A grant from Environment Canada's sustainability fund in 1999 allowed the institute to map 150 contaminated sites along the Detroit River. The PAH compounds found in the sediment are known to cause cancer and genetic changes in the fish. That makes them more dangerous than mercury and PCBs, which don't cause cancer and which have had eradication programs. Because PAH are hydrophobic, suspended particles transport them to the Great Lakes. Animals and possibly humans who have the right type of metabolic system, probably have PAH binding to protein and sugars which is excreted from the body, said Haffner.
Bullhead catfish have the wrong metabolic system and are the most susceptible to cancerous tumours.
Drouillard, a Windsor native, recently won the Governor General's gold medal for a PhD thesis on how contaminants enter birds. Rob Letcher will show what happens to the chemicals after they enter the fish. Drouillard will demonstrate how chemicals get to the liver and Andrew Hubberstey will be responsible for the process of apoptosis. Chris Busch, a graduate student from the University of Northern B.C., will be responsible for processing the fish. Hubberstey's work is critical, said Haffner.