Dear Friends at Kahnawake Mohawk Nation,

It has been nine years since I did this 'Research for Health' report for the Kahnawake Mohawk Nation.
Here is that Health Report: htttp://www.nben.ca/environews/articles/archives/tox.htm

Back nine years ago, a pollution/scleroderma study didn't happen at Kahnawake, though Health Canada had some funds for such a study. Likely because, people there didn't want to be stigmatized from having Scleroderma. More recently, another Scleroderma/Pollution study was in the works but, those scientists who were interested wanted to keep control of whatever study would happen. This did not respect the Mohawk People! The Kahnawake people should look at the good relationship between Dr. David O. Carpenter (Email: carp...@uamail.albany.edu ) and Akwesasne to do such a study. This seems like a good relationship between the Mohawk People and a Scientist who cares about and Respects the people. It is wrong that no scientific investigation of the links between exposure to pollutants from local industries near Kahnawake and the high rates of Scleroderma at Kahnawake has ever occurred as far as I know.

In the most recent scientific studies, the pollutant Trichloroethylene (TCE) and other solvents have been linked to Scleroderma and other Autoimmune diseases. The latest study is here http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2685829  Kahnawake people are exposed to TCE!

Workers family's who lost their loved one to Scleroderma (when that Loved one was exposed to Solvents) have recently won Workers Compensation cases. Here's the result of a recent Workers Compensation case in Ontario: http://docs.google.com/gview?a=v&q=cache:gdShpY0hPBYJ:www.wsiat.on.ca...

It is clear that the people of Kahnawake have been exposed to solvents from local industry and from dump sites. It is clear that there is much Scleroderma at Kahnawake. I think there are about 8,000 people who live ar Kahnawake. Many other Kahnawake people have gone away and no longer live at Kahnawake near Montreal, Canada.

I hope someone at Kahnawake can tell me how many people there have Scleroderma and how many Mohawk people who have left Kahnawake have Scleroderma and other Autoimmune diseases.  I also hope that someone at Kahnawake can tell me how many people at Kahnawake have other Autoimmune diseases. I wonder how those rates compare to the rates in the 'general public'.

Many people in Canada are exposed to solvents every day. I was exposed to solvent fumes from paint for two hours per day, every day, for four years at a hardware store in Toronto. I've got bad arthritis in my back, pain in my arms and shooting pains in my limbs. Now, I am 51 years old. Maybe, that is normal. I don't know. but, I don't know if that exposure harmed me.

Here are TCE releases by Canadian Industry Coast-to-Coast: http://www.ec.gc.ca/pdb/websol/querysite/results_e.cfm?opt_report_yea...

Some scientists think that genetics plays a role in this disease called Scleroderma. If that is the case, what triggers it in people? Is it exposure to solvents and silica. Pollution, is that what triggers it?

Are Mohawk people especially susceptible to this Autoimmune disease because of genetics? I do not know.

What I do know is that Kahnawake People have been exposed to TCE and other solvent pollution.

Also, I know that the Mohawks at Akwesasne (near Cornwall, Ontario) are close to a Company called 'Morbern Inc.'
Here are the releases of TCE from Morbern Inc.: http://www.ec.gc.ca/pdb/websol/querysite/facility_history_e.cfm?opt_n... This company released 4.9 Tonnes of this Scleroderma causing pollutant last year. This company intends to further release 11 Tonnes of TCE between the years 2009-2111.

I wonder if anyone at Akwesasne has Scleroderma? Here is what Scleroderma is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scleroderma

My friends. The high rate of Scleroderma must be investigated at Kahnawake and perhaps, Akwesasne.

For Land and Life,
Your Old Friend,
John H.W. Hummel
Nelson, B.C.