Canadian Environmental QualityGuidelines (CEQG) :

Values to protect environmental and humanhealth

Meeting with Québec First Nations communities and organisations

Montréal, July 4th and 5th, 2018

Darcy Longpré (Santé Canada)Bertrand Langlet (Environnement and Climate Change Canada)

Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan (FCSAP)

Objectifs• What are environmental quality guidelines?• Guidelines guiding principles• How do we develop environmental and human health guidelines (2

sections)?• How to identify and select the proper SQG for your site• Exceedences• Tier 2 and Tier 3 guidelines• Other Health Canada risk assessment resources for First Nations

communities• Drinking water guidelines• Guidelines for the protection of aquatic life• References

What are CEQGs?

• Canadian Environmental Quality Guidelines: Values (concentrations) for soil, water, sediment, and other media that are developed by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) for use acrossCanada

• Scientifically-based guidelines for terrestrial and aquatic ecosystemquality (includes humans)

• Designed to protect, maintain, and improve environmental health• Can be used to identify potential human and/or environmental health

risks• The values are periodically updated• Published on the CCME website (open access)

CEQG scope and application

• Nationally recognised• Several provinces (including Quebec) and

territories have developed their own values • Depending on site specifics (location,

ownership, etc.) either Québec, CCME, or values from another jurisdiction may be used

• FCSAP: uses CCME values unless none are available; then values from anotherjurisdiction may be used

CEQG development process?Priorities are established

Literature search and data compilation

Data analysis and quality assurance/quality control

Guidelines elaboration(Methods selected according to quality and quantity of data)

Scientific Supporting Document and Fact Sheet preparation

Reviews: Internal, Peer, Public

Approvals: CCME technical working groups, All territorial and provincial governments, CCME management group

Publication: Canadian Environmental Quality Guidelines and summary tables – Online only

Review comments addressed

Respect nationally-approuved protocols

Coherent decisionmaking!

Guidelines elaboration and record of decisions

Soil Quality Guidelines (SQGs)

SQG Guiding Principles

• The SQG development process relies on riskassessment principles

• Three main components are considered:

• Toxicity of the substance• Receptors• Exposure pathways

• If any of these elements is missing, there isno potential for risk

• The CCME (2006) protocol is used to developguidelines

ToxicityReceptors

Exposure pathways

Potential Risk

SQG Guiding Principles• Soil, at or below guideline levels, will

support a healthy ecosystem that iscapable of supporting present, and future uses by human and ecologicalreceptors

• Equal importance is given to human and environmental health

• The values represent an approximative level associated with minimal to low levelenvironmental risks and negligiblehuman health risks

DNAPL

Land Uses• Agricultural: crops and livestock

• Residential/park: residential or recreational activities and buffer zones between residences, as well as camp sites

• Commercial: examples include shopping malls, cultivated lawns and decorative gardens, gas and service stations

• Industrial: manufacturing and production, distribution, construction, etc.

Designed by Montypeter/Freepik

Source: Boris Kyurkchiev

Source: raymond henry

Using SQGs

• SQGs are meant for use on soils that are left in place (i.e. not excavated or moved)

• SQGs are the limit that soils must be cleaned up to, not a ‘pollute up to’ level

• SQGs are not meant to be used to assess the quality of soilsupplements (e.g. compost and fertilisers) or to manage fillmaterial (e.g. slag, foundry sand, mine waste, etc.)

SQGE Development

• 4 land uses (agricultural, R&P, commercial & industial) Receptors and exposure pathways Protection levels

• Procedures to develop SQGs for:– Soil contact– Food ingestion– Nutrient and energy cycling– Groundwater transport modelling (aquatic, livestock watering, irrigation)– Offsite migration

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SQGE - Receptors and Pathways

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SQGE - Soil Contact

• To protect soil-dependent organisms (invertebrates and plants) from direct contact with contaminated soil

• The most important pathway (i.e. SQGE cannot be identified without this pathway) for the four land uses

• Based on toxicity studies (laboratory and field studies) using direct contact with contaminated soil

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SQGE - Soil Contact, con’t

• Sublethal endpoints are preferred (reproduction, growth).

