Human Health Effects Research Program
Vulnerable Populations
The Great Lakes Human Health Effects Research Program (GLHHERP) has identified several human populations who may be at particular risk because of greatest exposure to Great Lakes pollutants via fish consumption. Such predisposition to toxic injury in these populations can be due to behavior (e.g., degree of contaminated fish consumption), nutritional status, physiology (e.g., developing fetuses), or other factors. These vulnerable populations include subsistence anglers, American Indians, Asian Americans, pregnant women, fetuses, nursing infants whose mothers consume contaminated Great Lakes sport fish (GLSF), young children, the elderly, the urban poor, and those with compromised immune function (Tryphonas,1995; Weisglas-Kuperus et al.,1995).