The overall objective of the Health Effects Monitoring Program (YKHEMP) is to design and implement a broad health effects biomonitoring program for the populations of Yellowknife, Ndılǫ, and Dettah focusing on arsenic and other contaminants of potential concern such as antimony, cadmium, lead, manganese, and vanadium, which might result from the Giant Mine Remediation Project (GMRP).
Specifically, YKHEMP will determine current or baseline levels of arsenic exposure along with other metals before remediation work begins. Then, during remediation, new monitoring results will be compared to the baseline to ensure that participants’ arsenic levels are not increasing because of work being done at Giant Mine.