Title

Mohawk Council of Kanesatake Environmental Contaminants and Health Impact Project – Phase 2

Fiscal Year

2020-2021

Community/Region

Mohawk Council of Kanesatake, Quebec

Principal Investigator

Dr. Niladri Basu (McGill University)

Community Project Lead

Eugene Nicholas

Project Members

Dr. Isabelle-Anne Bisson, Katie Chong, Mary Nicholas, Gabrielle Lamouche, Tess Lalonde, Valerie Gabriel and Tianai Zhou

Project Summary

For over half a century, the Kanien'kéha:ka community of Kanesatake has been used as a dumping ground for an undetermined amount of waste from construction sites in and around the Montreal area. The community was concerned the material was contaminated and causing serious illness among residents. The first phase of this study found certain heavy metals exceeded regulatory limits in the soil and edible plant samples from 17 sites. The objectives of second phase of this study were to continue to identify, confirm and quantify contaminants in these sites, and develop policies, regulations and procedures to protect the environment and community members from contaminants. A further objective was to promote environmental health.

The project team resampled soil, food, plants, and water from 17 sites in Kanesatake that had exceeded regulatory limits in the first phase and an additional 4 sites as requested, and analyzed them for heavy metals. The team also conducted a Human Health Risk Assessment (HHRA) to provide a preliminary snapshot of the nutrition and health of the Kanien'kéha:ka people of Kanesatake. As part of this assessment, the team collected biological samples (urine and hair) from a sample of HHRA participants.

The project team found heavy metal contaminants in the return test sites exceeded regulatory limits established by official bodies such as the Canadian Environmental Quality Guidelines. The heavy metal contamination was detected in soil and plant samples but, not in the water. The study investigators recommended further sampling at sites where heavy metal contamination exceeded regulatory limits and a deeper exploration into the potential health impacts from these pollutants. The results of the biological samples were pending processing and analysis.