Mercury in landlocked Arctic char

This project is part of the Northern Contaminants Program core monitoring and looks at contaminant levels in landlocked Arctic char from lakes in Nunavut over time. Landlocked char are the only top predators in most Canadian high Arctic lakes and, therefore, can serve as a sentinel species for monitoring changes in contaminants. The project has information on persistent organic pollutants (POPs), mercury and other elements in char from lakes near the community of Resolute Bay, Nunavut and for Lake Hazen in Quttinirpaaq National Park on Ellesmere Island spanning up to 30 years. Results to date show that mercury concentrations in char from most of the study lakes have remained steady or have declined over the past ~10 years. Concentrations of most POPs are also declining steadily, except for total chlorobenzenes which were found to be increasing since the mid-2000s. This increase, which is mainly due to hexachlorobenzene, has also been observed in other studies of seabirds and ringed seals and suggests that there are still major emissions of chlorobenzenes despite its phase out globally under the Stockholm Convention. This study is on-going and would not be possible without collaboration with the community of Resolute Bay, Nunavut where residents participate in fish collections each year. Results are regularly communicated with the community through the local Hunters and Trappers Association and through community meetings.

Basic view

Metadata Record Information

File Identifier
801efa70-2254-4302-b00d-c14563394d21 XML
Date Stamp
2024-01-26T03:24:38
Metadata language

eng; CAN
Character set
UTF8
Hierarchy Level
Series
Point of contact
  Government of Canada; Environment and Climate Change Canada; Science and Technology Branch / Water Science and Technology / Aquatic Contaminants Research Division - ACRD Data Management Team
867 Lakeshore Rd. , Burlington , Ontario , L7S 1A1 , Canada
 

Data identification

Date (Creation)
2014-04-08
Date (Publication)
2018-06-19
Status
On going
Metadata language

eng; CAN
Topic category
  • Environment
Maintenance and Update Frequency
As needed
Originator
  Government of Canada; Environment and Climate Change Canada; Science and Technology Branch / Water Science and Technology / Aquatic Contaminants Research Division - Dr. Derek Muir ( Research scientist, retired )
867 Lakeshore Rd. , Burlington , Ontario , L7S 1A1 , Canada
Principal investigator
  Government of Canada; Environment and Climate Change Canada; Science and Technology Branch / Water Science and Technology / Aquatic Contaminants Research Division - Dr. Jane Kirk ( Research scientist )
Principal investigator
  Government of Canada; Environment and Climate Change Canada; Science and Technology Branch / Wildlife and Landscape Science / Ecotoxicology and Wildlife Health Division - Dr. John Chételat ( Research scientist )
1125 Colonel By Dr. , Ottawa , Ontario , K1A 0H3 , Canada

Keywords

Theme

  • Observation/Measurement

  • Northern Contaminants Program (NCP)

  • Arctic Char

  • Fish

  • Mercury

  • Contaminants
Place

  • Char Lake

  • Cornwallis Island

  • Ellesmere Island

  • Kent Peninsula

  • Lake Amituk

  • Lake Hazen

  • Ungava Peninsula

  • Arctic

ECCC Information Category EN

  • Nature and Biodiversity - Contaminants

Government of Canada Core Subject Thesaurus

  • Arctic ecosystems

  • Mercury

Business Functions

  • Assess Toxicity, Manage and Monitor for Environmental Presence of Hazardous Substances and Waste

  • Monitor / Assess Substance and Waste Levels in Air, Water, Soil, Biota

Branch

  • Science and Technology Branch

Directorate

  • Water Science and Technology

Program (PAA)

  • 1.2.1. Water Quality and Aquatic Ecosystems Health

Environment Canada - GC Security Classification

  • Unclassified

Geography

  • National (CA)
 
Use Limitation

Open Government Licence - Canada ( http://open.canada.ca/en/open-government-licence-canada )

Access Constraints
License
Use Constraints
License
Begin Date
1989-01-01
End Date
2017-12-31

Extent

N
S
E
W
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Ref. system Reference Systems

Reference system identifier
/ EPSG:4326 /
 

Distribution

Distribution Formats

Distribution format
  • CSV ( unknown )

 
Distributor
  Government of Canada; Environment and Climate Change Canada - Public inquiries centre
Fontaine Building 12th floor, 200 Sacré-Coeur Blvd. , Gatineau , Quebec , K1A 0H3 , Canada
1-800-668-6767
https://canada.ca
 
 

Overviews

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W
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Keywords

Arctic Arctic Char Char Lake Contaminants Cornwallis Island Ellesmere Island Fish Kent Peninsula Lake Amituk Lake Hazen Mercury Northern Contaminants Program (NCP) Observation/Measurement Ungava Peninsula
Branch
Science and Technology Branch
Business Functions
Assess Toxicity, Manage and Monitor for Environmental Presence of Hazardous Substances and Waste Monitor / Assess Substance and Waste Levels in Air, Water, Soil, Biota
Directorate
Water Science and Technology
ECCC Information Category EN
Nature and Biodiversity - Contaminants
Environment Canada - GC Security Classification
Unclassified
Government of Canada Core Subject Thesaurus
Arctic ecosystems Mercury
Program (PAA)
1.2.1. Water Quality and Aquatic Ecosystems Health

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