Monitoring of contaminants in ringed seals from the Canadian Arctic and Labrador

Monitoring of contaminants in ringed seals from the Canadian Arctic and Labrador Ringed seals (Phoca hispida) are harvested annually in Arviat and Resolute (Nunavut), Sachs Harbour (Northwest Territories) and Nain (Labrador) with the help of the communities in the context of an environmental monitoring program. Samples of meat, blubber, liver and kidney are collected for inorganic elements and organic contaminants analyses along with a variety of biological/life history parameters measurements such as age, length, weight, body condition, stable isotopes of nitrogen and carbon, blubber thickness, and lipid content. Data have been collected since 1991, but mostly since 2004, and this project is ongoing. Supplemental Information The Northern Contaminants Program (NCP, http://www.science.gc.ca/eic/site/063.nsf/eng/h_7A463DB A.html) was established in 1991 in response to concerns about human exposure to elevated levels of contaminants in wildlife species that are important to the traditional diets of northern Aboriginal peoples. Early studies found a wide variety of substances, many of which had no Arctic or Canadian sources, but which were, nevertheless, reaching unexpectedly high levels in the Arctic ecosystem. The Canadian Cryospheric Information Network (CCIN, https://www.ccin.ca/) and the Polar Data Catalogue (PDC, https://polardata.ca/) have been developed over the past two decades through collaborative partnerships between the University of Waterloo and numerous government, university, and private organizations to provide the data and information management infrastructure for the Canadian cryospheric community. The PDC is one of Canada’s primary online sources for data and information about the Arctic and is Canada's National Antarctica Data Centre. Polar Data Catalogue Canadian Cryospheric Information Network Metadata Record: https://www.polardata.ca/pdcsearch/PDCSearch.jsp?doi_id=10780 2022-02-21 Environment and Climate Change Canada open-ouvert@tbs-sct.gc.ca Nature and EnvironmentEnvironmentNature and Biodiversity - Contaminants Polar Data Catalogue Metadata - Monitoring of contaminants in ringed seals from the Canadian Arctic and LabradorHTML https://www.polardata.ca/pdcsearch/PDCSearchDOI.jsp?doi_id=10780 Synopsis of Research Conducted under the 2014–2015 Northern Contaminants ProgramPDF https://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/ncp/Synopsis20142015.pdf Synopsis of Research Conducted under the 2015–2016 Northern Contaminants ProgramPDF https://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/ncp/Synopsis20152016.pdf Supporting data for the report: Synopsis of Research Conducted under the 2015–2016 Northern Contaminants ProgramPDF https://pubs.aina.ucalgary.ca/ncp/Synopsis20152016SupportingData.pdf View ECCC Data Mart (English)HTML https://data-donnees.ec.gc.ca/data/substances/monitor/monitoring-of-contaminants-in-ringed-seals-from-the-canadian-arctic-and-labrador/ View ECCC Data Mart (French)HTML https://data-donnees.ec.gc.ca/data/substances/monitor/monitoring-of-contaminants-in-ringed-seals-from-the-canadian-arctic-and-labrador/?lang=fr

Ringed seals (Phoca hispida) are harvested annually in Arviat and Resolute (Nunavut), Sachs Harbour (Northwest Territories) and Nain (Labrador) with the help of the communities in the context of an environmental monitoring program. Samples of meat, blubber, liver and kidney are collected for inorganic elements and organic contaminants analyses along with a variety of biological/life history parameters measurements such as age, length, weight, body condition, stable isotopes of nitrogen and carbon, blubber thickness, and lipid content. Data have been collected since 1991, but mostly since 2004, and this project is ongoing.

Supplemental Information

The Northern Contaminants Program (NCP, http://www.science.gc.ca/eic/site/063.nsf/eng/h_7A463DB A.html) was established in 1991 in response to concerns about human exposure to elevated levels of contaminants in wildlife species that are important to the traditional diets of northern Aboriginal peoples. Early studies found a wide variety of substances, many of which had no Arctic or Canadian sources, but which were, nevertheless, reaching unexpectedly high levels in the Arctic ecosystem.

The Canadian Cryospheric Information Network (CCIN, https://www.ccin.ca/) and the Polar Data Catalogue (PDC, https://polardata.ca/) have been developed over the past two decades through collaborative partnerships between the University of Waterloo and numerous government, university, and private organizations to provide the data and information management infrastructure for the Canadian cryospheric community. The PDC is one of Canada’s primary online sources for data and information about the Arctic and is Canada's National Antarctica Data Centre.

Polar Data Catalogue Canadian Cryospheric Information Network Metadata Record:

https://www.polardata.ca/pdcsearch/PDCSearch.jsp?doi_id=10780