The implementation of rifapentine and isoniazid (3HP) in two remote Arctic communities with a predominantly Inuit population, the Taima TB 3HP study

Due to the grasshopper effect, the Arctic food chain in Canada is contaminated with persistent organic pollutants (POPs) of industrial origin, including polychlorinated biphenyls and organochlorine pesticides. Exposure to POPs may be a contributor to the greater incidence of poor fetal growth, placental abnormalities, stillbirths, congenital defects and shortened lifespan in the Inuit population compared to non-Aboriginal Canadians. Although maternal exposure to POPs is well established to harm pregnancy outcomes, paternal transmission of the effects of POPs is a possibility that has not been well investigated. We used a rat model to test the hypothesis that exposure to POPs during gestation and suckling leads to developmental defects that are transmitted to subsequent generations via the male lineage. Indeed, developmental exposure to an environmentally relevant Arctic POPs mixture impaired sperm quality and pregnancy outcomes across two subsequent, unexposed generations and altered sperm DNA methylation, some of which are also observed for two additional generations. Genes corresponding to the altered sperm methylome correspond to health problems encountered in the Inuit population. These findings demonstrate that the paternal methylome is sensitive to the environment and that some perturbations persist for at least two subsequent generations. In conclusion, although many factors influence health, paternal exposure to contaminants plays a heretofore-underappreciated role with sperm DNA methylation contributing to the molecular underpinnings involved.

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ARKTISKE FOLK SOM STATISTER OG AKTØRER PÅ DEN GLOBALE SCENE

Tidsskriftet Antropologi ◽

10.7146/ta.v0i32.115438 ◽

1996 ◽

Author(s):

Frank Sejersen

Keyword(s):

Indigenous Peoples ◽

Daily Life ◽

Self Determination ◽

The Arctic ◽

Extreme Pressure ◽

Political Work ◽

The World ◽

Cultural Processes ◽

Arctic Communities ◽

The Right

Frank Sejersen: Arctic people as by-standers and actors at the global stage For centuries, the indigenous peoples of the Arctic have been perceived as isolated from the rest of the world. The article argues that secluded Arctic communities do not exist and that Arctic peoples are integrated into numerous political, cultural and economic relations of a global extent. The pre-colonial inter-continental trade between Siberia and Alaska and the increased militarization the whole circumpolar region are but two examples. Throughout history, indigenous peoples of the Arctic have been players on the global stage. Today, this position has been strengthened because political work on this stage is imperative in order to secure the welfare and possibilities of local Arctic communities. To mention an example, Arctic peoples’ hunting activities have been under extreme pressure from the anti-harvesting movement. The anti-harvesting organizations run campaigns to ban hunting and stop the trade with products from whales, seals and furbearing animals. Thus, political and cultural processes far from the homeland of Arctic peoples, have consequences for the daily life of many Arctic families. The global stage has become an important comerstone in indigenous peoples’ strive to gain more control over their own future. The right to trade, development and self-determination are some of the rights they claim.

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Patterns of Fish and Whale Consumption in Relation to Methylmercury in Hair among Residents of Western Canadian Arctic Communities

10.21203/rs.3.rs-25580/v2 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Emily Victoria Walker ◽

Yuan Yuan ◽

Safwat Girgis ◽

Karen J. Goodman

Keyword(s):

Inductively Coupled Plasma ◽

Marine Mammals ◽

Canadian Arctic ◽

Health Concern ◽

Inductively Coupled ◽

Hair Samples ◽

Plasma Mass Spectrometry ◽

The Mean ◽

Arctic Communities ◽

Fort Mcpherson

Abstract Background: Methylmercury contamination of the environment represents a substantial environmental health concern. Human exposure to methylmercury occurs primarily through consumption of fish and marine mammals. Heavily exposed subgroups include sport or subsistence fishers residing in Arctic communities. We aimed to estimate the association of fish/whale consumption patterns of Canadian Arctic subsistence fishers with the internal dose of methylmercury as measured in hair. Methods: This research was conducted within ongoing community projects led by the CAN Help Working Group in Aklavik and Fort McPherson, Northwest Territories and Old Crow, Yukon. We interviewed each participant using a fish-focused food-frequency questionnaire during September-November 2016 and collected hair samples concurrently. Methylmercury was measured in the full-length of each hair sample using gas chromatography inductively-coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Multivariable linear regression estimated beta-coefficients and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the effect of fish/whale consumption on hair-methylmercury concentrations. Results: Among 101 participants who provided hair samples and diet data, the mean number of fish/whale species eaten was 3.5 (SD:1.9). The mean hair-methylmercury concentration was 0.60μg/g (SD:0.47). Fish/whale consumption was positively associated with hair-methylmercury concentration, after adjusting for sex, hair length and use of permanent hair treatments. Hair-methylmercury concentrations among participants who consumed the most fish/whale in each season ranged from 0.30- 0.50μg/g higher than those who consumed <1 meal/week. Conclusions: In this population of Canadian Arctic subsistence fishers, hair-methylmercury concentration increased with fish/whale consumption, but the maximum concentrations were below Health Canada’s 6.0μg/g threshold for safe exposure.

