Suicide attempts linked to mercury spill at First Nation: study – CTV News
July 20, 2023
Advisory: This article contains references to suicide. Reader discretion advised.
Mercury exposure in Grassy Narrows First Nation has been linked to the community’s high youth suicide attempt rate, which is three times greater than that of other First Nations in Canada, a new study has found.
The research, published Wednesday in the peer-reviewed Environmental Health Perspective journal, analysed 80 mothers and 162 children between the ages of five and 17 from the community.
It found the consumption of fish from mercury-contaminated waters led to nervous system disorders and psychological distress in community members over generations. Mothers from Grassy Narrows indicated that 41 per cent of young adolescents from the community have attempted suicide.
A worried Asubpeeschoseewagong (Grassy Narrows) First Nation mother expressed how the research’s findings are affecting her family and community in a recording played at a press conference in Toronto on Wednesday.
