Fear of contamination can also affect traditional pursuits, such as hunting and fishing, which is what researchers say happened in Salluit when there was alarm over high mercury levels in country foods in the 1980s. Gert Mulvad of the Center of Primary Care in Nuuk, Greenland, said more than 95 per cent of Greenlanders display high levels of DDE, a chemical used as an insecticide. Russian horror story Valeri Trufakin from the Institute of Physiology in Siberia found that radioactivity from nuclear tests done in Novaszemelsk between 1955 and 1962 has affected the Tundra Nentsy people, and that many have suffered genetic damage from this exposure. The 2000 members of this Siberian tribe show high levels of heavy metals in their bodies. Infant mortality is extremely high, while various forms of cancer eventually kill 61 per cent of the Nentsy.
Many children have learning disabilities and mental disorders.
Trufakin only found one-quarter of the Netsy were healthy. Contamination most heavily affects the reindeer, mushooms and nuts that the Nentsy eat. Fish is the least affected food source. But it's impossible to cut out reindeer meat from their diet. Because fish is only a small part of their diet, the Nentsy would risk starvation if they didn't eat reindeer and other contaminated country foods.