SELECTED THESES ON THE CIRCUMPOLAR ARCTIC

The levels of organochlorine contaminants in the Canadian Arctic marine food chain as presented in the current literature were reviewed and analyzed. The study established levels of PCB and organochlorine pollutants in the food chain and determined and examined the routes of exposure to the Native population who rely on the marine food chain for a large portion of their diet. The benefits of a traditional food diet were described and contrasted with the detrimental effects that may result from either abandoning the traditional diet and foods or from keeping the traditional lifestyle and ingesting the detected levels of contaminants. The author concludes that the persistent, lipophilic, volatile organochlorine contaminants in the traditional diet of the Inuit are at levels whereby the possible health effects should be examined; particularly the health effects as manifested on the developing fetus.