Assessing Legacy and Emerging Contaminants in Canadian Arctic Air and Water Bodies as an Entry Point into the Arctic Food Chain: 2023-2024

Part of Canadas commitment to international agreements is to monitor levels of specific contaminants in the environment. To comply with this obligation and to know how contaminant levels are changing in the Arctic, we propose to collect air, water and sediment samples for persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and emerging compounds of concern in the Canadian Archipelago during the summer of 2023 in collaboration with ArcticNet. This research has set baseline concentrations against which changes can be benchmarked as the climate and compound emissions change. We have described trends for many POPs in air and water over time at different locations in the Canadian Archipelago. For example, we have documented the widespread presence of organophosphate esters in Arctic air, water and sediment. We propose to recruit and train a northern student from a Northern Colleges/University to participate in ArcticNet field study on board the CCGS Amundsen. Finally, we will visit Iqaluit in the coming year to consult with that community, meeting with the NECC and to engage with and build capacity with the Nunavut Arctic college students. We will also continue to engage additional students and communities through virtual platforms.