Priority Substances List Assessment Report for Releases from Primary and Secondary Copper Smelters and Copper Refineries - Releases from Primary and Secondary Zinc Smelters and Zinc Refineries

Appendix A Search Strategies Employed for Identification of Relevant Data

Environmental assessment

Data relevant to the assessment of whether releases from copper smelters and refineries and zinc plants are "toxic" to the environment under CEPA 1999 were identified from existing review documents, published reference texts and on-line searches, conducted between January and June 1996. Unless otherwise indicated, no year limits were applied to the databases searched, and databases were searched on the dates shown. The following were searched: Aqualine (Water Research Centre, Buckinghamshire; June 1996), ARET (Accelerated Reduction/Elimination of Toxics, Environment Canada;1995 report), ASFA (Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts, Cambridge Scientific Abstracts; June 1996), BIOSIS (Biosciences Information Services; June 1996), Business Opportunities Sourcing System (Industry Canada; 1994 issue), CAB (Commonwealth Agriculture Bureau; June 1996), Canadian Research Index (Microlog: CRI, Government Publications/Micromedia Ltd., 1990 - March 1996), CANLIB (Natural Resources Canada), Catalogue of Environmental Data in Atlantic Canada (Environment Canada, Atlantic Region; 1996), CESARS (Chemical Evaluation Search and Retrieval System, Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Michigan Department of Natural Resources; 1996), Chemical Abstracts (Chemical Abstract Services; June 1996), ChemINFO (Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety; 1996), CHRIS (Chemical Hazard Release Information System; up to 1985), CPI Product Profiles (Camford Information Services; 1996), Current Contents (Institute for Scientific Information; 1990-1992, 1996), ELIAS (Environmental Library Integrated Automated System, Environment Canada library; January 1996), ENVIRODAT (Environment Canada; June 1996), Enviroline (R.R. Bowker Publishing Co.; November 1995 - June 1996), Environmental Abstracts (1975 - February 1996), Environmental Bibliography (Environmental Studies Institute, International Academy at Santa Barbara; June 1996), Envirosource (Environment Canada; May 1996), GEOREF (Geo Reference Information System, American Geological Institute; June 1996), HSDB (Hazardous Substances Data Bank, U.S. National Library of Medicine; June 1996), ICAR (Inventory of Canadian Agricultural Research, Canadian Agri-food Research Council; April 1996), Life Sciences (Cambridge Scientific Abstracts; June 1996), Metadex (Cambridge Scientific Abstracts; 1990 - June 1996), NATES (National Analysis of Trends in Emergencies System, Environment Canada; 1996), Northern Info Network (June 1996), NTIS (National Technical Information Service, U.S. Department of Commerce; June 1996), Pollution Abstracts (Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, U.S. National Library of Medicine; June 1996), POLTOX (Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, U.S. National Library of Medicine; 1990-1995), REPEN (Répertoire informatisé des bases de données environnementales sur le Fleuve Saint-Laurent, Environment Canada, Quebec Region; 1996), RTECS (Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances, U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; 1996), Synopsis of the Northern Contaminants Program (1992/93 and 1993/94 issues), Toxline (U.S. National Library of Medicine; June 1996), TRI93 (Toxic Chemical Release Inventory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Toxic Substances; June 1996), USEPA-ASTER (Assessment Tools for the Evaluation of Risk, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; up to December 1994), USEPA-ECOTOX (including AQUIRE; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; up to September 1995), USEPA-National Catalog (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; February 1996), WASTEINFO (Waste Management Information Bureau of the American Energy Agency; 1973-September 1995) and Water Resources Abstracts (June 1996).

Two databases were evaluated to quantify releases. These included 1995 and 1996 data collected under NPRI and 1995 data collected under the RDIS. Data were also collected from industry through two questionnaires. Data obtained after fall 1999 were not considered in this assessment unless they were critical data received during the 60-day public review of the report (July 1 - August 30, 2000).

