Winter 2008 - April

Be sure to pencil in these events into your calendar, and join us in Ottawa or across southern Ontario for great science…and great socializing!

Stay Tuned for Updates:

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Ottawa Pub Night - Feb 20th

Frances Pick from University of Ottawa

 Who:    Frances Pick, PhD, University of Ottawa

Topic:  The "rise of slime":  toxic cyanobacteria on the move

When:   April 30^th, 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Where:  Clocktower Pub, 575 Bank Street

Cost:   $1 members, $3 non-members

Abstract: Attached

Cyanobacteria ("blue-green algae") blooms have been a significant problem in many Canadian watersheds, and on the cusp of summer, Dr. Frances Pick will bring you up-to-speed on its causes and consequences on water quality.  The cyanotoxins that are associated with many blooms can lead to beach closures and drinking water advisories, and cyanotoxins are now highlighted in national and international regulatory initiatives.  Dr. Pick will review the ecology and toxicology of toxigenic cyanobacteria, and summarize the situation in Canada.  All wrapped up with an intriguing title that conjures up images of conquering empires…join us for this timely and tantalizing talk.  Last before the summer break! 

Food and drink orders and socializing starting a 5:00 p.m., talk starts at 6:00 p.m.

Dinner Meeting Ottawa

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Southern Ontario Dinner Meeting

We're taking a summer hiatus, but will be hard a work planning our Fall meetings! Stay tuned!

Dinner Meeting Southern Ontario
 

-2006-
"Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry at a Landscape Scale"
Fraser Auditorium Laurentian University
Sudbury, Ontario

Laurentian SETAC’s 11th Annual General Meeting (AGM), “Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry at a Landscape Scale,” took place this year at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario on May 18th, 2006. The AGM drew over 60 attendees, setting the stage for scientists, professionals, and students from across the province to network and learn about the most recent “goings-on” in the field of toxicology. Laurentian SETAC showed its environmental stewardship by reducing the impact of the conference activities on the environment through the implementation of a range of Green Meeting strategies; one of these being a “Carbon Neutral” conference designation, where participants reduced & offset any greenhouse gas emissions through their accommodation and travel arrangements.

The morning session began with three plenary speakers who provided regional, provincial, and international perspectives. Laurentian University Biology Professor Dr. John Gunn gave the audience a flavor of local restoration work with his talk entitled “The recovery of acid and metal damaged lakes near Sudbury.” Dave McLaughlin from the Ontario Ministry of the Environment gave the audience a peek into how the Ministry is working to ensure the health of future generations in his talk about “The landscape-scale impacts of historic mining activities on Ontario communities; past legacies and lessons learned”. Lastly, Dr. Robert Dwyer from The International Copper Association provided a truly international perspective with his presentation, “Advances in risk assessment for metal products on regional and continental scales.” Following the plenaries, Keith Murray of the 27th Nepean Sea

Scouts talked about the Green Meeting initiative, and provided inspiration as he described the Scout’s recent tree planting work in Ottawa. The audience was then briefed on the activities of Laurentian’s parent organization, SETAC NA, by Dr. Joanne Parrot, from Environment Canada’s National Water Research Institute, as she promoted linkages and opportunities to get involved. Prior to the lunch break, President Trisha Murray hosted the Chapter’s annual general meeting, and the title was handed over to our new president, Natalie Feisthauer.

Two concurrent platform sessions (18 presentations) and a poster session (12 posters) took place in the afternoon, followed by a jovial dinner at Perkins Restaurant where awards were given for the best student platform (Sara Bogart, “Bioaccumulation of metals in sclereids localized within the corms of Eriophorum vaginatum growing in contaminated sites) and poster (Eve Dussault, “Can sediment-borne pharmaceuticals be toxic to benthic invertebrates?”) presentations. We ended the day with in Sudbury’s famous science centre, Science North, where we had a private, after-hours tour; descending deep inside the earth and through the gallery.

The Laurentian Chapter would like to thank the conference sponsors AMEC Earth & Environmental, Cantox Environmental Inc., GlobalTox, Golder Associates, Inco, Kinetrics Inc., Ontario Ministry of the Environment, RWDI Air Inc., Stantec Consulting, SETAC NA, Health Canada, and the Centre for Environmental Monitoring. Also a warm thank-you to Laurentian University, Science North, The 27th Nepean Sea Scouts, the SETAC board members, attendees and their family members – all of whom helped make this day a perfect success!

