Mining and health of indigenous people

Question 1

when did Indigenous people arrive in lake superior, Ontario?

Answer 1

10,000 years ago

Question 2

what metal did Indigenous people dig for

Answer 2

Copper

Question 3

why did Indigenous people hunt for copper

Answer 3

• pounding, heating and crafting
• jewellery, tools, weapons

Question 4

Ancient workshop name and year used

Answer 4

Cahokia, 800 AD to 1400 AD

Question 5

What other artifacts have been found here

Answer 5

gold, silver, arsenic bronze

Question 6

what happens when copper bearing rocks are exposed to surface

Answer 6

conifer trees can concentrate (up to 700ppm) in tissues above soil

Question 7

What does wild rice do

Answer 7

Concentrates copper in its seeds (5.3) , stems (1.4) and roots(4.8)

Question 8

What marine animals have high levels of copper

Answer 8

mollusks, fish and worms from lake superior
overload affects fish gill function

Question 9

what is lethal concentration of copper for fish

Answer 9

1mg/L

Question 10

2 food staples of Indigenous people

Answer 10

Fish and wild rice

Question 11

What is copper

Answer 11

micronutrient and a toxin

Question 12

what is the adult human concentration of copper?

Answer 12

1.4-2.1 mg Cu/kg

Question 13

effects of excessive copper

Answer 13

liver cirrhosis
kidney ncerosis
gastrointestinal lesions
low blood pressure
fetal mortality

Question 14

Can excess copper be secrets through body? HOW?

Answer 14

YES
1. expulsion via cellular copper pumping
2. binding copper to sulfhydryl groups
- when cells bind to copper for step 2, they unfulfill their own intended function. Leads to mood swings, irritation, depression. Misdiagnosed as psychiatric disorders.

Question 15

How can copper toxicity occur

Answer 15

acidic foods cooked on uncoated copper cookware
excess copper in water or food sources

Question 16

Indian childhood cirrhosis

Answer 16

boiling milk in copper cookware in ontario and quebec

Question 17

genetic cause for disease

Answer 17

mutation with autosomal recessive inheritance which rules out copper toxicity

Question 18

What poisoning occured in Navajo Nation , US?

Answer 18

Uranium

Question 19

why was uranium blasted out of Navajo land?

Answer 19

To make atomic weapons between 1944 and 1986

Question 20

how many mines were abandoned due to cold war threat

Answer 20

521 mines

Question 21

health risks imposed on people there

Answer 21

kidney failture
lung cancer
uranium contamination

Question 22

Who failed to tell Navajo people of the dangers,

Answer 22

United States atomic energy comission

Question 23

what happened after as compensation?

Answer 23

the state didn’t recognize radon illness officially
they couldn’t get compensations initially
succeeded in 1990

Question 24

Where was the tailings pond breach

Answer 24

churchill rock uranium mill in new mexico, 1979

Question 25

What happened at the tailings Pond breach

Answer 25

- more than 1000 tons of radioactive waste -93 million gallons of acidic radioactive solution

Question 26

which river did the tailings pond breach pour into

Answer 26

Puerco river

Question 27

what did contaminating Puerco River do

Answer 27

contaminated drinking water of Navajo nation LARGEST RADIOACTIVE ACCIDENT IN US HISTORY

Question 28

What was state response to church rock disaster

Answer 28

- English notification sent only - complained of burning feet and misdiagnosed with heat stroke - they wanted to declare it as disaster area but governor refused

Question 29

What were the clean up efforts

Answer 29

- government has prioritized 46 mines in Navajo - they have been clearing the mines, now done 9