| |
| author | Sandra C. Almeida |
| title | A Comparative Analysis of Arctic Risk Assessment of Methylmercury in Fish: Implications for the Inuit |
| abstract |
This thesis is a critical examination of official public health advice on fish consumption in one of the most contaminated regions on the planet, the Arctic. This thesis compares the bureaucratic strategies to minimize methylmercury exposure among residents in three northern regions, Alaska, Canada, and Greenland, with special attention paid to risk reduction among the Inuit. The two primary questions informing this work are 1) How have public health officials assessed the health risks from methylmercury exposure in Arctic residents? and 2) How have these assessments shaped advisories and advice about fish consumption? The research methodology involved content analysis of state health bulletins, public health announcements, federal agency fact sheets, international organization publications, and scholarly articles in the disciplines of environmental science, anthropology, and toxicology. The research findings suggest that fish consumption advice among government officials in Alaska, Canada, and Greenland are astonishingly similar. In short, fish consumption guidelines in these countries are almost completely absent in Inuit communities. Moreover, government entities maintain that despite toxic contaminants, fish is still an ideal food for Inuit health and cultural livelihood. There are no official advisories targeting the consumption of marine mammals, and in cost-benefit calculations, the benefits of fish are considered to outweigh the risks from methylmercury exposure. I argue that the public health advice is seemingly holistic in its concern for chronic disease prevention, cultural survival, and reduction in toxic exposure; however, these conventional assessments of risk are not protective enough against methylmercury toxicity.
|
| school | The College of Liberal Arts, Drew University |
| degree | B.A. (May 2014) |
| advisor | Joslyn Cassady |
| committee | Fred Curtis
Phil Mundo
Barry Burd |
| full text | SCAlmeida.pdf - requires Drew uLogin |
| |