Submitted by: Cecilia Tolley (Board member)

-2005-
"ENVIRONMENTAL FORENSICS"
Canada Centre for Inland Waters
Burlington, Ontario

This one day annual meeting and conference, which drew in over 90 attendees, was held on June 3rd at the Canada Centre for Inland Waters (National Water Research Institute) in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. The Laurentian Chapter is committed in taking the lead in environmentally responsible conferencing and therefore implemented a range of 'Green Meeting' strategies designed to help reduce attendee waste, water and energy consumption as well as greenhouse gas and other air emissions. Deciding on a Carbon Neutral Conference was one of these strategies where all estimated greenhouse gas emissions from attendee travel to the conference was offset by the purchase of emission credits.

The theme for our Chapter's 10th annual conference was 'Environmental Forensics', which relates to the process of combining the disciplines of chemistry and toxicology when investigating and determining the link between causes and effects of adverse environmental impacts. In the morning session, three distinguished scientists on our plenary speaker panel each brought forth their own unique perspectives to our theme of 'Environmental Forensics'. Mike Gilbertson (retired government scientist) presented "A career as a Great Lakes forensic toxicologist" and shared with the audience his research on the repercussions of living with environmental contaminants. Lesley Novak (Stantec Consulting) provided an overview of "Toxicity reduction evaluations (TRE): The good, the bad and the ugly". In her presentation Lesley dissected some of her most intriguing case studies and had the audience participating in game-show style TRE 'Jeopardy'. The winners were all very thankful for their gifts, thank-you Lesley! Mark Hewitt (National Water Research Institute, Environment Canada) shared with us his knowledge on the "Investigation of causes of endocrine disruption in pulp and paper mill effluents and other complex mixtures". Before lunch, Leana Van der Vliet (the Chapter's current President) as well as Sandra Brasfield (a student Board member of SETAC NA) hosted the business portion of our meeting. Following a fabulous lunch, the group toured the Wastewater Technology Centre, hosted by Lee Beaudette. Laurentian SETAC extends a gracious thank-you for an informative tour.

Scientists and students who were attending the conference had an opportunity to present their posters in both morning and afternoon sessions (total of 16 presentations), as well as give platform presentations (13 presentations) in the afternoon. A conference wine and cheese social at Pepperwood followed the day's events. Awards were presented for Best Student Poster (Tania Delongchamp, Department of Biology, University of Ottawa - Mercury deposition and diffusion in sediments of the St. Lawrence River area near Cornwall, Ontario) and Best Student Platform (Kathleen Harding, Watershed Ecosystems, Trent University - Mercury concentration in black flies Simulium spp [Diptera, Simuliidae] from soft water streams in Ontario, Canada).

The Laurentian Chapter of SETAC is extremely thankful for the generous donations provided by our sponsors Jacques Whitford, Golder Associates, Stantec Consulting, Minnow Environmental, C. Wren & Associates, GlobalTox, Cantox Environmental Inc. and ISI Inc. A special thank you to Jim Maguire and Mary-Jo Scott for arranging the use of conference facilities at the Canada Centre for Inland Waters, and last but not least a warm thank you to all Board members that made this meeting possible.

Submitted by Monica Nowierski
Laurentian SETAC Board Member

-2004-
"ON THE HORIZON: EMERGING ISSUES IN ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY"
Well another successful AGM has come and gone but we can still access the Abstract book and selected presentations from Linda Webster and our Ottawa Laurentian SETAC branch as well as a summary of the evaluation and comments on the AGM. Read on for a great synopsis written by one of our board members, Harold Hagen.


"Laurentian SETAC Annual General Meeting Takes Flight!"

This year’s very successful Laurentian Annual General Meeting and Conference was held on June 4 at Montpetit Hall, University of Ottawa, in Ottawa, Ontario. The one-day event included a wide range of invited discussions from consulting, government and academia, including: Dwayne Moore (Cantox Environmental Inc.) “New and Improved Methods for Analyzing Toxicity Data”, Jocelyn Paré (Environment Canada) “The Microwave-Assisted Processes (MAPTM): Green Technologies in Action!”, Vance Trudeau (University of Ottawa) “‘Them Genes they are changin’: What can the new Molecular Biology techniques tell us about Endocrine Disruption and Toxicology?”, and Frank Wandelmaier (Pest Management Regulatory Agency) “Consideration of Species at Risk in the Regulation of Pesticides: The Road Ahead”. Our new Laurentian Chapter president Leana Van der Vliet and SETAC NA Board member Linda Webster hosted the Chapter’s annual general meeting during lunch break. Dr. Bruce Pauli and Dr. Laird Shutt graciously hosted a tour of the new National Wildlife Research Institute facility at Carleton University, which was followed by two concurrent afternoon platform sessions and poster sessions. We ended the day with a wine-and-cheese poster social, entertained by live music from Steven’s Grove. The event drew in over 70 attendees, with a total of 14 presentations and 11 posters.
The Laurentian Chapter would like to thank the Canadian Wildlife Service, the University of Ottawa, and all attendees for helping to make the 2004 Laurentian Annual General Meeting such a success. Special thanks to Board members for their irreplaceable contributions to Laurentian SETAC.

