The Toxic Substances Research Initiative
Launched in 1998, the Toxic Substances Research Initiative (TSRI), was a $40 million program managed by Health Canada and Environment Canada. The four year programme sunset as of March 31, 2002 and research sponsored by the programme has been completed. The Initiative reinforced the federal government's commitment to enhance the health and environment of Canadians, through funding a variety of research projects on toxic substances.
The research funded by the TSRI helped to protect the health and environment of Canadians by gathering an improved knowledge of toxic substances, and their adverse effects.
TSRI enhanced existing research partnerships and fostered the development of new collaborations between non-government and federal government researchers, by focusing on emerging issues not adequately addressed by existing research.
Canadians benefited directly from this investment as it strengthened the government's capacity to protect their health and environment in a socially and economically responsible manner.
Guiding Principles of the Initiative
The Initiative supported scientific excellence and federal public policy objectives by:
- Contributing to the protection and preservation of human health and the environment for current and future generations of Canadians;
- Placing emphasis on research which would benefit ecosystem health and priority population groups at risk, i.e. children, Aboriginal people and the elderly;
- Encouraging and promoting multidisciplinary research approaches to address the risks and roles of toxic substances in the complex chain of causation leading to adverse environmental consequences and adverse human health effects;
- Placing emphasis on research partnerships and resources to meet the rigorous demands of the Canadian and international scientific communities;
- Promoting and enhancing public understanding of and involvement in toxic substances research by placing emphasis on community consultation, communications, and the use of research results; and
- Applying a target-based approach to research deliverables and determining Initiative success through evaluation and tracking of indicators of achievement.
Priority Research Areas : Knowledge Needs
Priority knowledge needs contributing to the research area of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) were:
Priority knowledge needs targeted by research projects in 1999-2000 were:
- Determining and linking the ecosystem and human health effects of known and emerging issue POPs such as endosulfan; pentachlorophenol and pentachloranisole; short-chain chlorinated paraffins; triazines, chlordane and toxaphene.
- Determining the degree to which domestic and international sources are contributing to observed levels of POPs in Canada.
- Understanding the impacts of POPs on human health outcomes (e.g. fetal development, the relationship between POPs and cancer in children and Aboriginal peoples, etc.).
- Developing the data necessary to determine ecosystem and human health risks associated with known priority POPs
- Determining the long-range transport characteristics of known and emerging POPs.
- Completing the research needed for the development of new human tissue guidelines, blood guidelines, acceptable daily intakes, and health based advisories especially for at-risk populations such as children, pregnant women and Aboriginal peoples.
- Identifying mechanisms of action for toxic effects seen in ecosystems and humans exposed to POPs where policy and/or regulatory decisions are required.
- Improving understanding of pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic characteristics of POPs where regulatory decisions are required.
The priority knowledge needs targeted by the research projects commencing in 2000-2001 were:
Developing the data necessary to determine ecosystem and human health risks associated with known priority POPs from domestic and international sources, particularly in relation to the development of new human tissue guidelines, blood guidelines, acceptable daily intakes, and health based advisories especially for at-risk populations such as children, pregnant women and Aboriginal peoples.
Developing approaches to study the transport of POPs, particularly in relation to determining the degree to which and international sources are contributing to observed levels of POPs in Canada and, in the case of international sources, their countries of origin.
Priority knowledge needs contributing to the research area of Metals:
The priority knowledge needs targeted by the research projects which commenced in 1999-2000 were:
- Focusing on priority metal forms (species of mercury, lead, cadmium) and environmental mixtures that may affect their toxicity.
- Determining the contribution of both natural and anthropogenic sources of specific metal species to environmental levels, as well as the impacts of global and regional changes in these sources.
- Determining loadings, valency states and rates of transformation to bioavailable forms for priority metals inthe environment.
- Determining the toxicological and ecological impact of bioavailable forms of metals in the environment.
- Studying the effects of acidification on the release of toxic metal species into the environment.
- Developing methods for evaluating the toxic effects of consuming country foods in relation to their social, nutritional and economic benefits.
The priority knowledge needs targeted by the research projects commencing in 2000-2001 were:
- Developing new approaches to assess the toxicological significance on human health and the environment of low level exposure to metals in food chains with an emphasis on at-risk populations such as the consumers of country foods.
