PCIGR provides analytical services that can be applied to environmental monitoring.
The presence of organic and inorganic contaminants in soils, groundwater and oceans is a worldwide problem. Geochemical methods help to quantify the transfer of elements within various geospheres: lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, biosphere.
Geochemistry can also be used to quantify the role and impact of organisms, including humans, in some global environmental changes.
Examples of analytical data used in environmental monitoring include:
- Naturally occurring biodegradation reactions in contaminated areas.
- Arsenic (As) release mechanisms into groundwater.
- Heavy stable isotopes, as indicators for metal release and mobility in mine waste (tailings or waste rock).
- New isotopic tracers (e.g., Cd, As), developed to trace pollution sources and anthropogenic impact in the environment.
- History and source of lead pollution in Vancouver, using tree rings and honey from local beehives.
Click on the Science Snapshots below to see details of how analyses performed by PCIGR have benefitted environmental monitoring studies.
