[A-List] Destructive creation: Arctic pollution

["Keaney Michael" <Michael.Keaney@xxxxxx>]

Pollution is putting Eskimos at risk
Report finds industrial chemicals poisoning Arctic

JAMES FREEMAN
The Herald, 1 October 2002

THE first evidence that Eskimos are suffering the effects of dangerous
industrial chemicals from countries thousands of miles away is published
today.

Scientists say the Arctic's climate, and the region's restricted diet,
mean Inuit dwellers are particularly susceptible to polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs), pesticides and insecticides, carried there by wind and
water currents.

The new report by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (Amap)
is the first confirmation of human contamination in the region.

Amap, which has been studying the Arctic for 10 years, said the report
demonstrated that Inuit people in Greenland and Canada have among the
world's highest dietary exposures to the PCBs.

The study, issued by WWF, the global environment network, also reveals
that polar bears, Arctic foxes, seals, killer whales, harbour porpoises,
and birds such as glaucous gulls and peregrine falcons are among the
Arctic species contaminated with the highest levels of persistent
organic pollutants (POPs).

Matthew Wilkinson, WWF-UK's toxics policy officer, said: "The Arctic is
acting like a sink for the world's pollution.

"These dangerous chemicals rise with evaporation, then fall in rain and
snow. In the cold Arctic, they do not recirculate, but stay put, finding
their way into the food chain.

"Because that is restricted, with few prey species and few predators,
they reconcentrate in humans. With these chemicals, you cannot do a
product recall. You have to live with the consequences."

The Amap report also reveals newer generation chemicals, widely
manufactured and used in the UK and Europe, such as polybrominated
diphenyl ethers - flame retardants - are turning up in the Arctic.

POPs are known to damage the nervous system, development and
reproduction, and are able to travel great distances. Arctic species
with the highest levels of POPs are already showing adverse effects.
Researchers have linked POPs' levels to reduced immune system function,
and increased rates of infection in polar bears and fur seals.

WWF is calling on Russia and the US to ratify the Stockholm convention
on POPs, a new international treaty that will phase out and ban some of
the most dangerous. Several other Arctic rim countries, including
Canada, Norway and Sweden, have already ratified the convention.

Samantha Smith, director of WWF's international arctic programme, said:
"Without a global ban, we can't protect indigenous peoples and wildlife
in the Arctic. The US and Russia need to stop ignoring the scientific
evidence and ratify the Stockholm convention."

The Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC), which represents Inuits in
Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Russia, is also concerned by the report's
findings.

"Inuits call on all Arctic states to work together in global meetings to
protect the health of Arctic residents, and to renew and expand
scientific programmes on contaminant threats to the health and way of
life of Inuit and other Arctic indigenous peoples," said Sheila
Watt-Cloutier, ICC chair.

The report highlights the increase in levels of organic mercury found in
some parts of the Arctic, primarily due to increased burning of coal for
energy production in south-east Asia - showing the tight links between
the Arctic as a recipient of pollutants and the outside world.