The Radio-Canada Scientist of the Year 2023 award recognizes the extraordinary work of four women: Donna Mergler, Judy Da Silva, Aline Philibert and Myriam Fillion. They have been working for years to scientifically document the long-term effects of mercury poisoning on the Indigenous community of Grassy Narrows, Ontario.
It is a landscape of forests, lakes and rivers. Beautiful waters, but polluted. Mercury.
The events took place more than 50 years ago. Between 1962 and 1970, a pulp and paper company based in Dryden, northwestern Ontario, released 10 tons of mercury into the water. This resulted in contamination of the Wabigoon and English rivers for more than a hundred kilometers downstream from the power station to the indigenous community of Grassy Narrows.
Mercury was imposed on these people, they asked for nothing. They are sick, their children are sick, their grandchildren are sick. Mercury accumulates in the brain. We can't take it away.
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Aline Philibert is an epidemiologist at the University of Quebec in Montreal.
Photo: Radio-Canada
The lives of the members of this Anishinabek community suddenly changed.
Residents who lived by fishing and eating their catch lost both their livelihoods and their health. Mercury, which is converted by bacteria into methylmercury, its most toxic form, accumulates in the flesh of fish. Those who ate it had serious health problems.
Although mercury levels in waterways have since declined and stabilized in the mid-1980s, the pollutant has not disappeared. As a result, Grassy Narrows residents have greatly reduced their fish consumption.
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Due to mercury pollution, the community had to reduce its fish consumption.
Photo: Radio-Canada
The health problems associated with high levels of mercury pollution in the 1960s are still felt today.
Grassy Narrows residents have been fighting for decades to have not only the devastating impact of this contamination on their health recognized, but also the importance of receiving specialized care.
A report by André Bernard and Yanick Rose on the awarding of the “Scientist of the Year” award. 2023 to Donna Mergler, Judy Da Silva, Aline Philibert and Myriam Fillion will appear in the show discovery, broadcast on Sunday at 6 p.m. H 30 HERE TV and 22 h HERE Explora, and Saturday at 7 p.m H 30 HERE RDI.
The importance of documentation
Judy Da Silva, environmental health coordinator for the Grassy Narrows community, says it's been a long road, but in 2016 she opened a new path when she met researcher Donna Mergler.
Among other things, Judy understood the importance of scientifically documenting what was happening in her community in order to find ways to improve the situation.
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Donna Mergler is a professor emeritus and neurophysiologist at the University of Quebec in Montreal.
Photo: Radio-Canada
Donna Mergler and her colleagues Aline Philibert and Myriam Fillion, professors of environmental health at TÉLUQ University, founded a quartet with Judy Da Silva dedicated to a large epidemiological study among residents of Grassy Narrows. Over the years, they have subjected community members to a series of tests to assess their neurological, cognitive and psychological problems.
One of the first effects of mercury, according to Donna Mergler, is the loss of sensation in the extremities of the limbs, fingers and feet. There is a connection between fish consumption and loss of sensitivity, she said.
Researchers also examined problems with peripheral vision, loss of motor coordination and early mortality.
After carefully examining historical data on population contamination rates, they found that the likelihood of exceeding the 60-year mark decreased as exposure to the pollutant increased. Judy Da Silva also acknowledges the absence of elderly people in her community.
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Judy Da Silva is the Environmental Health Coordinator for the Grassy Narrows Community.
Photo: Radio-Canada
The effects of methylmercury pollution have also been noticeable on a societal level for a long time, adds epidemiologist Aline Philibert. In fact, scientists have observed a high number of suicides among young people since the 1970s.
This grim trend continues 50 years later: The number of suicide attempts in Grassy Narrows is two to three times higher than in other indigenous communities across the country, where suicide rates are already higher than the national rate.
At the request of Grassy Narrows residents, Donna Mergler and her colleagues examined this topic in more detail.
In 2023, they published a three-generation study in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives (New Window) indicating a link between exposure to methylmercury, emotional problems and suicide attempts in young people, particularly if mother and child are exposed to it during this time were pregnancy.
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Myriam Fillion is Professor of Environmental Health at TÉLUQ University.
Photo: Radio-Canada
The mother's consumption of contaminated fish then exposes the fetus to methylmercury. The unborn child can therefore be exposed to mercury levels that are almost twice as high as in the mother's blood.
It is known that methylmercury poisoning can cause psychological distress in people. But we also know that socioeconomic factors can lead to a suicide attempt.
The challenge for the researchers was to use statistical methods and analysis to determine the contribution of methylmercury to these events. Aline Philibert emphasizes: This is not a cause-and-effect relationship, but rather a significant contribution of methylmercury to suicide attempts.
We try to share this information with young people so that they understand that their feelings of distress are valid. “Give us a little time and we will help you”: that is the message of hope that we try to convey to them.
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Aline Philibert and Donna Mergler carry out their work with the residents of Grassy Narrows.
Photo: Radio-Canada
Whether for physical or psychological care, Grassy Narrows residents are counting on the contribution of this new scientific data to move things forward.
I hope that our studies will lead to a better understanding of what happens in mercury poisoning [non seulement] to obtain better diagnostic tools, but also to improve the treatment of these health problems.
The federal government has been promising for several years to establish a specialized care center in the Grassy Narrows community. Construction is scheduled to begin next fall.
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Aerial view of the Grassy Narrows indigenous community.
Photo: Radio-Canada