A scientist hopes significant declines in mercury levels in Grassy Narrows and Wabaseemoong First Nations area lakes prompt residents to eat more fish and less junk food.
Laurie Chan, a professor of toxicology at McGill University in Montreal, said mercury levels in whitefish from lakes around the two communities are now low enough that residents can safely eat whitefish every other day.
Mercury levels in walleye, northern pike, and largemouth bass also have declined between 50 percent and 500 percent since the 1970s, Chan said yesterday.
Residents can safely eat those species, but should only eat them occasionally, he said.
However, fish from Clay Lake, where higher mercury concentrations were still found, should be avoided, Chan said.
He made his findings in a summary of a study commissioned by the two communities.
In addition to testing the fish, Chan tested for mercury in hair samples from 87 residents at Grassy Narrows and 55 residents at nearby Wabaseemoong, formerly known as Whitedog.
The highest mercury level found in hair was below the lowest observable effect level for adults, Chan said.
Area lakes and rivers were contaminated by a pulp mill in nearby Dryden, which dumped mercury into the English and Wabagoon river systems until 1970.
Japanese neurologist Dr. Masazumi Harada found signs of mercury poisoning among residents in 1975. Symptoms included twitches, dizziness, eye problems, and severe birth defects.
The province of Ontario stopped commercial fishing around the First Nations communities in 1972.
The two Ojibway bands accepted $16.6 million in compensation, plus $2 million in interest, from the federal and Ontario governments and two paper companies in 1985.
Since then, many residents stopped eating fish entirely.
Chan said whitefish, in particular, would safely improve their diets.
“They should encourage younger people to eat more local fish, like whitefish,” he said. “The risk of eating whitefish is pretty much minimal.”
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
