Environment and Climate Change Canada

Widespread agricultural use of neonicotinoid insecticides has resulted in frequent detection of mixtures of these compounds in global surface waters. Recent evidence suggests that neonicotinoid mixtures can elicit synergistic toxicity in aquatic insects under acute exposure conditions, however...

Lake Ontario is the primary source of drinking water for millions of people. Undesirable taste and odour events may occur in late summer as a result of the release of two volatile organic compounds geosmin (trans-1,10-dimethyl-trans-9-decalol) and...

Temporal trends and climate related parameters affecting the fate of legacy persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) were examined in landlocked Arctic char from four lakes in the Canadian Arctic. Among biological...

The Flin Flon copper–zinc smelter is a site of concern as it has been the largest single source of atmospheric mercury emissions in Canada until operations ceased on July 1, 2010. The smelting and mining activities resulted in mercury contamination to the local environment. Elevated levels of...

This dataset contains the growth and survival data for Fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas) exposed to sediment from twelve sites within the Hamilton Harbour Area of Concern, as well as reference sediment (a mixture of sediment from two reference sites within Lake Erie, Long Point Marsh and Long...

The Bay of Quinte is a long and narrow "Z" shaped inlet located on the northern shore of Lake Ontario. The bay and the surrounding drainage basin were listed as an Area of Concern in 1987 under the GLWQA as 10 of the 14 beneficial use indicators of ecosystem health were deemed impaired. Excess...

Persistent, large-area droughts are among Canada’s costliest natural disasters, having major impacts on sectors such as agriculture, industry, forestry, recreation, human health and society, and ecosystems. This dataset provides 50 km gridded, 12-month Standardized Precipitation...

Hamilton Harbour was designated as one of 43 Areas of Concern in accordance with Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA). Ten out of eleven Beneficial Use Impairments were identified by the Remedial Action Plan (RAP). The RAP is an ongoing collaborative effort implemented by federal,...

Constructed wetland treatment systems (CWTSs) could provide a passive, low-energy strategy for mitigating risks associated with oil sands process-affected waters (OSPWs). Due to the large volumes (over 975 million m3), heterogeneous composition, and acute and chronic toxicity of OSPW, passive and...

The Bay of Quinte is a long and narrow "Z" shaped inlet located on the northern shore of Lake Ontario. The bay and the surrounding drainage basin were listed as an Area of Concern in 1987 under the GLWQA as 10 of the 14 beneficial use indicators of ecosystem health were deemed impaired. Excess...

Lake Winnipeg, located in Manitoba, is approximately 25,000 square kilometers and is the tenth largest freshwater lake in the world. The mean depth is approximately 12 m. Lake Winnipeg's water shed encompasses 4 provinces, 4 states and over 100 Indigenous Nations. Economic benefits include a $110...

Off shore waters of Georgian Bay rarely experience excessive nutrient concentrations however, small embayments such as Honey Harbour, North and South Bay have experienced oxygen depletion, increased total phosphorus, a decrease in water clarity and the presence of filamentous attached algae. Low...

Blooms of filamentous benthic algae that plagued Lake Erie in the 1950s through 1970s were largely reduced through reductions of phosphorus (P) loading from point sources. Since the mid-1990s, these blooms have returned despite a period of relatively stable external P inputs. While increased...

Categorization was required by the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA 1999) and is a first step to finding out which of these chemical substances require further attention in the form of assessment, research and/or measures to control their use or release. This task was completed...

Azo dyes are synthetic compounds used as industrial colorants, and some are predicted to be inherently toxic, bioaccumulative, and/or persistent based upon their chemical composition. This study addressed data gaps in current research which included the need to evaluate the toxicity of...

Bay of Quinte was designated as one of the 43 Areas of Concern in accordance with Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA). Remedial Action Plan (RAP) is an ongoing collaborative effort implemented by federal, provincial, and local governments as well as industry and public partners. There are...

This dataset contains the concentrations of halogenated phenolic compounds in plasma for the fish species Brown bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus), from 4 site locations (Trenton, Deseronto, Belleville, Prince Edward Bay) within the Bay of Quinte Area of Concern. Halogenated Phenolic Compounds have...

Thunder Bay was designated as one of the 43 Areas of Concern in accordance with Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA). Remedial Action Plan (RAP) is an ongoing collaborative effort implemented by federal, provincial, and local governments as well as industry and public partners. There are 3...

The Niagara River was designated as one of the 43 Areas of Concern in accordance with Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA). Remedial Action Plan (RAP) is an ongoing collaborative effort implemented by federal, provincial, and local governments as well as industry and public partners. There...

Sediment from Lakes Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), 47 elements including numerous metals, and visible reflectance spectroscopy or VRS-chla have been determined in sediment core samples collected in 2012, 2013 and 2014 from 16 small (surface area 4-97 ha; maximum depth ~1-5 m deep),...