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Sample Collection: • Fish were collected in the summer fall and winter of 2011 and the spring of 2012 from 8 sites along the Athabasca Slave and Peace Rivers. • Target sample size for each site was 30 individuals of each of 5 species (Goldeye - Hiodon alosoides, Whitefish - Coregonus clupeaformis, Northern Pike - Esox lucius, Walleye - Sander vitreus, Burbot - Lota lota). • A total of 1498 fish were collected during these samplings. • Each fish was examined externally and internally. • Muscle, liver, bile, and blood plasma samples were taken for further analysis of indicators of condition and health.

Introduc4on  Metal   Site   BB  Mean  ±  SE  (n)  *   p-­‐value   GE    Mean  ±  SE  (n)*   p-­‐value   JF    Mean  ±  SE  (n)*   p-­‐value   WE    Mean  ±  SE  (n)*   p-­‐value   WF    Mean  ±SE  (n)*   p-­‐value  Hg   FMU   540±81  (3)     0.712   1251±252  (11)  A   0.678   1416±256  (10)  A   0.240   2475±733  (12)  A   <0.001   514±134  (10)  A   <0.001  

FM   691±162  (2)     1022±95  (20)  A   1397±371  (19)  A   1309±139  (20)  A   179±21  (20)  C  FC   340±24  (4)     952±102  (19)  A   1294±158  (20)  A   811±78  (15)  B   190±38  (20)  C  FS   734±114  (8)  A   973±125  (20)  A   1427±311  (21)  X   0.010   1813±264  (20)  A   216±32  (18)  B  FR   839±116  (30)  A   1241±188  (12)  A   1031±190  (21)  A   1399±306  (10)  A   353±44  (20)  A  

Se   FMU   1848±166  (3)     0.308   3060±340  (11)  AB   0.005   1205±106  (13)  B   <0.001   1717±146  (13)  BC   <0.001   1612±133  (10)  BC   <0.001  FM   1476±121  (2)     2397±205  (20)  B   843±118  (19)  C   1432±137  (20)  C   1546±78  (19)  C  FC   2282±164  (4)     3262±216  (19)  AB   1639±105  (20)  A   2041±106  (15)  AB   1509±105  (20)  C  FS   1984±201  (8)  A   3549±353  (20)  A   1879±80  (21)  A   2338±108  (20)  A   2069±136  (18)  AB  FR   1806±71  (30)  A   4053±456  (12)  A   1869±94  (21)  A   2303±94  (10)  AB   2233±89  (20)  A  

Tl   FMU   8.94±0.42  (3)     0.003   11.51±1.50  (11)  A   0.234   14.45±2.36  (13)  B   <0.001   20.94±3.61  (13)  C   <0.001   6.75±1.51  (10)  B   <0.001  FM   0.05  (2)     9.26±1.28  (20)  A   8.02±1.32  (19)  B   19.96±3.10  (20)  C   6.32±0.70  (20)  B  FC   8.88±3.38  (4)     12.04±2.13  (19)  A   16.84±2.22  (20)  B   37.4±2.00  (15)  B   6.85±1.26  (20)  B  FS   8.43±1.36  (8)  B   13.70±1.82  (20)  A   32.82±4.00  (21)  A   66.16±6.97  (20)  A   20.30±2.70  (18)  A  FR   15.99±1.53  (30)  A   15.44±2.98  (12)  A   47.72±5.41  (21)  A   78.54±7.96  (10)  A   17.59±1.19  (20)  A  

V   FMU   46.6±2.0  (3)     0.031   22.3±5.4  (11)  A   0.141   22.3±4.4  (13)  A   0.208   25.3±5.8  (13)  A   0.265   35.7±8.0  (10)  A   0.096  FM   20.5±2.1  (2)     20.9±3.4  (20)  A   16.3±2.8  (19)  A   16.8±3.6  (20)  A   18.8±3.4  (20)  A  FC   12.7±3.2  (4)     18.5±3.8  (19)  A   23.7±5.1  (20)  A   25.5±8.0  (15)  A   37.0±5.6  (20)  A  FS   66.3±16.4  (8)  A   35.6±8.7  (20)  A   25.0±5.7  (21)  A   34.1±6.4  (20)  A   40.7±8.4  (18)  A  FR   28.8±3.6  (30)  B   36.0±4.2  (12)  A   14.0±4.0  (21)  A   17.7±5.7  (10)  A   49.2±16.5  (20)  A  

Objec4ves  

• Much of the current open-pit mining activities in the Alberta oilsand are adjacent to the Athabasca River. •  Contaminants associated with oilsands include metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and naphthenic acids, some of which are persistent, toxic, mutagenic and potentially carcinogenic. • Concerns have been expressed about the potential effects of emissions on the environment and human health by communities in the Athabasca River basin as well as by communities in the downstream Slave and Mackenzie river basins. • Local communities have also reported an increase in the occurrence of lesions and deformities in fishes which has raised their concerns • These concerns have been heightened by uncertainties concerning the origin of contaminants, natural or anthropogenic, and magnitudes of exposure.

