Examination of the effects of mixtures, metals, and toxicity modifying factors on fathead minnow at Vale Inco, Junction Creek, Sudbury, ON

采矿业对加拿大非常重要，雇用了近40万加拿大人，为经济贡献了408亿美元（2003年统计数据）。然而，采矿的好处也带来了环境后果。矿井将大量的经处理的流出物排放到周围的沃茨（例如，河流、湖泊）。已经进行了许多努力来确定这些流出物的释放是否引起水质或生活在水中的动物的健康的变化（例如，鱼类和底栖昆虫）。然而，了解矿井废水如何影响沃茨是一项复杂的任务。此外，确定矿井废水是否正在造成变化，只是实现减缓和可持续发展的第一步。了解影响的原因（例如，还需要探索解决办法。这项研究旨在更好地了解矿井废水对沃茨的影响，并为制定消除其毒性的战略提供信息。我们的目标是1）确认鱼类的反应（黑头呆鱼）的金属矿山废水在萨德伯里，安大略使用人工流与构建的食物链; 2）比较小鱼的反应，整个污水混合物相对于剂量的单一金属（铜、硒、铊）; 3）了解水与饮食作为导致毒性的暴露途径的重要性;（4）探讨了影响混合污水和主要单金属对黑头呆鱼毒性的因素（pH/碱度、有机质、饵料质量和数量）。这个为期三年的研究计划将培养研究生和本科生在国家重要性的领域，并涉及实验室和实地研究的综合结合。

The mining industry is of great importance to Canada, employing close to 400,000 Canadians and contributing $40.8 billion to the economy (2003 statistics). The benefits of mining however, come with environmental consequences. Mines discharge significant amounts of treated effluents to surrounding waters (e.g., rivers, lakes). Many efforts have been made to determine whether the release of these effluents causes changes in the quality of the water or the health of the animals that live in the water (e.g., fish and bottom-dwelling insects). However, understanding how waters may be affected by mine effluents is a complicated task. Further, determining if mine effluents are causing change is only the first step towards mitigation and sustainable development. Understanding the causes of the effects (e.g., causative metals) and factors which modify their toxicity is also required to explore solutions. This research seeks to better understand mine effluent effects on waters and to generate information for developing strategies for removing their toxicity. Our objectives are to 1) confirm responses of a fish species (fathead minnow) to metal mine effluents in Sudbury, Ontario using artificial streams with constructed food chains; 2) compare minnow responses to whole effluent mixtures relative to doses of single metals (copper, selenium, thallium); 3) understand the importance of water versus diet as the route of exposure causing toxicity; and 4) explore factors which modify toxicity (pH/alkalinity, organic matter, diet quality and quantity) of effluent mixtures and dominant single metals to fathead minnow. This three year research program will train graduate and undergraduate students in an area of national importance, and involve an integrated combination of laboratory and field studies.