Submitted by:
Harold Hagen
Laurentian SETAC Board Member

November 22 2006, Ottawa:
The Laurentian SETAC hosted their 2nd Fall 2006 Dinner Meeting (Pub Night) on November 22nd at the Clock Tower Brew Pub (located at 575 Bank Street in downtown Ottawa). It was a packed house with every open seat taken as Bruce Kilgour from Stantec Consulting discussed his experiences designing effective monitoring programs to detect subtle environmental changes on a regional scale. Bruce used the ongoing regional aquatic monitoring program (RAMP) in the oil sands region of northern Alberta as a case study, describing how RAMP capitalizes on the wealth of available data. As a conclusion, Bruce showed that after more than ten years of aquatic field data collection and the extensive use of numerous reference reaches, there are no indications of large effects outside of the immediate oil sands operational footprint. Between sips of brew and bites of tasty pub morsels, attendees enjoyed an active question period and general socializing.

Photo Captions <PHOTOS TO COME>
PUB NIGHT: Pub Night attendees remain afterwards to discuss the fascinating photos presented by Bruce Kilgour that were taken during Fall 2006 RAMP field activities.

November 22, 2006, Guelph:
It's official - the November 22nd Southern Ontario Dinner Meeting (SODM) goes down on record as our best attended gathering yet! Forty-seven of us descended on Shakespeare Arms Pub in Guelph, Ontario for some fascinating insight on The Effects of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products in the Aquatic Environment. Our engaging guest of honour for the evening was Dr. Joanne Parrott, Senior Research Scientist with the Water Science and Technology Directorate at Environment Canada in Burlington.

This very social evening was kicked off with good food (several platters of appetizers were devoured!), good drink, and even better company. Very much like the SETAC Laurentian membership, attendees represented a mixture of industry, academia, and government. We were particularly delighted to see the University of Guelph Toxicology Students' Association so well represented. We look forward to seeing more of this enthusiastic and intelligent group at future meetings!

After about forty-five minutes of hobnobbing, all settled in for the main event. Dr. Parrott's talk focused on a few pharmaceuticals and personal care products that enter surface waters via water treatment systems, which are not effective in removing these compounds from wastewater. Since pharmaceuticals are designed for the sole purpose of eliciting biological effects, Dr. Parrott pointed out that we shouldn't be surprised that they could have effects on aquatic animals. However, I think we were all taken aback at the types of physiological, morphological, and behavioural effects we were shown in fish, amphibians, and aquatic invertebrates. It was particularly enlightening to see how the range of laboratory effect concentrations compared to the range of measured environmental pharmaceutical concentrations in surface waters. So for example, while you're not likely to find male fish wearing lipstick in the Great Lakes, there's certainly good evidence to suggest that environmental exposures to some pharmaceuticals may be responsible for feminization of male fish. The lively discussion that followed Dr. Parrott's talk extended beyond possible ecological effects to brainstorming potential technical and regulatory mechanisms for reducing pharmaceutical releases to aquatic environments.

The November meeting introduced a couple of significant changes from previous meetings, including a new venue. In the past, we've congregated closer to the downtown core at the historic Guelph Armouries. We're hopeful that the move to Shakespeare Arms (a.k.a. "Shakie's), closer to the edge of town, is only the first in a series of small steps toward our ultimate goal of taking the dinner meetings on the road!

A second very exciting change from past gatherings was the introduction of corporate sponsorship of the SODMs. In supporting the November dinner meeting with a very generous cash donation, Gartner Lee Limited (GLL) became our first ever corporate sponsor! We are extremely grateful to GLL and, in particular, to Dr. Dennis Gregor, Senior Aquatic Scientist and Manager of GLL's Guelph operations for their support. We were especially pleased to have Dr. Gregor in attendance and to have the opportunity to thank him in person.

September 27, 2006, Guelph:
Have you hugged a free radical today?! Many of us at the third L-SETAC Southern Ontario (S-ON) Dinner Meeting were inspired to do just that after attending Mr. Michael Gilbertson's talk entitled "Forensic Toxicology of Free Radicals" on September 27th at the Guelph Armouries.

