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Meeting record – June 12-13, 2019

Chemicals Management Plan Science Committee

Attendees

Committee members

Regrets

Ad hoc members

Government of Canada Officials

Secretariat

External observers

(For Agenda items #8 and #9 only)

Overview

The Chemicals Management Plan (CMP) Science Committee (the committee) met face-to-face on June 12 and 13, 2019. This meeting focused on new approaches for integrating chemical fate, spatial, and temporal scale in exposure assessment in chemical assessment in Canada. The committee was asked a number of charge questions, including when is it appropriate to predict environmental concentrations beyond the local scale, how can the Government of Canada better integrate chemical fate at relevant spatial and temporal scales to reduce key uncertainties in predicted environmental concentrations for both prioritization and risk assessment activities, and what are the primary advantages/disadvantages and key uncertainties the Government of Canada might expect from implementing dynamic and more spatially resolved exposure assessment approaches for CMP chemical evaluation. The meeting included presentations from core and ad hoc members identifying considerations, models, and fundamental elements to better integrate multimedia chemical fate modelling in current exposure practices.

A full day was devoted to developing preliminary responses to the charge questions, and half a day was devoted to committee report drafting and next steps for completing the committee report. Outlined below is a brief summary of the meeting.

Day 1

Agenda item #1 (Welcome/Opening remarks)

Nancy Hamzawi (ADM, ECCC) provided greetings, thanked committee members for their time and efforts and indicated that she looked forward to receiving the committee report.

Agenda item #2 (Introductions)

Round table introductions of committee members and participants.

Agenda item #3 (Opening remarks)

David Morin (DG, HC) and Jacqueline Gonçalves (DG, ECCC) also welcomed and thanked committee members for their work, and presented and thanked ad hoc members for their participation at this meeting. The new 10th committee member, Claire Franklin, was introduced.

Agenda item #4 (Review of agenda)

The agenda was reviewed by Thomas Kruidenier (Acting Director, ECCC) and Deborah Ratzlaff (Acting Director, HC). Government officials were introduced.

Logistical items were addressed by Mary Lysyk (Secretariat, HC).

Agenda item #5 (Update to affiliations and interests)

The core and ad hoc committee members declared updates to their affiliations and interests.

Agenda item #6 (Secretariat business)

Updates were provided regarding the web postings for the last 2 committee reports.

A discussion was held on the timeframe for the next meeting, and it was agreed that the next meeting should be held in winter 2020.

Agenda item #7 (Use of committee input on endocrine disruptors)

Matthew Gagné (Senior Evaluator, HC) and Mark Bonnell (Senior Science Advisor, ECCC) presented on how the Government incorporated the committee’s input on the consideration of endocrine-disrupting chemicals under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999, the subject of a previous meeting. The presentation outlined where the Departments had shared the summary of the committee’s deliberations, how the input has supported departmental work, and the path forward.

Agenda item #8 (Introduction of topic and charge questions)

Miriam Diamond and Mike Rasenberg (co-chairs) introduced the charge questions.

Agenda item #9 (Presentation from Government of Canada official)

Mark Bonnell (Senior Science Advisor, ECCC) and Pamela Cebrowski (Acting Manager, HC) delivered a presentation on the charge questions, providing the committee with an overview of the Government’s current fate and exposure practices, while seeking input to move towards an integrated multiscale modelling approach for future exposure assessment and to better integrate multimedia chemical fate in current exposure practices in order to improve the understanding of temporal and spatial scale of exposure.

Agenda items #10 and #11 (Perspectives from core and ad hoc members on topic and discussion of charge questions)

Jon Arnot (core member) and Todd Gouin (ad hoc member) gave short presentations on their perspectives on exposure modelling related to chemicals management and the charge questions.

Committee members began preliminary discussions of the charge questions.

Agenda item # 12 (Discussion on charge questions)

Committee members began in-depth discussions on the charge questions.  A round table gave each member the opportunity to discuss their perspectives on the charge questions.

Day 2

Agenda item #13 (Housekeeping items/Recap of day 1)

The co-chairs provided a recap of day 1.

Agenda items #14 and #15 (Discussion on charge questions)

Committee members engaged in productive discussions using breakout sessions (followed by session summaries) as they developed their responses to the charge questions.

Agenda items #16 and #17 (Committee report drafting)

The committee developed responses to the charge questions and began drafting the report.

Agenda item #18 (Next steps for formulation of written report)

The committee discussed next steps for developing the report. It was agreed that the co-chairs would provide members with a draft report for input and comment in the next few months.

Agenda items #19 and #20 (Wrap-up items and closing remarks)

Committee members were thanked for their participation.

The meeting was adjourned.

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