ArticlePloS one2012
Has Alberta oil sands development altered delivery of polycyclic aromatic compounds to the Peace-Athabasca Delta?
Article in PloS one, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed.
- Dissolved polycyclic aromatic compounds in Canada's Athabasca River in relation to Oil Sands from 2013 through 2019.Environmental monitoring and assessment · 2023Article
- An integrated knowledge synthesis of regional ambient monitoring in Canada's oil sands.Integrated environmental assessment and management · 2022Review
- Characterizing baseline concentrations, proportions, and processes controlling deposition of river-transported bitumen-associated polycyclic aromatic compounds at a floodplain lake (Slave River Delta, Northwest Territories, Canada).Environmental monitoring and assessment · 2016Article
- Examining spatial patterns in polycyclic aromatic compounds measured in stream macroinvertebrates near a small subarctic oil and gas operation.Environmental monitoring and assessment · 2016Article
- Relations between water physico-chemistry and benthic algal communities in a northern Canadian watershed: defining reference conditions using multiple descriptors of community structure.Environmental monitoring and assessment · 2015Article
- Article
- Cancer risk to First Nations' people from exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons near in-situ bitumen extraction in Cold Lake, Alberta.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2014Article
- Legacy of a half century of Athabasca oil sands development recorded by lake ecosystems.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2013Article
- History of environmental contamination by oil sands extraction.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2013Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe extent to which Alberta oil sands mining and upgrading operations have enhanced delivery of bitumen-derived contaminants via the Athabasca River and atmosphere to the Peace-Athabasca Delta (200 km to the north) is a pivotal question that has generated national and international concern. Accounts of rare health disorders in residents of Fort Chipewyan and deformed fish in downstream ecosystems provided impetus for several recent expert-panel assessments regarding the societal and environmental consequences of this multi-billion-dollar industry. Deciphering relative contributions of natural versus industrial processes on downstream supply of polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) has been identified as a critical knowledge gap. But, this remains a formidable scientific challenge because loading from natural processes remains unknown. And, industrial activity occurs in the same locations as the natural bitumen deposits, which potentially confounds contemporary upstream-downstream comparisons of contaminant levels. METHODS/PRINCIPAL
findingsBased on analyses of lake sediment cores, we provide evidence that the Athabasca Delta has been a natural repository of PACs carried by the Athabasca River for at least the past two centuries. We detect no measureable increase in the concentration and proportion of river-transported bitumen-associated indicator PACs in sediments deposited in a flood-prone lake since onset of oil sands development. Results also reveal no evidence that industrial activity has contributed measurably to sedimentary concentration of PACs supplied by atmospheric transport. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Findings suggest that natural erosion of exposed bitumen in banks of the Athabasca River and its tributaries is a major process delivering PACs to the Athabasca Delta, and the spring freshet is a key period for contaminant mobilization and transport. This baseline environmental information is essential for informed management of natural resources and human-health concerns by provincial and federal regulatory agencies and industry, and for designing effective long-term monitoring programs for the lower Athabasca River watershed.
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