ATW 2009 Session topic list

The list of possible session topics below reflects the conference theme "From spring to sea: a world of connection", linking freshwater sources of contamination to estuaries and marine aquatic life forms. Sessions would represent a balance between issues and studies from inland freshwater to coastal marine waters. Notice that specific sessions that have already been proposed are shown in italics.

Aquatic Toxicity

• General aquatic toxicology (e.g. mixtures, tolerance, critical life stages)
• Algae and cyanobacteria
• Amphibians and reptiles in ecotoxicology
• Aquatic nano-chemistry and toxicology
• Toxicity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons to critical life stages
• Wildlife toxicology
• Extrapolation from laboratory to the field
• Legalities of toxicology

Environmental contamination

• Emerging contaminants (e.g., pharmaceuticals and personal care products; perfluorinated compounds; endocrine disruptors)
• Flame retardants in the Canadian environment (PBDEs)
• Legacy contaminants: continuing presence, effects and new findings (e.g., polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls)
• Pesticides: presence in surface and ground waters, effects and new trends
• Indirect (foodweb-mediated) effects of contaminants
• Environmental risk assessment
• Ecotoxicological risk assessment - case studies and future directions

Bioavailability and Bioaccumulation

• Waterborne and diet-borne metals (e.g., Biotic Ligand Model; tissue residue approach)
• Improving water quality guidelines for metals: dietary exposure and bioavailability
• Waterborne and diet-borne organic contaminants: advances in bioaccumulation assessment

Emerging issues

• Genomics, proteomics and metabolomics in aquatic ecotoxicology
• Aquatic Toxicogenomics
• Oil sands research
• Assessing the effectiveness of landscape reclamation following oil sands development and production
• Global change and impacts on contaminant toxicity
• Hypoxia

Aquatic Ecosystem Health: Assessment, Monitoring and Remediation

• Estuary and fjord ecosystems
• Contamination in the Saguenay–St. Lawrence Marine Park
• Biomarkers
• Organism or population level indicators: invertebrates, fish, aquatic mammals and other sentinel species
• Community level indicators: taxonomic or functional approaches for water and sediment quality assessment
• Use of bivalves as sentinel species
• Municipal waste water: risk assessment, from freshwater to marine ecosystems
• Ecotoxicological impacts of municipal effluents on the St-Lawrence River
• Remediation of degraded aquatic environments
• Restoration of eutrophic lakes
• Environmental effects monitoring: metal mining and pulp and paper
• EEM – metals
• Environmental standards: from contaminant-specific criteria to biodiversity

Please contact Peter Campbell, 36th ATW Platform Program Chair, by telephone (418-654-2538) or email (peter.campbell@ete.inrs.ca) for more information.