PW13 Metals in the Environment: Regulatory and Risk Concerns
Exhibit Hall
8:00 AM - Wednesday
(PW218) Ecological Categorization of Canada's Domestic Substances List: Progress on Inorganic and Metal-Containing Substances.
Costa, P.1, Couillard, Y.1, Eggleton, M.1, Gauthier, J.1, Goulet, R.1, Rudnitski, K.1, Schnabel, S.1, 1 Existing Substances Branch, Environment Canada, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada
ABSTRACT- Under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, substances on Canada's Domestic Substances List (DSL) must be categorized, based on human health or ecological considerations by 2006 to determine which ones require further screening assessment. This poster outlines the ecological categorization approaches being applied by Environment Canada for the following classes of DSL substances: the metal-containing and non-metal-containing inorganic substances, the organic metal salts, and the organometallic substances. Ecological categorization involves comparing available data to established criteria for persistence, bioaccumulation and inherent toxicity to aquatic organisms. In the case of metal-containing substances, water solubility is also considered to determine the potential toxicity of the metallic moieties of concern. Where experimental data are lacking, further toxicity testing is being done, data from analogues or modelling are used, and/or expert judgment is applied. For the organometallic substances, data on metal-containing transformation products may also be considered for categorization. At this time, preliminary categorization decisions based on the data available have been released for the inorganic substances and the organic metal salts. Preliminary decisions are still being developed for the organometallic substances. Interested parties are encouraged to submit complementary information to help refine these decisions by 2006.
Key words: metal-containing substances, priority-setting, aquatic toxicity