Hydro-biogeochemistry of contaminant transformation and transport

环境污染是一个国际关注的广泛问题，可能影响人类和生态系统的健康。拟议的研究计划侧重于：1）了解污染物如何通过土壤移动，2）潮湿土壤中的化学环境如何影响涉及污染物的反应，以及3）如何改变我们的环境，如气候和土地利用变化，影响污染物的移动和反应，以恶化或减轻污染问题。拟议的研究计划将主要集中在污染物汞上。我们的研究使用尖端的方法，并整合了对碳和硫循环也很重要的过程。我们的主要目的之一将是测试关于来自空气和水的汞输入如何转化为甲基汞的具体理论。这种在环境中自然发生的转化过程是一种关键的环境反应，因为甲基汞是汞在生物体（如鱼类）中积累的主要形式。因此，人类食用鱼类是接触汞污染的主要途径。 为了帮助实现拟议的研究计划的目标，将资助至少16名高素质的人员通过实验室实验和实地研究进行培训。学生将大大提高他们的技术能力，并获得可转移的工作技能，例如通过先进的分析化学仪器的操作培训。 汞污染是一个重要的国际问题，并继续影响加拿大各地的一些社区。从长远来看，这个项目将帮助我的研究小组和其他科学家更好地模拟和预测我们环境的变化将如何影响污染物的行为。这将有助于保护人类和生态系统的健康，并履行我们在国际协议下的义务，例如最近批准的减少全球汞污染的国际公约《最低限度公约》。

Environmental pollution is a widespread issue of international concern that can affect the health of both humans and ecosystems. The proposed research program focuses on: 1) understanding how contaminants move through soils, 2) how the chemical environment within wet soils affects reactions involving contaminants, and 3) how alterations to our environment, like climate and land-use changes, impact contaminant movement and reactions to either worsen or lessen pollution problems. The proposed research program will focus strongly on the contaminant mercury. Our research uses cutting-edge methods and integrates processes that are also important to carbon and sulphur cycling. One of our main purposes will be to test specific theories about how inputs of mercury from the air and through water are transformed into methylmercury. This naturally occurring transformation process in the environment is a key environmental reaction because methylmercury is the principal form of mercury that accumulates in living organisms, such as fish. Human consumption of fish is then the main route of being exposed to mercury pollution. In helping to address the proposed research program's objectives, at least 16 highly qualified personnel will be funded to undertake training through laboratory experiments and field research. Students will significantly enhance their technical capabilities and gain transferable job skills, such as through training on the operation of advanced analytical chemistry instrumentation. Mercury pollution is an important international issue and is continuing to affect a number of communities across Canada. In the long-term, this program will help my research group and other scientists to better simulate and predict how changes to our environment will impact pollutant behaviour. This will help protect human and ecosystem health, and to meet our obligations under international agreements such as the Minimata Convention, a recently ratified international pact to reduce global mercury pollution.