- Determining the contribution of both natural and anthropogenic sources of specific metal species to environmental levels, as well as the impacts of global and regional changes in these sources.
Priority knowledge needs contributing to the research area of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs) were:
The priority knowledge needs targeted by the research projects which commenced in 1999-2000:
- Identifying outcome measures that are predictive of adverse effects in ecosystems and humans exposed to various endocrine disrupting chemicals.
- Investigating the linkages between ecological and human health effects resulting from exposure to environmental levels and mixtures of endocrine disrupting chemicals.
- Developing screening tools to evaluate the potential physiological effects of endocrine disrupting chemicalsin the environment.
- Determining the sources of and sinks for endocrine disrupting chemicals in the environment and prioritizing substances for further testing.
- Characterizing dose-response relationships for environmental and human health effects in order to determine risks associated with endocrine disrupting chemicals.
- Determining mechanisms of action for endocrine disrupting chemicals and environmentally relevant mixtures where regulatory decisions are required.
- Determining the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals where regulatory decisions are required.
The priority knowledge needs targeted by the research projects commencing in 2000-2001 were:
- Identifying adverse ecological or human health effects resulting from exposure to environmental levels and mixtures of endocrine disrupting chemicals.
- Determining the identity, sources and fate of endocrine disrupting chemicals in the environment.
- Developing standardized methods that are predictive of endocrine disrupting activity in the environment for use in the screening of chemicals for endocrine disruptive properties and for prioritizing chemicals for further, more intensive investigation.
Priority knowledge needs contributing to the research area of Urban Air were:
The priority knowledge needs targeted by the research projects which commenced in 1999-2000 and in 2000-2001:
- Identifying the critical components and sources of the air pollution mixes that affect ecosystem and human health responsible for cardio-respiratory disease.
- Characterizing the dose-response relationships for health and environmental effects in order to determine the risks from airborne pollutants.
- Determining the biological mechanisms by which air pollution (particulates, chemicals and biologicals) induces cardio-respiratory diseases.
- Developing an improved understanding of the chemical constituents and sources of particulates (PM 2.5 and PM 10) that will facilitate the implementation of improved models to identify hot spots and predict episodes of increased health risk to susceptible populations, especially children.
Priority knowledge needs contributing to the research area of Cumulative Effects:
The priority knowledge needs targeted by the research projects which commenced in 1999-2000:
- Developing tools to predict cumulative effects of exposure to environmental mixtures of toxic substances.
- Improving our ability to monitor POPs, metals and EDCs in human tissues.
- Determining the ecosystem and human health effects associated with environmentally relevant mixtures of POPs, metals and EDCs.
- Developing biomonitoring techniques and assessment models to evaluate the cumulative impacts of toxic substances on ecosystem and human health.
- Identifying the linkages among multiple assessment indicators to establish the critical thresholds of cumulative ecosystem and human health effects that result from exposure to environmental mixtures of toxic substances.
- Developing approaches to assess the cumulative effects of exposure to environmental mixtures of naturally occurring and anthropogenic toxic substances.
- Assessing the cumulative effects of nutrient, temperature, dissolved oxygen interactions, and other environmental factors on the adequacy of regulations and guidelines for protection from exposure to priority metals, POPs and EDCs.
- Establishing the interactive effects and mechanisms by which nutrient loadings mask the effects of contaminant stressors in the environment.
- Identifying the influence of anthropogenically-influenced environmental factors such as the hydrologic cycle on contaminant exposure and effects on environmental and human health.
- Developing analytical approaches and models to trace and predict the fate and effects of multiple contaminant stressors on food webs and human health.
- Characterizing the additive and incremental effects of multiple source and stressor effects from large-scale developments such as oil sand and metal mining.
- Developing integrated assessment approaches, techniques and indices to characterize the impacts of toxic substance mixtures on microbially-based food chains.
The priority knowledge needs targeted by the research projects commencing in 2000-2001 were:
- Developing analytical approaches and tools to predict and assess the cumulative and human health effects of exposure to environmental mixtures of naturally occurring and anthropogenic toxic substances.
- Identifying and characterizing emerging toxic substance research issues
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