In an effort to improve living conditions for Alaskan youth, the Children’s Environmental Health Summit brought together tribal leaders, scientists, and a variety of healthcare specialists to discuss environmental pollutants posing a risk to Arctic communities.
Hosted by Alaska Community Action on Toxics, the October 6th conference at Alaska Pacific University focused on health problems caused by exposure to chemicals.
According to Environmental Health and Justice Program Director Viola Waghiyi, natural processes increase Arctic populations’ exposure to toxic chemicals more than any other population on the planet.
“(It’s) because we’re a hemispheric sink for Persistent Organic Pollutants, or POPS. They come to the Arctic and south pole through ocean and air currents and get trapped at the north and south poles,” says Waghiyi.
Pollutants from the water find themselves in animal blubber as well. Waghiyi says marine mammals carry pollutants called PCBs. She adds that children in communities which rely heavily off of subsistence hunting of marine mammals are hit hardest.
“This has resulted in health disparities never seen before in our people, including cancers, birth defects, reproductive problems like low birth weight babies, miscarriages, heart disease, diabetes, and many other health harms.”
After discussion of the latest science surrounding contaminates, contamination, and children’s health, conference attendees worked to come up with possible solutions. She says there was discussion about incorporating environmental healthcare into western medicine, to educate healthcare professionals to environmental health harms, and how to work towards prevention, whether it’s to testify in Congress or at the state or municipal level.
Alaska Community Action on Toxics plans to continue their work by holding future work group sessions.