Methods  

Conclusions  •  Concentrations of Se were different in summer and fall. The increased

concentration in summer could be caused by the influx of contaminants after snow melt.

•  Thallium, but not V or Se appear to biomagnify, since fishes of higher trophic levels have equal or higher concentrations than those at lower trophic levels.

•  V and Tl have been previously associated with discharges from petroleum based activities, including oil sands activities.

•  Greater concentrations of metals along the Slave River are potentially due to upstream activities.

•  Increases in V and Tl at the downstream sites pose interesting questions of bioaccumulation and chemodynamics, further research is planned.

•  Spring sampling has been completed and metals are being quantified to better understand spatial and temporal distribution of their concentrations.

•  Two sites were added downstream of Athabasca Basin for the spring sampling (FF, PP) to better understand metal distribution.

Acknowledgements  This project would not have been possible without the assistance provided by First Nations and Métis communities of Ft Resolution, Ft Smith, Ft Chipewyan, Ft MacKay and Ft McMurray and by numerous Provincial and Federal agencies. Funding was provided by the Boreal Songbird Initiative (BSI), Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC) and the Government of the Northwest Territories, which supported sampling in the NWT. Tim Barrett (UNB) provided assistance with statistical analysis.

This research was conducted to describe spatial and temporal distributions of metals in tissues of fishes from selected locations along the Athabasca and Slave Rivers.

• Most of the metals analysed showed little or no location associated variability for the summer and fall samplings. • Thallium(Tl), Vanadium(V), Selenium(Se), and Mercury(Hg) did show location associated variability. • Se concentrations varied little among sites in summer, but in the fall were greater on the Slave River. • A steady increase in the concentration of thallium in fish muscle was noted at sites proceeding down the Athabasca/Slave system. • Thallium also showed a relationship between concentration and trophic level as the higher trophic level JF and WE had greater concentrations.

Results  

Summer  

B.  Tendler1,  E.  Ohiozebau,2  A.  Hill1,  G.  Codling2,  J.P.  Giesy1,3,4,  E.  Kelly5,  P.  Hodson6,  J.  Short7,  P.D.  Jones1,2    1.Toxicology  Centre,  University  of  Saskatchewan,  Saskatoon,  Canada          2.School  of  Environment  &  Sustainability,  University  of  Saskatchewan,  Saskatoon,  Canada          3.  Dept.  of  Biomedical  Veterinary  Sciences,  University  of  Saskatchewan,  Saskatoon,  Canada      

   4.  Dept.  of  Biology  and  Chemistry,  City  University  of  Hong  Kong,  Hong  Kong,  SAR,  China          5.  Environment  and  Natural  Resources,  Government  of  the  Northwest  Territories,  Canada  6.  Department  of  Biology,  Queens  University,  Kingston  ON,  Canada          7.  DJWS  Consul.ng  LLC,  Juneau  AK,  USA  

 

Exposure  of  Fish  in  the  Athabasca  and  Slave  Rivers  to  Metals  Poten4ally  Derived  from  Oilsands  Opera4ons  

Quantification of Metals: • Approximately 0.1 g of dry muscle was added to a 15 mL Teflon vial and digested in concentrated nitric acid (69%) and hydrogen peroxide (30%). • Digests were evaporated until dry at approximately 70ᴼC.  • 5 mL of 2% nitric acid was added to dried digest which was then filtered (0.45 micrometre pore size) and transferred into 8 mL HDPE vial for storage and analysis. • Concentrations of 20 metals were measured by ICP-MS.

Methods  

Pike  or  Jackfish  (Esox  lucius)    JF  

Loche  Mariah,  Burbot  (Lota  lota)  BB  

Goldeye  (Hiodon  alosoides)  GE  

Whitefish  (Coregonus  clupeaformis)  WF  

Walleye  or  Pickeral  (Sander  vitreus)  WE  

Figure 3. Concentrations of metals by species and site. Summary statistics (means, SE = standard error of the mean; n = sample size). Sites sharing a letter (A,B,C), within a metal/species grouping are not significantly different at α = 0.05 (Tukey family-wise error rate for multiple comparisons). Hypothesis tests conducted using ANOVA after data transformation (rank, log base 10, or power). Hg analyses conducted using ANCOVA with log base 10 transformed data (response and covariate) using length or weight as a covariate). X = significant interaction in ANCOVA (p = 0.05). Text in red addresses to subjectively assess trends across species.

Fall  

    BB   GE   JF   WE   WF        decrease  downriver  

Hg                            increase  at  FS  

Se                            increase  at  FR  

Tl                            increase  downriver  

V                            increase  at  FS,  not  high  upstream  Athabasca  

Results  

Figure 1. Metal Concentration trends for metals of interest. Figure 2. Metal concentrations (V, Tl, Se) for all Species by Season.

• Concentrations of Vanadium (V) were significantly (p<0.05) greater at Fort Resolution and Fort Smith on the Slave River than those in fish from sites on the Athabasca River. • Concentrations of Selenium (Se) varied little among locations during summer. During the fall, selenium concentrations were greater in Slave River than Athabasca River. • Concentrations of Mercury (Hg) were greater in JF and WE on the Slave River.

Results