Landmark study reveals ‘clear evidence’ of mercury’s toll on health in Grassy Narrows
More than four decades after mercury was dumped upstream from Grassy Narrows First Nation, the physical and mental health of the people there is by many key measures “considerably worse” than that of other First Nations in Canada, according to a landmark new government-funded survey.
The survey found there are fewer elders in Grassy Narrows, suggesting people there are dying prematurely. The residents are also reporting higher rates of suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts compared to other First Nations. And adult residents who reported eating more fish as children had experienced lower levels of success in school and have higher rates of nervous system symptoms and disorders.
“The results of the (survey) provide clear evidence that the physical and mental health of (Grassy Narrows community) members is poorer than that of other First Nation communities in Canada and Ontario,” says a report of the survey’s findings. The document also says that the health and well-being of the community “cannot be understood without taking into account their history of mercury poisoning and its consequences.”
The survey, a lengthy questionnaire, was administered to more than 300 adults in Grassy Narrows ranging in age from 18 to 80 between December 2016 and March 2017. It was spearheaded by community leaders and by Dr. Donna Mergler, a mercury expert at Université du Québec à Montréal. It was funded by Health Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-term Care.
Mergler told the Star that the survey was significant because “it’s the first time that there has been a population-based study of the community that links fish consumption to health outcomes and that looks at the difference between Grassy Narrows and other First Nation communities.
“Grassy Narrows of course has all the other issues of the other First Nations, such as residential schools, poverty, poor access to health care, poor access to food, and in addition to that, they have the legacy of mercury poisoning.”
The survey was adapted from an older 2008 and 2010 regional survey that had been given to 12,000 people in First Nations communities across Canada. This allowed a comparison between the health of people in Grassy Narrows and other communities. This new survey added questions about fish consumption and symptoms and disorders that are known to be associated with mercury poisoning, according to the 267-page report.
Surveyors also had consent to access respondents’ past mercury levels as measured by Health Canada and other researchers — such as umbilical cord blood mercury levels for 58 respondents — and this information helped verify the residents’ questionnaire answers.
“Persons who answered that their father was a fishing guide and that they themselves consumed fish several times a week or more at age 10 had an average of four times the amount of mercury in their umbilical cord blood compared to those who answered no to both questions,” the report said.
Amnesty International’s Craig Benjamin said the report and the picture it paints of life in Grassy Narrows should “alarm” the public.
“This is a community faced with a stark choice,” said Benjamin, who is Amnesty’s Indigenous rights campaigner for Canada. “Either eat contaminated fish and risk severe physical harms, or abandon traditions that are central to who they are and which are supposed to be protected in Canada as constitutionally protected rights.”
The contamination of Grassy Narrows began in 1962. Reed Paper, the company that owned the mill, used the metal to bleach paper and then dumped it into the water. The mercury contaminated the fish downstream and poisoned the people who ate it.
Over the past 18 months, the Star and scientists have revealed that fish downstream near Grassy Narrows remain the most contaminated in the province, that there is mercury-contaminated soil and river sediment at or near the site of the old mill, and the provincial government knew in the 1990s that mercury was visible in soil under that site and never told anyone in the communities. Scientists strongly suspect that old mercury still contaminates the mill site and is polluting the river.
“The report puts in stark relief the failings of successive goverments at both the provincial and federal levels,”said Benjamin. “The information in this report is information that could have come out much sooner if these governments had lived up to their responsibilities, knowing the river system was contaminated.”
The Star has also obtained some historical medical data, including umbilical cord blood samples and hair samples, that show the younger generation in Grassy Narrows has been exposed to levels of mercury that, when looked at through the lens of what is known about the neurotoxin today, are high enough to have possibly contributed to learning disabilities and other health ailments later in life. Health Canada has released to Mergler hundreds more samples, which she is currently analyzing.
When asked what message provincial and federal politicians should take from the health survey, Mergler said: “Elimination of the danger of the source. Remediation of the river so that future generations do not suffer the same ailments.”
Those who are currently ill, she added, “require adequate health care in Grassy Narrows, and that includes outpatient services, things like physiotherapy, vision care, cognitive stimulation.”
For Grassy Narrows’ newly elected chief, Rudy Turtle, the report supports what his people have been saying for decades. “Our people suffer a lot and the services in place are not good enough to get the job done. Dr. Mergler’s expert recommendations show a way forward to increase our supports so that we can finally recover from this toxic disaster. The government must not miss this opportunity to improve the lives of our people.”
Last year, the provincial government committed $85 million to clean up the river, and the federal government has pledged to help build a mercury care home that will help some of the sickest residents. The clean-up work has not yet begun though experts are conducting research to determine how to best remediate the river.
Key findings of the adult survey include:
- When compared with other First Nation communities, there are proportionally fewer elders in Grassy Narrows and proportionally more children. “This not only reflects premature death, but also that there are fewer elders to transmit traditional knowledge and guidance to the younger generations,” the report says.
- Adults who reported eating fish several times a week when they were children also reported lower success in school, suggesting “that mercury exposure from fish consumption contributes to poor success in school.”
- Only 21 per cent of band members rated their health as “very good” or “excellent.” In contrast, 40 per cent of First Nations in Ontario, 44 per cent of First Nations across Canada and 60 percent of the non-Indigenous population report very good or excellent health.
- Band members living on reserve reported a higher prevalence of allergies, stomach and intestinal problems, blindness or visual problems not corrected by glasses, hearing impairment, rheumatism (joint pain), and psychological or nervous disorder.
- Of all the adults surveyed, 28 per cent said they had at some point in their lifetime attempted suicide. This is more than double the percentage found in other First Nations in Ontario and across Canada.
- Of those who reported eating fish several times a week when they were 10 years old, when compared to those who reported eating fish less frequently: Their likelihood of having been told by a health professional that they have mercury poisoning was two-and-a-half times greater; and it is two-and-a-half times more likely that a health professional has told them they have diabetes.