Nickel and its Compounds - PSL1

4.0 Recommendations for Research and Evaluation

Acquisition of data in the following areas would permit a more complete assessment of the effects of nickel on the environment and of the risks associated with exposure of the general population in Canada to nickel:

1. Better characterization of inorganic nickel in various foodstuffs and indoor air.
2. Additional data on concentrations, forms, and bioavailability of nickel in various environmental media, in the general environment, and in the vicinity of point sources.
3. Additional well conducted and documented carcinogenicity bioassays for various forms of nickel following both inhalation and ingestion in experimental animals.
4. Studies of the reproductive, cardiovascular, and neurological effects of nickel compounds in experimental animals.
5. Additional follow-up and, if possible, generation of information on the historical exposure of workers to nickel and accounting for potential confounders such as smoking or concomitant exposure to other compounds in the industrial processes in the occupationally exposed cohorts used as a basis for quantitative assessment of cancer potency. Initiation of studies of additional cohorts for whom exposure could be better characterized.
6. Additional toxicological studies on the effects of nickel on wild mammals (including prey availability studies). In addition, more data on concentrations of nickel in Canadian wildlife.
7. Studies on the toxicity of nickel in sediments to invertebrates.