'John Hummel Investigates!'

 

After watching the season Premier of 'APTN Investigates' (a National Television Program produced by the 'Aboriginal People's Television Network' here in Canada) called 'Toxic Overflow': 

 

and after hearing about the toxic mess my friend Kimlee and her people are dealing with at her Sagkeeng First Nation in Manitoba, Canada, I thought --- this is just 'the tip of the iceberg' as far as contaminated sites at First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities goes here in Canada! So, I decided to take a closer look at the biggest part of that 'iceberg'. The part that is hidden from view! The situation that Kimlee's people are going through with the toxic site in her community is appalling but sadly, it is not unique to Indigenous communities in the Americas. I would even say, it is a situation which is quite common. Something must be done now to clean up this toxic mess. Otherwise, it is inevitable that people will get sick from it. I believe that many people are sick right now from exposure to these bio-accumulating toxins! 

 

Here is what I have discovered:

 

1) There are at least 19 other First Nations' reserves in Canada which contain contaminated sites with dioxins/furans and pcb's in them.

  http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/fcsi-rscf/home-accueil-eng.aspx

 

2) If you wish to find out what First Nation is associated with each of  the contaminated reserves so you can contact them, the website below will give you that information!

 

Link:

http://www.aboriginalcanada.gc.ca/acp/community/site.nsf/eng/mb-fn-r.html#S

 

3) To find out what other crap may be in those contaminated sites on Reserves Coast-to-Coast which Indigenous communities may be exposed to, click on the name of the type of toxin and look at the site reports and Maps if there is 'IIA' in the same line.

 

Link:

http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/fcsi-rscf/cm-eng.aspx?clear=1

 

For Land and Life,

John H.W. Hummel,

Pollution/Health Researcher

Nelson, B.C.

Canada

---

National study finds strong link between diabetes and air pollution - - Public release date: 29-Sep-2010

Findings unchanged after adjustment for obesity and other diabetes risk factors

Boston, Mass. -- A national epidemiologic study finds a strong, consistent correlation between adult diabetes and particulate air pollution that persists after adjustment for other risk factors like obesity and ethnicity, report researchers from Children's Hospital Boston. The relationship was seen even at exposure levels below the current EPA safety limit.

The report, published in the October issue of Diabetes Care, is among the first large-scale population-based studies to link diabetes prevalence with air pollution. It is consistent with prior laboratory studies finding an increase in insulin resistance, a precursor to diabetes, in obese mice exposed to particulates, and an increase in markers of inflammation (which may contribute to insulin resistance) in both the mice and obese diabetic patients after particulate exposure.

Like the laboratory studies, the current study focused on fine particulates of 0.1-2.5 nanometers in size (known as PM2.5), a main component of haze, smoke and motor vehicle exhaust. The investigators, led by John Pearson and John Brownstein, PhD, of the Children's Hospital Informatics Program, obtained county-by-county data on PM2.5 pollution from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), covering every county in the contiguous United States for 2004 and 2005.

They then combined the EPA data with data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the U.S. Census to ascertain the prevalence of adult diabetes and to adjust for known diabetes risk factors, including obesity, exercise, geographic latitude, ethnicity and population density (a measure of urbanization).

"We wanted to do everything possible to reduce confounding and ensure the validity of our findings," says Pearson, the study's first author.

In all analyses, there was a strong and consistent association between diabetes prevalence and PM2.5 concentrations. For every 10 μg/m3 increase in PM2.5 exposure, there was a 1 percent increase in diabetes prevalence. This finding was seen in both 2004 and 2005, and remained consistent and significant when differing estimates of PM2.5 exposure were used.

"We didn't have data on individual exposure, so we can't prove causality, and we can't know exactly the mechanism of these peoples' diabetes," acknowledges Brownstein. "But pollution came across as a significant predictor in all our models."

Even among counties falling within EPA limits for exposure, those with highest versus the lowest levels of PM2.5 pollution had a more than 20 percent increase in diabetes prevalence, which remained after controlling for diabetes risk factors.

"From a policy perspective, the findings suggest that the current EPA limits on exposure may not be adequate to prevent negative public health outcomes from particulate matter exposure," Brownstein says.

"Many environmental factors may contribute to the epidemic of diabetes in the United States and worldwide," notes Allison Goldfine, MD, head of clinical research at the Joslin Diabetes Center and a coauthor on the study. "While a lot of attention has correctly been attributed to caloric excess and sedentary behaviors, additional factors may provide novel approaches to diabetes prevention."

Based on their findings, the researchers call for more study of environmental factors in diabetes, including basic research on the inflammatory mechanisms in diabetes and the role of PM2.5.

"We would like to access better individual-level data on diabetes and exposure," adds Brownstein. "We also have an interest in investigating this finding internationally where standards may be less stringent."

The study was funded by the National Center for Biomedical Computing of the National Institutes of Health.

Children's Hospital Boston is home to the world's largest research enterprise based at a pediatric medical center, where its discoveries have benefited both children and adults since 1869. More than 1,100 scientists, including nine members of the National Academy of Sciences, 12 members of the Institute of Medicine and 13 members of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute comprise Children's research community. Founded as a 20-bed hospital for children, Children's Hospital Boston today is a 392-bed comprehensive center for pediatric and adolescent health care grounded in the values of excellence in patient care and sensitivity to the complex needs and diversity of children and families. Children's also is the primary pediatric teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School. For more information about the hospital and its research visit: www.childrenshospital.org/newsroom.  

---

6th National Conference on Diabetes and Aboriginal Peoples