Title page
Contents
Executive summary 3
1. Introduction 9
1.1. Sources, fate, and effects of exposure 9
1.2. Federal approach to risk management of inorganic cadmium compounds 10
1.3. Performance measurement evaluation for the ecological component of inorganic cadmium compounds 12
2. Releases of cadmium from human activities in Canada 13
2.1. Release inventories 13
2.1.1. Releases to air 15
2.1.2. Releases to water 19
2.1.3. Releases to land 22
2.1.4. Disposal, waste treatment, and recycling 25
Findings and recommendations 30
2.2. Pollutants Affecting Whales and their Prey Inventory Tool 30
2.2.1. Releases to water 31
2.2.2. Releases to land 31
2.2.3. Surface water runoff 32
2.2.4. Contaminant load analysis 33
Findings and recommendations 33
2.3. Releases from municipal landfill leachate and municipal wastewater 34
2.3.1. Municipal solid waste landfill leachate 34
2.3.2. Municipal wastewater 35
Findings and recommendations 37
2.4. Environmental effects monitoring 38
2.4.1. Releases from metal and diamond mining 38
2.4.2. Releases from pulp and paper 42
Findings and recommendations 43
2.5. Conclusion on releases of cadmium from human sources 44
3. Cadmium in the environment 44
3.1. Air 44
3.1.1. Air quality guidelines 45
3.1.2. Levels of cadmium in Canadian air and comparisons with air quality guidelines 46
3.1.3. Trends in cadmium levels in air over time 53
Findings and recommendations 57
3.2. Aquatic environment 58
3.2.1. Understanding the natural presence of cadmium in the environment and impact of aquatic conditions on toxicity 58
3.2.2. Sediment 60
3.2.3. Surface water 74
3.2.4. Fish 86
Findings and recommendations 95
3.3. Wildlife 95
3.3.1. Toxicological effects and risk of elevated cadmium exposure 96
3.3.2. Levels of cadmium in wildlife of Canada 97
3.3.3. Temporal trends of cadmium in wildlife 100
3.3.4/3.3.3. Spatial patterns of cadmium in wildlife 102
Findings and recommendations 105
3.4. Conclusion on cadmium in the environment 106
4. Risk management 107
4.1. Risk management actions 107
4.1.1. Metal and mineral production 108
4.1.2. Pulp and paper 122
4.1.3. Stationary fuel combustion 124
4.1.4. Waste and municipal biosolids 126
4.1.5. Multi-sectoral actions 132
4.2. Domestic and international agreements and collaboration 136
4.3. Conclusion on risk management 139
5. Risk communication 140
5.1. Government communications on cadmium 140
5.2. Evaluation of efforts to communicate risks to the public 141
5.3. Findings and recommendations 141
5.4. Conclusion on risk communication 142
6. Evaluation of the effectiveness of cadmium risk management 142
6.1. Effectiveness of the risk management approach 142
6.1.1. Progress in achieving the risk management objective 144
6.1.2. Progress in achieving the environmental objective 144
6.1.3. Response to new or emerging exposure sources 145
7. Moving forward 146
8. References 149
Annex 1 - Indicators and additional information considered in the evaluation 160
Annex 2 - Supplemental information on cadmium in the environment 175
Passive air sampling 175
Fresh water quality monitoring 176
Fish 179
Wildlife 183
Annex 3 - Federal risk management initiatives relevant to the evaluation 200
Table 1. Estimates of cadmium releases (tonnes) in the areas covered by PAWPIT based on 2017 data. N.d indicates no data available 32
Table 2. Destinations and cadmium levels in municipal biosolids from wastewater treatment plants (mg/kg) 37
Table 3. Cadmium concentrations in PM2.5 measured through the NAPS program 49
Table 4. Concentrations of cadmium in PM10 (ng/m³) in the Great Lakes Basin 50
Table 5. Particle size distribution of cadmium at selected sites for samples collected during 2015-2017 and 2019 50
Table 6. Cadmium concentrations in fine particulate matter (ng/m³) 56
Table 7. Benchmarks for effect levels of cadmium in freshwater sediment 61
Table 8. Summary of cadmium body burden temporal trends in fish of the Great Lakes. Green indicates a decreasing trend, while red indicates an increasing trend.... 94
Table 9. Critical tissue concentrations of cadmium in wildlife associated with adverse sublethal effects in adult vertebrate animals 97
Table 10. Overview of Code of Practice implementation (Stratos Inc., 2003) 116
Figure 1. Total releases of cadmium and its compounds reported to the NPRI across Canada in 2020 14
Figure 2. 2020 Canadian cadmium emissions profile according to APEI 16
Figure 3. Releases of cadmium to air from 1994-2020 according to APEI 18
Figure 4. Release profile of cadmium to water in 2020 according to NPRI 19
Figure 5. Trends in releases of cadmium to water according to NPRI. Note that in 2014, there was a large spike in cadmium releases to water (approximately 3.77... 21
Figure 6. Releases profile of cadmium to land in 2020 according to NPRI 23
Figure 7. Trends in cadmium releases to land in tonnes according to NPRI 24
Figure 8. Onsite disposals reported in tonnes to NPRI 1994-2020 by disposal type 27
Figure 9. Offsite disposals reported to NPRI 1994-2020 by disposal type and number of facilities conducting disposal activities 28
Figure 10. Transfers reported to NPRI 1997-2020 by treatment type 29
Figure 11. Median cadmium concentration in effluent, exposure areas, and reference areas reported under regulatory requirements 40
Figure 12. Percentage of samples containing cadmium with concentrations exceeding long term Canadian freshwater quality guidelines and short-term benchmarks 41
