Facebook Twitter Email
MONDAY, JANUARY 21, 2002

Native students from the villages of Barrow in Alaska and two in Siberia are taking part in a five-year research and education project funded by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The project will look at mercury contamination in the Arctic by examining snow samples. The metal is one of several contaminants that scientists believe travel northward and could possibly end up in the food chain.

The Barrow Arctic Science Consortium is administering the program for Alaska with the Chukotka Science Support Group on the other side of the strait. EPA is paying $75,000 for the first year.

Get the Story:
Students to assist in contamination study (The Anchorage Daily News 1/21)

Relevant Links:
How POPs threaten the Natural Environment and the Future of Indigenous Peoples - http://www.ienearth.org/pops_threat-p1.html
The Indigenous Environmental Network - http://www.ienearth.org
Contaminants in Alaska - http://www.state.ak.us/dec/deh/contaminants.htm
Persistent Organic Pollutants, the United Nations - http://irptc.unep.ch/pops

Related Stories:
US signs toxins treaty (5/24)
Toxins treaty formally adopted (5/23)
Toxics poisoning Inuit Natives (5/22)
Bush to sign toxins treaty (4/20)
AP: Bush to sign toxin treaty (4/19)
EPA dioxin report opposed (4/12)
Alaska hails pollutant treaty (12/13)
Negotiations begin to ban pollutants (12/5)
Alaska Natives call for toxin study (10/13)
Scientists trace Arctic pollution to US (10/4)
Dioxins are everywhere (10/4)