Intrinsik Environmental Sciences Inc.

Intrinsik (Calgary) Scientist obtains DABT certification

Intrinsik Environmental Sciences Inc. a recognized leader in the field of human health risk assessment, ecological risk assessment and environmental toxicology is pleased to announce that Karen Phillipps of the Calgary office is now a certified Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology (ABT). ABT diplomates participate in all aspects of the profession of toxicology including: the design and interpretation of safety studies for product development; review and interpretation of such studies for regulatory compliance; basic and applied research into toxic effects, mechanisms of toxic action, toxicokinetics and toxicodynamics; and education of undergraduates, professional and graduate students and the public in the science of toxicology through courses, legal cases and media interactions. ABT is recognized as the premier certifying body for toxicology competency in the world, therefore, please join us in congratulating Karen on her outstanding achievement. For further details on the ABT please visit their website at www.abtox.org or to contact Karen Phillipps directly please email her at kphillipps@intrinsikscience.com.

Senior Scientist to Chair Session at STC 41st Annual Symposium

Dr Douglas Bryant will be chairing a session entitled "Current Advances and Challenges" during the STC 41st Annual Symposium in Montreal, Quebec, November 29-December 1, 2009. The symposium title is �Toxicology of drug and chemical mixtures: from mechanisms to risk assessment� and key speakers for the event include:

Linda Birnbaum, Director NIEHS
Moiz Mumtaz, ATSDR
R.Scott Obach, Pfizer
Frank-Peter Theil, Genentech
Earl Gray, U.S. EPA
Rick Burnett, Health Canada.

For more information on this session, contact Dr Douglas Bryant at dbryant@intrinsikscience.com. For more information about the STC Annual Symposium, visit www.stcweb.ca.

Ottawa Scientists to present at SETAC

Dr. Dwayne Moore, Mr. Scott Teed and Mr. Roger Breton will be attending the 30th North American Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) meeting in New Orleans, November 19th-23, 2009. We will be presenting two posters both related to the derivation of benchmarks for chemicals having a limited dataset. Our poster titles and presentation times are:

Poster Number UP072 (Sunday Nov 22nd): Validation of a Framework for Developing Benchmarks for Data-limited Substances for the Protection of Aquatic Life.

Poster Number MP198 (Monday Nov 23rd): Policy, Process and Technical Issues Facing the Development of Benchmarks in Canada and the United States.

Please come visit us to discuss these topics, or any issue related to ecological risk assessment including pesticide registrations, contaminated sites and REACH submissions, amongst others. Alternatively, please don�t hesitate to contact us to meet at your convenience.

Senior Scientist Chairs ERA Debate Session at SETAC

Ruth Hull will be co-chairing a series of debates entitled "20 Years after the First ERA Guidance - The State of Affairs" at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) annual meeting in New Orleans, November 16-20, 2009. The session promises to be both informative and entertaining, as the debaters discuss "Is ecological risk assessment obsolete?", "Do we need more site-specific data or can we simply use models?", "Are the traditional endpoints of survival, growth and reproduction enough?" and "Where can ecological risk assessment improve?". For more information on this session, contact Ruth Hull at rhull@intrinsikscience.com. For more information about the SETAC Annual Meeting, visit www.setac.org.

Management of PHC Impacts

Intrinsik�s Karl Bresee, Environmental Scientist from our Calgary office will be presenting an abstract at the 2009 Remediation Technologies Symposium entitled Management of Significant PHC Impacts in an Urban/Community Setting � Case Study. The conference will be held at The Fairmont Banff Springs, Banff, Alberta, October 14-16, 2009. To view the full conference schedule please visit: http://www.esaa-events.com/remtech/agenda.htm.

Click Here to download PDF.

Bioaccessibility poster presentation given by Intrinsik at Recent SOT
Annual Meeting in Baltimore, MD.

