On December 15, 2016, the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) issued a Draft Scientific Criteria Document for Canadian Soil Quality Guidelines for the Protection of Environmental and Human Health - Zinc. Zinc is an essential element for plant and animal life that is naturally present and found widely in nature. The largest natural source to the atmosphere is wind-blown dust, although emissions from sea-salt spray may also be significant, particularly in

coastal regions.

Human releases of zinc into the environment come from sources such as electroplaters, smelting and ore processors, mine drainage, domestic and industrial sewage, combustion of solid wastes and fossil fuels and road surface runoff. 

The document contains a review of information on the chemical and physical properties of zinc, the sources and emissions in Canada, the distribution and behaviour of zinc in the environment, the metabolic fate and behaviour and toxicological effects of zinc on microbial processes, plants, invertebrates, livestock, wildlife, and the behaviour and effects in humans and mammalian species.

This information is used to derive soil quality guidelines for zinc to protect ecological and human receptors in four types of land uses: agricultural, residential/parkland, commercial, and industrial.

Submit your comments on the document to: Laura Crawford, Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment by January 16, 2017. 

 

Access the draft document: