Key environmental human health issues in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River basins
- Dept. of Health and Human Services, Atlanta, GA (United States). Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
In May 1997, an international conference on the effects of the environment on human health in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River basins, was held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. This was the third international conference on this topic sponsored by agencies in the US and Canada. More than 120 platform and poster presentations were given by scientists of different disciplines from the Great lakes region and elsewhere. The presentations represented the most current research findings on the effects of the Great lakes environment on human health. The reports covered environmental contaminant levels of persistent toxic substances (PTSs), routes and pathways of exposure, exposure assessment and human tissue levels of PTSs, human health outcomes, risk communication and assessment, and approaches to scientific collaboration. Reports indicate that levels of contaminants in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River basins have generally declined since the 1970s, although certain contaminants have hit a plateau or slightly increased. The findings include elevated body burden levels of contaminants in persons who consume large amounts of some Great Lakes sport fish, developmental deficits and neurologic problems in children of some fish-consuming parents, nervous system dysfunction in adults, and disturbances in reproductive parameters. The findings underscore the need for better public health intervention strategies.
- OSTI ID:
- 355597
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9705313-; ISSN 0013-9351; TRN: IM9931%%117
- Journal Information:
- Environmental Research, Vol. 80, Issue 2Pt2; Conference: Health conference `97, Montreal (Canada), 12-15 May 1997; Other Information: PBD: Feb 1999
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Genotoxic substances in the St. Lawrence system II: Extracts of fish and macroinvertebrates from the St. Lawrence and Saguenay Rivers, Canada
Contaminant exposure in Montrealers of Asian origin fishing the St. Lawrence River: Exploratory assessment