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Chemical Waste in Canadian Aquaculture

Chemical waste in our oceans is becoming a major issue for the marine life. There have been many studies conducted to try an prove the effects of these chemical in our oceans. In Canada, many of the studies cocentrated on the Atlantic provinces, where fishing and aquaculture are an important part of the economy. In New Brunswick, a study was done on the Sea Urchin in an attempt to identify the effects of toxic and chemical waste on life beneath the ocean, specifically the wasted from the salmon farms. Sea urchins were used to check the levels of metals in the environment. It is Advantageous to use green sea urchins, Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis, because they are widely distributed, abundant in many locations, and easily accessible. By investigating the concentrations of metals in the green sea urchins, the impacts of produced chemicals from salmon aquaculture activity could be assessed and detected. Samples were taken at 25m intervals along a transect in the direction of the main tidal flow. The study found that there was impacts to at least 75m based on the intestine metal concentrations. So based on this study it is clear that the metals are contaminating the oceans and negatively affecting aquatic life.

Green Sea Urchin or S. droebacheinsis

Uranium in Ground and Surface Water in Canada

Another issue regarding chemical waste is the potential risk of surface and groundwater contamination by the heavy metals and radionuclides leached from uranium waste-rock piles (UWRP) A Radionuclide is an atom that has excess nuclear energy, making it unstable. Uranium waste-rock piles refers to Uranium mining, which is the process of extraction of uranium ore from the ground. . An example of such threats is in Saskatchewan, Uranium mining and ore processing (milling) can pose a threat to the environment. In open pit mining, large amounts of materials are excavated and disposed off in waste-rock piles. Waste-rock piles from the Uranium mining industry can contain several heavy metals and contaminants that may become mobile under certain conditions. Environmental contaminants may include acid mine drainage, higher concentrations of radionuclides, and non-radioactive metals/metalloids (i.e. As, Mo, Ni, Cu, Zn).

The leachability of heavy metals and radionuclide from UWRP plays a significant role in determining their potential environmental risks to surrounding surface and groundwater. Substantial differences in the solid-phase partitioning and chemical leachability of Ni and U were observed in the investigated UWRP lithological materials and background organic-rich lake sediment. For Instance, in the uranium-mining district of Northern Saskatchewan, Canada, the sequential extraction results showed that a significant amount of Ni (Nickel) was present in the non-labile residual fraction, while Uranium was mostly distributed in the moderately labile fractions. Although Nickel was much less labile than Uranium, the observed Nickel exceeded Uranium concentrations in leaching]].The observed Nickel and Uranium concentrations were relatively high in the underlying organic-rich lake sediment. Expressed as the percentage of total metal content, potential leachability decreased in the order U > Ni. Data suggest that these elements could potentially migrate to the water table below the UWRP. Detailed information regarding the solid-phase distribution of contaminants in the UWRP is critical to understand the potential for their environmental transport and mobility[2]

Image of Uranium risk map may be found here: http://www.env.gov.nl.ca/env/waterres/cycle/groundwater/well/uranium.pdf