- Alaska Collaborative on Health and the Environment Webinar, June 29, 2009, 9:00 am Alaska time

Alaska Collaborative on Health and the Environment

Statewide Teleconference Seminar Series

Health care professionals, researchers, tribal representatives, health and environmental advocates, students, health-affected persons, parents, and anyone who is interested is cordially invited to participate in the teleconference seminar:

International Actions to Protect the Health of

Arctic Indigenous Peoples:

Report on Policy and Science from the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants

Time: Monday, June 29 at 9 AM Alaska time

The call will last one hour.

CALL-IN INFORMATION:

To join this free call and receive the dial-up instructions, please RSVP to Alaska Community Action on Toxics at colleen@akaction.org or (907) 222-7714.

ABOUT THE CALL:

In May, more than 800 participants representing 149 governments and many non-governmental organizations, met in Geneva, Switzerland as the fourth Conference of the Parties (COP4) to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). Delegates made the historic decision to add nine new chemicals under provisions of the global legally binding treaty, with some limitations that concern public health advocates. Scientists from the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) presented new results about the effects of POPs chemicals on human health and ecosystems of the Arctic as part of the effectiveness evaluation of the treaty. Representatives from Indigenous communities of the Arctic participated in order to urge Parties to the Convention to integrate a comprehensive human rights framework through the United Nations and the implementation of the Stockholm Convention.

Some Arctic Indigenous populations have shown “levels of contaminants in blood and breast milk [that are] higher than those found anywhere else on the Earth.” The Arctic acts as a “cold trap” for contaminants transported via atmospheric and oceanic currents. Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) accumulate and some may increase in the Arctic food web. Indigenous communities of the north are reliant on a traditional diet of foods from the land and ocean for their physical, cultural, and spiritual sustenance. These communities are at particular risk from contaminant exposures. In some cases, there are significant exceedances of national and international health standards for exposure to such chemicals as PCBs. The Preamble of the Stockholm Convention recognizes the special vulnerability of Arctic Indigenous Peoples and states: “Acknowledging that the Arctic ecosystems and indigenous communities are particularly at risk because of biomagnifications of persistent organic pollutants and that contamination of their traditional foods is a public health issue.”

Presenters will include scientists and representatives of the Arctic Indigenous Delegation who will report on their participation and perspectives about the Stockholm Convention Conference of Parties in May. We will discuss recent findings about the environmental and human health implications of persistent pollutants in the north.