Wheatley B, Paradis S
Medical Services Branch, Health Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Neurotoxicology. 1996 Spring;17(1):241-9.
Environmental contaminants such as methylmercury which bio-accumulate in aquatic ecosystems present an exposure risk to Aboriginal peoples living traditional lifestyles. The results of a 20 year testing program of methylmercury exposure levels of 38,571 Canadian Aboriginal people in 514 native communities across Canada are presented. 608 individuals had blood or blood equivalent levels over 100 micrograms/l. The highest individual level was 660 micrograms/l. The highest mean levels were found in the Inuit in N.W.T. In that same group, over 30% of women aged 15-45 years who were tested had levels over 10 micrograms/g methylmercury in hair with a mean of 16 micrograms/g, well into the 10-20 micrograms/g "risk" range defined by WHO for fetal exposure. A discussion of the management of risk from exposure to methylmercury in the Canadian Aboriginal population is presented, concentrating especially on the need to balance the theoretical basis of the risk assessment, for different population groups and for different exposure patterns, against the potential real impact on health caused by restrictive advice on consumption of traditional foods, especially fish.
甲基汞等环境污染物会在水生生态系统中生物累积，给过着传统生活方式的原住民带来接触风险。本文展示了一项针对加拿大514个原住民社区中38571名加拿大原住民的甲基汞接触水平进行的为期20年的检测项目结果。608人的血液或血液等效物水平超过100微克/升。个体最高水平为660微克/升。西北地区因纽特人的平均水平最高。在同一组中，接受检测的15至45岁女性中，超过30%的人头发中的甲基汞含量超过10微克/克，平均为16微克/克，已远超世界卫生组织为胎儿接触所定义的10至20微克/克“风险”范围。本文讨论了加拿大原住民人群接触甲基汞的风险管理，尤其着重于需要平衡针对不同人群组和不同接触模式的风险评估理论基础，以及限制食用传统食物（尤其是鱼类）的建议对健康可能产生的实际影响。