• Long term exposure is preferred to short term exposure

• Behavioural (avoidance) and biochemical (enzyme and protein levels) responses are not used – we need to be able to show that the results are pertinent to population viability

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SQGE – Soil and food ingestion

• To protect lifestock and wild herbivores from soil and foodingestion

• Applies to agricultrual lands and sometimes to residential/park land uses

• Most “endangered” species are selected (ingestion/body weight)

• If necessary, values can be calculated to protect animalshigher up on the food chain

SQGE – Aquatic life protection

• Protects aquatic receptors from terrestrial contamination that has migrated to a body of water

• Applies to all four land uses for soluble organicsubstances– Inorganic substances are evaluated on a site-

specific basis• Provides a level of protection for all land uses• A four stage soil-groundwater model is used to

calculate the value

SQGE – Offsite migration

• Wind and water-induced soil erosion can transfer soil from one site to another

• SQGOM-E check that commercial and industrial sites will not impact adjacent, more sensitive land use (agricultural) – SQGs for industrial and commercial land uses can be reduced using this check value

• Back-calculates a soil concentration that will not lead to exceedances of agricultural soil that may be adjacent to the industrial/commercial site.

• Separate SQGOM are calculated to protect the environment and humanhealth

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contaminant

SQGE – Receptors, exposure pathways and land uses

Exposure pathways/Land uses

Agricultural Residential & Park

Commercial Industrial

Soil contact Nutrient cycling, Invertebrates,Crops and plants,Livestock and wild animals

Nutrient cycling, Invertebrates,Plants,Wild animals

Nutrient cycling, Invertebrates,Plants,Wild animals

Nutrient cycling, Invertebrates,Plants,Wild animals

Soil and food ingestion

Herbivores ANDConsumers (2-3) ifcontaminant bioamplifies

Herbivores,Consumers (2-3) if contaminant bioamplifies

No No

Water ingestion Livestock No No No

Groundwater Aquatic life, irrigation crops Aquatic life Aquatic life Aquatic life

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Example: SQGE – Lead (Pb) (mg·kg-1)

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Land use

Agricultural R&P Comm. Indus.

RQSE 70 300 600 600

Soil Contact 300 300 600 600

Soil and Food Ingestion 70 — — —

Nutrient and Energy Cycling 723 723 834 834

Offsite Migration — — — 2 272

Groundwater (aquatic life) NC NC NC NC

RQSE provisional NC NC NC NC

SQGHH Who are we protecting?

• The entire population is protected by developing the SQG for the most sensitive age group (normally the toddler) who has access to the site

• All potential pathways for a substance are evaluated• Generic land use scenarios are developed to reflect

common exposures to potentially contaminatedmedia (soil, water, air)

• If generic scenarios differ significantly from our site, or if a more detailed assessment is desired, site-specificvalues can be calculated

Designed by Montypeter/Freepik

Source: Boris Kyurkchiev

Source: raymond henry

SQGHH Development

• For human health, SQGs are developed to protectagainst risks from:

• Soil ingestion• Inhalation of soil particles in air• Dermal contact• Drinking water from wells at a contaminated sites• Vapour inhalation (of volatile substances)• Meat, milk and produce produced on-site (rarely developed at Tier 1)• Offsite migration to adjacent, more sensitive lands

SQGHH Receptors and Pathways

Dust Inhalation

Ingestion of wild game

Contaminated soil

Organic layer

Campsites

Downstream lake

Metals contaminationContaminated sediment and surface water

Dermal contact

SQGHH – Generic site scenarios

* For threshold substances (e.g. non-carcinogens) ** For non-threshold substances (e.g. carcinogens)

SQGHH Development• A toxicity evaluation is carried out in order to identify

toxicological reference values (TRVs), which are levels where no adverse health effects will occur

• For human health, TRVs may be identified for 3 types of contact (exposure): ingestion, inhalation and dermal contact (dependingon the quality of available data and they type of substance)

• For human health, we also estimate ‘background’ exposure to substances. These are considered in the calculation of SQGHH to avoid potential under-estimation of total exposure

SQGHH Development

• Toxicity is determined by a literature review that allowsus to identify adverse effects associated with a substance

• According to site use and the specific properties of the substance, potential exposure pathways are identified

