Good morning, Mr. Chair and honourable members of the committee.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to appear before you today.
I am a Canada research chair in ecotoxicogenomics, and my research focuses on the effects of environmental contaminants on the health of wildlife.
Because the environmental impacts associated with container spills vary in magnitude, depending on the nature of the contents of the spilled containers, I will give you two scenarios. First, I will talk about oil spills associated with cargo and containers. Second, I will talk about plastic spills.
Scenario 1: Accidental situations that could cause an oil leak during a container spill are not insignificant. Ecosystem toxicity will vary depending on the nature of the petroleum products being transported.
Several chemicals in petroleum products are highly toxic to aquatic species. Recent data produced by my research team have shown, among other things, that the toxicity of oil is similar in cold and warm waters, and that Corexit, which is often used as a dispersant in oil spills, is highly toxic to living organisms when not quickly mixed with spilled petroleum products.
Petroleum products are just one example of thousands of other transported chemicals that can be as toxic to ecosystems as pesticides, drugs and many other substances.
Scenario 2: Our daily use of plastic‑based products has a direct impact on animal health. The more we use these products, the more we produce and the more we transport them. As you know, Canada's recyclable materials or consumer goods made from plastic are often transported by cargo. If the containers spill, large pieces of plastic can choke wildlife, including several endangered whales and turtles.
In addition, lost plastic containers will contaminate the marine ecosystem for a long time due to the high persistence of the plastic in the environment. When plastics break down, they form billions of fragments of microplastics and nanoplastics, which are also known to be even more toxic to living organisms.
For example, we know that nanoplastics affect the reproduction and metabolism of the oysters we produce in Canada. Recent findings published by my research team indicate that nanoplastics also have the properties of accumulating various environmental contaminants on their surfaces. They can therefore act as vectors and become an additional source of contamination for aquatic organisms.
Due to too many permutations of contaminants that may end up in the environment as a result of a container spill, and given the wide variety of ecosystems that all have different biodiversity and are at risk of spills, I have three recommendations.
First, the design of the containers should be modified to improve their watertightness and ensure that they are equipped with a buoyancy, traceability and labelling system to ensure that they are given priority for recovery and remediation.
Second, mathematical models should be developed to better understand the movement of spilled containers and their contents.
Third, regulations should be developed that require ocean carriers to have an effective system in place to recover containers and their contents, and to cover costs related to environmental decontamination.
Now is the time to develop, not a container spill action plan, but a proactive approach to minimize the movement of non‑essential goods by container. This will result in fewer cargo shipments and thereby reduce the risk of toxic contaminants being released into our ecosystems.
Thank you very much for your attention.
