The purpose of this study is to examine trends over time of mercury and other trace elements, as well as legacy and new persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in landlocked Arctic char collected annually from lakes near the community of Resolute Bay on Cornwallis Island (Amituk, Char, North, Small, and Resolute) and in Lake Hazen in Quttinirpaaq National Park on Ellesmere Island. The project is also examining links between climate warming and increases or decreases in mercury concentrations in landlocked char. Sampling of water and Arctic char was aided by local people between 2005 and 2007.
Many scientific publications have been produced from this project, and results have been discussed in the Canadian Arctic Contaminants Assessment Report III (2013): Persistent Organic Pollutants in Canada's North, Canadian Arctic Contaminants Assessment Report III (2012): Mercury in Canada’s North, and the Synopsis of Research Conducted under the 2015–2016 and 2014-2015 Northern Contaminants Program.
Supplemental Information
The Northern Contaminants Program (NCP, https://www.science.gc.ca/eic/site/063.nsf/eng/h_7A463DBA.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(s):
https://www.polardata.ca/pdcsearch/PDCSearchDOI.jsp?doi_id=914
https://www.polardata.ca/pdcsearch/PDCSearchDOI.jsp?doi_id=12074
Supporting Projects:
Northern Contaminants Program (NCP)