Prof. Laurie Chan

A University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) professor has contributed to an international declaration aimed at drawing attention to the effects of mercury pollution. It was released last week by the world’s leading mercury scientists.
 
UNBC Health Sciences professor Laurie Chan has been involved with mercury research for more than a dozen years and has worked with aboriginal communities throughout Canada’s North to document the human health effects of mercury contamination, as well as the effects of other environmental pollutants. Chan was one of 40 scientists worldwide – and one of only eight Canadians – to contribute to the international declaration, which presents 33 main findings based on mercury’s atmospheric sources, its effects on wildlife and fisheries, and health effects.
 
“The most challenging part of the research is identifying the subtle effects of even very low levels of mercury in people,” says Dr. Chan who is a BC Leadership Chair in Aboriginal Environmental Health. “Some of my research has documented that the presence of even small amounts of mercury can affect the biochemistry of the brain and possibly slow down the communication between brain cells. The research we’re doing now is quantifying the levels of mercury in people and what are the subtle effects.”
 
Mercury is produced primarily from the burning of fossil fuels. It is one of the pollutants that generally appear at high levels in the North because of predominant wind currents and the fact that mercury becomes more stable in cold temperatures. The International Declaration on Mercury Pollution states that three times more mercury now falls from the sky than before the Industrial Revolution. The human fetus is particularly at risk, with low levels of mercury exposure in utero linked to lower intelligence. The increased concentration of mercury in fish and wildlife also puts aboriginal people at high risk for mercury exposure. "It is important to emphasize that not all fish is bad," says Dr. Chan. "Salmon, for example, have little mercury and eating more fish generally benefits heart health and brain development."
 
“This is a global issue and a local issue,” says Dr. Chan, who is currently working with three aboriginal communities in northern BC to document mercury exposure and its health effects. “The Mercury Declaration came out of an international conference that attracted more than 1,000 scientists. It gave us a platform to hopefully influence public policy.”