Dr. David Kinloch and Dr. H.V. Kuhnwin, in “Assessment of PCBs in Arctic foods and diets: A pilot study in Broughton Island, Northwest Territories” (1986), confirmed that the Inuit diet in Broughton Island, now Qikiqtarjuaq, was contaminated with PCBs. According to Kinloch, the health of Canada’s 22,000 Inuit and their lifestyles were threatened because “virtually every level of the food chain is of great concern” for contamination. In 1989, Eric Dewailly et al. announced the high levels of PCBs in Inuit breast milk in Northern Quebec. Inuit women had a PCB level concentration of approximately five times of that of southern Quebec Caucasian women, also tested in this study.According to both studies, Inuit peoples’ high consumption of marine resources is considered the main route of toxic exposure. Yet, changes and recommendations were not communicated to Inuit populations at this time. Specifically, breastfeeding mothers, whose milk was contained, were not provided with information on the risks of continued breastfeeding on their
Dr. David Kinloch and Dr. H.V. Kuhnwin, in “Assessment of PCBs in Arctic foods and diets: A pilot study in Broughton Island, Northwest Territories” (1986), confirmed that the Inuit diet in Broughton Island, now Qikiqtarjuaq, was contaminated with PCBs. According to Kinloch, the health of Canada’s 22,000 Inuit and their lifestyles were threatened because “virtually every level of the food chain is of great concern” for contamination. In 1989, Eric Dewailly et al. announced the high levels of PCBs in Inuit breast milk in Northern Quebec. Inuit women had a PCB level concentration of approximately five times of that of southern Quebec Caucasian women, also tested in this study.According to both studies, Inuit peoples’ high consumption of marine resources is considered the main route of toxic exposure. Yet, changes and recommendations were not communicated to Inuit populations at this time. Specifically, breastfeeding mothers, whose milk was contained, were not provided with information on the risks of continued breastfeeding on their