Pages 356-358 in Circumpolar Health 93. Proceedings of the 9th International Congress on Circumpolar Health, Reykjavik, Iceland, June 20-25, 1993. Arctic Medical Research. 1994;53(Suppl.2)
Pages 356-358 in Circumpolar Health 93. Proceedings of the 9th International Congress on Circumpolar Health, Reykjavik, Iceland, June 20-25, 1993. Arctic Medical Research. 1994;53(Suppl.2)
During the last decades, environmental studies have found concerning quantities of contaminants in the Arctic food chain. Increasingly, the Inuit have to deal with the fact that the information available (biological, physical, chemical) is quite difficult to comprehend and often misconstrued through media distortion. In Nunavik, a first step toward community-based environmental risk communications was undertaken. After a preliminary survey found concerning levels of contaminants in breast milk, a detailed research program was initiated and a resource committee was set up to disseminate information on the ongoing research activities and also on the issue of the contamination of the food chain by organochlorines. This communication will present a summary of events linked with the committee's activities and a discussion on the uneasy task of communicating risks.