Introduction

In smelter communities, one of the most important pathways to consider in Human Health Risk Assessments (HHRA) is potential exposures to relevant chemicals (i.e., metals) in indoor dust. Wet and dry deposition causes atmospheric emissions from smelters to settle onto local soils and other surfaces. Both the settled material and the airborne chemicals may be transferred into residential homes via human and local meteorological activity. Outdoor yard soil can be transported indoors by wind, household pets, or on clothing or shoes of humans. These outdoor sources, combined with numerous indoor, anthropogenic sources, form typical household dust. Studies have reported that between 20 and 30% of indoor contamination comes from outdoor soil sources. This is an important pathway of exposure in human health risk assessments, especially for sensitive individuals.

The bioaccessibility of a contaminant is the portion that is soluble in the gastrointestinal environment, and is available for uptake into the blood stream. This soluble fraction can be measured in an in vitro laboratory setting, and can be used as a surrogate for bioavailability. The use of bioaccessibility in risk assessment is considered to be valid and applicable, provided that some basic data requirements are fulfilled to permit regulatory groups (e.g., U.S. EPA, Health Canada) to ascertain the validity and defensibility of such measurements. While in vitro assays are commonly used to evaluate soil, evaluation of bioaccessibility of metals in dust is not routinely undertaken. In a recent community-based HHRA, consideration was give to the bioaccessibility of metals present in indoor dust collected from within homes in the community. Comparison of the dust bioaccessibility to soil for the same community provides some insight to its utility and necessity of collecting this type of data at other locations. Not surprisingly given its ultrafine characteristics, bioaccessibility for dust was slightly higher than for soil. The soil and dust bioaccessibility data for six smelter-related metals will be discussed and compared.

Click Here to download poster.

NAC-SETAC Holding Short Course: Pesticides in the Environment

The North Atlantic Chapter of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (NAC-SETAC) is holding a short course entitled Pesticides in the Environment to be held September 9, 2009 at the Maritime Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Intrinsik�s Lisa Marshal, Environmental Scientist and Andrea Bungay, Environmental Risk Analyst will be attendance where Intrinsik is sponsoring a coffee break for this event.

More details regarding the course, including a complete course outline, please visit: http://www.nacsetac.org.

Intrinsik Team at Society of Toxicology (SOT) 2009 Annual Meeting

Executive Vice President Elliot Sigal will be presenting a poster entitled: Consideration of in Vitro Bioaccessility of Indoor Dust When Assessing Risks in Smelter Communities (see abstract below), at the 48th annual SOT meeting being held at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, Maryland. The poster will be presented in the 'Risk Assessment' Session on March 18th from 9am � noon. For further details on our poster or to attend this event please visit www.toxicology.org/AI/MEET/AM2009/index.asp or email info@intrinsikscience.com.

Consideration of in vitro bioaccessility of indoor dust when assessing
risks in smelter communities

E. Sigal1; G. Ferguson1; C. Bacigalupo1

In smelter communities, one of the most important pathways to consider in Human Health Risk Assessments (HHRA) is potential exposures to relevant chemicals (i.e., metals) in indoor dust. Wet and dry deposition causes atmospheric emissions from smelters to settle onto local soils and other surfaces. Both the settled material and the airborne chemicals may be transferred into residential homes via human and local meteorological activity. Outdoor yard soil can be transported indoors by wind, household pets, or on clothing or shoes of humans. These outdoor sources, combined with numerous indoor, anthropogenic sources, form typical household dust. Studies have reported that between 20 and 30% of indoor contamination comes from outdoor soil sources. This is an important pathway of exposure in human health risk assessments, especially for sensitive individuals.