Documents prepared in support of the environmental components of these assessments include:

Acute and chronic effects of sulphur dioxide on vegetation: Critical Toxicity Values (CTVs) and Estimated No-Effects Values (ENEVs). Prepared by Phytotoxicology Consultant Services Ltd. (cited as Linzon, 1999)

Assessment of SO₂ releases from copper smelters, refineries and zinc plants. Prepared by SENES Consultants Ltd. (cited as SENES Consultants, 1999a)

Atmospheric dispersion modelling for the assessment of two Priority Substances -Trace metal releases from primary and secondary copper smelters and refineries and primary and secondary zinc plants. Prepared by SENES Consultants Ltd. (cited as SENES Consultants, 2000)

Critical load modelling: Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn and As emitted by smelters and refineries. Prepared by ECOMatters Inc. (cited as Sheppard et al., 1999)

Effects characterization: Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn and As. Prepared by ECOMatters Inc. (cited as Bird et al., 1999)

Estimating bioavailability of trace metals in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Prepared by W. Hendershot, McGill University. (content incorporated into Bird et al., 1999)

PSL2 assessment of copper and zinc refinery effluents. Prepared by Beak International Inc. (cited as Beak International, 1999)

Report on site visits to HBM&S Flin Flon, Inco Copper Cliff, Noranda Horne and Noranda Gaspé facilities. Prepared by SENES Consultants Ltd. (cited as SENES Consultants, 1999b)

A review of the direct and indirect effects on wildlife from copper/zinc smelter and refinery releases into aquatic or terrestrial ecosystems. Prepared by Welbourn Consulting. (cited as Welbourn, 1996)

Summary of effects related to historic releases from Canadian zinc and copper smelters and refineries. Prepared by J. Sanderson. (cited as Sanderson, 1998)

Summary of empirical data and data handling methods used in the PSL assessments of releases from copper smelters and refineries and zinc plants. Prepared by the Chemicals Evaluation Division, Environment Canada. (cited as CED, 2000)

Health assessment

The focus of the assessment is on evaluating the potential impacts of current releases of substances from copper smelters and refineries and zinc plants in Canada. To this end, the companies operating these facilities were approached in 1998 for recent environmental monitoring data, in order to characterize recent exposure and associated health risks for populations in the vicinity of such facilities. The data requested were the airborne levels of various substances (including several heavy metals, SO₂ and PM) released from these facilities, along with other relevant information.

To identify epidemiological studies of health effects in populations in the vicinity of copper smelters and refineries and zinc plants, literature searches were conducted in April 1996 using the strategy of searching for "smelter* or refiner* and (epi* or morb* or mortal*)" in the following databases: Cancerlit (National Cancer Institute's International Cancer Information Centre, U.S.A.), Embase (Elsevier Science), Enviroline (R.R. Bowker Publishing Co.), Environmental Bibliography (Environmental Studies Institute, International Academy at Santa Barbara), Medline (U.S. National Library of Medicine), Pollution Abstracts (Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, U.S. National Library of Medicine), Science Citation Index (Institute for Scientific Information) and Toxline (U.S. National Library of Medicine). In addition to the information identified in these sources, unpublished reports of the studies by Polissar et al. (1979) and by Hartley and Enterline (1981) were kindly provided by J.P. Hughes of the University of Washington.

Epidemiological studies of populations near copper smelters and refineries and zinc plants published after April 1996 were identified by the strategy of searching for "smelter* or refiner* and (epi* or morb* or mortal*)" through an SDI (Selective Dissemination of Information) profile run twice yearly in the following databases: Canadian Research Index, CCRIS (Chemical Carcinogenesis Research Information System, U.S. National Cancer Institute), Dialog, EMIC (Environmental Mutagen Information Center database, Oak Ridge National Laboratory) and GENETOX (Genetic Toxicology, Office of Toxic Substances, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency), and by searches of the CD-ROM updates of Medline (monthly) and Toxline Plus (quarterly).

In addition, the reference lists from all reports identified from the above sources were searched manually for relevant studies.

Monitoring and epidemiological data relevant to the assessment of whether releases from copper smelters and refineries and zinc plants are "toxic" to human health obtained after February 2000 have not been included.

Information on health effects and exposure-response for individual substances was taken from other assessments conducted under the PSL assessment program and other national and international programs. In selecting assessments for individual substances, the criteria considered included whether the approach taken was consistent with the principles on which the PSL health assessments are based (for example, whether the assessment was strictly health-based), whether the assessment was specific to the inhalation route of exposure, whether quantitative measures of exposure-response were developed, and how recently the assessment was conducted. On this basis, the assessments selected included those conducted for the PSL program for As (EC/HWC, 1993), Cd (EC/HC, 1994a), Cr (EC/HC, 1994c), Ni (EC/HC, 1994b) and respirable PM (EC/HC, 2000a), and in development of the World Health Organization (WHO) Air Quality Guidelines for Europe for Pb and SO₂ (WHO, 2000). No attempt was made to identify new data that might impact on the conclusions of these assessments.