Occurrence of nickel in the Canadian environment

Nickel is present in Canadian freshwater and terrestrial environments because of human activities including mining, smelting, refining, alloy processing, scrap metal reprocessing, other metal operations, fuel combustion, and waste incineration. Nickel can also enter the environment as a result of the natural weathering and leaching of rocks. Entry to the Canadian environment from anthropogenic activities results in measurable concentrations of nickel in various media to which organisms may be exposed. Although current anthropogenic rates of emission per tonne of nickel produced are less than 20 years ago, large quantities are still being emitted to the Canadian environment. Nickel is persistent in terrestrial and aquatic environments. While a large data base is available on concentrations of nickel in freshwater, sediment, soil, and terrestrial plants in Canada, relatively few data on concentrations in aquatic and terrestrial organisms are available. From data collected from 1981 to 1992, most unpolluted ...