Lobster Contaminants
Title
Screening the Levels of Lead, Cadmium, Arsenic, Chromium, Zinc, Mercury, and Thallium in the Traditional Food-Lobster of Eel River Bar First Nation
Description
The purpose of this project was to examine the concentrations of heavy metal contaminants: cadmium, lead, arsenic, and mercury as well as chromium, thallium and zinc within the lobster traditionally consumed by the Mi’gmaq of Eel River Bar, New Brunswick.
A total of 44 lobsters we tested, where 22 were cooked and 22 were raw. Due to high laboratory analysis costs, a decision was made to test both lobster meat and tomalley together for each lobster.
The mean concentrations for all 44 lobsters were found to be lower than the maximum allowed levels according to International standards for arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury. However, when observing the levels of heavy metals in individual lobsters, five (5) lobster had levels of cadmium that were in excess of its respecting International standard of 0.5 mg/kg set by the Commission of the European Communities. There were no International standards identified for chromium, thallium and zinc in lobster. There was no observed correlation on the concentrations of heavy metals between raw and cooked lobster.
Project Details
- Year: 2011-2012
- Status: Complete
- Project Funding Source: Health Canada – RFNCP
Files:
Mapping Fish Habitat
At 10 am, the Gespe’gewa’gi Institute of Natural Understanding (GINU) will be conducting droning on Thursday, October 4th. The droning will be taking place near the Bon Ami rocks in Dalhousie. This work is part of our lump fish project as we map out fish habitat.
Coastal Restoration Drone Work
The Gespe’gewa’gi Institute of Natural Understanding (GINU) will be conducting a drone survey over the Eel River starting at 11am, on Tuesday, October 3rd. This work is part of our coastal restoration project.
Welcome Biologist Allen Beck
The Gespe’gewaq’gi Institute of Natural Understanding would like to welcome our new biologist to the GINU team. Allen Beck will be working on the coastal restoration project. My name is Allen Beck, and I’m very excited to be joining the GINU team as a Biologist with the research department. In this new role, I will be creating an inventory of coastal wetlands in need of assistance and to carry out several restoration projects. I am very passionate about the restoration and preservation of our natural coastlines. I make sure to use natural materials and try to consider the needs of both community and environment. I studied coastal snail ecology as a master’s student with UNB Fredericton, and I’ve been practicing wetland restoration for nearly a decade across New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. In my work, I make heavy use of drone imagery to capture the environmental challenges our coastlines face. I’m always interested in learning how new technologies can better inform practices and share success stories with others. By sharing knowledge in both directions, I believe we can better prepare ourselves and our coastlines for the future.