The S-ON dinner meeting committee was positively inspired to return from our summer hiatus to welcome our largest crowd ever - 30 attendees! - to our first meeting of the fall season. The evening got off to a wonderfully social start with students, academics, and members of industry and government mixing, mingling, and munching in the stately yet cozy Officer's Mess at the historic Guelph Armouries. Once settled into our big comfy couches and chairs, we were treated to a truly thought provoking presentation delivered by Mr. Gilbertson, a prominent environmental toxicologist and environmental and human health advocate of more than 40 years.

Mike's presentation was a fascinating synopsis of his Ph.D. thesis, which he has completed since his "retirement" (!) from the International Joint Commission (IJC) in 2004. Based on his more than 30 years of research, Mike provided forensic toxicological evidence supporting the case for adverse effects to both wildlife and humans resulting from industrial organohalogen contamination of the Great Lakes. As a former active member of the IJC for more than 15 years, Mike made it very clear that this "continuing injury to health and property" is in direct contravention of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA). He further described the virtual disconnect of regulatory activity on chemicals to the detriment of health and property resulting from the current social, economic and political contexts in which science is undertaken. In addition to his call for a complete overhaul of the conduct of fisheries science in the Great Lakes, Mike challenged regulators to fulfil their responsibility to enforce the GLWQA to prevent further harm to inhabitants of the Great Lakes area.

Aside from leaving us wondering whether a good bra burning might be in order, Mike's presentation demonstrated to us all just how difficult it is to be a 'free radical'.

Photo captions <PHOTOS TO COME>
Dinner Meeting Mingling: SETAC Laurentian President Natalie Feisthauer in deep discussion with the guest of honor, Mr. Michael Gilbertson.

Questions from the Audience: After his presentation, Mr.Gilbertson fielded questions from the audience on everything from the units used to express tetrachlorodibenzodioxin trends in the Great Lakes to approaches for connecting regulatory activity to environmental and human health protection.

Free Radical Forever: Mr. Michael Gilbertson, life-long toxicologist and environmental advocate and our guest of honour at the third L-SETAC Southern Ontario Dinner meeting.

September 20, 2006, Ottawa:
Ottawa's 1st L-SETAC Dinner Meeting (Pub Night) kicked off on September 20th with over 30 members in attendance. Fresh at the start of her PhD work, Juliska Princz informed our audience of the "how and why" of toxicity test method development in boreal forest ecosystems; her PhD work will focus on testing with the ubiquitous oribatid mites. Jessica Head presented her work on development of a genetic test for sensitivity to dioxin-like compounds in avian species. This research will ultimately lead to a means of evaluating dioxin-like compound sensitivity for rare, threatened and endangered species without sacrificing these animals. This effort is part of the work that earned Jessica an invitation to Japan's "Pioneering Studies of Young Scientists on Chemical Pollution and Environmental Changes". With the Clocktower's home-made brews in hand, an active question period with the students, scientists and regulatory professionals in the audience followed each presentation.

September 13, 2006, Ottawa:
After a long summer hiatus, the Laurentian SETAC (L-SETAC) members decided to start the celebration a week earlier than usual by hosting a "Happy Hour" at the Clocktower Brew Pub (located at 575 Bank Street in downtown Ottawa) on September 13th. With a dozen and a half in attendance, the Happy Hour was a social time to share summer stories with colleagues while enjoying free appetizers, 'compliments' of L-SETAC. Unlike the Pub Nights, there was no door charge, no speaker and no presentations at the Happy Hour. The event was intended as a means to keep members informed of upcoming L-SETAC activities and also an informal way to meet Ottawa's L-SETAC Board members Trisha Murray, Zahra Galehdar and John Thelen.

Photo captions <PHOTOS TO COME>
Cold Beer and Hot Wings: Nothing fuels a scientific debate between SETAC Laurentian members David Johnson and Steve Munger better than a full stomach.

Happy Hour A Success: Ottawa's local events bring together a variety of SETAC Laurentian members, ranging from Carleton and Ottawa University students and academia, Federal Government and NGO scientists and policymakers, and local consulting professionals.

Question Period at Dinner Meeting: Leana Van der Vliet (left) poses a question following Jessica Head's presentation of her work on the development of a genetic test for sensitivity to dioxin-like compounds in avian species.

