PMID- 24598815
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20150113
LR  - 20211021
IS  - 1932-6203 (Electronic)
IS  - 1932-6203 (Linking)
VI  - 9
IP  - 3
DP  - 2014
TI  - Elevated contaminants contrasted with potential benefits of omega-3 fatty acids in 
      wild food consumers of two remote first nations communities in northern Ontario, 
      Canada.
PG  - e90351
LID - 10.1371/journal.pone.0090351 [doi]
LID - e90351
AB  - Indigenous communities in Boreal environments rely on locally-harvested wild 
      foods for sustenance. These foods provide many nutritional benefits including 
      higher levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs; such as omega-3) than what is 
      commonly found in store-bought foods. However, wild foods can be a route of 
      exposure to dietary mercury and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as 
      polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Here, we show a strong association between the 
      frequency of wild food consumption in adults (N=72) from two remote First Nations 
      communities of Northern Ontario and environmental contaminants in blood (POPs) 
      and hair (mercury). We observed that POPs and mercury were on average 3.5 times 
      higher among those consuming wild foods more often, with many frequent wild food 
      consumers exceeding Canadian and international health guidelines for PCB and 
      mercury exposures. Contaminants in locally-harvested fish and game from these 
      communities were sufficiently high that many participants exceeded the monthly 
      consumption limits for methylmercury and PCBs. Those consuming more wild foods 
      also had higher proportions of potentially beneficial omega-3 fatty acids including 
      eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). These results show 
      that the benefits of traditional dietary choices in Boreal regions of Canada must 
      be weighed against the inherent risks of contaminant exposure from these foods.
FAU - Seabert, Timothy A
AU  - Seabert TA
AD  - Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
FAU - Pal, Shinjini
AU  - Pal S
AD  - Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
FAU - Pinet, Bernard M
AU  - Pinet BM
AD  - Indigenous Health Research Group, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
FAU - Haman, Francois
AU  - Haman F
AD  - Indigenous Health Research Group, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
FAU - Robidoux, Michael A
AU  - Robidoux MA
AD  - Indigenous Health Research Group, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
FAU - Imbeault, Pascal
AU  - Imbeault P
AD  - Behavioural and Metabolic Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, University 
      of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
FAU - Krummel, Eva M
AU  - Krummel EM
AD  - Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
FAU - Kimpe, Linda E
AU  - Kimpe LE
AD  - Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
FAU - Blais, Jules M
AU  - Blais JM
AD  - Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
DEP - 20140305
PL  - United States
TA  - PLoS One
JT  - PloS one
JID - 101285081
RN  - 0 (Environmental Pollutants)
RN  - 0 (Methylmercury Compounds)
RN  - 0 (Phospholipids)
RN  - 25167-62-8 (Docosahexaenoic Acids)
RN  - AAN7QOV9EA (Eicosapentaenoic Acid)
RN  - DFC2HB4I0K (Polychlorinated Biphenyls)
SB  - IM
MH  - Adolescent
MH  - Adult
MH  - Animals
MH  - Animals, Wild
MH  - Docosahexaenoic Acids/*metabolism
MH  - Ducks
MH  - Eicosapentaenoic Acid/*metabolism
MH  - *Environmental Pollutants
MH  - Female
MH  - Fishes
MH  - Geese
MH  - Hair/metabolism
MH  - Humans
MH  - *Indians, North American
MH  - Male
MH  - Maximum Allowable Concentration
MH  - Meat/*analysis
MH  - *Methylmercury Compounds
MH  - Middle Aged
MH  - Ontario
MH  - Phospholipids/blood
MH  - *Polychlorinated Biphenyls
MH  - Rabbits
MH  - Risk Assessment
MH  - Rodentia
MH  - Young Adult
PMC - PMC3943865
COIS- Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
EDAT- 2014/03/07 06:00
MHDA- 2015/01/15 06:00
PMCR- 2014/03/05
CRDT- 2014/03/07 06:00
PHST- 2013/10/01 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2014/01/29 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2014/03/07 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2014/03/07 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2015/01/15 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2014/03/05 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - PONE-D-13-40254 [pii]
AID - 10.1371/journal.pone.0090351 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - PLoS One. 2014 Mar 5;9(3):e90351. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0090351. eCollection 
      2014.