Northern River Basins Ecological and Human Health Studies: Summary, Relevance and Recommendations

The Northern River Basins Human Health Monitoring Program (the Health Program) was established in November 1994 to examine possible relationships between various environmental risk factors (including lifestyle factors as well as biological and chemical contaminants) and the health of northern residents. The Health Program was created in response to public concerns that the large scale Northern River Basins Study (NRBS) mainly examined ecological health, and did not include an explicit examination of human health. The Health Program was carried out by Alberta Health under the direction of a Management Committee representing eight government and public stakeholder groups. This document, “Northern River Basins Ecological and Human Health Studies: Summary, Relevance, and Recommendations” (Summary Document) was requested by the Management Committee of the Health Program. The purposes of this document are: (1) link the ecological information collected by the original NRBS program with the information provided by the Health Program; (2) summarize issues and findings of the Health Program; and, (3) provide recommendations for further study. The Management Committee felt that a document was needed that provided perspective and context for the Health Program. This document is organized into the following main sections: 1. Summary of ecological findings from the NRBS; 2. Summary of the Health Program; and 3. Recommendations for further studies in the Northern River Basins.