The bioaccessibility of a contaminant is the portion that is soluble in the gastrointestinal environment, and is available for uptake into the blood stream. This soluble fraction can be measured in an in vitro laboratory setting, and can be used as a surrogate for bioavailability. The use of bioaccessibility in risk assessment is considered to be valid and applicable, provided that some basic data requirements are fulfilled to permit regulatory groups (e.g., U.S. EPA, Health Canada) to ascertain the validity and defensibility of such measurements. While in vitro assays are commonly used to evaluate soil, evaluation of bioaccessibility of metals in dust is not routinely undertaken. In a recent community-based HHRA, consideration was give to the bioaccessibility of metals present in indoor dust collected from within homes in the community. Comparison of the dust bioaccessiblity to soil for the same community provides some insight to its utility and necessity of collecting this type of data at other locations. Not surprisingly given its ultrafine characteristics, bioassessibilty for dust was slightly higher than for soil. The soil and dust bioaccessibility data for six smelter-related metals will be discussed and compared.

Click Here to download PDF.

Intrinsik completes first ever human health assessment of diesel emissions from a significant urban rail corridor conducted in North America!

Intrinsik Environmental Sciences Inc. recently completed a human health assessment of air quality impacts related to the infrastructure expansion proposed by Metrolinx along the Georgetown South Service Corridor. Metrolinx, the Province of Ontario�s transportation agency for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area, is proposing to increase the capacity of the GO Transit rail service in the Georgetown South Rail Corridor, as well as provide for a new rail link between Union Station and the Toronto Pearson International Airport. While Metrolinx intends to electrify this corridor as part of its 15 Year Plan (i.e., �The Big Move�), in the short term this expansion will lead to an increased amount of diesel traffic passing through densely populated areas of Toronto. As such the primary goals of the assessment were to evaluate the potential impacts of projected increased diesel emissions from rail traffic using the Georgetown South Service Corridor, and to determine the health implications to potentially sensitive individuals living, working, or playing in the surrounding communities.

This assessment was completed in accordance with the Province of Ontario�s new Transit Project Assessment process, and is first detailed human health assessment of diesel emissions from a significant urban rail corridor conducted in North America. The full report can be obtained from the Metrolinx website at http://www.metrolinx.com/gsse/TPAP/EPR.aspx, and is listed under the Supporting Documents as �Report - Human Health Assessment of Air Quality Impacts�. For more information on this project, or similar large-scale risk assessment work, please contact Dr. Glenn Ferguson at gferguson@intrinsikscience.com.

Environmental Risk Analyst presents at SETAC Latin America in Lima Peru

Patricia Videla, Environmental Risk Analyst will be presenting at Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) Latin America in Lima Peru, October 5-9, 2009. Ms Videla�s poster presentation is called "Human Health and Ecological Risk Assessments for Smelter Sites". For more information on this SETAC Latin American Annual Meeting, visit www.setacperu.org.

Visit back soon to view the full abstract.

Change of address for Intrinsik Ottawa office

As of December 4th 2009 Intrinsik Environmental Sciences Inc. Ottawa will be located in our new offices at:

1790 Courtwood Cresent,
Ottawa, ON K2C 2B5.

All other contact details for the office will remain the same, and we anticipate no disruption to our usual high standards of service.

Should you have any enquiries relating to this announcement please contact Scott Teed at info@intrinsikscience.com

Karl Bresee, Senior Scientist Calgary office, will be presenting at the CPANS 2009 Annual Conference and AGM on April 2-3, 2009 in Edmonton, Alberta. Karl's presentation is called 'Health Impacts Related to Ozone'.

Health impacts related to ozone have received wide-spread scientific attention over the past 10 to 15 years. Toxicological studies with animals and in vitro methods are used to explore and identify the mechanistic aspects of ozone toxicity. The adverse impacts of ozone to individual and public health have been described by a large body of scientific evidence from both clinical and epidemiological studies. This presentation will provide a cursory review of the key aspects regarding ozone toxicity and adverse outcomes from a human health perspective. In addition, the toxicological basis of the Alberta Ambient Air Quality Objective and Canada Wide Standard for ozone will be described in relation to recent scientific evidence. As well, a progress report on the achievement of the standards in Canada and the U.S. will be provided. Finally, this presentation will describe guidelines that are recommended from other jurisdictions to provide additional perspective.

