Inuit / en Pregnant Inuit women exposed to higher levels of chemicals found in consumer products: 缅北强奸 study /news/pregnant-inuit-women-exposed-higher-levels-chemicals-found-consumer-products-u-t-study <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Pregnant Inuit women exposed to higher levels of chemicals found in consumer products: 缅北强奸 study</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/GettyImages-499247153.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=rLQ4xq8J 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/GettyImages-499247153.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=GSCyKQNw 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/GettyImages-499247153.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=kAxRzgb5 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/GettyImages-499247153.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=rLQ4xq8J" alt="&quot;&quot;"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Christopher.Sorensen</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2020-11-02T12:16:39-05:00" title="Monday, November 2, 2020 - 12:16" class="datetime">Mon, 11/02/2020 - 12:16</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">A 缅北强奸 study found that pregnant Inuit women had concentrations of PFAAs, found in non-stick coatings for cookware and cleaning products, that were twice as high as those in a representative sample of Canadian women (photo by Halfpoint via Getty Images)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/don-campbell" hreflang="en">Don Campbell</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/breaking-research" hreflang="en">Breaking Research</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/physical-and-environmental-sciences" hreflang="en">Physical and Environmental Sciences</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/inuit" hreflang="en">Inuit</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/pollution" hreflang="en">Pollution</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/quebec" hreflang="en">Quebec</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/research-innovation" hreflang="en">Research &amp; Innovation</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/sustainability" hreflang="en">Sustainability</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t-scarborough" hreflang="en">缅北强奸 Scarborough</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Pregnant women living in Nunavik in northern Quebec&nbsp;are increasingly being exposed to potentially harmful chemical compounds commonly found in consumer products.</p> <p><img class="migrated-asset" src="/sites/default/files/photo_corpo.jpg" alt="脡lyse&nbsp;Caron-Beaudoin">This is one of the findings of new study by a group of Canadian researchers including&nbsp;<strong>脡lyse&nbsp;Caron-Beaudoin</strong>,&nbsp;an assistant professor in the department of health and society and the department of physical and environmental sciences at the University of Toronto Scarborough.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>The study,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412020321243#!">published in the journal&nbsp;<em>Environment International</em></a>, focused on perfluroalkyl acids (PFAAs), which are used in a wide range of consumer products including non-stick coatings for cooking ware, water and stain repellents, food packaging, paints, cosmetics and cleaning products. It found that PFAA concentrations in pregnant Inuit women were twice as high as those in a representative sample of Canadian women.</p> <p>鈥淚t鈥檚 an environmental injustice because people鈥檚 food in the Arctic is being contaminated by chemicals made far away from their homes,鈥 says Caron-Beaudoin, an expert on toxicology as well as public and environmental health.</p> <p>PFAAs do not biodegrade easily, and as a result, can persist for a long time in the environment. They can also be carried over long distances in the atmosphere and in oceans, where they accumulate in the tissues of living organisms in the Arctic food chain, according to Caron-Beaudoin.</p> <p>She says that exposure to these compounds, including during fetal development, is associated with changes in hormonal, kidney, cardio-metabolic and immune function.</p> <p>The study involved measuring changes in the concentration of PFAAs in the blood of 279 pregnant women living in the Nunavik region of northern Quebec from 2004 to 2017. The researchers&nbsp;found that one of the likely sources of PFAAs concentrations in the blood is the consumption of country foods, particularly marine wildlife.</p> <p>Caron-Beaudoin says that many living in the north experience food insecurity and rely on the nutritional and cultural value provided by country foods, which make up the traditional Inuit diet.</p> <p>鈥淭he benefit of consuming traditional foods still outweigh the negatives,鈥 she says. 鈥淸But] we need adequate regulations that protect these country foods from harmful contaminants because these communities rely on them, especially pregnant women who need the nutritional value.鈥&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>While most PFAAs are regulated in North America, they do get imported by consumer products that contain them. The researchers found there鈥檚 been a drop in concentrations of legacy PFAAs 鈥 those banned by various international and North American treaties 鈥 but found that concentrations of long-chain PFAAs, which are more recent and can come from the degradation of other currently-used similar compounds such as&nbsp;Fluorotelomer alcohols&nbsp;(FTOHs), are on the rise.