Assessing Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in Canadian Arctic Air and Water as an Entry Point into the Arctic Food Chain, Northern Contaminants Program (INAC) and ArcticNet, 2019

Part of Canada's 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 2019 in collaboration with ArcticNet. By collecting air, water and sediment in the Canadian Arctic for contaminants, we will develop spatial and temporal trends. Contaminants include pesticides, flame retardants, plasticizers, perfluorinated compounds and combustion related compounds. The major concern with these compounds is that Northerners are exposed when eating traditional foods such as fish, seals and whales that are themselves exposed through the Arctic ecosystem. We have described trends for many POPs in air and water over time at different locations in the Canadian Archipelago. We propose to continue to monitor these trends and to collect data to describe trends for emerging compounds of concern. This research has set baseline concentrations against which changes can be benchmarked as the climate and compound emissions change. Additionally, we propose to once again recruit and train a northern student this year from Aurora College in Inuvik to participate in ArcticNet on board the CCGS Amundsen. Finally, we will be visiting Whitehorse to consult with the local community and to engage with students at the college/university.