Title

Risk assessment of arsenic exposure from lobster consumption In Lennox Island First Nation

Fiscal Year

2014-2015

Community/Region

Lennox Island First Nation, Mi’kmaq Confederacy of Prince Edward Island, Prince Edward Island

Principal Investigator

Jean Lavallée (Aquatic Science and Health Services)

Community Project Lead

Randy Angus

Project Members

Melanie Giffin

Project Summary

The Mi’kmaq have been fishing lobsters for community food consumption, and for social and ceremonial purposes. The Mi’Kmaq Confederacy of Prince Edward Island was concerned the levels of chemical contaminants in local lobster had not been adequately investigated to ensure food safety at the Band level in areas of Atlantic Canada. The purpose of this study was to characterize the risk associated with inorganic arsenic exposure from consuming lobsters from Malpeque Bay.

The project team collected lobster samples (tail meat and hepatopancreas) from Lennox Island to perform arsenic speciation. At the same time, they administered a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to members of the Lennox Island First Nation to collect data on seafood consumption.

The team found the levels of total and inorganic arsenic were much higher in the hepatopancreas than in the tail meat. However, since tail meat was consumed much more frequently than the hepatopancreas, the Lennox Island community was at greater risk from exposure to inorganic arsenic in lobster tail meat. The Incremental Lifetime Cancer Risk (ILCR) associated with exposure to inorganic arsenic from lobster tail meat exceeded the 10-5 limit for an average individual. However, due to the several limitations of the FFQ, such as small sample size and significant variability in dietary patterns within each subject, the study concluded lobster consumption and corresponding exposure to inorganic arsenic might have been overestimated.