Grant: Strategic Projects - Group

The growing use of critical technology elements such as the rare earth elements in new products, new technologies and common products such as phosphate fertilizers raises concerns about their potential impacts on ecosystems. Natural organic matter is a key component affecting the biogeochemistry of these elements. In the context of global changes where natural organic matter concentrations have been significantly increasing in Eastern Canada, we expect important modifications in the mobility and bioavailability of rare earth elements in the future. *The ""Terrestrial-Aquatic Mobility of Technology Critical Elements in a Changing Canadian Environment"" project will bring together a team of researchers with extensive experience and knowledge on the geochemistry and toxicology of metals in aquatic and terrestrial environments. In partnership with industry and government regulators, the team will provide novel, science-based understandings on the ecological risk of some of the data-poor, technology critical elements. In this project, we will conduct field investigations within the St. Lawrence and Grand River watersheds to determine the relative importance of urban and agricultural sources of rare earth elements and quantify the role of natural organic matter in modulating the biogeochemistry and bioavailability of these elements. In parallel, key laboratory experiments will be performed on important aquatic and terrestrial target species to examine possible cumulative effects from these critical elements under conditions that are representative of Canadian environments. These experiments will examine how the natural variability among different natural organic matter and their inherent binding properties affects the bioaccumulation, toxicity and mobility of the rare earth elements. Predictive uptake and toxicity models will be developed for our partners in order to help them improve ecological risk assessments of these data poor, critical technology elements in Canada.*