Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

Our mercury (Hg) analytical platform at the University of Ottawa was established 19 years ago and is on the verge of becoming unreliable and obsolete. Replacement parts for our total mercury (THg) system in water are not available anymore and our workshop is no longer able to fix issues that have recently been coming up. Furthermore, our methylmercury (MeHg) setup does not reflect recent improvements for high throughput Hg analyses. Our research programs are in jeopardy should the instruments stop working because there are no other alternatives in the National Capital Region. Finally, our capacity to adequately reach out to indigenous communities is hampered by our inability to provide quick and reliable, field-based Hg measurements in biological samples. We are requesting funds to purchase an updated THg and MeHg analytical platform, and a portable Hg analyzer to analyze biological samples directly in the field. The uOttawa mercury speciation analytical platform has so far contributed to the training of 60 HQPs in addition to serving academic, government, industry and NGO partners by providing trace-level detection of Hg species in various matrices. We cannot maintain our national and international leadership in Hg biogeochemistry and ecotoxicology research without the requested urgent update to our instrumentation.