</p> <p>鈥淭hese long-chain PFAAs are even more persistent and have an even greater potential to accumulate in the food chain than the older PFAAs,鈥 says Caron-Beaudoin.&nbsp; &nbsp;</p> <p>Caron-Beaudoin says compounds like FTOHs not only travel long distances from their site of production, they also travel in consumer and industrial products that get imported into North America.</p> <p>鈥淚t鈥檚 important to stay on top of this and make sure these new chemical compounds are tightly regulated as well,鈥 she says.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Mon, 02 Nov 2020 17:16:39 +0000 Christopher.Sorensen 166301 at 缅北强奸's Dr. Barry Pakes reflects on first year as Nunavut鈥檚 deputy chief medical officer of health /news/u-t-professor-reflects-first-year-nunavut%E2%80%99s-deputy-chief-medical-officer-health <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">缅北强奸's Dr. Barry Pakes reflects on first year as Nunavut鈥檚 deputy chief medical officer of health</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-01-27-nunavut.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=mwIciX5Q 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2017-01-27-nunavut.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=p8vuZ_ro 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2017-01-27-nunavut.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=0kfOWI_2 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-01-27-nunavut.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=mwIciX5Q" alt> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>ullahnor</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-01-27T12:18:11-05:00" title="Friday, January 27, 2017 - 12:18" class="datetime">Fri, 01/27/2017 - 12:18</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Professor Barry Pakes in Arctic Bay (photo courtesy of Barry Pakes)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/jim-oldfield" hreflang="en">Jim Oldfield</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Jim Oldfield</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/city-culture" hreflang="en">City &amp; Culture</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/nunavut" hreflang="en">Nunavut</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/indigenous" hreflang="en">Indigenous</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/health" hreflang="en">Health</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-medicine" hreflang="en">Faculty of Medicine</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/dalla-lana-school-public-health" hreflang="en">Dalla Lana School of Public Health</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/global" hreflang="en">Global</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/inuit" hreflang="en">Inuit</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>缅北强奸's Dr.&nbsp;<strong>Barry Pakes</strong> has been Nunavut鈥檚 deputy chief medical officer of health for almost a year.</p> <p>鈥淚t's hard to create comprehensive solutions to complex health problems when you're constantly putting out fires,鈥 says Pakes, an assistant professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health.</p> <p>One of those fires is whooping cough, which this year has sickened more than 130 people and sent several infants to intensive care in Ottawa. Another is a common but serious condition called respiratory syncytial virus. Health officials have recorded 88 new cases since September.</p> <p>鈥淣unavut has 37,000 people living in 25 communities on land half the size of Western Europe,鈥 says Pakes, the director of the Global Health Education Initiative and the Public Health and Preventive Medicine (PHPM) residency program at 缅北强奸. 鈥淭he health issues here stem from a complex interplay of cultural, social and historical factors, extreme remoteness and harsh environment, and the dual burden of infectious and chronic diseases&nbsp;in addition to mental health issues.鈥</p> <p>Pakes and Dr.<strong> Kim Barker</strong>, Nunavut鈥檚 chief medical officer of health who is also a graduate of the University鈥檚 PHPM program, are trying to develop long-term prevention plans for several diseases. The plan for respiratory disease includes widespread vaccination&nbsp;but also better communication among public health workers, hospital staff and primary-care providers.</p> <p>鈥淥ne of the first things I did here was start a small brainstorming group of public health and clinical health care professionals,鈥 he says. 鈥淭he hospital and the Department of Health headquarters were just down the street from each other, but we weren鈥檛 problem-solving together like we could have been.鈥</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__3283 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" height="563" src="/sites/default/files/nunavut2.JPG" typeof="foaf:Image" width="750" loading="lazy"><br> <em>As Nunavut's deputy chief medical officer of health, Professor Barry Pakes did a radio show on tobacco. Mostly elders called in to ask questions and to describe their personal experiences with quitting&nbsp;(photo courtesy of Barry Pakes)</em></p> <p>Pakes says a lot of good has come from the meetings, including new ideas about how to reduce Nunavut鈥檚 high number of medical evacuations, which cost tens of thousands of dollars each.