A recent Human Health Risk Assessment (HHRA) for the Flin Flon area indicated that more information is needed to understand the exposure to possible human health risks from some metals in the community. A study to evaluate exposure is being conducted by a team between September 3rd and October 20th, 2009. This team consists of physicians, environmental science experts, professional clinical staff and trained interviewers.

How will exposure be evaluated?

• The most direct way to evaluate exposure is to assess human exposure through biological samples (e.g. blood, urine).

What will the study try to find out?

The study will investigate the following questions:

• What is the current level of exposure in the bodies of the child population in the Flin Flon area?
• Do Flin Flon area children have higher arsenic, lead, and/or inorganic mercury levels than residents living in other parts of Canada?
• Are there any health risks from these levels of exposure?
• What personal factors are associated with the levels of exposure (e.g., place of residence, place of work, level of COC in soil, age, gender, diet, personal habits, etc.)?

Why focus on children?

If exposure is occurring among residents, it will be more apparent among children for the following reasons:

• Children are usually more sensitive to environmental contaminants than adults.
• Children are potentially exposed at higher levels because they eat, drink and breathe relatively more than adults when you take into account their body size.
• Behavior and habits are also important. Children's normal activities, such as putting hands in their mouths or playing on the ground, create additional opportunities for exposures.
• So, in short, if the average exposure levels in children are not elevated, it would be very unlikely for other age groups to have elevated levels.

How will Flin Flon and Creighton residents participate?

• Parents/guardians sign a consent form and participate in an interview in their own home.
• A Collection Kit is left with them for urine samples; children provide small urine samples.
• Samples are picked up the next morning by the study team.
• Children provide a small blood sample (finger prick). A time will be arranged for parents to take their children to a specific clinic to provide a blood sample.

What happens after residents participate?

• The study team will use interview answers and results from the urine and blood samples to answer the selected study questions.
• Each child's parents/guardians and their physician will receive the child's results along with a description of results for the community overall. A local physician has agreed to review the results of children who do not have a family doctor. The Principal Investigator, who is a physician, will work with the local physician to ensure that follow-up is arranged for anyone who gets results that are in a range where they need follow-up.
• All individual results will remain confidential. No results will be linked to specific individuals in any reports.
• Information will be integrated into the overall Human Health Risk Assessment (HHRA) and reported back to the community.

For any additional information about the study, please contact the Field Team Manager at 204-271-3792.