On Thursday, October 12, Lisa Guide, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy Management, will provide a briefing for media and distribute the report. The informational briefing and slide presentation will be held at 1:30 p.m. in Room 6130 of the Main Interior Building, 1849 C Street, NW. Also available by telephone from the Arctic Council meeting in Barrow will be Carl Hild from the Institute for Circumpolar Health Studies at the University of Alaska, Patricia Cochran of the Alaska Native Science Commission, and Marilyn Heiman, Special Assistant to the Secretary for Alaska.
The report describes how persistent contaminants and pollutants such as pesticides, industrial chemicals and industrial waste products (PCBs, DDT, dioxins, furans, chlordane etc.) are appearing at elevated levels in air, water, ice and sediment even in Alaskas Arctic, one of the most pristine places in the world. These persistent organic pollutants (POPs) concentrate and bio-accumulate in the fatty tissues and organs of fish and wildlife. Alaska Natives lifes are based on hunting and fishing and a close relationship to the land. As these persistent contaminants get passed along the food web, they pose risks to indigenous peoples who eat a traditional diet that includes whales, seals, walrus, fish and caribou.
"This is a national and international problem, not only an Arctic problem," Lisa Guide explained. "Dioxins from the Lower 48 and Mexico have been "fingerprinted" in the Arctic, and the Great Lakes region has been greatly affected by POPs in the environment, particularly PCBs. Our biggest challenge today is to better understand the extent and nature of the risks to people and wildlife and to take action to reduce the threat of these organic pollutants, including those, like DDT, that are no longer produced in this country."
"The Department of the Interior has taken a keen interest in this issue because of our responsibility to manage subsistence hunting and fishing on federal lands in Alaska and our trust responsibility toward Alaska Native tribes," Marilyn Heiman said. "We cannot ignore the warning signs were seeing in some studies of fish and wildlife. Increased research and monitoring, partnerships and international actions are key to protecting subsistence foods and eliminating these contaminants at the source.
The United States is currently involved with 120 other countries in the final negotiations on a treaty that would ban 12 of the most serious persistent organic pollutants. The last negotiation session for the International POPs Treaty is in December in South Africa. In addition to the State Department and the Department of the Interior, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Health & Human Services and the Environmental Protection Agency are currently committing resources to study and reduce adverse effects on both human health and wildlife.
You can subscribe to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Alaska region listserver, to have our press releases sent to your e-mail address automatically by sending an e-mail message to: listserver@www.fws.gov">. Please indicate that you would like to subscribe to FWS-Alaska news and give your name in the body of the message.
