Traditional Diet and Environmental Contaminants in Coastal Chukotka III: Metals

Alexey A. Dudarev, Valery S. Chupakhin, Sergey V. Vlasov and Sveta Yamin-Pasternak
Additional contact information
Alexey A. Dudarev: Department of Arctic Environmental Health, Northwest Public Health Research Center, 191036 St-Petersburg, Russia
Valery S. Chupakhin: Department of Arctic Environmental Health, Northwest Public Health Research Center, 191036 St-Petersburg, Russia
Sergey V. Vlasov: Northwest branch of Research and Production Association “Typhoon” (RPA “Typhoon”), 199397 St-Petersburg, Russia
Sveta Yamin-Pasternak: Institute of Northern Engineering and Department of Anthropology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 5, 1-17

Abstract: The article is the third in the series of four that present the results of a study on environmental contaminants in coastal Chukotka, which was conducted in the context of a multi-disciplinary investigation of indigenous foodways in the region. The article presents the results of the analysis of metals found in the samples of locally harvested terrestrial, freshwater, and marine biota collected in 2016 in coastal Chukotka. For some species of local fauna and flora, the metals content was demonstrated for the first time. Lead and Hg were low in all foods, while As concentrations were up to four mg/kg ww in fish and marine mammals blubber. Wild plants showed accumulations of Mn (up to 190 mg/kg ww), Al (up to 75 mg/kg ww), Ni, Ba, and Sr. Seaweed contained high levels of As (14 mg/kg) and Sr (310 mg/kg); ascidians (sea squirts) contained Al (up to 560 mg/kg), Cr, and Sr; and blue mussels contained Cd (2.9 mg/kg) and Al (140 mg/kg). Exceedances over the Russian allowable levels were revealed for As, Cd, and Al in different food items. Absence of the established limits for Al and Sr in seafood, and Mn in wild plants and berries, impedes the determination of excess levels. Temporal trends and geographic comparisons of metals in foods have been carried out. The estimated daily intakes (EDIs) of metals by local food consumption were calculated based on the food intake frequencies. Follow-up (15 years after the first study) analyses of Hg, Pb, and Cd concentrations in local foods has not revealed any increase, while a slight decrease tendency was noted for some of the metals in several foods.

Keywords: subsistence food; traditional diet; Indigenous people; environmental contaminants; metals; Hg; Pb; As; food safety limits; coastal Chukotka; Russian Arctic (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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