April 26, 2006, Ottawa:
The popular Ottawa toxicology pub nights ended for the season on the bright eve of April 26th with guest speaker Dr. Dwayne Moore, Vice President and Senior Scientist at Cantox Environmental Inc., delivering a talk on some of his work with probabilistic risk assessment of granular pesticides to birds.

Dr. Moore began by identifying a gap in the current screening-level assessment practices, which stipulate a risk index based on acute toxicity- an approach that ignores many factors affecting bird exposure to in the field. Dr. Moore and his colleagues address this gap in their Granular Pesticide Avian Risk Assessment Model (GranPARAM), and have applied it as part of a redefined risk assessment of the extremely toxic systemic insecticide aldicarb. In a nutshell, GranPARAM estimates the probability distribution of the dose of pesticide ingested from granule consumption by birds living in association with granular-pesticide treated agricultural fields, and the model includes input variables currently not considered in screening-level assessments. Step by step, Dr. Moore gave an overview of each part of the model, from the exposure components (defining the pesticide application scenario, bird species, region of interest) to the effects and risk assessment. Towards the end of his talk, Dr. Moore kept the audience on their toes with an interactive case study demo, where he ran a real-time model simulation. Dr. Moore also did a fantastic job of addressing the famous “so what” question- as he relayed the current status of the model, which has been submitted to the US EPA and is under review. Stay tuned !

Thanks to the speaker, guests, organizers, and staff at the Clocktower Brew pub for contributing to such a bustling Ottawa pub-night season. We’re looking forward seeing old and new faces in September!

Submitted by: Cecilia Tolley (Board Member)

April 5, 2006, Guelph:
On April 5, 2006, 17 people came out to the Officer's Mess at the Guelph Armouries in Guelph, ON to hear Dr. Keith Solomon present his talk on assessing the potential ecological risks involved in aerial herbicide (glyphosate) spraying in remote jungles to control illegal cocaine (and opiate) farming. Dr. Keith Solomon is an environmental toxicology professor from the University of Guelph and the Director of the Centre for Toxicology, Guelph, ON.

The Columbian government is dedicated to successfully and safely fight the illegal operation of any cocaine fields (there were numerous illegal fields, mainly in conservation or protected lands). The ERA task force, of which Dr. Solomon was part of, provided all angles of risk involved in producing cocaine for the drug market, including clear-cutting of jungle to provide an area for the mono-culture of coca plants. This practice was calculated to have the highest risk towards ecological health with a hazard value of > 85%. Other risks included pesticide use on the fields by both field-workers and the aerial spray to combat coca growth, as well as mismanaged storage and waste of production chemicals at drug labs. Dr. Solomon also summarized the risks to humans which included: direct contact with pesticides, direct contact with production chemicals, direct contact with the raw drug, and fighting between drug-lords for land possession. Dr. Solomon provided a lighter side to this highly volatile subject; remarking that he and the ERA task force, including the Columbian government, were continuously at risk of lash-back from the drug-lords. He jokingly mentioned the risk of "lead" toxicity from bullets was much higher than even direct contact with the herbicide, thus, the ERA task force was under constant protection from the Columbian military (black hawk helicopters and harrier jets escorted them).

Submitted by: Timothy Boudreau (Vice-President 2006-2007)

”Predicting of bird mortality from acute insecticide exposure”
Dr. Pierre Mineau, National Wildlife Research Centre
January 26, 2006 at the Clock Tower Pub, Ottawa

Toxicology touches upon some of the most pertinent issues in our world today, and once again, Laurentian SETAC was plugged into the action! There was standing room only at Ottawa's first dinner meeting of 2006 where Dr. Pierre Mineau, Research scientist and Head of the Pesticide Section at the National Wildlife Research Centre, delivered a compelling lecture on "Predicting of bird mortality from acute insecticide exposure" (January 25, 2006). Dr. Mineau discussed past and present poisoning incidents involving bird flocks seen occasionally in fields or forests treated with insecticides. Dr. Mineau presented the audience with the both sides of this controversial topic, as he pointed out that acute risk to birds in our farms and forests is generally decreasing, but also showed evidence from his own research of regional bird population declines as a result of toxic insecticide use. Focusing in on one of the data gaps encountered in this field, Dr. Mineau spoke of the challenges in assessing the risk of insecticide exposure to birds with the small amount of avian toxicity data available, in lieu of the great number of pesticides registered for use. Dr. Mineau suggested improvements to the current paradigm in the pesticide risk assessment process, such as the inclusion of dermal toxicity as a route of exposure. With the Clocktower's home-made brews in hand, an active question period ensued where the risk assessment process for pesticides was debated by various scientists and regulatory professionals in the audience.