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.生态系统正经历快速演变，原住民与沿海族群尤为易受此类变迁冲击。尽管老旧持久性有机污染物的污染水平正逐步下降，但汞仍是北极地区的热点环境议题。每年均有多种新型化学品投入市场，随后便在北极地区被检出，其对人体健康的影响尚未明确。气候与环境变化还对海洋生态系统造成了日益加剧的压力，并最终波及粮食安全——在多个原住民与沿海社群中，粮食保障本就岌岌可危。本地食物对于维系人体健康、社会凝聚力、文化传承以及粮食主权均具有关键意义。海洋源性食物还富含硒神经氨酸（selenoneine）这类抗氧化硒化合物，我们近期才在北极海洋食物中确认了该成分的存在。此类本地食物具备独特整合潜力，可融合多元知识体系，助力慢性病预防、促进健康妊娠与儿童健康成长，并抵消环境污染物对人体健康的有害影响。