</p> <p>鈥淲ith more communication, we can better think about how to organize health services and create a web of prevention that saves lives and resources.鈥</p> <p>Good communication among the many players in a health system is one lesson Pakes has taken from his years as a global health practitioner and educator. He has been a senior ethics fellow at the World Health Organization and worked in Ethiopia, Zimbabwe and India. He still practices emergency medicine in Northern Ontario and primary care in Barrie.</p> <p>Pakes鈥檚 many roles at 缅北强奸 鈥&nbsp;and the five children he has with his wife, who is also physician 鈥&nbsp;now keep in him in Toronto most days. But he spends at least one week a month in Nunavut. He says that being based in Toronto is at times a drawback, but that it also lets him act as a conduit between South and North.</p> <p>鈥淭he frameworks we teach to PHPM residents in Toronto are exactly those necessary to address the complex issues in Nunavut&nbsp;so it鈥檚 very rewarding to bring those perspectives 鈥&nbsp;along with the collective knowledge and overwhelming goodwill of public and allied health experts in Toronto,鈥 says Pakes. 鈥淎t the same time, it鈥檚 great to share lessons learned in Nunavut with my colleagues in Toronto and in training the next generation of Canadian public health leaders.鈥</p> <p>Pakes is sensitive to the optics around his background and where he spends his time. He says that Nunavummiut generally don鈥檛 want to be told how to deal with their problems by people from the South.</p> <p>鈥淎nd health issues here are unique,鈥 he adds. 鈥淪ome paradigms of global health overlap with Indigenous health, but there are important differences.鈥</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__3284 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" height="500" src="/sites/default/files/nunavut3.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="750" loading="lazy"><br> <em>Professor Barry Pakes outside the Arctic Bay Health Centre (photo courtesy of Barry Pakes)</em></p> <p>Nunavut's high rates of respiratory disease, relative to the rest of the world, stem in part from overcrowding and smoking in homes. And the mental health issues many residents face 鈥&nbsp;suicide rates in Nunavut are 10 times higher than in the rest of Canada 鈥&nbsp;likely have some roots in Canada's residential school system and the forced displacement of communities, which separated families and pushed many Inuit off their land.</p> <p><strong>Emma Mew</strong> is a master's student in epidemiology at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Last summer she worked as a public health consultant in Nunavut, helping the territorial government start to develop a mental health monitoring system to identify at-risk youth and prevent suicide, which in Nunavut often happens in clusters.</p> <p>鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to speak on behalf of Inuit, but I gather their experience of colonization has been different from other populations,鈥&nbsp;says Mew. 鈥淚nuit identity is closely tied to the land&nbsp;so forced relocation together with complex social factors likely affect Inuit mental health and wellness profoundly.鈥</p> <p>Mew has worked in Tanzania and interned at the World Health Organization, but she says getting things done in Nunavut was harder than anywhere she has worked.</p> <p>鈥淢y department was very cross-cultural, and I feel privileged to have learned so much about Inuit culture from my co-workers. But across the territory, the health workforce is transient 鈥&nbsp;six months is considered long-term 鈥&nbsp;and my impression is that this can exacerbate the divide between Inuit and non-Inuit."</p> <p>Pakes says that even after ten years of research and a PhD in public health ethics, the ethical dilemmas in Nunavut are some of the most challenging he has faced.</p> <p>鈥淚nuit culture and self-governance are critically important to every health issue. For example, 鈥榗ountry food鈥 and the connection to the land are paramount. So solutions for food insecurity and poor housing that make sense in urban and warmer areas don鈥檛 work in the Far North.鈥</p> <p>He had a cross-cultural 鈥榓ha鈥 moment recently while exchanging photos with an Inuit colleague. He proudly showed her a photo of his children, and she responded in kind with a picture of her grandchildren at a feast 鈥&nbsp;two smiling toddlers with their faces covered in seal blood.</p> <p>And then there is Nunavut鈥檚 physical remoteness. It often limits access to health services and online mobile technologies that are improving health globally&nbsp;because satellite Internet access is spotty and slow.</p> <p>But Pakes says Nunavut's cultural vibrancy and diversity make up for many of its geographical and technological challenges. He says people are surprised when he tells them that Nunavut is probably the most 鈥榰niquely Canadian鈥&nbsp;place he has worked. Iqaluit is home to a flourishing Inuit culture&nbsp;but also a new mosque and many recent immigrants including Cameroonians and a sponsored Syrian family.</p> <p>"Most days 鈥&nbsp;and daylight can last 18 hours 鈥&nbsp;I feel I can make a real difference,鈥 says Pakes. 鈥淎nd not just for one person&nbsp;but for entire communities. That鈥檚 the incredibly rewarding thing about public health.鈥</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Fri, 27 Jan 2017 17:18:11 +0000 ullahnor 103641 at