SCIENCE
NEWS
Testing the waters for industry
Daniel Alessi, Encana endowed chair in water resources (earth and atmospheric sciences) and Greg Goss (biological sciences) are working to make hydraulic fracturing practices safer and more sustainable. Working with industry partner Encana through a collaborative research development grant supported by NSERC, the team hopes to provide a basis for both regulators and industry to develop policies and procedures that will help reduce the negative effects of spills as well as ensure that cleanup of the zone of impact is done appropriately. Using fluids produced from hydraulic fracturing, Alessi and Goss are investigating the effects of the chemicals therein on aquatic animals such as trout.
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SPRING/SUMMER 2017
“To our knowledge, we are the only toxicology researchers with access to examine these fluids as they are actually produced in the well,” says Alessi. “We are fortunate to have Encana provide us the fluids as a means to improve their environmental stewardship.” In their study, Alessi and Goss found that fluids produced by hydraulic fracturing have significant negative effects on rainbow trout—even at greater than 100fold dilutions—and these effects include oxidative stress, endocrine disruption, and biotransformation, which may lead to longer-term impacts on populations where spills have occurred. “We are only just starting to examine these effects and examine some of the other characteristics of spills,” says Goss. “From here, we hope to inform industry, government, and the public alike about the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on our water and the animals who live there.”
Daniel Alessi (left) and Greg Goss (right) are investigating the toxicological impact of fluids produced by hydraulic fracturing.
The factors of focus New research by cognitive neuroscientist Kyle Mathewson (psychology) and his graduate student Sayeed Kizuk examines a particular frequency of brain signals to determine exactly how we focus on certain information and ignore other stimuli.