• Receptors and their background exposure are classifiedbased on age categories

• This information is used to derive exposure limits for soil, water, vapour intrusion, etc. that will not cause adverse health effects for a given land use by the most sensitive receptor having access to the site. These are the SoilQuality Guidelines (SQG)

Setting generic SQGs

• The lowest of the SQGHH and the SQGE (for each land use) isselected as the generic (or final) SQG

• The generic SQG is protective of both environmental and human health if it is based on both an SQGHH and an SQGE

• It is possible that the generic SQG is not protective of bothenvironmental and human health if either the SQGHH or the SQGE were not calculated→ Some contaminants (ex. certain PAHs) were not developed

for both environmental and human health→ There are no SQGs for some contaminants

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Example: SQG for lead (Pb) (mg/kg)

Agricultural Res./Park

Comm. Indus.

SQG 70a 140a 260a 600a

SQGHH 140 140 260 740SQGHH limitingpathway

SoilIngestion

SoilIngestion

SoilIngestion

OffsiteMigration

SQGE 70 300 600 600SQGE limitingpathway

Soil and Food Ingestion

SoilContact

Soil Contact SoilContact

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a: Data are sufficient and adequate to calculate both an SQGHH and an SQGE.

How to correctly identify SQGs for the environment and humanhealth

• Care must be taken to choose the most appropriate SQG whenconsulting the CCME guidelines or website

• Several values are derived to reflect different land uses, exposurescenarios, types of receptors (human and ecological), types of contaminant, etc.

• The generic SQG is generally the most conservative (lowest) of the calculated values.

• However, this value may not applyat your site.

Selecting the correct SQG for your site

Tier 2 and Tier 3 Guidelines• The preceeding information applies to ‘generic’ guidelines (or Tier

1). That means that they are based on generic scenarios, applied as-is, with no adjustments to integrate site-specific information.

• As seen in the examples of land use scenarios, they do not reflect all possible land uses and not all receptors will be presentat all sites.

• Guidelines can be adapted to integrate site-specific information using 2 options: ‘Tier 2’ or ‘Tier 3’ (also called risk assessment) ajustments.

Tier 2 and Tier 3 Guidelines• Tier 2 applies to minor adjustments to generic guidelines to

incorporate site-specific information according to limits pre-defined by CCME

• Tier 3, or risk assessment, allows for many more adjustmentsbased on site-specific information and needs and is a muchmore involved process

• The decision to adjust guidelines is based on a variety of factors. Adjustments require more work, but allow for a more realisticrisk assessment and will often reduce (better identify) the quantity of contaminated media that needs to be managed.

Source: michelle kwajafa

Other Health Canada risk assessmentresources for First Nations communities

source: jcomp / freepik

• Guidance on country foods consumption to better evaluate background exposures for populations with significant country foodsintake.

• Guidance on short term exposures (camping or autre short term exposure scenarios).

• Guidance on how/when to eliminate/addexposure pathways.

• Guidance on how to include local knowledge/concerns that would not normallybe identified/included (in order to confimabsence of risk).

Drinking water guidelines• Health Canada develops separate guidelines for

drinking water, based on a similar risk assessmentprinciple.

• CCME applies the Health Canada drinking water values directly for the Potable Water pathway, whichapplies to a drinking water well using groundwater at or adjacent to a contaminated site.

• Therefore, recent Soil Quality Guidelines for drinkingwater (SQGPW) are the same as those used for otherdrinking water supplies across the country.

Source: clconroy

Water Quality guidelines: protection of aquatic life• To protect all forms of aquatic life and all stages of the life

cycles of aquatic organisms.

• Aims for long-term protection of the most sensitive life stages of the most sensitive species in aquatic ecosystems.

• Protect against the negative effects of humanly-alteredenvironmental parameters (such as pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen), or against substances in the water column.

• The guideline values are intended to estimate the approximate level at which no toxic effects are observed.

Water Quality guidelines: protection of aquatic life

• 2 environments– Freshwater– Marine

• 2 exposures– Long term– Short term

References• For CCME site management-related documents:

https://www.ccme.ca/en/resources/contaminated_site_management/index.html

• For Soil Quality Guidelines: https://www.ccme.ca/en/resources/canadian_environmental_quality_guidelines/index.html

• For Health Canada contaminated sites management documents:https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/environmental-workplace-health/contaminated-sites.html