Building on the Past – Looking to the Future
A new research network with a diverse base of industry, government, and academic partners was approved for support by NSERC on January 3, 2005. The official launch of the Metals in the Human Environment Research Network (MITHE-SN) was celebrated at the campus of the University of Guelph on October 24, 2005. The new Network builds on, and further extends, science knowledge developed by the NSERC sponsored Metals in the Environment Research Network (MITE-RN 1999-2004).
The MITHE-SN received a five-year funding award (2004-2009) from NSERC totaling $5.4 million. This award includes cash and “in-kind” contributions from Agriculture and Agri-food Canada, Health Canada, Natural Resources Canada, Environment Canada, the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the Canadian Grain Commission, the Potash & Phosphate Institute of Canada, the Mining Association of Canada, the Ecotoxicity Technical Advisory Panel (ETAP member companies are: International Lead Zinc Research Organization, the International Copper Association, Ltd., the Nickel Producers’ Environmental Research Association, the Cobalt Development Association, US Borax, and the International Council on Mining and Metals), Terratec Environmental – an American Water Services Company and Jacques Whitford Environment Limited.
The MITHE Research Network is led by Dr. Beverley Hale, University of Guelph, and is supported by a Secretariat managed by Dr. Len Ritter, Executive Director of the Canadian Network of Toxicology Centres. The MITHE research program will address the key uncertainties that hamper site-specific risk assessments for metals in surficial environments. The basis for the Network’s science plan is that dust, soil, and food are the principal routes of exposure of humans to metals; consequently, there is a need to quantify and characterize metals present in these matrices with specific reference to their speciation and bioavailability. The science plan also recognizes that the ecological health of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems is a critical component of human community health.
The research program, comprised of three themes (Aquatic Ecosystem; Soils and Plants; and Foods and Ingested Particles) represents a cascade of effects along food webs, from the lowest trophic levels to the highest consumers. For each of the themes, the same three questions drive the research projects:
- Distinguishing the magnitudes and roles of natural background and anthropogenic metal inputs in biotic exposure to metals;
- Estimating the bioavailable fraction of metals in the exposure media, thus better quantifying the true exposure concentration;
- Determining the factors that influence bioavailability of metals in media, so that predictive models can be developed for use in the development of site-specific metals criteria.
Research to address these three questions will vary according to the media and endpoints of importance to each theme, and the specific hypotheses to be tested. As well, the specific metals to be studied in each project will be similarly tailored to the project; metals and metalloids of prime interest include: Cd, Cu, Pb, Ni, Tl, U, Zn, As and Se.
The 16 research projects conducted in the first three years of the Network program promote collaborations among academic researchers in 21 Canadian universities and with many government scientists.
A team of three risk assessment consultants [see Environment & Human Health Risk Assessment (E & HHRA) page of newsletter] ensure that the MITHE-SN research projects, in all three domains, address the risk assessment priorities of all Network partners.
 |
||
| Aquatic Ecosystem Theme | 2 | |
| Soils & Plants Theme | 3 | |
| Food & Ingested Particles Theme | 4 | |
| Environment & Human Health Risk Assessment |
5 | |
| Risk Assessment | 6 | |
| Announcements | 7 |
Top of Page