Littoral Chair - Sentinel North Partnership Research Chair in Ecosystem Approaches to Health

Ecosystems are changing rapidly and Indigenous and coastal populations are particularly vulnerable to these changes. While older persistent organic pollutants are declining, mercury remains a topical issue in the North. Each year, several new chemicals are also placed on the market and subsequently found in the North, with unknown impacts on health. Climate and environmental changes also exert increasing pressure on marine ecosystems and eventually on food security, which is precarious in several Indigenous and coastal communities. Local foods are important for health, social cohesion, cultural continuity, and food sovereignty. Foods from the sea also are exceptionally rich in nutrients such as selenoneine, an anti-oxidant selenium compound that we recently identified in Arctic marine foods. These local foods offer a unique potential to bring together different knowledges to help prevent chronic diseases, to promote healthy pregnancies and children as well as to counteract the harmful effects of environmental contaminants on health.