title: Blood concentrations of persistent toxic substances in the indigenous communities of the Russian Arctic.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Investigation was carried out within the framework of the large-scale international project "Persistent Toxic Substances (PTS), Food Security and Indigenous People of the Russian North" under RAIPON/AMAP/GEF aegis. Objectives of the project are to obtain comprehensive information on exposure of indigenous populations to contaminants through food chains (and other sources), and to investigate the possible health effects connected to this exposure. Four regions of Russia are involved in the project: Kola Peninsula (Murmansk oblast), Nenetsk okrug (Pechora river basin), Taimyr Peninsula, Chukotka Peninsula.
  
  
  METHODS
  Questionnaire and paired sampling of maternal/cord blood among indigenous women at childbirth (more than 250 persons) as well as among general indigenous population (more than 1,400 persons), additionally breast milk sampling of lactating women (more than 50 persons) in Chukotka was conducted. About 700 blood samples have been analyzed at the Center for Environmental Chemistry, SPA "Typhoon" (Obninsk, Russia), the Regional Center "Monitoring of the Arctic", RCMA (St. Petersburg, Russia), the Norwegian Institute for Air Research, NILU (Tromso, Norway) and at INSPQ (Sainte-Foy, Quebec, Canada).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  On the whole, PTS in human blood of the Russian Arctic natives are similar to those in the coastal areas of Greenland and Canada, and for some POPs such as toxaphenes and mirex, these levels are lower.
authors.affiliation: North-West Public Health Research Center, St. Petersburg, Russia. dudarev@sp.ru
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Dudarev
authors.forename: A V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Konoplev
authors.forename: T M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Sandanger
authors.forename: S V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Vlasov
authors.forename: G I
authors.initials: GI
authors.lastname: Miretsky
authors.forename: D P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Samsonov
authors.forename: G V
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Chernik
authors.forename: T N
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Morshina
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Pasynkova
authors.forename: R I
authors.initials: RI
authors.lastname: Pervunina
authors.forename: V M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Dorofeev
authors.forename: M V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Chaschin
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Sedenkov
authors.forename: E V
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: Zibarev
authors.forename: A V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Kuzmin
authors.forename: L I
authors.initials: LI
authors.lastname: Abryutina
authors.forename: V A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Kimstach
authors.forename: V P
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Chaschin
mesh_terms: D001110:Arctic Regions; D005260:Female; D020387:Food Chain; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008895:Milk, Human / Q000737:chemistry; D044382:Population Groups; D011247:Pregnancy; D012426:Russia; D014118:Toxins, Biological / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D014118:Toxins, Biological