Trusting our food: Bigstone Cree Nation community-based monitoring

Members of the Bigstone Cree Nation were concerned with the increase of oil and gas activities in Northern Alberta and the resulting impact on the safety of traditional foods in the territory. The objective of this study was to monitor traditional foods for heavy metal and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) contamination from the oil and gas industry.

Traditional foods (e.g., moose, duck, geese, fish species, mint, rat root, rabbit, berries) were sampled to measure levels of contaminants. In addition, the project team administered a food frequency questionnaire to gather data on patterns of food consumption.

The study found several metals and PAHs in traditional food samples. Mercury concentrations were generally low in plant samples. In animal samples, such as fish muscle, duck liver, and hare kidney, the total mercury concentrations exceeded the Health Canada guideline of 0.5 ppm. The food consumption survey indicated about half of the participants had consumed these traditional food items over the past year.

The study recommended more work be done to characterize exposure to mercury from these food items. Future studies could involve more detailed food consumption surveys with an increased sample size. The study also recommended the initiation of routine sampling with a human biomonitoring component to better understand exposure and potential human health risks.