Research summary
Thousands of chemicals are regularly released into the environment from a variety of natural and human-made sources. Aquatic systems act as “sinks,” absorbing and storing many of them. Dr. Steve Wiseman, Canada Research Chair in Aquatic and Mechanistic Toxicology, is working to better understand what adverse effects these chemicals may have on aquatic organisms, particularly fish.
The sheer number of chemicals in the environment complicates this work, as does the fact that different species have different sensitivities to them. Scientists need better tools to accurately assess and predict the adverse effects of chemicals in aquatic systems. To address this need, Wiseman and his research team are trying to develop new tools.