An Arctic thank you for UN action against toxins that accumulate in traditional food
An Arctic thank you for UN action against toxins that accumulate in traditional food
Vi Waghiyi|
July 7, 2015
Sometimes when you live in a small, remote town you need support beyond your community to take care of your family and well-being. Savoonga is a traditional Yup'ik community on St. Lawrence Island in the northern Bering Sea, just 40 miles from the Chukotkan Peninsula of Russia. For much of the year we are surrounded by sea ice. Like our traditional Siberian relatives, we rely on bowhead whale, walrus, seals and other customary foods for most of our diet. But, recently, we relied on the peoples of Ghana, South Korea, El Salvador, Brazil, Switzerland, Norway, and over 80 other nations to support our health. Together, our work improved health globally, through a United Nations vote that banned the chemical pentachlorophenol.
Pentachlorophenol, or PCP, now joins the list of chemicals banned under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, known as the POPS Treaty. More familiar names already subject to the treaty include DDT, PCBs, and dioxin. The world is a healthier place for it.
Persistent organic pollutants are chemicals that persist in the environment and bio-accumulate [2] through the food web [3]. They contaminate our human blood and breast milk without our consent, and are associated with a range of harmful health effects including learning and developmental disabilities, endocrine disorders, and cancers.
Accumulation of POPs in northern latitudes is a well-documented phenomenon. Prevailing ocean and wind currents carry contaminants into the Arctic where they are subsequently trapped by the cold climate. As early as the 1970s, DDT and other persistent pollutants were detected in Arctic species including polar bears, whales, and fish.
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The United States is one of only a handful of nations which have not signed the Stockholm Convention, and so is not bound by this latest ban. The U.S., along with Canada, remains the highest user of this toxic chemical.
More:
http://www.adn.com/print/article/20150707/arctic-thank-you-un-action-against-toxins-accumulate-traditional-food