on Contaminant Trends ALBEDO EFFECT 90% 50%

32 Steffen et al., 2005 Hg Depletion Events at Canadian Air Monitoring Stations Note: Events of rapid Hg loss at the onset of polar sunrise Evidence of return of Hg to the atmosphere in summer (JJA) Atmospheric residence time of Hg is ~1-2 years

33 Hg in Beluga Liver Stern et al., 2005

34 The Problem with Hg Time Series Atmospheric data are great (but don t show a trend) Emission data suggest Hg declines Marine mammal data are sporadic but suggest huge increases for some locations Ocean data don t exist River data don t exist

35 NCEs/ArcticNet 50% Co-funding Inuit Health Study: Contaminants in the Nunavik Region

36 CCGS Amundsen Core infrastructure: CCGS Amundsen Cost Sharing and Co-Funding

37 ν ν ν ν Next Steps Cooperation with Northern Regions and Inuit Partners e.g., Inuit Research Assistants (IRAs) Coordination of ArcticNet and NCP results workshops in 2006 on a trial basis Share Results of Proposal Review Processes to ensure coordination, cost-sharing and co-funding Follow-up to ACIA Report Declaration by AC at the UN Montreal Meeting

38 AMAP Assessment Reports Scientific Reports scientific background ACIA Report Popular Science Reports general public and decision-makers (with recommendations for actions)

39 For more information: NCP Call for Proposals Deadline: Jan. 9, 2006 Visit the NCP website at:

40 Thank You

41 Questions and Discussion

42

43 Scholarships for Inuit environmental health MSc/MA, PhD, Post-doc

44 Approach to Research: Conducting research in the North presents its own unique and unfamiliar challenges to scientists trained in the South. Financial demands Logistical difficulties Cultural considerations Tough traveling and working conditions Communication obstacles

45 Geographical and Temporal Trends of Perfluorinated Organics in Polar Bears liver and plasma from the North American and European Arctic Marla Smithwick, J.W. Martin, C. Sonne, R. Dietz, T. Evans, K. Solomon, S. Mabury, R. Norstrom, G. Gabrielsen, A. Derocher, M. Tayloer, J. Nagy, I. Stirling, D. Muir UNIVERSITY of G UELPH

46 Northern Contaminants Program (NCP) Tagish Dunai Little Fox Lake Alert Amderma Kinngait OCs, PCBs, PAHs gas & particles most sites Weekly samples Little Fox Lake Bi-weekly composites Kinngait I: weekly or 4-week composites II: mostly combined gas & particle Alert MAR, 94 Kinngait I FEB, 96 DEC, 92 Tagish MAR, 95 APR, 93 Dunai MAY, 95 OCT, 00 Kinngait II SEP, 02 Jul, 02 MAR, 99 Amderma SEP, Little Fox Lake Jul, 03

47 Biomagnification Biomagnification Biomagnification Biomagnification Biomagnification Biomagnification