Toxic Chemicals in Alaska

Quick: Picture Alaska in your mind’s eye. We’ll wait.

What did you think of? Photos of glistening streams, brown bears, leaping salmon, bald eagles?

Of course, those are the visions that many of us have because Alaska is a beautiful place. Yet, we are now aware that Indigenous peoples of Alaska and the circumpolar Arctic carry some of the highest levels of toxic chemicals on earth. Alaskan infants have some of the highest rates of birth defects in the nation. People also suffer from unusually high rates of health problems commonly associated with chemical exposure: cancers, diabetes, reproductive problems, thyroid disease, nervous and immune system disorders, and learning disabilities.

“Alaska is on the receiving end of toxic chemicals that arrive in the north via wind and ocean currents,” says Pam Miller, the executive director of Alaska Community Action on Toxics.

There are a few different issues that create a perfect storm of high toxic exposure unique to Alaskans:

- Location. The Arctic has become a hemispheric sink for persistent organic pollutants -- POPs -- from the rest of the world. Few are manufactured in Alaska. Instead, they are carried hundreds and thousands of miles from more southern latitudes, deposited via wind and water currents and affect the health of Alaska’s citizens. “They cross borders. They don’t respect political boundaries,” says Miller.

- Cultural traditions of Indigenous peoples. Alaskan tribal communities are closely dependent on traditional foods that include fish and marine mammals. “This is a physical, spiritual, and cultural dependence on the land and ocean,” says Miller. Native peoples are eating foods at the top of the food chain that are oil and fat based, and chemicals tend to concentrate in the fats of the animals they are eating. The chemicals that are shown to be in this food are bioaccumulative and have long-term health effects: PCBs, DDT, chlordane, brominated flame retardants, among others.

- Military sites. Because of its strategic location and proximity to Russia, Alaska has 700 former and currently used military defense sites, many in close proximity to tribal communities. There is great concern about the chemical contamination coming from these sites, and the threat to local Alaskans.

Alaska’s toxic chemical issues underline the need for strong federal chemical laws. Alaska’s issues are not solely their own, and decisions that we all make affect the health of Alaskans.

This has been acknowledged internationally by the Stockholm Convention -- a treaty that has been signed by over 100 countries to eliminate the most harmful contaminants that are persistent in the environment and cross borders. The United States has not signed the treaty.

The persistence of these chemicals is remarkable. Some of the chemicals, such as DDT and PCBs, have not been used widely for thirty years but are still being found in the fat of marine mammals. Other current-use chemicals such as the brominated flame retardants and perfluorinated compounds are found in rapidly increasing levels in the Arctic.

The EPA is in the process of revising the Toxic Substances Control Act, or TSCA —a law from 1976 which provides the EPA with the authority to regulate toxic chemicals. A major overhaul of TSCA, in concordance with the principle guidelines outlined by the states will be a huge step forward in helping Alaska’s citizens.

Further Reading: Stockholm Report on POPs in the Arctic (PDF)