Deutch Bente, Pedersen Henning Sloth, Hansen Jens C
Centre of Arctic Environmental Medicine, Aarhus University, Vennelyst Boulevard 6, DK 8000, Aarhus, Denmark.
Sci Total Environ. 2004 Sep 20;331(1-3):177-88. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2004.03.028.
Human exposure to pollution in the Arctic presents a potential future health risk for the local populations. Epidemiological studies in Greenland have shown that human blood levels of several organic contaminants are very high, especially in the North where people depend on local food. In East Greenland (Ittoqqortoormiit (Scoresbysund)) the population shows the highest blood levels of several persistent organic pollutants found in Arctic countries, especially PCB, the levels of which exceed Canadian guideline levels. As in other Arctic countries, the direct source of these contaminants is the diet, and it is, therefore important to monitor the composition of the diet along with other factors which may influence the metabolism and thereby the accumulation of toxic substances. This project is part of the human health program of the ongoing circumpolar 'Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme'. Dietary survey results (Semiquantitative Food Frequency questionnaire from 192 men and women from East Greenland and 48 men from Uummannaq West Greenland) were analysed along with other factors (lifestyle and anthropometric factors), blood lipids, fatty acid profiles, and concentrations of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). The dietary survey showed that the contributions of traditional food provided 25-30% of the total energy intake. However, the relative monthly meal intake of seal, whale, polar bear, fish and game, and the composition of imported food, varied between districts. The blood fatty acids (FA), e.g. the n-3/n-6 ratio (Uummannaq 0.70, Ittoqqortoormiit 0.37 Tassiilaq 0.45) showed moderate associations with the overall reported food composition. The n-3 fatty acids were associated with the well-known lowering effect on serum-triglyceride levels. The strongest associations between diet and plasma fatty acids were found for docosapentaenoic acid, C: 22.5.3 which strongly correlated with reported seal, and polar bear intake (P=0.01** and 0.04*, respectively), consistent with the fact that seal and polar bear blubber contain much higher concentrations of C: 22.5.3 than other sea mammals and fish. Seal and polar bear intake, and in particular all the plasma n-3 fatty acids, were significantly correlated with organic contaminant concentrations, (betaHCH, chlordanes, DDTs, Hexachlorobenzene, Mirex, PCBs, and toxaphenes) P<0.01**.
The strongest correlations between POPs and fatty acids were found with C: 22.5.3, strongly indicating seal and polar bear blubber as the main contributors of POPs to the local population.
人类接触北极地区的污染物对当地居民的未来健康构成潜在风险。格陵兰岛的流行病学研究表明，人体血液中几种有机污染物的含量非常高，尤其是在北部地区，那里的人们依赖当地食物。在东格陵兰（伊托考托米特（斯科斯比松）），当地居民血液中几种在北极国家发现的持久性有机污染物含量最高，尤其是多氯联苯，其含量超过了加拿大的指导标准。与其他北极国家一样，这些污染物的直接来源是饮食，因此，监测饮食成分以及其他可能影响新陈代谢进而影响有毒物质积累的因素非常重要。该项目是正在进行的环北极“北极监测与评估计划”人类健康项目的一部分。对饮食调查结果（来自东格陵兰的192名男性和女性以及西格陵兰乌马纳克的48名男性的半定量食物频率问卷）以及其他因素（生活方式和人体测量因素）、血脂、脂肪酸谱和持久性有机污染物（POPs）浓度进行了分析。饮食调查显示，传统食物提供了总能量摄入的25 - 30%。然而，海豹、鲸鱼、北极熊、鱼类和野味的相对月膳食摄入量以及进口食物的组成在不同地区有所不同。血液中的脂肪酸（FA），例如n - 3/n - 6比值（乌马纳克为0.70，伊托考托米特为0.37，塔西拉克为0.45）与总体报告的食物组成呈中度关联。n - 3脂肪酸与众所周知的降低血清甘油三酯水平的作用相关。饮食与血浆脂肪酸之间最强的关联发现于二十二碳五烯酸，C：22：5：3，它与报告的海豹和北极熊摄入量密切相关（分别为P = 0.01和0.04），这与海豹和北极熊的脂肪中C：22：5：3的浓度比其他海洋哺乳动物和鱼类高得多的事实一致。海豹和北极熊的摄入量，特别是所有血浆n - 3脂肪酸，与有机污染物浓度显著相关（β - 六氯环己烷、氯丹、滴滴涕、六氯苯、灭蚁灵、多氯联苯和毒杀芬），P < 0.01*。
持久性有机污染物与脂肪酸之间最强的相关性发现于C：22：5：3，强烈表明海豹和北极熊的脂肪是当地居民持久性有机污染物的主要来源。