Figure 13. Number of effluent samples collected relative to the number of cadmium detections and exceedances of the short-term water quality benchmark over time 42
Figure 14. Concentration of cadmium in air at NAPS and Oil Sands monitoring locations between 2004 and 2019 48
Figure 15. Modelled source areas where cadmium is coming from based on the concentrations of cadmium in PM10 at Burnt Island, Egbert, and Point Petre monitoring... 52
Figure 16. Cadmium concentrations in PM10 measured at three long-term monitoring stations in the Great Lakes Basin from 1995 to 2008 54
Figure 17. Median cadmium concentrations in PM2.5 at NAPS stations in Canada between 2010 and 2019 55
Figure 18. Concentrations of Lanthanum (a) and Calcium (b) in Great Lakes Sediments. Lanthanum is a naturally occurring element that can be used to indicate areas... 59
Figure 19. Distribution of Cadmium Concentrations in Sediments in the Canadian Environment 2008-2018 62
Figure 20. Cadmium concentrations in sediments collected between 2011 and 2014 in Southern British Columbia (Colours of points are based on CCME quality criteria... 63
Figure 21. Cadmium concentrations measured in sediment cores collected from Lake Superior and Lake Huron between 2007 and 2018 (Aliff et al., 2020; Burniston,... 65
Figure 22. Cadmium concentrations in Great Lakes sediments for 1968-1973 sampling campaigns (a) and (b) for 2014-2018 sampling campaigns 66
Figure 23. Cadmium concentrations measured in sediment cores collected from Lake Erie between 2007 and 2018 (Aliff et al., 2020; Burniston, unpublished;... 68
Figure 24. Cadmium concentrations measured in sediment cores collected from Lake Ontario between 2007 and 2018 69
Figure 25. Cadmium concentration in sediments and sediment cores from the Upper St. Lawrence River for the 2008 to 2018 sampling campaigns 70
Figure 26. Cadmium concentration in the sediments of the Fluvial Corridor for the sampling campaigns from 2008 to 2014 71
Figure 27. Cadmium concentration in Lake Saint-Pierre sediments and sediment cores for the 2013-2014 sampling campaigns 72
Figure 28. Cadmium concentration in sediment and sediment core from the Atlantic region collected between 2011 and 2014 74
Figure 29. Long-term water quality monitoring sites 76
Figure 30. Median cadmium concentrations (μg/L) for each drainage region in Canada. There are no data available for the Northern Ontario and Northern Quebec... 79
Figure 31. Boxplot of cadmium concentrations (μg/L) by ocean drainage regions. In each box, the central line represents the median value while the upper and... 80
Figure 32. Cadmium concentrations (μg/L) by combined CESI site classifications 81
Figure 33. Recent (2015-2019) spatial distribution of Cadmium in Great Lakes Surface Waters 85
Figure 34. Comparison of average concentrations of whole-body cadmium burdens in multiple species of fish from the same site. Fish are ordered from largest to... 88
Figure 35. Whole body mean concentrations of cadmium (mg/kg wet weight) as quartiles of top predatory fish in Canadian water bodies from 2010 to 2018 89
Figure 36. Mean whole body concentrations of cadmium (mg/kg wet weight) in rainbow smelt in Canadian water bodies from 2010 to 2018 91
Figure 37. Mean whole body cadmium concentrations of a. sculpin species and b. round gobies in the Canadian Great Lakes 92
Figure 38. Cadmium concentrations in liver and kidney of wildlife measured in Canada since 1994 98
Figure 39. Monitoring locations of eggs under the Chemicals Management Plan Eggs of aquatic-feeding gulls are collected annually from 14 colonies across Canada... 100
Figure 40. Comparisons of average concentrations (± standard deviation) of cadmium in gull eggs collected in 2008-2011 and 2016-2019 (ppm, dry weight).... 101
Figure 41. Comparisons of average concentrations (± standard deviation) of cadmium in starling eggs collected in 2008-2011 and 2016-2019 (ppm, dry weight).... 102
Figure 42. Comparison of cadmium concentrations in liver and kidney of wildlife feeding in marine, terrestrial and freshwater environments of Canada 103
Figure 43. Spatial patterns of cadmium concentrations in liver and kidney of sea ducks sampled on Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic coasts of Canada. Location-specific... 104
Figure 44. Mean concentrations (+ standard deviation) of cadmium in starling eggs at sites across Canada from 2016-2019 (ppm, dry weight). Three land-use types... 105
Figure 45. Total emissions of metals for base metals smelting facilities subject to the P2 Notice 112
Annex Tables
Table A2-1. Fresh water quality monitoring stations exceedances of calculated environmental quality guidelines by CESI classification and Pearse Drainage Area 176
Table A2-2. Cadmium concentrations (mg/kg wet weight) in whole fish from sites across Canada, from west to east (2010 to 2018). Current monitoring sites are bolded 179
Table A2-3. Trends in cadmium body burdens in fish from the Great Lakes by lake 182
Table A2-4. Metadata for published cadmium concentrations used in this report. Reference number corresponds to references list following Table A2-6, mean type... 183
Table A2-5. Metadata for unpublished cadmium concentrations used in this report (arithmetic mean (dry weight unless noted as wet weight (ww)), na - information... 194
Table A2-6. Wet weight (WW) to dry weight (DW) conversion factors for tissues included in this report 196
Annex Figures
Figure A2-1. Concentrations of trace elements in air from passive samplers in the Greater Toronto Area from Gaga et al. 2019 176