Click Here to download CPANS 2009 Ozone (Abstract) PDF.

Click Here to download CPANS PDF.

Intrinsik Ottawa Scientist Receives CCEP designation

Intrinsik is pleased to announce that in March, 2009, Mr. Scott Teed (Scientist, Ottawa location) successfully completed the requirements for the Canadian Certification for Environmental Practitioners (CCEP) designation administered by the Canadian Environmental Certification Approvals Board. The Canadian Certified Environmental Practitioner (CCEP) certification is available exclusively to experienced practitioners who have five or more years of relevant career experience, and who meet or exceed the criteria set out in the National Occupational Standards (NOS) for environmental employment. The NOS are a comprehensive list of skill statements that describe the competencies required for environmental work in Canada. Mr. Teed has 15 years of experience primarily in the areas of ecological risk assessment (contaminated sites / pesticides) and environmental quality guideline development in Canada and the United States. Mr. Teed is located in our Ottawa office and can be contacted at steed@intrinsikscience.com.

President of Intrinsik Presents at CPANS luncheon on Human Health Risk Assessment

President, Dr. Gordon Brown co-author an abstract presented at the Canadian Prairie and Northern Section (CPANS) Luncheon, February 11th in Calgary, entitled: Human Health Risk Assessment and Beyond - The Holistic Health Approach. For further details on this presentation, please email info@intrinsikscience.com.

Click Here to download PDF.

The Society of Toxicology of Canada Invites Dr. Douglas Bryant
to the Organizing Committee

Intrinsik Mississauga is pleased to announce that Dr. Douglas Bryant, Senior Scientist, has been invited by the Vice President of the Society of Toxicology of Canada to be a member of the organizing committee for their annual meeting. Dr. Bryant is excited to be part of this organization and looks forward to assisting with the annual meeting as his position will span over a three year period. This year�s annual meeting will be held on December 6 - 8, 2009 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. For more information on the Society of Toxicology of Canada please visit www.stcweb.ca/welcome_e.htm or alternatively, you can contact Dr. Bryant at dbryant@intrinsikscience.com

Intrinsik Co-Hosts Breakfast Workshop on the Proposed Amendments to Brownfields Ontario Regulation 153/04

Intrinsik Environmental Sciences Inc. was very pleased with our recent joint effort with The Canadian Urban Institute to present a Roundtable Breakfast Seminar entitled "Raising the Bar on Environmental Standards - What does the Future Hold for Brownfields?" on January 22, 2009 in Toronto, Ontario.

The presentations included information on the proposed updates to Ontario Regulation 153/04, and the approaches to meeting the Standards, Amendments, Strengthened Soil and Ground Water Site Conditions and Streamlined Risk Assessment updates contained in the new regulations. Elliot Sigal, EVP made a presentation entitled �Standards & Risk Assessment� on behalf of Intrinsik, a copy of which can be downloaded here.

For more information on this topic and how Intrinsik can assist you or more info on this seminar presentation, please contact Elliot Sigal at esigal@intrinsikscience.com.

Intrinsik Senior Scientist awarded SETAC Presidential Citation for Exemplary Service

Ruth Hull, senior scientist in Intrinsik�s Mississauga office, was recently awarded a Presidential Citation for Exemplary Service to the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) during the annual meeting held in Tampa, Florida in November. Ruth has been Chair of the SETAC North America Membership Committee for the last few years, was instrumental in starting the Senior Resource Group within SETAC and has been a member of the SETAC World Council Technical Committee. Ruth has a full member of SETAC since 1990, giving presentations every year, chairing sessions, and otherwise promoting SETAC nationally and internationally. If you would like more information on SETAC go to www.setac.org or email Ruth at info@intrinsikscience.com.