Key environmental human health issues in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River basins

In May 1997, Health Conference '97- Great Lakes/St. Lawrence, an internatio nal conference on the effects of the environment on human health in the Gre at Lakes and St. Lawrence River basins, was held in Montreal, Quebec, Canad a. This was the third international conference on this topic sponsored by a gencies in the United States and Canada. More than 120 platform and poster presentations were given by scientists of different disciplines from the Gr eat Lakes region and elsewhere. The presentations represented the most curr ent research findings on the effects of the Great Lakes environment on huma n health. The reports covered environmental contaminant levels of persisten t toxic substances (PTSs), routes and pathways of exposure, exposure assess ment and human tissue levels of PTSs, human health outcomes, risk communica tion and assessment, and approaches to scientific collaboration. Reports in dicate that levels of contaminants in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Rive r basins have generally declined since the 1970s, although certain contamin ants have plateaued or slightly increased. The findings include elevated bo dy burden levels of contaminants in persons who consume large amounts of so me Great Lakes sport fish, developmental deficits and neurologic problems i n children of some fish-consuming parents, nervous system dysfunction in ad ults, and disturbances in reproductive parameters. The findings underscore the need for better public health intervention strategies. (C) 1999 Academi c Press .