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Differential arthropod responses to warming are altering the structure of Arctic communities

Royal Society Open Science ◽

10.1098/rsos.171503 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 5 (4) ◽

pp. 171503 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Amanda M. Koltz ◽

Niels M. Schmidt ◽

Toke T. Høye

Keyword(s):

Community Composition ◽

Primary Productivity ◽

Species Interactions ◽

Ecosystem Processes ◽

The Arctic ◽

Individual Species ◽

Freeze Thaw ◽

Compositional Changes ◽

Arctic Communities

The Arctic is experiencing some of the fastest rates of warming on the planet. Although many studies have documented responses to such warming by individual species, the idiosyncratic nature of these findings has prevented us from extrapolating them to community-level predictions. Here, we leverage the availability of a long-term dataset from Zackenberg, Greenland (593 700 specimens collected between 1996 and 2014), to investigate how climate parameters influence the abundance of different arthropod groups and overall community composition. We find that variation in mean seasonal temperatures, winter duration and winter freeze–thaw events is correlated with taxon-specific and habitat-dependent changes in arthropod abundances. In addition, we find that arthropod communities have exhibited compositional changes consistent with the expected effects of recent shifts towards warmer active seasons and fewer freeze–thaw events in NE Greenland. Changes in community composition are up to five times more extreme in drier than wet habitats, with herbivores and parasitoids generally increasing in abundance, while the opposite is true for surface detritivores. These results suggest that species interactions and food web dynamics are changing in the Arctic, with potential implications for key ecosystem processes such as decomposition, nutrient cycling and primary productivity.

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Middle ear abnormalities at age 5 years in relation with early onset otitis media and number of episodes, in the Inuit population of Nunavik, Quebec, Canada

International Journal of Circumpolar Health ◽

10.1080/22423982.2019.1599269 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 78 (1) ◽

pp. 1599269

Author(s):

P De Wals ◽

JB Lemeur ◽

H Ayukawa ◽

JF Proulx

Keyword(s):

Otitis Media ◽

Middle Ear ◽

Early Onset ◽

Inuit Population

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Burden of respiratory infections and otitis media in the Inuit population of Nunavik, Quebec, Canada

International Journal of Circumpolar Health ◽

10.1080/22423982.2020.1799688 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 79 (1) ◽

pp. 1799688

Author(s):

Philippe De Wals ◽

Z Zhou ◽

J. B. LeMeur ◽

J. F. Proulx

Keyword(s):

Otitis Media ◽

Respiratory Infections ◽

Inuit Population

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LINKS BETWEEN MATERNAL AND ADOLESCENTS’ CANNABIS USE AMONG THE INUIT OF NUNAVIK

Paediatrics & Child Health ◽

10.1093/pch/pxy054.000 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 23 (suppl_1) ◽

pp. e1-e1

Author(s):

Alexandra Simard ◽

Nadine Forget-Dubois ◽

Gina Muckle ◽

Richard Belanger

Keyword(s):

Socioeconomic Status ◽

Cox Regression ◽

Cannabis Use ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Ethic Research ◽

Concomitant Variables ◽

Final Sample ◽

Subsequent Behavior ◽

Inuit Population ◽

The Impact

Abstract BACKGROUND Inuit from Nunavik, Northern Quebec, show some of the highest prevalence of cannabis use in the world, particularly for youths. Based on the ecological system theory, family (the more proximal unit to adolescents) is susceptible to influence their behaviors the most. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to examine, among the Inuit population from Nunavik, the association between maternal use of cannabis and the subsequent use of this substance by their children while adolescents. DESIGN/METHODS This study was based on longitudinal data from the Nunavik Child Development Study (endorsed by community and public health stakeholders; approved by ethic research boards from 2 North American Universities). We use data from two follow-ups, between 2005 and 2010 (T1: time 1 – children aged between 8–15 years-old), and between 2012 and 2016 (T2: time 2 – adolescents aged 16–21 years-old). Structured interviews were used to assess cannabis use and other concomitant variables among mothers at T1, and for adolescents at T2. Our final sample included 184 mother-adolescent dyads. Hypotheses that exposure to an increased frequency of maternal cannabis use at the end of childhood will be associated with 1) earlier initiation of cannabis during adolescence, and 2) will increase the frequency of cannabis use by youths, were tested with Cox regression analyses and ordinal regressions, taking into account socioeconomic status (T1), gender, and student status of adolescents(T2). RESULTS About seven out of ten Inuit adolescent participants reported having used cannabis during the previous year of T2, and about 45% of users consumed daily. Among the adolescents who answered the initiation age question, 60% had used it before reaching 14 years. Associations between mother’s frequency of cannabis use at T1 and 1) adolescents’ initiation age to cannabis and 2) adolescents’ frequency of cannabis use were not statistically significant. Higher socioeconomic status and student status were associated with lower risk of cannabis use by youths. CONCLUSION Among a group of adolescents where cannabis use is highly prevalent, we were unable to highlight the impact from maternal substance use on subsequent behavior of their children while adolescents. Yet, key determinants already known to influence cannabis use among southern populations seem to be also relevant to the Inuit population from Nunavik. Common Aboriginal wisdom that it takes a village to raise a child seems to apply to cannabis use as well.

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