Implementation of human biomonitoring in the Dehcho region of the Northwest Territories, Canada (2016–2017)

Abstract

BackgroundHuman biomonitoring represents an important tool for health risk assessment, supporting the characterization of contaminant exposure and nutrient status. In communities where country foods (locally harvested foods: land animals, fish, birds, plants) are integrated in the daily diet, as is the case in remote northern regions where food security is a challenge, such foods can potentially be a significant route of contaminant exposure. To assess this issue, a biomonitoring project was implemented among Dene/Métis communities of the Dehcho region of the Northwest Territories, Canada.MethodsParticipants completed dietary surveys (i.e., a food frequency questionnaire and 24-h recall) to estimate food consumption patterns as well as a Health Messages Survey to evaluate the awareness and perception of contaminants and consumption notices. Biological sampling of hair, urine and blood was conducted. Toxic metals (e.g., mercury, lead, cadmium), essential metals (e.g., copper, nickel, zinc), fatty acids, and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) were measured in samples.ResultsThe levels of contaminants in blood, hair and urine for the majority of participants were below the available guidance values for mercury, cadmium, lead and uranium. However, from the 279 participants, approximately 2% were invited to provide follow up samples, mainly for elevated mercury level. Also, at the population level, blood lead (GM: 11 μg/L) and blood cadmium (GM: 0.53 μg/L) were slightly above the Canadian Health Measures Survey data. Therefore, although country foods occasionally contain elevated levels of particular contaminants, human exposures to these metals remained similar to those seen in the Canadian general population. In addition, dietary data showed the importance and diversity of country foods across participating communities, with the consumption of an average of 5.1% of total calories from wild-harvested country foods.ConclusionThis project completed in the Mackenzie Valley of the Northwest Territories fills a data gap across other biomonitoring studies in Canada as it integrates community results, will support stakeholders in the development of public health strategies, and will inform environmental health issue prioritization.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s13690-018-0318-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Game bird consumption in Dene communities of the Northwest Territories, Canada

“…Random selection recruitment was combined with word of mouth and poster recruitment, aiming to represent the gender and age distribution of the local population. The larger project, funded by the Northern Contaminants Program, involved the collection of three biological samples (human hair, urine and blood), the administration of two dietary surveys (the FFQ and a 24-h dietary recall) and a Health Messages Survey to characterise knowledge awareness, risk perception and communication preferences (10) . Participants had the choice to take part in any number of the six components.…”

“…The findings of the CINE project indicated that game birds make up an important part of the country foods consumed for First Nations, Inuit and Métis in Canada. Our community-based human biomonitoring project was more recently implemented in the NWT in 2015-2018, with the aim of investigating contaminant exposures, nutrition markers and the role of country foods (9,10) . Of the ten most consumed country foods in the larger study, two were birds (Canada goose and mallard) (11) , highlighting the importance of waterfowl for food security and nutrition, and a need to more closely examine bird consumption.…”

Food frequency questionnaire assessing traditional food consumption in Dene/Métis communities, Northwest Territories, Canada

“…A total of 537 participants in the NWT consented to participate in the project. This project, funded by the Northern Contaminants Program (NCP), involved the collection of three biological samples (human hair, urine, and blood), the administration of two dietary surveys (an FFQ and a 24-h dietary recall) and a Health Messages Survey to characterise knowledge awareness, risk perception, and communication preferences [16]. Participants had the choice to take part in any number of the six components.…”

“…Full details of participant recruitment for the project can be found in Ratelle et al [16]. Recruitment was done during the winter season (November to March) and efforts were aimed for participants to represent the sex and age distribution of the combined population (i.e., children, young adults, Elders).…”

“…Therefore, to better understand the public health challenges posed by contaminants in traditional food, a community-based human biomonitoring project Contaminant Biomonitoring in the Northwest Territories Mackenzie Valley was implemented in nine First Nations communities of the NWT. The aim of this biomonitoring project was to assess contaminant exposures, nutrition markers, and the role of traditional foods in participating communities in the Mackenzie Valley, NWT [15,16]. As part of this project, participants completed a pair of foods surveys (i.e., 24-h recall, FFQ).…”