Some people in Yellowknife area have high levels of contaminants, study says

Nine hundred people in Yellowknife, Ndilo, and Detah are receiving letters this month telling them how much, if any, arsenic, cadmium, and lead they had in their bodies in the days leading up to giving a urine sample last fall.

It's the first set of results from the Health Effects Monitoring Program.

The program is a requirement of the environmental assessment for Giant Mine's cleanup plan and is the most comprehensive sampling program ever done to determine whether contaminants from the mine affect human bodies. 

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Renata Rosol is one of the researchers at the University of Ottawa leading the study. She said a few people had levels over the acceptable limits, but that there's no reason for alarm.

She also said those participants have been contacted.

"We hired a local nurse practitioner. We are asking for [the participants] to make an appointment with that nurse, and provide additional samples." she said.

"And then [we'll] just probe to assess where that exposure may be coming from."

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Marino Casebeer received his letter earlier this month. It showed he had 18.23 micrograms of arsenic per litre of urine, less than three units away from an unacceptable level of 21 micrograms per litre — the benchmark level for retesting.

He said he was surprised by the results since his daughter, whom he lives with, only had three micrograms of arsenic per litre.

"Well, I'm curious why that level is so high," Casebeer said. "I eat mostly processed food. I don't eat local fish. I don't swim in lakes around here anymore."

But Rosol said anyone who is within the acceptable limit has nothing to worry about, adding there are many environmental factors that can influence arsenic levels — such as eating too much rice from southeast Asia.

Rosol said another set of samples are being taken this week, and that all the results from urine and toenail samples should be ready by the fall.

Then they'll be able to offer a better picture of how much arsenic, cadmium, and lead people in the region are consuming, she said, and where it is coming from.